WEBVTT

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Well, there you go. That
was weird about thirty seconds late starting always

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good to be sitting chatting with Evan
Wilsmore for twenty minutes and they get ready

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to go live in the internet goes
out. We are here alive. I

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am no longer evicted. I was
evicted from the beer snake section. We'll

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get into that today as well as
lots of other XFL and USFL stuff.

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I'm still in DC. We have
Evan Wilsmore joined us here. Evan,

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how are you. I'm doing good
man. I was disappointed that Houston lost

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this weekend, obviously, and we'll
get more into that here in a couple

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of minutes as the show goes on. But I'm doing all right, man.

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You know what, we had a
fun weekend. There was lots of

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football, obviously. I probably don't
need to say that. Yeah, man,

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I'm having a good time. Yeah, I'm on Hotel WiFi. So

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God Willie and everything goes. If
we have some glitches today, you know

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that's what it is. Yes,
Evans Houson Roughnecks lost and the seattlec Dragons

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lost Cracking, though Cracking in seven
beat the Avalanche, So if it was

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a soul for us soul if if
the c Dragons had to lose for the

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cracking to a move on, let's
take that, Evan. Overall thoughts at

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the weekend, crazy football both in
the USFL. We'll talk about mccab Beldo

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Thomps as well. But what did
you make of everything? Yeah? Man,

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it was a lot. I mean, between the XFL playoffs and the

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USFL kind of getting into their groove. I mean, we really have kind

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of hit that point now where you
know, there's more football than maybe we've

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ever had in the spring, at
least it feels that way, and we've

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only got more common, you know. I mean the XFL season will obviously

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end in two weeks and next weekend
we're on a buy in the XFL,

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so it'll be a full slate of
USFL games for people to enjoy, and

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then you know CFLs coming up right
around the corner. I mean, we

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still got a bit to go,
but you know, there's a lot like

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it's uh, you know, football
season never really ends. So it was

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a crazy weekend. I guess we'll
talk through the two XFL games, so

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we'll do some USFL talk. Arlington, I mean, they did it,

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They came back. It proves,
you know, we were just talking about

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the Bruins ahead of time. Here
in the NHL, that doesn't matter what

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you do in the regular season,
you got to go to the playoffs.

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I watched the game at the bar
with some actual ESPN employees. That was

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exciting. I sat down at the
bar and I said, oh, the

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game's on, Okay, I'll just
watch the game here. And I realized

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everyone at the bar knew what was
going on in the game, and I

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thought, oh, this is kind
of interesting. So watched it with some

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of them. That was fun.
And what did you make you were there

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with Anthony Miller, you know,
with news as well. What did you

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guys make of the game? What
was surprising? Well, we can just

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start with that. I mean,
I don't think anybody expected Arlington to win,

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let alone win in that manner,
I guess. I mean, they

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came out fire and man, you
know, shout out to Louis Prez.

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I mean, what an insane performance. You know, I had put in

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my articles previously, I said,
Louis Perez really does change this offense.

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And even if they haven't, you
know, even if they haven't won a

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ton with him yet, you know, it's gonna matter, I think in

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those key moments, and it sure
did. I mean they turned up in

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the playoffs and you know they beat
the Brakes off Houston. You know that's

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for sure. So I mean that
was just crazy to see him do that,

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and it was very again, you
know, I talk a lot about

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full circle moments, and you know, seeing Louise after he's been in you

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know, the USFL last year,
in the Spring League, and the XFL

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in twenty twenty and the AF in
twenty nineteen, I mean, I think

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we call him a spring King now. But to see him do that and

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to see him just go out there
and kind of you know, just chuck

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the ball around and have such a
fun time doing it and you know,

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make some incredible plays, it was
very fulfilling in that sense. I again,

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I was a bit disappointed that it
was happening in the playoffs and that

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it was going to eliminate Houston,
but you know, hats off to him.

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That was a truly phenomenal performance.
Well, we I didn't even put

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two and two together. We were, you know, obviously texting after the

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DC game last night that here we
had joined Tamu, you know, with

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BattleHawks twenty twenty here back now leading
the defenders. And then he had the

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Luis Perez with the New York guardiansing
at two of the original XFL twenty twenty

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quarterbacks getting now to play in the
championship game. I just think it's tremendous.

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Oh, it really is. I
mean, again, for people who

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watched the league in twenty twenty,
this is very special. You know because

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Tamu in particular was really good in
twenty twenty. You know, Perez was

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kind of up and down, and
you know, I'd have to go back

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and look at some Guardians games to
kind of jog my memory from that era.

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But the bottom line is like,
yeah, I mean, both of

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these guys are have very impressive spring
football resumes, and they really know what

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they're doing, and it's clear that
they can lead their teams to victory,

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Like Louis came in late from Vegas
and kind of rallied Arlington to you know,

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a couple wins. I guess down
the stretch, even if they didn't

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win a while. I mean,
like they had that game against DC which

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is now going to be a rematch
in the championship where you know, they

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went to overtime, and you know, like they really kind of started battling

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things out with Louis and then team
who again was kind of one of those

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guys who hit his stride late in
the season as well. You know,

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it started off where they were very
run heavy with with Abram Smith and a

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bit of Deeric King. But now
you're kind of seeing like once they opened

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up the pass the game with tam
who you know, taking shots to Chris

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Blair and Lucky Jackson and a couple
of their tight ends. I mean,

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once that opened up, I don't
want to say it felt like game over,

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but like you saw it. I
mean, DC has has not slowed

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down since then. What do you
you know, you've covered the Rathnex all

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season, a tremendous job. I
was telling you, you know before we

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recorded with the newsab and all the
time spent flying out to all the games

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and everything. Was this a Houston
collapse or did you know the Arlington Did

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they just outplay them here? Well, whenever a team loses in that scenario,

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it's always more than one thing.
You know, There's so many factors

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that go into that. I think
I think one of the major issues was,

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you know, Houston. They played
I would say better last week against

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Arlington when the game didn't matter with
their you know, sort of altered you

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know, dumbed down playbook, then
they did when it was supposed to matter,

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and Arlington was the exact opposite.
You know, Luis Perez was talking

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in the press conference, he was
kind of saying what we all thought and

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knew about how you know, last
week obviously they weren't trying to you know,

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pull out all the tricks in the
book and everything like that. They

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were trying to have a very simple
and vanilla offense, and clearly, you

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know, Houston maybe wasn't ready for
that. I think the one thing on

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Houston's end that was kind of uncharacteristic
because we've had a slower offense, you

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know, ever since that, I
guess Week five game against Seattle. You

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know, it's kind of I don't
want to say gone downhill entirely, because

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we've had a couple of good games
running the ball, but in terms of

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passing, which is supposed to be
sort of our strong point, I guess

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it hasn't quite been up to par. But yeah, I mean, you

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know, you look at trying to
think of where I was going with that.

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But anyway, you know, I
think the one thing that you know,

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Houston did that was a bit uncharacteristic
was, you know, there was

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a lot of separation on some of
those plays and shout out to the Renegade's

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offensive line to I mean, Louise
had so much time in the pocket to

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make those throws and make those decisions. Again, that was a lot you

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know of Arlington just kind of getting
things together, like they haven't done anything

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like that all year. I mean
for Houston, it was, you know,

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it felt not like a normal Houston
game. I mean, that was

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definitely, you know, one of
the I guess most poor performances of the

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year. There's there's no other way
to put it. I mean, it

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was not exactly fun to watch,
and you could tell even by the second

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quarter it was kind of like,
you know, you've got to start making

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some adjustments before halftime or us this
thing's going to get out of reach,

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and unfortunately, I think it did. But yeah, I mean, you

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know, the one thing that was
I guess uncharacteristic too was just I think

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I said the separation, but there
was that it was in particular on that

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fifty nine yard touchdown to Javonte Peyton. I mean, man, that was

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just an uncharacteristic plan R and giving
up such a deep touchdown like that,

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you know, and to a guy
that had already had a touchdown in the

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game previously. You know, it
just again it felt very I don't know,

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I just I don't know what happened. Maybe it was because we only

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practiced once that week, and you
know I had found that out before the

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game, and I figured that was
the case from the injury reports that we

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had got. But uh, yeah, you know, unfortunately, it was

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just sort of a you know,
didn't get things together at the right time.

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And you know, Arlington I had
said in the articles, you know,

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they were kind of trending upward,
like you can't count them out despite

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the record, despite everything that's against
them, and yeah, that's what happens.

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So it's so weird. You know, we had this whole controversy last

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week in the playoffs, and you
know, we had even Anthony back to

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tweeting this weekend coutch back seven and
three sitting hole watching football. I tweeted

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back off of me at Addie Field, I said, you know, not

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me, but you know, we
have all of this and you know,

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Renegades don't deserve to be here.
Is it better or worse now that they're

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in the championship game with the losing
record and everything else. Yeah, well

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it's a great question and great point. You know, I think now that

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Arlington is kind of uh, I
guess you could say silenced a lot of

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people who said that they were just
gonna, you know, be written off

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in the playoffs and he would,
you know, win by twenty plus points.

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Um. Yeah, this changes things
a bit because you know, had

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Saint Louis, you know, had
to play DC like in DC, like

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essentially taking Seattle's place. You know, they lost to DC twice, Um,

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you know in the in the regular
season, and Arlington did the same

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you know with Houston, and Bob
Stoups mentioned in our press conference, he

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goes, well, I guess third
times the charm and you know, maybe

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it could have been the same for
Saint Louis. But again, Arlington was

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on such an upward trajectory there at
the end of the year, and I

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don't know, like Saint Louis,
they finished their season on a high.

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No obviously, you know, with
their fifty three point game against Orlando you

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know a J McCarron, I mean, boy with his you know, four

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hundred yards and six touchdowns, I
was phenomenal. Um. But I just

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I don't know, like DC DC
really is that good. I mean,

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I'm not trying to you know,
make championship picks too early and count anybody

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out, because clearly I was,
I was maybe counting some people out this

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weekend. I don't want to make
those picks too early, but like gonna

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be hard to stop the defenders.
Man. So the fact that you know,

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the Renegades were able to you know, take down a seven and three

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team in the playoffs, again,
that's hats off to them. They came

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out and they really you know,
they really performed well. And part of

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that too was you know, if
Anthony was here, he could talk about

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a lot about this. But Donald
Payne kind of coming back and it was

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almost a strategic thing. I felt
like again Stoops in the press conference said

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that Payne had a misdiagnosis or you
know whatever that means. He had a

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misdiagnosis with his injury and he was
able to come back, and we kind

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of agreed. I don't know how
accurate that is. Maybe it's just strategy,

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right, Like Donald Payne is one
of the best linebackers and all the

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X one of the best defensive players. I mean, he was a game

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changer. I think he had ten
tackles in that matchup against Houston. So

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having a guy like him come back
on short notice, I mean that could

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throw off the game plan a bit. I just didn't figure out. You

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know, we're watching the game and
we didn't have sound down, We're at

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the bar, But I don't know, like, did we just give up

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on Brandon Silver's Like why Cole McDonald's
out there? I mean, obviously athletic,

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obviously a great story, but not
making tremendously great throws that I found

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and we without watching and you know, missing and throwing into coverage, Like

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why why did we go all in
on called McDonald here for the last game?

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Well, this is a bit of
a difficult thing. And the way

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I looked at it is, you
know Brandon, you know Brandon's obviously he

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has not played as well over the
second half of the season. It's a

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tale of two worlds really. I
mean ever since he you know, got

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that injury, I think it was
in DC, Like that injury has been

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lingering and he hasn't been practicing UM
and that's definitely played a role into why,

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you know, things haven't been as
good for him. Again, I've

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said many times, not having John
Trey Kirkland there is the deep threat down

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the field. You know, that
hurts, right, It's it's harder to

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move the ball. UM. The
offense clearly does not function as well without

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him, and there was never a
clear replacement found really even over six or

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seven weeks. UM. So I
think what happened was, you know,

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Brandon effectively got benched. I don't
know, I don't I don't really like

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using that term, but it's kind
of true. You know, he started

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the game and then pretty quickly it
was clear like Cole was going to finish

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it. UM. But in that
moment, and here's the thing about Cole.

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You know, I love Cole McDonald. I've gone on record saying great

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things about he was one of my
favorite players in college. And then once

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he came, you know, to
Houston, I was so excited and I

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you know, I thought he was
going to be the starter. He ended

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up doing a lot for us this
season, even though he wasn't in a

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true starting role like it was a
two quarterback system, you know, because

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they ran the ball a lot with
him. But I think what happened is

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they wanted to give Cole the shot
because you know, he mean, he

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looked good last week in Arlington,
and again maybe that was a bit of

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00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.159
a different playbook whatever, but he
you know, did some cool stuff against

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Arlington. It wasn't a ton,
but I think he did enough to make

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the team feel comfortable about his abilities
going into this playoff game, so they

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played him, you know, for
the rest of the game. But I

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think what happened is, you know, Cole is a bit, maybe further

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behind in his development than I initially
thought going into the season. And maybe

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that's just the offense he's playing in. Maybe it's not the exact version of

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what he had in college where he
found a lot of success. And you

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know, obviously now you're playing against
maybe higher level defenses, especially the Renegades

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defense. I mean, that's an
extremely tough challenge. Excuse me, But

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I think what happened again and is
just you know, he needs a bit

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more time and there was probably a
bit of pressure on him in that game.

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And I don't want to say he
made a lot of forceful throws downfield

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or anything like that. But there
were a lot of balls that, you

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know, we're missed. And I
kind of saw that coming from a while

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away, you know, just even
as the ball was leaving his hands,

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I'm like, I don't know if
you should be throwing that, man,

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Like, maybe we should go a
bit more to the run. And I

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think he ended up finishing with like
nine to twenty five completion. I mean,

233
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whatever the line was, it was
not good at all. But obviously

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I wish the best for Cole and
I don't want this again, just like

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I said in that Saint Louis game
in Week seven, to be a reflection

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of who he is as a person
and you know what his capabilities are as

237
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a quarterback. Yeah, I just
you know, I get wanting they do

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reps and want and they do all
this kind of stuff that you know,

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00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:45.440
it's it's the damn playoffs and it's
Yeah, that's where I just didn't get

240
00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:48.000
in shutting down not given Brandon.
Yeah, I think it was like his

241
00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:50.960
he had an elbow issue or something
like that. And it was right after

242
00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:52.759
right, Yeah, I try to
try right after I talked, and it

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00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:54.679
was right after he was on the
show. I think it was that,

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you know, the game that weekend
at DC. I think it was the

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00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:03.240
Monday night game, right, And
so I don't know anything else on Arlington.

246
00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:05.600
All that. We'll talk to DC
here and we can do either wide

247
00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.000
ranging thoughts at the end, anything
specific on the game. Yeah, I

248
00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:13.840
mean, you know, I again, I was a bit, uh shell

249
00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.360
shocked. I guess it's kind of
the term watching that, and you know,

250
00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:18.519
I was up there with Anthony and
there was a couple of Arlington guys

251
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there, and you know, I
just remember Anthony telling me, He's like,

252
00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.200
we might actually go to the championship. Man. He's like, I

253
00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.080
did not expect this at all.
I came to Houston, you know,

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00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:28.799
you know, ready to lose and
you know, ready to just go home.

255
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And I was kind of just hoping
for a good time. But yeah,

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00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:33.759
he was even he was surprised,
you know, especially I mean for

257
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Arlington, it was just such a
jump in expectation and from what they were

258
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used to the entire season. I
mean, if you go back before Perez

259
00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.639
was there, when it was like
the sloat Or era, I don't think

260
00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.080
that kind of thing would have been
possible. You know, and I don't

261
00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.919
want to try and you know,
knock anybody in particular, whether it's play

262
00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:56.320
calling or the quarterbacks themselves. But
you know, they just could not get

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in their groove and they tried a
lot of different things. I felt like

264
00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.120
it just never really got going.
Then suddenly in the playoffs, I guess

265
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they had a different type of hunger
and I mean they came out fire and

266
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it worked. That's the bottom line. So well, good for Stoops.

267
00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:13.240
You know, obviously we were going
to have a Texas team most likely in

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there. Anyway, say for the
Guardian, see you know you have Arlington

269
00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:18.320
there. You know it could have
been san Antonio. I don't I don't

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know if I see san Antonio playing
the game against Houston that Arlington did you

271
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know. I think I think if
if san Antonio is in there, I

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would give Houston the edge. So
you think going in you know, sliding

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doors, different world. Yeah.
I mean, look, I again,

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00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:35.159
I had really said the whole season. I mean I expected the running Gates

275
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to be good. Obviously their record
didn't really reflect that. But now that

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they've beaten us in the playoffs,
like I kind of have to say they're

277
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good. But even on the end
of the year, I said, Houston

278
00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:46.279
Arlington are probably gonna be the top
two teams in the South, and it's

279
00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:48.960
gonna be you know, it might
be a toss up, Like I obviously

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00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:52.639
want to give Hughson the advantage.
Excuse me, given that I know everybody

281
00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:56.159
on the roster. I know the
coaching staff better like I cover that team,

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I just know them better in general. Yeah, you know, you

283
00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:02.360
can never counts and out. And
it was good, Like it's good to

284
00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.519
see. I mean, we've talked
about it all year. You know,

285
00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:08.080
teams like making changes a coordinator and
quarterback, like you know, they care.

286
00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:11.240
Like it's not just about you know, showcasing people's talents and getting the

287
00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:15.519
film. That's certainly a part of
it, but like teams really care about

288
00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:17.679
winning. I mean, you saw, you know, san Antonio making some

289
00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:21.320
changes in like week four, you
know, and then the Renegades were kind

290
00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:22.759
of you know, later in the
season again they were like, you know

291
00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:25.879
what, like we need a boost, like we're gonna go trade for pres

292
00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.320
and you know, they kind of
revamped the offense a bit, and I

293
00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:32.039
mean, man, it's it's just
so great to see that. In the

294
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.200
XFL, where people care that much, even in a short season, to

295
00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:40.279
make those adjustments to become better teams. Well, that's good. We'll talk

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00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:41.840
to DCC out here. We can
do any other thousands. At the end,

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00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:45.200
I do have some funny I have
some funny stories from my time here

298
00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:49.600
in the nation's capital. Uh.
First and foremost, I was watching their

299
00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:52.159
cracking game last night. I was
at the bar, and you know,

300
00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:55.440
I was there all night because the
game, you know, games are going

301
00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:56.600
on and whatever. And I go
to the restroom when I come back,

302
00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:02.559
and there's four people sitting there and
then d Nucci's brother, sister, and

303
00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:06.079
cousin, and so I ended up
watching the cracking game with the de Nucci

304
00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:07.160
family. Ben was not there,
you know. Obviously, I think Ben

305
00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:11.720
was probably you know, reflecting,
kind of doing whatever back in the hotel

306
00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:15.000
room. So they were not nearly
as invested in the cracking game as I

307
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:18.640
would have liked. But it was
fun that Ben's brother looks and sounds exactly

308
00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:22.480
like Ben Di Nucci was pretty while
to be sitting there. That's cool,

309
00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:26.000
man. I yeah, I know
you would say. You texted that yesterday

310
00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:27.759
and I thought that was pretty interesting. How do you know it was like

311
00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:32.960
his family. You asked him her
no because yeah, they they had Seattle.

312
00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:34.240
They had yeah, because I'm trying
to remember that they had like one

313
00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:36.920
of them had a sea dragging shirt
on. I was like, oh were

314
00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:38.000
you guys, Like are you from
Seattle? Like are you because you know

315
00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:41.960
there wasn't a lot of us there
and oh yeah no, like our brother

316
00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:42.759
plays. I'm like, oh,
okay, like I know all of this.

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00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:45.400
I guess he's been the Bensmen on
the show and you know, we

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00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:51.640
really the other story. I just
wanted to give out. So I have

319
00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:56.440
my my Xcel ticket here, so
so excited to go to Audie Field.

320
00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:57.680
I've been there, we were there
for the kickoff back in twenty twenty.

321
00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:03.119
Bought a ticket for the beer Snake
section because you know that was obviously I

322
00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:04.000
just wanted to be a part of
it and be a part of the beer

323
00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.759
Snake and they were cheaper anyway.
It was like twenty bucks. So I

324
00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:10.920
get there, it's like pouring rain
and everything. I go out into the

325
00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:14.240
section and I've got like my Dragons
you know shirt on, and I've got

326
00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:15.920
like an orange jacket and everything,
and you know, I get I'm getting

327
00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:18.759
a few gears. As I walk
in there, and you bo, I'm

328
00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:21.680
like, oh, you know,
I'm laughing, and you know, I'm

329
00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:23.680
a watching Commanders fan, so I'm
like talking to them about the Commanders.

330
00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:26.039
We're talking about the Redskins and everything
else, and we're just you know,

331
00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:30.160
people are giving me crap, but
it's funny. I wasn't there more than

332
00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:33.920
five minutes Insecurity comes over and I'm
just talking and he tapped me on the

333
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:37.000
shoulder because I'm kind of talking behind
and he goes, uh, sir,

334
00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:40.920
you know we're gonna, you know, need you to leave this section.

335
00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:44.359
This is first you know, supporters
only, and everyone in DC is so

336
00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:47.200
nice, like they're everyone here and
the staff and the bar, you know,

337
00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:48.920
everyone is And I'm like, oh
you ah ha ha, Like that's

338
00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:52.000
so funny, like good one did. He goes like, no, I'm

339
00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:53.440
serious, like we saw you and
camera. You need to leave this section

340
00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:57.519
immediately for your safety. It's like, that's a wild So they went they

341
00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.839
gave me a ticket. I ended
up sitting in front of Jared, who's

342
00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:03.160
one of the listeners at the podcast. It was it was going to be

343
00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:07.200
connected that way, but I was
not able to partake in the beer snake

344
00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.440
section. I was evicted from the
beer snake section. Evan, what do

345
00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:12.319
you make about Yeah. I mean
when you told me that, I thought

346
00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:15.160
you were joking too. I was
like, oh, you know, classic

347
00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.079
classic read, you know, good
one whatever. But then yeah, then

348
00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.480
then that kind of thought about it. I was like, oh, like,

349
00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:22.799
what if he's serious, you know, And then it turned out you

350
00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:26.599
were and you you got moved.
I guess it was closer to the fifty

351
00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:30.160
yard line it looked like. But
yeah, that's a that's quite interesting.

352
00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:33.079
I mean, you know, I
understand the DC fans are a bit routing.

353
00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:34.559
You know, they were throwing lemons
yesterday and everything that we know,

354
00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:37.079
and of course there's the beer snake. I don't have to talk about that

355
00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:41.160
anymore than ESPN has already mentioned it. But I mean, what you know

356
00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.559
that, Yeah, that was just
uh, I would I was not expecting

357
00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:47.799
to hear that from you. That
was kind of one of the last things

358
00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:51.119
I would have thought, you know, would happen. Again. I can

359
00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:56.200
understand it, but it seems like
a bit a pretty serious measure given that

360
00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:59.200
there's only what eighteen thousand people there. I mean, that's still a healthy

361
00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.200
number, but I don't know.
I think you would have been fine personally,

362
00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.200
Like people know who you are,
man, you know you're not there

363
00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.079
to cause a problem. Well that
was the thing, Like I absolutely get

364
00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.279
it. I absolutely get it,
like MLS and people getting like I absolutely

365
00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:11.960
understand, and it was more just
to samety they get any retrospect. I'm

366
00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:14.960
like, well that probably makes sense, but you know, I just figured

367
00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.599
for the XFL. And because I
go over to the ticket thing, They're

368
00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:18.559
like, well, do you like, do you want to leave? I'm

369
00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:22.200
like, no, I'm not.
I'm not able to. I'm not.

370
00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:25.279
It doesn't seem like I have an
option here. So it was fun.

371
00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:27.559
I was able to admire it from
afar and that the beer sneak was great.

372
00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:32.640
I will say eighteen thousand there it
was. It ended up not you

373
00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:36.039
know, stopped raining during the game, but it was absolutely horrendous all day.

374
00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:38.160
So I give a thousand percent credit
to DC for showing up as they

375
00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:41.640
did with the eighteen thousand. Yeah, I mean the crowd looked great.

376
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:45.720
You know, that was extremely impressive
and you could hear it during the game

377
00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.319
too, And I mean I'm very
glad the weather opened up because I was

378
00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:49.359
kind of worried it was going to
be a bit of a slug fest,

379
00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:52.039
you know, with the rain coming
down. But yeah, I mean clearly

380
00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:56.079
the field conditions we're still you know, not adequate. And again we'll get

381
00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:00.079
into that in terms of performance,
especially on the Seattle side, but I

382
00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:00.880
mean, yeah, like the crowd
was great. You know, that was

383
00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:04.920
a fantastic atmosphere. It was a
great send off for DC because that's sort

384
00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:10.119
of one of those venues too that's
become very uh I guess famous or well

385
00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:12.839
known within the XFL community or XFL
lore or whatever you want to call it.

386
00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:15.680
You know, with all the beer
snake, you know, the people

387
00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:18.440
coming in, the outfits, and
then the Lemons were a new thing you

388
00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:22.440
know that came around in week one
or week two whenever they had the home

389
00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:25.759
openers. So it was fun.
That was fun to see. So what

390
00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:26.920
did you make of this from it? You know, an actually a football

391
00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:30.880
perspective? Really to me felt like
a collapse of Seattle. I know,

392
00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:34.119
Matt Lyons has his article out right
now, and I'm sure Evan Evan as

393
00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:37.920
well on the News had that.
I was just reading through mats before we

394
00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:40.279
got on here, you know,
over at News have doing that reflection of

395
00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:42.920
all that. You know, Seattle
can't run the ball, We're throwing the

396
00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:47.640
ball in the rain, people can't
seem to catch the ball. DC doesn't

397
00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:51.279
seem to have a problem catching the
ball. What did you make of the

398
00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:53.920
game. Yeah, well, you
know, you're right, it kind of

399
00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.119
was a Seattle collapse because you know, people despite that score, you know,

400
00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:00.440
this game was tied nine nine at
halftime. You know, it was

401
00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.160
a very slow first half, and
you know that's when you saw a lot

402
00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.400
of the drops. Um, you
know, I think it was nine nine

403
00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:11.440
if I'm not mistaken. Yeah,
I'm already already kind of jogged my memory

404
00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:15.880
even though it was yesterday. I
was so busy anyway. Um, yeah,

405
00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:18.079
no, so you know Seattle,
Yeah, I had a couple of

406
00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:21.839
uncharacteristic drops. Not sure if that
was with the gloves or the field conditions,

407
00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:22.319
but it was very odd. I
mean, you know, there was

408
00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:25.599
I mean it got to a point
where, you know, I don't want

409
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.400
to say comical, because those guys
really are trying, but it was just

410
00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:30.400
like, look, there's a drop, like you just know it's coming,

411
00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.319
you know, like the balls are
bouncing off people's hands and that was very

412
00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:37.279
unfortunate because there was a lot of
opportunities. I think of that one catched

413
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:41.359
on third down where Juwan Green had
it, you know, just passed the

414
00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.599
line and it dropped like it was
in his hands and he kind of juggled

415
00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:47.200
it and then it fell and then
he went back to the sideline and you

416
00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:48.720
know he had his head down and
everything, and you know, teammates were

417
00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:52.759
trying to lift him up. Yeah, it was very, um, very

418
00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:56.119
uncharacterised. But I think what really, you know, killed Seattle in this

419
00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:00.799
game, besides the late penalties,
was Greg Williams and his defense because June

420
00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:03.960
threw the ball so much in that
game that I think, you know,

421
00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:07.759
I don't want to say Greg really
ever had to catch up because he always

422
00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:11.480
plays you know, aggressive. He
was saying that to the COMMENTATY. He's

423
00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:14.559
like, yeah, you know we're
gonna I think unleash hell was the term

424
00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:15.680
that he used, and that he
always does, you know, Greg Williams,

425
00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:18.799
That's what he's been known for,
you know, throughout his entire tenure

426
00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:22.680
in the NFL. But yeah,
man, I mean DC's defense really brought

427
00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:26.480
it coming, and you know,
I guess Seattle's defense had a couple of

428
00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:30.119
turnovers off tip balls too, But
I don't know personally, I was more

429
00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.240
impressed on the DC side with their
you know, Greg Williams, you know,

430
00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:36.759
making those adjustments, and I mean
he kind of exposed June. You

431
00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:40.640
know, this is a defense that
has worked at the NFL level. And

432
00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:42.119
keep in mind, I love June
Jones. I think he's a great offensive

433
00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:45.559
coordinator. But in this game,
again, it was sort of like what

434
00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:48.319
I thought about Houston. You know, maybe just try and give it to

435
00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:51.480
Philip Lindsay and see if something happens. I mean, typically if you're running

436
00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:52.960
the ball late, it's kind of
a sign that you know, you're just

437
00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:56.440
trying to burn clock or get things
over with. Like I get passing the

438
00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:00.079
ball, but I mean, you
know it's only to a certain point.

439
00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:03.519
I mean, hell, Ben had
fifteen pass attempts in the first quarter or

440
00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:06.799
something, and I'm just like,
you know, at this rate, like

441
00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:10.559
you know, you're gonna put too
much pressure in certain areas and something's not

442
00:24:10.599 --> 00:24:15.279
gonna go right. And especially again
against the defensive coordinator of the caliber of

443
00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:18.519
Greg Williams, you know, it's
only a matter of time before things slip

444
00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:21.200
away. And that's exactly what happened
in front of my eyes. So,

445
00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:26.200
yeah, it was crazy. The
cl defense played decent. I thought we

446
00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:29.319
gave up obviously some big, big
gains, but they had that one.

447
00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.400
It was that that they like tifted
in the air and then the other guy.

448
00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:36.400
We saw that in the end zone. You know, DC came back.

449
00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:37.519
We just weren't able to do anything
with it. I mean, we

450
00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:41.359
get down and you know, you
ended up kicking field goals and stuff.

451
00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:44.720
I just we have a lot of
questions here, the same question demanding the

452
00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:47.599
run. You know, Gary's checking
in. Knew they were down to one,

453
00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:48.400
right, but yeah, like why
do you bring in Philip Lindsay and

454
00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:53.400
then you throw on the ball.
However many times it was forty eight times.

455
00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:57.000
It's crazy. It was a lot. I mean, yeah again,

456
00:24:57.079 --> 00:25:02.680
you know, I think June like
that offense. You know, that offense

457
00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:06.240
is extremely successful in college and it
is extremely hard to defend. You know,

458
00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:10.319
keep in mind, like you know, they've had a couple pretty successful

459
00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:14.000
games running that this year, the
running shoot. But at the same time,

460
00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:17.400
you know, I keep giving credit
to Greg Williams here, and I

461
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.279
should give credit to Fred Kaies,
the offensive quartator in DC. As well,

462
00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:25.480
but we'll talk about more on DC's
offensive side at a minute, and

463
00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:27.759
maybe Seattle's defensive side too. But
yeah, I mean Greg Williams, like

464
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:33.400
he you know, this is why
I think DC is, you know,

465
00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:37.680
in part ten and one, because
Greg Williams again just has that pedigree.

466
00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:41.279
And when I remember when the XFL
first did their hires and Greg Williams was

467
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:44.000
a name that really stood out,
and um, I think it was kJ

468
00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:47.400
Sayles, who plays for DC,
put on Twitter yesterday he said, this

469
00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:49.079
is the best coach I've ever played
for. You know this guy, I

470
00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:53.119
mean, you know, he knows
so much and he plays so aggressively that

471
00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:56.279
it's so even with an offense where
you're you know, trying to get big

472
00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:00.359
games or even short gains through the
past, you know, even you know

473
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:03.079
how many times we're trying to do
that, Like you know, Greg can

474
00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:07.359
stop that. And clearly like like
after the it was really after like the

475
00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:11.440
middle of the first quarter, I
mean, Seattle just like that felt like

476
00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:12.640
it was it. You know,
it was like they had a bit,

477
00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:15.640
you know, a couple drops and
then you know, maybe had those gone

478
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:18.240
their way, they would have sustained
more momentum and you know, not had

479
00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:22.240
to settle for some field goals.
But you know, like once like I

480
00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:25.640
don't know even if though it was
todd nine to nine and a half of

481
00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:29.240
you could clearly tell where the momentum
was swinging. Well, that was the

482
00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:32.319
thing because Dorothy was watching the game. Obviously Dorothy didn't come with me this

483
00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.079
weekend, and she was. She
turned it on and she goes, oh,

484
00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:36.400
yeah, how's the game. I
said, oh, it's you know,

485
00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:38.039
Seattle's just playing like garbage. And
she goes, I thought it was

486
00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:41.079
tied a half. I'm like,
yeah, but it didn't really feel that

487
00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:42.680
way. I mean, they had
plenty of opportunities. It's just weird that

488
00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:45.920
Ben, you have three tds.
You know, no interception's played. You

489
00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:48.799
know, played the clean this game
probably of the season, and it just

490
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:52.440
couldn't get help from the wide receivers. Like you said, you don't want

491
00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:53.960
to make fun and say it was
comficult. They were dropping, but I

492
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:56.279
mean we were counting him in the
stands. I was sitting with the DC

493
00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:00.200
fans that yeah, that's four,
that's fine, that's sexy. It's crazy.

494
00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:03.599
Yeah. No, I mean look
again, I mean hats off the

495
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:07.039
DC. They got the job done, and they really came out in the

496
00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:08.359
second half and you know, put
that one away. I mean, that

497
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:12.119
was a very complete performance. You
know, Talmo again, maybe it wasn't

498
00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:15.000
his best game. I think he
had two interceptions off those tip balls,

499
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:18.000
but other than that, like you
know, he still had all those big

500
00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:21.960
plays again, things that we didn't
see from him earlier in the season.

501
00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:25.000
And I think the big debate now
and I don't want to really bring the

502
00:27:25.079 --> 00:27:27.079
NFL into this because they've been talking
a lot about you know, XFL,

503
00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:32.240
NFL, the whole opportunity bit.
But you know, you start to wonder,

504
00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:33.480
it's like, well, if Talmo
goes out in two weeks and wins

505
00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:37.720
the XFL championship after this kind of
late season rise in DC's passing game,

506
00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:42.759
you know, does he get that
NFL shot again? And I think I

507
00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:47.880
think there's a chance that he gets
invited to a camp, you know,

508
00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:49.720
especially this way. It didn't look
like that at the beginning of the season.

509
00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:52.920
And at this point, you know, in his career, he's been

510
00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:56.319
with you know, bounced around the
NFL so much. You know, I

511
00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:59.599
think it'd be okay if he kind
of stayed in the spring football realm.

512
00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:00.720
But yeah, I mean, you
know, hats off to Jordan and the

513
00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:04.799
receivers. And again I think I
mentioned Fred Kais earlier, the offensive coordinator

514
00:28:04.839 --> 00:28:10.519
for DC. He's been fantastic all
year and I mean without him again,

515
00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:12.720
crowd to the players, but the
coordinators too, play such a big role,

516
00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.839
especially on that DC team. You
know, Barlow kind of rallies everybody,

517
00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:19.119
and he's had experience as a head
coach in the lower levels of college

518
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:22.160
before. But like fred Kiss you
know, the last time he coached I

519
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:26.640
think he was offensive coordinator alcorn State
in like twenty seventeen. He's been out

520
00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:29.240
of football for what I know,
for a while. So for him to

521
00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:33.440
come back and do this and just
kind of make it look effortless to an

522
00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:37.440
extent, excuse me, you know, for him to kind of make those

523
00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:40.319
adjustments going from like heavy run at
the beginning of the season, the sort

524
00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.799
of opening up the passing game and
so now where they're really more pass heavy

525
00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:47.759
and Abram Smith, you know,
doesn't really need to be the main part

526
00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:49.319
of that offense to have more options
now, to see him kind of put

527
00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:52.839
that all together, hats off to
Fred Kais too, man. Yeah,

528
00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:56.200
it's cool here. We have a
question I was going to pull up at

529
00:28:56.279 --> 00:28:59.599
Mike was asking about the atmosphere and
everything you did. DC live up to

530
00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:02.519
the hype and this relates as well
to the team. But I will say

531
00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:04.640
tremendous. You know, ADDI fields
great. We were there for the kickoff.

532
00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:08.720
You know, the way it's built, it goes basically like up vertically,

533
00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:11.920
so you're you're almost always on top
of the action, right if you're

534
00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:15.319
whether you're in the standing section,
you're sitting. It kind of caves around.

535
00:29:15.559 --> 00:29:19.000
But what was so cool to meet
was it feels like DC, just

536
00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:23.759
like Saint Louis has done with the
BattleHawks, DC fans love that team.

537
00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:26.960
They are channing for Reggie. You
know, he's on the sidelines, he's

538
00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:30.400
got respect. You know, you
can see him kind of going back and

539
00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.240
forth and talking to players, and
it just feels like they've so bought into

540
00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:37.880
that team and the respect that they
have for everyone. And obviously DC has

541
00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:40.960
earned it. But I thought the
tremendous atmosphere, a tremendous crowd, but

542
00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:44.519
they love that team and they really
like that is you know, Washington Commanders

543
00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:48.200
are not great right now, and
it feels like DC has really adopted.

544
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:51.839
I saw hats and shirts everywhere at
the hotel. I was staying that they

545
00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:55.759
had signs up all the staff headshirts
and hats on game day. It really

546
00:29:55.799 --> 00:29:57.440
feels like the area around here is
built into it. It's really cool,

547
00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:03.160
absolutely, And I mean I think
it's a similar scenario in Houston where a

548
00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:04.519
lot of people are out on the
Texans now. I mean, you notice

549
00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:10.880
there's a lot of people who are
you Roughnecks fans who are also Texans fans,

550
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:14.640
but you know they're not pleased with
the state of the Texans organization,

551
00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:17.359
both internally and externally. You know, you look at performance on the field

552
00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:19.200
and everything that happens inside the building. You know, they kind of wanted

553
00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:22.759
to be refreshed. And obviously in
twenty twenty, Houston was the best team

554
00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:26.119
in the XFL, even if the
season didn't finish, so people bought into

555
00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:29.880
that early on. And again,
you know, you want to talk about

556
00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:32.119
sort of fan atmosphere. I mean, you see a lot of like the

557
00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:34.039
twenty twenty jerseys, you know,
in the crowd in Houston, and I'm

558
00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:37.039
sure it's the same in DC.
I've seen a couple when I'm looking at

559
00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:41.200
the TV, you know, and
again in Saint Louis. All these returning

560
00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:44.599
markets you kind of see, you
know, it's not all new fans.

561
00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:47.319
Like there's people you know who were
there in twenty twenty and who kind of

562
00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:49.839
were like us, you know,
sort of committed to just riding it out

563
00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:52.920
and seeing what was going to happen. And you know, now here we

564
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:55.799
are and you know, people have
bought in, and that's the importance of

565
00:30:56.519 --> 00:30:59.920
you know, I guess like being
in a home market and kind of established

566
00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:03.640
yourself the XFL again, you know, their marketing budget was pretty slim this

567
00:31:03.720 --> 00:31:07.160
time around, but you know,
again having that those twenty twenty connections I

568
00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:11.519
think really helps with sort of um
those fan atmospheres, especially in a place

569
00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:15.519
like DC. So what do we
make here? You know, and obviously

570
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:18.000
we'll premium the championship game a lot, but just initial thoughts. We'll be

571
00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:22.400
live, you know, at the
championship game. I'm getting all that set

572
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:25.000
up. I assume Evan, you
know, you'll call in. You're certainly

573
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:27.720
welcome to. I know Andy and
Anthony and I believe Frans going to be

574
00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:33.319
there as well. H initial thoughts
here DC versus at Renegades and maybe people

575
00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:34.559
in the check and kind of drop
you know who you got here in the

576
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:38.359
matchup having the initial thoughts. Yeah, well, I mean, you know,

577
00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:41.119
looking at the last time those two
teams played each other, it was

578
00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:44.759
very it was exciting. You know, it was not a game. Again

579
00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:47.480
many people would say, oh,
well, DC is gonna blow the brakes

580
00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:49.119
off a team like Arlington. But
that was kind of right when the Renegades

581
00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:53.079
were starting those late season adjustments and
the DC game kind of showed like,

582
00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:56.960
hey, you really can't count this
team out and they probably are going to

583
00:31:56.039 --> 00:32:00.400
make the playoffs even with their record, and they you know, they could

584
00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:01.519
do something, and you know,
as time would tell, they did.

585
00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:06.160
But I go back to that game. I think it was week eight,

586
00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:08.759
maybe week nine, week Gate something
like that. You know, I go

587
00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:12.799
back to that game, and you
know, I think, I mean,

588
00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:15.720
there was a couple of things that
you know, went in the Renegades direction.

589
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:19.799
I think the one the big reason
they won that game was because Bob

590
00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:23.359
Stoops on that last drive challenge something. He saved his challenge you know till

591
00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:25.960
late in the game, and then
he called a challenge. It might have

592
00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:30.279
been passed interference or a hold or
something on the defense and he got it,

593
00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:32.000
you know, and then Arlington gets
a couple of extra yards and that

594
00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:35.039
keeps the drive going or else that
would have been the end of the game.

595
00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:37.720
If I recall correctly, it might
have been on fourth down. So

596
00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:40.240
you know, that kind of made
things exciting again. The fourth and fifteen

597
00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:43.599
conversion played a role in that.
We've seen a couple of times this season

598
00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:45.680
where that's worked and you know,
maybe kept teams and games. I think

599
00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:49.759
the best example of that was,
you know, very early on the Saint

600
00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:52.200
Louis San Antonio game, which feels
like a billion years ago now, after

601
00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:55.000
everything you know, we've been doing
and you know, all these leagues kind

602
00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:59.319
of happening. But yeah, I
mean the bottom line is, I think

603
00:32:59.400 --> 00:33:02.079
this is an intriguing matchup and I
would still favor DC obviously, and DC

604
00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:06.599
did end up winning that previous matchup. It went to overtime. You know,

605
00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:08.599
again, very exciting game, a
lot of stuff going on, but

606
00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:13.519
you know, DC is just so
complete and you saw yesterday, i mean

607
00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:17.160
against Seattle, like the favor was
certainly swinging, you know, the momentum

608
00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:22.240
was swinging their way even before halftime
when they were tied but like I mean,

609
00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:27.160
DC closed in just tremendous fashion.
And I get that was at home.

610
00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:29.880
They won't have that this time around. It'll be a neutral site.

611
00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:31.480
But like I mean, they just
came out in the second half, and

612
00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:35.759
I mean, you know, even
if Seattle had played a perfect game and

613
00:33:35.799 --> 00:33:37.680
they didn't have the penalties or the
drops or whatever, it was still going

614
00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:42.039
to be really difficult to catch up
with that. So again, you know,

615
00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:45.319
DCS are really tough out And again
I understand Arlington is still I mean,

616
00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:49.559
after their game against Houston this week, they're still trending upward, right,

617
00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:52.880
like they're still you know, clearly
worthy of being in that championship spot.

618
00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:57.279
I think, after you know what
I saw. But yeah, you

619
00:33:57.319 --> 00:33:59.920
know, we we'll just we'll see
how it goes. Like I'm very interested

620
00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:02.759
to see, you know, if
it's like the same sort of flow as

621
00:34:02.759 --> 00:34:07.079
it was the last time, or
if one team kind of dominates early and

622
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:09.639
then another player kind of comes back
into it. There's a lot of things

623
00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:13.960
that could happen, as is the
case in any championship game. Definitely the

624
00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:15.760
one. The last thing I'll say
about that matchup is it's interesting. I

625
00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:21.519
don't think anybody expected DC versus Arlington, especially Arlington. I mean, that

626
00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:22.519
side of it is, uh,
you know, I think a lot of

627
00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:27.159
people would have said Seattle Houston,
or do you see Houston, or if

628
00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:29.519
you want to bring Saint Louis,
you know, into that sort of playoff

629
00:34:29.559 --> 00:34:31.280
talk, you know, maybe you
incorporate them into a couple of scenarios.

630
00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:35.320
But yeah, man, like you
know, this is definitely something that I

631
00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:39.719
don't think a lot of people anticipated. Yeah, it's just the game yesterday

632
00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:42.920
really felt like Seattle ran out of
his team. You know, I've been

633
00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:45.199
watching a lot of hockey here lately
obviously as well, and you know,

634
00:34:45.400 --> 00:34:49.800
you can be down two zero with
five minutes left and okay, we pull

635
00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:52.719
the goalie or you know, you
get one in and you kind of run

636
00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:55.000
background. It never felt like Seattle, you know, even at the end

637
00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:58.719
that we get the touchdown and we
go for the fourth and fifteen, I

638
00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:00.400
think you never felt like they were
in this game. After really about the

639
00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:04.559
end of the third corner, it
just felt like we're kind of going through

640
00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:06.880
the motions out there, like you
might as well just walk off the field

641
00:35:06.920 --> 00:35:08.559
here at this point. It really
feels like, I mean, I don't

642
00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:10.760
want to, you know, competitors
and all of that, but it felt

643
00:35:10.760 --> 00:35:14.280
like they could have just set the
ball down and walked off and kind of

644
00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:17.519
ended the game right there. Yeah, I mean, again, unfortunate for

645
00:35:17.639 --> 00:35:21.039
Seattle, right, I mean,
you know, I probably don't need to

646
00:35:21.039 --> 00:35:22.800
say much more about it. It
was just one of those things where,

647
00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:25.679
you know, had a couple of
things gone right earlier, they might have

648
00:35:25.719 --> 00:35:29.719
been in it for longer. But
you know, DC came out and they

649
00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:32.599
you know, pretty much played one
hundred percent again despite the weather, despite

650
00:35:32.599 --> 00:35:37.000
everything that might have been against them. You know, like they've played one

651
00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:39.320
hell of a game, and that
was you know, again, the second

652
00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:43.320
half takeover really kind of defined.
It's like they know how to close.

653
00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:45.679
That's the most important thing. You
see teams, you know, oftentimes where

654
00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:49.599
it looks like they're good and then
they blow leads. Vegas was one in

655
00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:52.880
particular this year where they would always
go up and then a team would come

656
00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:55.039
back, and especially a team with
a winning record, and kind of take

657
00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:59.519
it away from under their feet.
I think the term is a snatch defeat

658
00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:01.280
from the job as a victory.
That kind of thing. I don't I'm

659
00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:05.119
not gonna say that happened yesterday because
Seattle had a lot of work to do

660
00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:07.480
really the entire game. But from
what I heard in their press conference,

661
00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:09.760
again I wasn't there, but I
just I listened to a couple of the

662
00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:14.599
clips that they seem to, you
know, be very professional about it and

663
00:36:14.679 --> 00:36:15.800
very you know, Ben was saying, like, you know, this was

664
00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:20.400
the most fun that he's had playing
football in a long time, and a

665
00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:22.840
lot of players have said that.
I think, again that's a separate kind

666
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:24.960
of discussion, but you want to
talk about like, you know, true

667
00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:29.119
opportunity. I mean, you've had
guys again, like Ben's been in the

668
00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:30.679
NFL, he started an NFL game, you know, with the Cowboys,

669
00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:34.880
like and he's here in the XFL
saying, you know, this has been

670
00:36:34.920 --> 00:36:37.360
awesome, Like this is the most
fun I've had just kind of being able

671
00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:39.199
to lead a team and you know
kind of you know, go through all

672
00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:42.760
the ups and downs and meet all
these cool people that I wouldn't have met

673
00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:45.639
otherwise. Like that's you know,
that's what football is about. That's what

674
00:36:45.639 --> 00:36:47.559
these leagues in particular are about.
So that's pretty cool. I guess to

675
00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:51.800
end that sort of you know,
Seattle DC game on a positive note from

676
00:36:51.800 --> 00:36:55.639
the losing side. We got a
couple of questions here, and I've missed

677
00:36:55.679 --> 00:36:59.280
a lot of the chatter on this. People seem to be upset about these

678
00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:01.920
trophies and art and South Division.
Obviously, you know, a chairwoman and

679
00:37:01.960 --> 00:37:05.719
cole Nard Danny Garcia was there for
both. I thought that was cool,

680
00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:08.800
right that she was, you know, in Houston, DC. The NFL,

681
00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:13.320
the divisional trophies are not phenomenal as
well. Have you've seen those?

682
00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:17.000
Like what did she make of the
XFL division trophies? Yeah, I mean

683
00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:20.000
I thought they could have done a
bit more, But like at the end

684
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:22.039
of the day, that's not what
you're planning for, right You're playing for

685
00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:23.679
the actual championship, and I assume
that trophy is going to look a bit

686
00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:25.880
better. You know, we haven't
seen it yet, or I haven't seen

687
00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:28.719
it. I don't know if it's
out there. I don't think it is,

688
00:37:29.639 --> 00:37:32.039
you know, but like what I
thought those trophies, they really reminded

689
00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:36.119
me of like sort of the whole
you go back to when the XFL did

690
00:37:36.119 --> 00:37:38.559
they're rebranding, and like they kind
of unveiled the new logos and the whole

691
00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:43.400
black and white scheme. It was
extremely minimalist. It's like a very modern

692
00:37:43.639 --> 00:37:45.920
you know, you're not putting a
lot of work into it. But I

693
00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:49.760
didn't think it looked terrible. Again, they could have done a bit more,

694
00:37:49.800 --> 00:37:51.800
could have jazzed up a bit.
They could have at least put like

695
00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:54.199
a plaque on it, maybe with
like the teams like the game you know,

696
00:37:54.239 --> 00:37:58.400
in the year or something like that. From what I saw and what

697
00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:01.199
I recall when they had the trophy
in the press conference in Houston, it

698
00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:06.880
was just the XFL logo and then
the six sort of bending pieces of stainless

699
00:38:06.880 --> 00:38:09.679
steel or whatever material it was to
form the shape of a football. You

700
00:38:09.719 --> 00:38:13.320
know, I don't think it was
terrible. Again, that's not what teams

701
00:38:13.320 --> 00:38:15.519
are really playing for. It's a
fun thing to have, you know,

702
00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:19.079
but at the end of the day, like teams are going to care a

703
00:38:19.079 --> 00:38:22.840
lot more about the next trophy in
two weeks, so I will say,

704
00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:25.519
and I was, if anyone out
there in the ethers is listening to this,

705
00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:30.840
I want the Seattle Sea Dragons version
of that championship shirt because you know

706
00:38:30.920 --> 00:38:35.639
they made it, because they had
a box of them immediately ready for DC

707
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:37.840
yesterday. You know, you can
buy it if you're a fan. Now

708
00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:40.480
you can buy the DC one,
but a box exists of the Seattle Sea

709
00:38:40.559 --> 00:38:45.320
Dragons North Division championship shirts, and
I would like one of those, if

710
00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:47.000
anyone out there is listening, I
think that would be a really cool memorabili

711
00:38:47.039 --> 00:38:51.360
apiece. Yeah, I mean same
here for Houston. I wouldn't mind one

712
00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:53.639
of those. I was asking around
yesterday, you know, just to kind

713
00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:57.400
of see, like, you know, if I get some equipment, you

714
00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:00.400
know, if anybody's watching this that
has ties to the equipment people in the

715
00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:02.719
XFL, I mean, hit me
up, because you know, I wouldn't

716
00:39:02.719 --> 00:39:06.679
mind the helmet or you know,
practice jersey or something along those lines.

717
00:39:06.679 --> 00:39:08.760
I'm always open to those kind of
things. I collect a lot of you

718
00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:13.480
know, weird and cool memorability,
like we have. We got one of

719
00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:16.159
those, like the XFL jerseys from
when they were doing the showcases. You

720
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:22.400
know, I think we got that
from Russ So yeah, I want be

721
00:39:22.599 --> 00:39:25.280
Yeah, the c Dragons practice jersey
looks better than anything may have horn on

722
00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:29.639
the field this year. I will
say that the other question here and then

723
00:39:29.639 --> 00:39:31.559
we'll talk to USFL during you know, we get this a lot do you

724
00:39:31.599 --> 00:39:36.519
think they looked at the North Division
championship game realize MLS stadiums are the way

725
00:39:36.519 --> 00:39:39.280
to go, except for Saint Louis
in San Antonio. The problem is,

726
00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:44.079
like you have to go with it. I mean, not every city has

727
00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:45.920
that, right Obviously, they couldn't
have done that in New York, right

728
00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:50.719
with the Red Bull Arena. You
know, Seattle, the Sounders play at

729
00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:52.639
Lumen Field. There is no MLS
stadium there, you know. I mean

730
00:39:52.679 --> 00:39:55.639
obviously La and Steff has some other
options. You know, I think that's

731
00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:58.920
the dream, but that's not really
the reality. What do you make of

732
00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:01.440
that? Yeah, I mean I
can definitely understand that. I think MLS

733
00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:07.000
size stadiums are are the way to
go if you have that option. Obviously,

734
00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:09.320
again, like it depends on you
know, which market you're playing,

735
00:40:09.320 --> 00:40:13.119
and not everyone has access to an
mL stadium. I will say, you

736
00:40:13.159 --> 00:40:17.079
know, snap Dragon Stadium in San
Diego is where the Wave play the football

737
00:40:17.079 --> 00:40:21.239
club, the women's team in San
Diego. That's where I'm from originally,

738
00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:23.480
and that's a pretty good sized stadium
and they get a pretty good crowd in

739
00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:27.039
there, and it looks good,
you know, like it looks like sort

740
00:40:27.039 --> 00:40:30.400
of like an XFL style environment.
But I think the other thing too is

741
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:36.599
college stadiums. You know, like
TDECU Stadium in Houston, were the Roughnecks

742
00:40:36.599 --> 00:40:38.519
play. I mean, that's a
great spring football venue. And even though

743
00:40:38.559 --> 00:40:42.400
they didn't open up the two hundred
levels seating this time like they had in

744
00:40:42.400 --> 00:40:45.880
twenty twenty, like the lower bowl
was always really packed for our games,

745
00:40:45.880 --> 00:40:47.480
Like it looked pretty good. And
you know, that stadium I think has

746
00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:52.480
a capacity of thirty five thousand.
You can maybe squeeze in forty if you

747
00:40:52.519 --> 00:40:55.360
were lucky, maybe added a couple
extra seats somewhere. But those stadiums too

748
00:40:55.360 --> 00:40:59.679
at colleges, I think, alongside
those MLS stadiums are perfect venues. But

749
00:40:59.679 --> 00:41:02.320
again I mean, venues are super
hard to get and super hard to find.

750
00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:05.719
I mean, look at Vegas is
like a probame example, you know,

751
00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:07.920
using Cashman Field, which is a
minor league baseball stadium, you know,

752
00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:13.000
that's definitely kind of a tier below
these you know, nicer college and

753
00:41:13.159 --> 00:41:15.360
MLS stadiums. Again, kind of
it comes down more to the markets than

754
00:41:15.760 --> 00:41:19.599
you know, the stadiums themselves,
I guess, because like you know,

755
00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:22.199
you could have a stadium, yeah, I mean there's plenty of MLS stadiums,

756
00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:24.800
but if the XFL teams you know, aren't playing there, you know,

757
00:41:24.840 --> 00:41:28.280
then why go. I mean,
I'm not going to drag the whole

758
00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:30.119
USFL hub thing into this because that's
a that's a separate you know, that's

759
00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:34.639
that has nothing to do with this
discussion or argument or whatever. But you

760
00:41:34.679 --> 00:41:36.880
know, I just think, like
the bottom line is, yeah, I

761
00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:38.679
mean mL stadiums would be good,
but not everyone has those. So yeah,

762
00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:42.079
now they would they all say at
last, if I had put up

763
00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:45.239
tearing up the soccer field, yeah, they don't. Soccer people don't necessarily

764
00:41:45.280 --> 00:41:49.519
love the football coming in and tearing
up the field. I did know this,

765
00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:53.079
you know. And obviously it rained
a lot at DC United played Saturday

766
00:41:53.159 --> 00:41:57.480
night before the you know, before
the game yesterday, so you know,

767
00:41:57.559 --> 00:42:00.960
I don't know what those field conditions
are. Like I did see some slipping

768
00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:02.960
and we saw band rend and slip
and fall like it was wet. I

769
00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:06.719
think the field you can't. It's
a lot of work on that where if

770
00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:09.039
you have bay you know, football
and soccer kind of playing their simultaneously.

771
00:42:09.840 --> 00:42:15.480
Yeah for sure. Um so anything
else XFL I want to talk to McLeod

772
00:42:15.559 --> 00:42:17.159
and kind of we dig Michigan here
a little bit deep, you know,

773
00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:22.119
they have to deep dive USFL.
But any other XFL general thoughts for the

774
00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:24.400
weekend. Yeah, I mean,
you know, I was impressed with the

775
00:42:24.440 --> 00:42:28.119
games. I mean I thought,
you know, I don't want to say

776
00:42:28.199 --> 00:42:31.039
both of them were terribly exciting.
Again, the Renegades coming out the way

777
00:42:31.039 --> 00:42:35.840
they did was such a surprise.
I think that made the storyline interesting and

778
00:42:36.639 --> 00:42:39.000
you know, again that would really
kind of put people like I guess maybe

779
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:42.079
that drag more attention to the game. It was like, oh, you

780
00:42:42.079 --> 00:42:45.360
know, like Allington's really coming out
here and doing something, not saying that

781
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:46.840
they couldn't, but you know,
again, they really impressed. I've said

782
00:42:46.840 --> 00:42:52.719
that multiple times. And then Dum
Seattle Again, it was like a decent

783
00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:54.480
game in the first half, you
know, a couple mistakes from Seattle.

784
00:42:54.800 --> 00:42:59.199
DC wasn't perfect either, but then
DC eventually pulled away and yeah, that

785
00:42:59.239 --> 00:43:00.559
game was over before it was over, you know, you could say.

786
00:43:00.679 --> 00:43:04.440
So that's kind of where I'll leave
it with the XFL. We can talk

787
00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:07.440
a bit about the USFL now,
because I did look at those games and

788
00:43:07.480 --> 00:43:09.039
there are some interesting points that I
want to talk about. Yeah, just

789
00:43:09.239 --> 00:43:13.480
we're just wrapping up the conversation here
with Addie and all of that. Cashman

790
00:43:13.559 --> 00:43:19.000
Yeah, I mean they're selling tickets
for Cashman Field next year. So the

791
00:43:19.079 --> 00:43:22.760
preliminaries, Yeah, I think seven
hundred thousand for the USFL on Fox there

792
00:43:22.760 --> 00:43:25.280
Saturday night. What did you make? Let me see if I can share

793
00:43:25.320 --> 00:43:29.960
this year, I was flying.
I saw many of the highlights. Mccott,

794
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:31.920
Bethel Thompson really having the game of
his life here against with the New

795
00:43:32.039 --> 00:43:37.199
Orleans Breakers here forty five to thirty
one and in the absolute shootout. Yeah.

796
00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:38.519
Well, first of all, I
think this was kind of a marquee

797
00:43:38.519 --> 00:43:42.400
matchup sort of in the USFL.
I mean, these are two very good

798
00:43:42.440 --> 00:43:45.719
teams, you know, from just
roster perspective, coaching. I mean,

799
00:43:45.760 --> 00:43:49.159
you name it right. Going into
the season, I think I looked at

800
00:43:49.159 --> 00:43:52.360
the Breakers is probably the favorite to
win, and I've kind of been,

801
00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:55.199
you know, quietly rooting for them
between all the other stuff that I'm doing.

802
00:43:55.719 --> 00:43:59.599
But yeah, I mean, man
MBT has been fantastic. You know,

803
00:43:59.639 --> 00:44:01.119
he kind of had a bit of
a slow start in Week one,

804
00:44:01.159 --> 00:44:05.039
you know against Pittsburgh when I recall, but ever since then, he's kind

805
00:44:05.079 --> 00:44:07.840
of, you know, been on
this like insane trajectory. And you know,

806
00:44:07.880 --> 00:44:12.039
I said going into this season like
MBT was a massive pickup for the

807
00:44:12.159 --> 00:44:15.360
USFL, Like that's a guy you
know that the XFL could have had or

808
00:44:15.360 --> 00:44:16.719
wanted. Again, we're not going
to start this whole argument here, but

809
00:44:16.920 --> 00:44:20.480
you know, MBT was huge for
the USFL. Is the bottom line,

810
00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:22.599
and he's played like it. You
know, he's lived up to every expectation

811
00:44:22.639 --> 00:44:27.719
again despite age and despite you know, not playing the CFL game for the

812
00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:30.400
first time in several years. I
mean, he has been he has lived

813
00:44:30.480 --> 00:44:34.440
up to every single expectation I've had
for him and then some and also too,

814
00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:37.000
you know West Hills, the running
back, another CFL guy who was

815
00:44:37.320 --> 00:44:40.159
previously with Hamilton. I mean,
he has been fantastic too, not just

816
00:44:40.199 --> 00:44:45.559
this game, but really the entire
season. And he's more interesting because while

817
00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:47.360
MBT was kind of well known up
in the CFL, and he's coming off

818
00:44:47.400 --> 00:44:51.320
a great Cup win, even if
he didn't finish that game, you know,

819
00:44:51.400 --> 00:44:53.440
Chad Kelly was the one who kind
of rode that out. But again,

820
00:44:53.559 --> 00:44:57.719
MBT was good in Toronto, was
the bottom line there. With Hills

821
00:44:57.960 --> 00:45:01.719
you know, I think he only
had like four hundred rushing yards over two

822
00:45:01.719 --> 00:45:05.719
seasons in Hamilton, Like he was
not the future back there, and to

823
00:45:05.800 --> 00:45:09.000
see him do this in the USFL
clearly seems like this might might be the

824
00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:13.239
better opportunity for him. I wanted
to get your thoughts on this, and

825
00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:15.960
I've seen a lot of you know, I get CFL people on my Twitter

826
00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:22.199
and USFL and XFL like, obviously
McLeod should come into the USFL and run

827
00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:25.639
circles around everybody because you know,
CFL talent is so much better than USFL.

828
00:45:25.719 --> 00:45:29.360
Like what do you make of that? Because I don't really know how

829
00:45:29.400 --> 00:45:34.440
to process that well, I mean, I don't know if that's entirely true.

830
00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:37.920
I will say this, like again, I'm not comparing the CFL and

831
00:45:37.960 --> 00:45:40.440
the USFL is hard because the CFL, you know, has some homegrown talent

832
00:45:40.480 --> 00:45:44.679
from Canada, you know. And
again, the CFL has been around for

833
00:45:44.760 --> 00:45:47.679
longer, but I have been I
think the USFL has, you know,

834
00:45:49.320 --> 00:45:52.400
I can't like again, I don't
have every single roster from twenty twenty two

835
00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:53.280
and twenty twenty three in front of
me right now, but just doing a

836
00:45:53.320 --> 00:45:57.360
compare and contrast off the top of
my head. There's a lot of new

837
00:45:57.400 --> 00:46:00.960
players to the league this year,
like the Corey Coleman's, the Ruben Fosters

838
00:46:00.119 --> 00:46:04.280
that I really think Breland speaks is
another one too, you know, some

839
00:46:04.320 --> 00:46:07.800
of these bigger names. Um there's
a lot of talent this year in the

840
00:46:07.880 --> 00:46:08.960
USFL, maybe more than it was
last year, and I liked that a

841
00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:12.800
lot. I think that's good for
the growth of the league, especially because

842
00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:15.519
they're not in their home markets yea. You know, they're kind of you

843
00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:19.480
know, dragging that part of it
out from the operations perspective. So it's

844
00:46:19.480 --> 00:46:21.599
hard to say. I mean,
look, I figured, you know,

845
00:46:22.199 --> 00:46:24.519
MBT I think it comes down to
just MBT has been playing for so long,

846
00:46:24.639 --> 00:46:28.559
you know, in a league that
is you know covered with um you

847
00:46:28.599 --> 00:46:30.760
know, some guys that are maybe
a bit newer to football and really haven't

848
00:46:30.760 --> 00:46:35.960
had these opportunities. Again not saying
that's everybody in the usflum, but to

849
00:46:36.320 --> 00:46:39.239
see a league you know where there's
so many you know, young guys that

850
00:46:39.280 --> 00:46:43.119
are up and coming, you know, newer like Udfa's that type of thing.

851
00:46:43.480 --> 00:46:45.159
You know, MBT is like what
thirty four years old. I mean,

852
00:46:45.159 --> 00:46:50.199
he's been doing this he played like
in the original AFL and the UFL

853
00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:52.719
Like this guy has been around forever. So I think what it comes down

854
00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:54.239
to, you know, why MBT
is so good in a league like this

855
00:46:54.599 --> 00:46:57.960
at this point, it's hard for
him not to be good anywhere he goes,

856
00:46:58.039 --> 00:47:00.079
just because he's got so much experiences. I mean, he's coming off

857
00:47:00.079 --> 00:47:05.079
a championship win in Canada again that
he's had, a he's been with,

858
00:47:05.280 --> 00:47:07.000
you know, a good handful of
NFL teams, you know, through camps

859
00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:10.559
and practice squads and things like that. You know, I love MBT man.

860
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:14.119
That's the that's the bottom line.
I think he's great and it's good

861
00:47:14.159 --> 00:47:15.639
to see him, you know in
New Orleans, you know, doing that,

862
00:47:15.719 --> 00:47:21.400
and especially again from that personal perspective, you know, him coming down

863
00:47:21.400 --> 00:47:23.360
to the States to support his family, you know, to support his wife

864
00:47:23.360 --> 00:47:25.800
and taking a pay cut. You
know, I thought all of that was

865
00:47:27.079 --> 00:47:30.440
again he could have easily. I
mean, I don't know what Toronto was

866
00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:31.400
going to offer him, and you
know, obviously he's at a point in

867
00:47:31.440 --> 00:47:36.559
his career where he might be getting
a veteran discount um. But you know,

868
00:47:36.800 --> 00:47:38.320
I think him coming to the USFL
has a lot of benefits, I'll

869
00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:42.719
put it that way. Uh,
in the I didn't think I would get

870
00:47:42.719 --> 00:47:45.199
blocked by this person so quickly.
R J. Youngley had this big article

871
00:47:45.239 --> 00:47:50.559
aud on McCaw Buffletopson this week and
said, uh, McLeod playing stayed side

872
00:47:50.599 --> 00:47:53.239
for the first time since whatever.
And I said, well, McLeod was

873
00:47:53.239 --> 00:47:57.920
actually in the you know, in
the Spring League, which is the predecessor

874
00:47:58.039 --> 00:48:00.960
to the usfl at which you are
currently working for for Fox Sports U.

875
00:48:01.239 --> 00:48:04.559
And that was a quick block from
R. J. Young. So RG

876
00:48:04.679 --> 00:48:08.599
young not not a fan of being
corrected online from his mistakes about mccabel Thompson

877
00:48:08.679 --> 00:48:13.480
articles. I mean, look,
I you know, I'm not gonna I'm

878
00:48:13.480 --> 00:48:15.760
not gonna get involved in that.
I mean, I think it was a

879
00:48:15.760 --> 00:48:17.920
bit weird when he was saying,
you know, MBT was the you know,

880
00:48:19.039 --> 00:48:22.119
most outstanding player in the Great Cup
when he didn't even finish the game

881
00:48:22.159 --> 00:48:23.960
and Chad Kelly was the one that
you know, wrapped things up one that

882
00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:27.800
game for Toronto, not a sweat
against MBT. But that's just sort of

883
00:48:27.800 --> 00:48:30.840
a you know, a quick Google
search could probably tell you that information.

884
00:48:30.880 --> 00:48:32.920
You look at a couple of stat
lines, you know, and that's That's

885
00:48:32.920 --> 00:48:37.599
all it really takes. So I'll
leave it at that. Any thoughts here,

886
00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:39.480
I will be honest. I did
not watch much of this game.

887
00:48:39.519 --> 00:48:44.320
I was watching the Arlington Houston game. Any thought Showboats? Oh and three,

888
00:48:44.440 --> 00:48:47.199
Todd Haley yelling. He's yelling after
the game. That was probably the

889
00:48:47.239 --> 00:48:52.039
biggest highlight I thought to me was
Todd Haley refusing the handshake. Yeah,

890
00:48:52.119 --> 00:48:54.199
I mean, you know, I
haven't Again, I haven't been too in

891
00:48:54.199 --> 00:48:59.119
touch with Todd Haley and the Showboats
this year. I covered the original Bandits

892
00:48:59.119 --> 00:49:04.960
with Haley and taym a bit last
year. You know, look, Memphis

893
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:08.000
has had a tough go at it
like they had that I mean just awful

894
00:49:08.039 --> 00:49:13.280
game against Birmingham where they scored the
only points they had won a fricking safety,

895
00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:15.440
and then this game, it felt
like was right in their grasp.

896
00:49:15.519 --> 00:49:19.480
But I mean this was probably,
you know, from the entertainment perspective,

897
00:49:19.559 --> 00:49:23.719
like the best game, the better
game of the weekend really came down to

898
00:49:23.760 --> 00:49:28.320
the wire there. Again, I
don't want to really stick to just quarterbacks,

899
00:49:28.519 --> 00:49:30.079
um, you know, because there's
obviously other players on these teams who

900
00:49:30.280 --> 00:49:34.880
have an impactum. But like Cole
Kelly, for the show Boats. Like,

901
00:49:34.920 --> 00:49:37.280
I think he got his first start
this week. I mean they've had

902
00:49:37.320 --> 00:49:39.960
you know, Brady White in there, and then Ryan Willis came in for

903
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:43.840
a bit at one point. But
I mean, Cole Kelly, you know,

904
00:49:44.280 --> 00:49:45.800
I've been waiting a long time,
you know, for him to get

905
00:49:45.800 --> 00:49:49.880
this sort of opportunity, and I'm
really glad. If I'm Memphis, I

906
00:49:49.960 --> 00:49:52.719
might consider starting him for the rest
of the season because in this game,

907
00:49:52.960 --> 00:49:54.840
you know, he wasn't perfect,
could have completed a couple more passes,

908
00:49:54.880 --> 00:49:58.639
but had over three hundred yards,
you know, only turned the ball over.

909
00:49:58.760 --> 00:50:00.960
I think, yeah, one interception, but two touchdowns, like,

910
00:50:01.639 --> 00:50:05.239
you know, pretty good performance.
Again, fifty five percent completion. It

911
00:50:05.280 --> 00:50:07.960
looks like, um so not terrible. You know, he might want to

912
00:50:07.960 --> 00:50:09.840
get that up to sixty or something. But yeah, he looked up.

913
00:50:10.159 --> 00:50:15.119
He looked so far like the most
complete quarterback for that team because they're still

914
00:50:15.159 --> 00:50:17.000
trying to figure out some things,
you know, identity wise. I think

915
00:50:17.039 --> 00:50:22.400
they're owing three now, so you
know, looking at that, I think,

916
00:50:22.440 --> 00:50:24.519
you know, Brady White has been
a bit you know again we joke

917
00:50:24.599 --> 00:50:28.840
because he's got that Memphis connection.
You know, now he's playing in Memphis

918
00:50:28.880 --> 00:50:30.199
it kind of feels like he has
to be the guy. But uh,

919
00:50:30.599 --> 00:50:34.400
you know, Brady's been sort of
spontaneous, you know, like he hasn't

920
00:50:34.440 --> 00:50:37.719
really you know, like there's I
don't want to say he can't hold down

921
00:50:37.760 --> 00:50:38.840
the starting job, but there's so
many guys behind him. Like again,

922
00:50:38.920 --> 00:50:42.360
Ryan Willis Cole Kelly is like,
you're gonna have to play those guys at

923
00:50:42.360 --> 00:50:45.639
some point. And you know,
here we are in week three of the

924
00:50:45.800 --> 00:50:49.639
x USFL season, and you know
they're already they're already playing him, They're

925
00:50:49.639 --> 00:50:53.239
already playing They've already played three quarterbacks. So yeah, it's just I'm gonna

926
00:50:53.239 --> 00:50:57.400
think the comments here, Max Hacking
be an anti Dan Stick at some early

927
00:50:57.519 --> 00:51:00.320
USFL games, Yeah, Todd Haley
cutching himself out of another football league,

928
00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:06.000
and good, this is a good
comment from Gary. And then we'll talk

929
00:51:06.000 --> 00:51:07.039
to the other games. We'll get
out of here at the hour. I

930
00:51:07.079 --> 00:51:10.199
do like the USFL not playing the
next level angle and selling itself as the

931
00:51:10.159 --> 00:51:14.039
develop in the league. That's something
I think has been overplayed in the XFL,

932
00:51:14.360 --> 00:51:16.719
I would say internally, I mean, we can see from what they

933
00:51:16.760 --> 00:51:21.119
did last year after the season,
Hey, you know, we're gonna come

934
00:51:21.119 --> 00:51:24.159
out to Turpen all these guys to
the NFL. You know, obviously they

935
00:51:24.239 --> 00:51:28.639
care about getting doing this, but
I think in season correct, I think

936
00:51:28.760 --> 00:51:30.599
XFL plays up way more at that. Okay, this guy's going to be

937
00:51:30.599 --> 00:51:35.800
in the NFL next week. Like
any thoughts on that, Oh? Absolutely,

938
00:51:35.840 --> 00:51:37.719
I mean I was talking about this
with Anthony over the weekend at the

939
00:51:37.760 --> 00:51:40.639
game. You know, I mean
the XFL their whole you know, player

940
00:51:40.719 --> 00:51:44.320
fifty four initiative, Like player fifty
four is a term that comes from the

941
00:51:44.400 --> 00:51:46.320
NFL, like a fifty three man
roster, and uh, you know,

942
00:51:46.559 --> 00:51:50.639
god forbid I say the term player
fifty four more than a couple of times

943
00:51:50.639 --> 00:51:53.480
here else we're all gonna go crazy. But you know, um, I

944
00:51:53.519 --> 00:51:55.880
think, yeah, they've definitely focused
on it a lot. And even if

945
00:51:55.880 --> 00:51:59.320
you look at it from the broadcast
angle, you know, ESPN will be

946
00:51:59.320 --> 00:52:00.599
like, oh, there's a guy
that might be going to the NFL,

947
00:52:00.639 --> 00:52:02.719
and then that's kind of the first
one of the first things they say.

948
00:52:02.760 --> 00:52:07.840
And I don't like measuring these leagues
in terms of like who's better or who's

949
00:52:07.880 --> 00:52:10.639
more successful based on you know,
which league sends more players to the NFL,

950
00:52:10.639 --> 00:52:15.039
Like I don't think that's the end
goal. I think what these leagues

951
00:52:15.119 --> 00:52:17.320
should be determined by in terms of
successes, you know, the on field

952
00:52:17.320 --> 00:52:21.840
product and sort of like how they
build you know, fan bases in the

953
00:52:21.920 --> 00:52:24.599
culture aspect, because like that's you
know, if you're just gonna say,

954
00:52:24.599 --> 00:52:28.920
oh, well, these leagues only
exist to send players to the NFL,

955
00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:30.960
well, I think you're kind of
missing the point. You know, yes,

956
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:32.840
they're developmental, is the bottom line. You know, some people say

957
00:52:32.880 --> 00:52:36.719
the word minor leagues. I don't
really like that term minor, Like then

958
00:52:36.719 --> 00:52:38.480
you're you know, like, yeah, I guess it's a tier below the

959
00:52:38.599 --> 00:52:43.800
NFL, but like there's players in
these leagues who are not minor league players

960
00:52:43.800 --> 00:52:46.119
in my opinion. So you know, again, it kind of just comes

961
00:52:46.119 --> 00:52:49.519
down to how you look at it, and people will debate that till the

962
00:52:49.599 --> 00:52:52.360
end of time, I'm sure,
but that's my take on it. Yeah,

963
00:52:52.400 --> 00:52:54.880
I think there's an identity crisis,
and I don't know what the answer

964
00:52:54.960 --> 00:52:59.360
is to that because I think both
the actually the USFL, you know,

965
00:52:59.400 --> 00:53:00.800
we're trying to find figure out,
you know, what are we in this

966
00:53:00.920 --> 00:53:04.960
space? Where do we exist?
And I remember back when we had the

967
00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:07.360
ROS mcdonney on back when all the
CFL XFL stuff was going on, and

968
00:53:07.400 --> 00:53:12.679
he said, you know what,
what is like, what is why would

969
00:53:12.719 --> 00:53:15.119
people want to watch the XFL?
Is it to watch you know, people

970
00:53:16.079 --> 00:53:20.280
on the show before they make it
to the show, Like what what is

971
00:53:20.360 --> 00:53:22.760
driving? You know? And you
don't you don't really have any answers.

972
00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:24.320
It's from football fan because you're like, yeah, we want to watch competitive

973
00:53:24.400 --> 00:53:28.800
games and you know it's exciting,
But then every single player there would rather

974
00:53:28.840 --> 00:53:31.440
be somewhere else. I mean,
I think the CFL does a better job

975
00:53:31.480 --> 00:53:36.039
of once you're you might be not
wanting to go to the CFL, but

976
00:53:36.079 --> 00:53:37.639
then once you get there, you
do realize a lot of the benefits and

977
00:53:37.679 --> 00:53:39.800
you're like, Okay, I want
to be here. I could make a

978
00:53:39.920 --> 00:53:44.039
career here. It's just weird that
would you give what I'm saying, like

979
00:53:44.039 --> 00:53:45.880
the identity crisis, it seems like
they have absolutely And I mean, if

980
00:53:45.920 --> 00:53:49.519
you want a bit of a different
take on this from the player perspective,

981
00:53:50.079 --> 00:53:52.000
I brought this up again with Anthony
over the weekend when we were in Houston

982
00:53:52.039 --> 00:53:55.039
too. You know, in terms
of the players coming to this league and

983
00:53:55.079 --> 00:53:58.480
really buying in you know, you
look at what we talked about it earlier

984
00:53:58.480 --> 00:54:00.119
with DC, you're kind of buying
into the program, and that's why they've

985
00:54:00.159 --> 00:54:04.239
been so successful. You know,
I think it really depends on the player,

986
00:54:04.280 --> 00:54:07.679
because some of these guys, you
know, they like, this really

987
00:54:07.760 --> 00:54:09.480
is their first opportunity. Like in
Houston, you look at a Garrett Owens

988
00:54:09.599 --> 00:54:13.880
or a Bryson Allen who hasn't really
touched you know, the NFL before,

989
00:54:13.880 --> 00:54:16.360
Like those guys I would assume again, you know, I know Bryson pretty

990
00:54:16.360 --> 00:54:20.920
well, like those guys take that
opportunity to heart because like this really is

991
00:54:20.920 --> 00:54:22.480
their chance, and you know,
maybe they'll go to the NFL after maybe

992
00:54:22.480 --> 00:54:25.920
they won't. I'm not really as
worried about that from someone who covers the

993
00:54:25.960 --> 00:54:30.360
team and doesn't cover you know,
NFL transactions really besides the draft, I

994
00:54:30.400 --> 00:54:34.519
suppose. But anyway, you know, then there's guys that have, like

995
00:54:34.880 --> 00:54:37.000
you know, take a Cole McDonald
or Deontay Burnett, guys that have been

996
00:54:37.079 --> 00:54:40.199
draft that have been around the NFL
for several years where it's like, you

997
00:54:40.199 --> 00:54:43.559
know, maybe this does feel like
a bit of a downgrade, you know,

998
00:54:43.599 --> 00:54:45.800
and you're kind of, you know, your main goal is to get

999
00:54:45.840 --> 00:54:49.239
back to the NFL, and I
really hope, I mean my my,

1000
00:54:49.400 --> 00:54:52.360
of course hope. And I think
the goal would be for everybody to buy

1001
00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:53.719
in. And I'm not saying those
players didn't. I'm not trying to call

1002
00:54:53.760 --> 00:54:57.880
out Cole or or anybody. I
love everybody on that team. It's personal,

1003
00:54:57.920 --> 00:55:00.199
don't get me wrong, But I'm
just saying, like, you know,

1004
00:55:00.360 --> 00:55:04.599
people are gonna look at things differently
based on their previous experiences in life,

1005
00:55:04.599 --> 00:55:07.079
and that goes far outside of football. You know, that's just a

1006
00:55:07.159 --> 00:55:12.159
general thing. So that is that
whole identity crisis point that you're bringing up

1007
00:55:12.199 --> 00:55:14.960
about these leagues. You know,
I don't think that's something that's gonna get

1008
00:55:14.960 --> 00:55:17.480
resolved very quickly because there's a lot
of stuff surrounding these leagues that are just

1009
00:55:17.519 --> 00:55:20.679
new. There's a lot of new
concepts. You're bringing in things that have

1010
00:55:20.760 --> 00:55:23.320
never really been seen before. We're
entering a new era of football in the

1011
00:55:23.400 --> 00:55:27.360
United States, and you know,
I guess you can include Canada too if

1012
00:55:27.400 --> 00:55:30.599
you want to talk about the CFL
and this mixture of all these spring football

1013
00:55:30.639 --> 00:55:32.320
leagues. You know, there's a
lot going on, and you know it's

1014
00:55:32.360 --> 00:55:35.800
going to take I think a couple
of years until we really figure out,

1015
00:55:35.840 --> 00:55:38.519
like you know, where every league
sort of places and how they really market

1016
00:55:38.559 --> 00:55:43.000
themselves and things of that nature.
I did think, like, you know,

1017
00:55:43.039 --> 00:55:45.679
we make fun, but yeah,
fanatrool football, I think really kind

1018
00:55:45.679 --> 00:55:47.199
of exists in its own bubble,
and they've done a really good job of

1019
00:55:47.280 --> 00:55:50.840
like that is our identity, and
that's you know, that's what we do

1020
00:55:51.320 --> 00:55:53.719
before we get out of here.
We have the Michigan games. I did

1021
00:55:53.760 --> 00:55:59.159
put the Maller Stars game on at
the bar before the ESFL game. I

1022
00:55:59.159 --> 00:56:02.079
did have the bar attending to do
that. Stars looking not great. I

1023
00:56:02.079 --> 00:56:07.159
think case Cookis is probably going to
get injured here even more very soon.

1024
00:56:07.280 --> 00:56:10.360
It's just scary to see. And
then obviously the General's at Bestie and the

1025
00:56:10.400 --> 00:56:17.480
Panthers I tweeted out with the USFL
here from Michael Michael Cohen sixty five hundred.

1026
00:56:17.519 --> 00:56:22.800
They said was at was at for
the Panthers game this weekend. Maybe

1027
00:56:22.800 --> 00:56:28.000
they took it out now after I
tweeted that. Tell the crowd. I

1028
00:56:28.440 --> 00:56:31.199
anyway, why did you make of
the Michigan games? Um? Yeah,

1029
00:56:31.239 --> 00:56:34.920
again, I didn't have too much
time to watch. I went back to

1030
00:56:35.039 --> 00:56:38.800
look at a couple of highlights.
Again for I look at Michigan. Um,

1031
00:56:39.119 --> 00:56:43.079
I think it was Trey Quinn,
who was a former mister Irrelevant in

1032
00:56:43.119 --> 00:56:45.840
the NFL in twenty eighteen or twenty
nineteen. I think he was drafted to

1033
00:56:45.920 --> 00:56:49.920
Washington, had a pretty decent game
for the Panthers. Josh Love, you

1034
00:56:49.960 --> 00:56:51.760
know, it was kind of an
up and down. Love is one of

1035
00:56:51.760 --> 00:56:54.400
those guys, you know who.
I think he kind of needed this extra

1036
00:56:54.480 --> 00:56:58.559
year in the USFL if you really
wanted to develop. Again, He's had

1037
00:56:58.599 --> 00:57:00.280
some better games, but he's still
coming long and you know last year he

1038
00:57:00.360 --> 00:57:04.280
split time between Michigan and Pittsburgh,
So I've been in a bit of an

1039
00:57:04.360 --> 00:57:07.320
up and down ride for him.
But I'll save the Panthers talk for you

1040
00:57:07.360 --> 00:57:09.559
know, Pat, because I'm sure
he'll have an article out and if he

1041
00:57:09.639 --> 00:57:13.039
was here, you know, he'd
be able to do a way deeper dive

1042
00:57:13.079 --> 00:57:15.519
than you know what I'm to be
able to do. But from the general's

1043
00:57:15.559 --> 00:57:20.679
perspective, you know, I keep
talking about quarterbacks. I know there's more,

1044
00:57:20.800 --> 00:57:23.039
Um, I know there's more players
on these teams than just quarterbacks.

1045
00:57:23.079 --> 00:57:28.800
But Jandre Johnson for the Generals,
had a fantastic game yesterday, and I

1046
00:57:28.880 --> 00:57:31.639
was really impressed to see that after
you know, he's kind of been stuck

1047
00:57:31.639 --> 00:57:35.599
in these two quarterbacks systems. Last
year, you know, Louise Prez was

1048
00:57:35.599 --> 00:57:37.760
carrying a lot of the weight,
and this year they've brought in the former

1049
00:57:37.800 --> 00:57:40.679
CFL guy, to quote a prukop
to take off some of the weight.

1050
00:57:42.079 --> 00:57:44.599
But yeah, I mean DeAndre Johnson
had a fantastic game, you know,

1051
00:57:44.679 --> 00:57:47.639
passing and rushing for the Generals.
Last year they used him a lot more

1052
00:57:47.679 --> 00:57:51.440
for running. It was a lot. It was reminiscent of what we had

1053
00:57:51.440 --> 00:57:54.599
in Houston in the XFL with Brandon
Silvers and Cole McDonald, where Cole would

1054
00:57:54.599 --> 00:57:57.960
occasionally pass, but he was mainly
the guy, you know that we'd have

1055
00:57:58.039 --> 00:58:00.119
run packages for, or you'd bring
him in third, fourth and short,

1056
00:58:00.159 --> 00:58:05.639
whatever the case may be. So
yeah, hats off to Deonder Johnson again,

1057
00:58:05.679 --> 00:58:08.079
one of these guys that's been you
know, waiting, waiting a long

1058
00:58:08.079 --> 00:58:10.800
time to kind of find his stride, and I think he definitely found it

1059
00:58:10.920 --> 00:58:14.480
yesterday. So I was pleased with
that. You know, I thought those

1060
00:58:14.519 --> 00:58:16.880
games we were pretty good. I
mean I was I will say Pittsburgh reading

1061
00:58:16.960 --> 00:58:20.519
Philadelphia was the surprise of the weekend. I mean, I think we were

1062
00:58:20.519 --> 00:58:22.960
all kind of shocked when that happened, especially how Philadelphia played in week one

1063
00:58:22.960 --> 00:58:25.440
and ever since then, you know, they're starting to slow down. You

1064
00:58:25.480 --> 00:58:30.519
know, things aren't looking this great. Maybe they're kind of getting found out

1065
00:58:30.599 --> 00:58:32.119
a bit, you know, in
terms of their play style. So a

1066
00:58:32.159 --> 00:58:37.000
couple of things there that were interesting. Yeah, so I I can't confirm.

1067
00:58:37.119 --> 00:58:40.800
So this is the this is the
article now that's on us because because

1068
00:58:40.840 --> 00:58:43.960
this came out last night, Paul
Reid sent the server to me. He

1069
00:58:43.960 --> 00:58:46.400
said, hey, we actually have
because we never get official attendance numbers from

1070
00:58:46.400 --> 00:58:49.880
the USFL against Hey read like they
actually put you know, So this is

1071
00:58:49.920 --> 00:58:52.400
Michael Cohen, this is Fox Sports
usbl dot com, and sit down here.

1072
00:58:52.400 --> 00:58:54.719
And that's how I was looking for
it. I had, because I

1073
00:58:55.119 --> 00:58:59.400
am smart. Here screenshot they had
last night on here where they had the

1074
00:58:59.480 --> 00:59:02.840
roughly six five hundred. I don't
know what my belief is there was there

1075
00:59:02.880 --> 00:59:07.440
was more than sixty five hundred people
in Detroit. My belief is, and

1076
00:59:07.519 --> 00:59:10.039
Mike Mitchell's belief is that was paid
tickets and then they paper it a lot

1077
00:59:10.079 --> 00:59:13.960
more in the AA to make it
look full, So whatever it is,

1078
00:59:13.960 --> 00:59:16.079
but it was just funny that we
had we had official league attendance and then

1079
00:59:16.079 --> 00:59:21.079
they well, but see, the
thing is like sixty five hundred isn't an

1080
00:59:21.119 --> 00:59:25.639
official number. Like an official number
would be like six thousand and five hundred

1081
00:59:25.639 --> 00:59:30.159
and twenty six or something, And
it says roughly in that article too,

1082
00:59:30.199 --> 00:59:32.400
So I feel like, yeah,
I mean that that number really is inaccurate,

1083
00:59:32.400 --> 00:59:35.760
But that might be the best we
get from the USFL this season,

1084
00:59:35.800 --> 00:59:38.159
given that, you know, previously
in Canton, in some other places,

1085
00:59:38.199 --> 00:59:40.920
you know, Birmingham, like we
didn't have attendance at all. So I

1086
00:59:42.000 --> 00:59:45.639
do think that is a bit strange
on the USFL's part, Like I don't

1087
00:59:45.679 --> 00:59:49.679
know. Again, they said some
long lines of because we're not in every

1088
00:59:49.679 --> 00:59:52.599
home mark yet, we don't want
to give out attendance because it seems unfair.

1089
00:59:52.639 --> 00:59:54.320
But I'm like, is it really
going to hurt? Like what difference

1090
00:59:54.320 --> 00:59:58.159
does it make? You know,
there's people there. Why not accept the

1091
00:59:58.199 --> 01:00:00.760
fact that there's people there and kind
of corporate that as part of the league's

1092
01:00:00.760 --> 01:00:04.000
growth. You know, last year
you only had one hub. Now you're

1093
01:00:04.000 --> 01:00:07.360
expanding to four, Like, you
know, let's try and champions sort of

1094
01:00:07.360 --> 01:00:10.480
the attendance growing because last year,
the reality was outside of the Stallions games,

1095
01:00:10.519 --> 01:00:14.280
you know, the crowd was extremely
sparse and that was just kind of

1096
01:00:14.400 --> 01:00:19.159
I guess what was expected. Because
you have eight teams playing in one city

1097
01:00:19.159 --> 01:00:22.519
in Alabama and only one of them
is actually connected to the city. You

1098
01:00:22.559 --> 01:00:24.480
know that people want to root for. So I feel like with this expansion

1099
01:00:24.519 --> 01:00:28.480
now and the other thing I'll add
here too. I mean, this is

1100
01:00:28.559 --> 01:00:30.559
kind of maybe a bit off topic
from the attendance part of it, but

1101
01:00:30.719 --> 01:00:35.480
uh and Mike brought this up in
our chat to Mike Mitchell. You know,

1102
01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:38.360
they really should have rebranded one of
the teams to Ohio this year.

1103
01:00:38.360 --> 01:00:42.559
I mean, I know Tampa became
Memphis, but I think had they I

1104
01:00:42.599 --> 01:00:44.599
think, you know, Pittsburgh was
one of the ones that was brought up,

1105
01:00:44.599 --> 01:00:47.440
like take the Pittsburgh Mallers tournament to
like the Canton Mallers or the Ohio

1106
01:00:47.480 --> 01:00:52.119
Mallers because the reality is you have
a hub in Canton, Ohio, and

1107
01:00:52.159 --> 01:00:53.639
I get why they have one there
because of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

1108
01:00:53.719 --> 01:00:57.119
Like that's you know, that's great. Like they had the championship game

1109
01:00:57.199 --> 01:00:59.800
last year. I can understand why
you'd want to have that as a hub,

1110
01:01:00.199 --> 01:01:01.360
but you know, if you're not
going to have a team there,

1111
01:01:01.400 --> 01:01:04.840
then the attendance is always going to
be less than what you want it to

1112
01:01:04.840 --> 01:01:06.679
be, you know what I mean. Like, I feel like if you're

1113
01:01:06.679 --> 01:01:09.719
gonna have a hub in a city, like you know, Birmingham has the

1114
01:01:09.719 --> 01:01:13.920
Stallion's, Memphis as the show Boats, now Detroit has the Panthers, but

1115
01:01:13.960 --> 01:01:15.360
Ohio is like the odd man out
and it's just kind of a weird.

1116
01:01:15.639 --> 01:01:19.239
Again, It's one of these like
weird quirks in a way, I'm like,

1117
01:01:19.280 --> 01:01:22.239
well, why didn't you, you
know, consider like putting in Ohio

1118
01:01:22.320 --> 01:01:23.840
team there to at least, you
know, get more fans in the building,

1119
01:01:23.840 --> 01:01:27.400
which is what a lot of people
are focusing on when it comes to

1120
01:01:27.519 --> 01:01:30.320
USFL discussion. It's weird. I
just had a question. We'll get out

1121
01:01:30.320 --> 01:01:32.400
of here because I don't want to
keep you too long, and I'm gonna

1122
01:01:32.440 --> 01:01:37.000
I gotta go get lunch before I
hit the airport. It just in my

1123
01:01:37.079 --> 01:01:39.039
name is really thinking. But I
get called Mark a lot. I got

1124
01:01:39.079 --> 01:01:44.239
called Mark a lot yesterday see the
Defenders game. I don't I don't know

1125
01:01:44.480 --> 01:01:47.280
why attendance is down, and I
don't know, I don't think. I

1126
01:01:47.280 --> 01:01:52.320
don't think x L or USFL has
done a tremendously good job marketing for new

1127
01:01:52.360 --> 01:01:55.119
markets. Right. We saw San
Antonio come out really saw in the first

1128
01:01:55.119 --> 01:01:58.400
week, and I know their season
hasn't been what it wants to be.

1129
01:01:58.800 --> 01:02:00.840
You know, if you look at
the mark kids, DC Saint Louis,

1130
01:02:00.960 --> 01:02:08.000
that's carryover, right Seattle, carryover
UM USFL, they really I think struggled.

1131
01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:10.440
They hit that balance of like,
we want to be a TV product,

1132
01:02:10.480 --> 01:02:14.599
but then we also need people like
invested in the stands. I will

1133
01:02:14.639 --> 01:02:16.760
tell you every single person in DC
and not that there's not not that there's

1134
01:02:16.760 --> 01:02:21.800
not invested USFL fans, but like
every single of those eighteen thousand people there

1135
01:02:21.880 --> 01:02:24.440
yesterday for the Defenders were there to
watch that game and cheer and you know,

1136
01:02:24.639 --> 01:02:28.280
throw throw lemons at me if I
was in the beers, like they

1137
01:02:28.320 --> 01:02:30.679
were all wanting to do that.
And and I don't think the XFL is

1138
01:02:30.679 --> 01:02:35.280
an instrumentdously good job at doing that
outside of the original markets, and I

1139
01:02:35.280 --> 01:02:37.320
don't think the USFL. I think
they're both struggling in that regard that that

1140
01:02:37.360 --> 01:02:40.119
makes sense. Yeah, well,
I mean Look, we talked about the

1141
01:02:40.239 --> 01:02:45.159
xfls you know, somewhat lackluster marketing
budget this time around. Um, you

1142
01:02:45.199 --> 01:02:47.840
know, I mean I personally,
I think the USFL has done a better

1143
01:02:47.920 --> 01:02:50.880
job with marketing. But again,
for them, it comes down to,

1144
01:02:51.280 --> 01:02:53.079
you know, if you don't have
you know, eight teams playing in eight

1145
01:02:53.119 --> 01:02:55.639
stadiums, well, there's always going
to be a loss of attendance. And

1146
01:02:55.880 --> 01:03:00.159
I expected, you know, the
XFL attendance to go down for what it

1147
01:03:00.199 --> 01:03:01.320
was in twenty twenty. Again,
it's the same with viewership, right,

1148
01:03:01.320 --> 01:03:06.079
I mean, viewership for both leagues
is down. And again now that spring

1149
01:03:06.079 --> 01:03:08.280
football isn't like this new crazy concept, you know, we're kind of getting

1150
01:03:08.320 --> 01:03:10.679
used to it, Like I can
understand, you know why there's a drop

1151
01:03:10.719 --> 01:03:14.599
off in that. But again it
goes back to my point earlier about how

1152
01:03:14.639 --> 01:03:16.239
these leagues are still growing and there's
still a lot of kinks to work out.

1153
01:03:16.360 --> 01:03:20.599
There's still a lot of unknowns.
It's going to take really some time.

1154
01:03:20.679 --> 01:03:23.039
And I mean even you know,
it's hard because you have such a

1155
01:03:23.079 --> 01:03:27.400
long offseason where you still need to
kind of you know, garner interest and

1156
01:03:27.480 --> 01:03:30.079
I mean well for US obviously,
you know, it's kind of our life

1157
01:03:30.239 --> 01:03:31.719
in a way, so I'm always
tied in with these leagues even when they're

1158
01:03:31.719 --> 01:03:35.199
not playing. But for other people, it's like, you know, this

1159
01:03:35.280 --> 01:03:38.320
is only a short part of the
year, and it's again it's a very

1160
01:03:38.320 --> 01:03:40.719
experimental thing. It's a new concept
to a lot of people. A very

1161
01:03:40.800 --> 01:03:45.519
niche market is the term I always
like to say. And until this kind

1162
01:03:45.519 --> 01:03:47.719
of becomes normalized and you sort of
have more time to you know, figure

1163
01:03:47.760 --> 01:03:51.280
these things out, you know,
build the brands, build the fan bases,

1164
01:03:51.320 --> 01:03:53.079
everything like that, you know,
you can't expect, you know,

1165
01:03:53.559 --> 01:03:59.000
a ton of interest, especially again
now that like this is USFL season two

1166
01:03:59.079 --> 01:04:02.199
and XFL all season two, well
technically season three, but you know,

1167
01:04:02.360 --> 01:04:06.119
kind of I'll say season two.
You know, for given that the twenty

1168
01:04:06.199 --> 01:04:10.760
twenty league was a lot different from
two thousand and one, Well, I

1169
01:04:10.800 --> 01:04:13.679
think this is good. We didn't
have too many angry comments there. I

1170
01:04:13.679 --> 01:04:16.840
don't know. I think it's that
I think, Kurt, I don't know,

1171
01:04:16.920 --> 01:04:23.320
I view differently. Kurt Manafee saying
roughly thirty thirty thousand people in Memphis

1172
01:04:23.760 --> 01:04:27.199
as a side note on the broadcast
and it being on the USFL printed thing,

1173
01:04:27.639 --> 01:04:30.559
maybe that's me I don't know.
I just I take we're taking the

1174
01:04:30.559 --> 01:04:33.159
time to write this. This has
been vetted from USFL about obviously not because

1175
01:04:33.159 --> 01:04:35.480
they took it out. So I
don't know what the issue is with that,

1176
01:04:35.559 --> 01:04:39.760
but I do I don't live by
like Kurt Menefee saying thirty thousand in

1177
01:04:39.800 --> 01:04:43.119
Memphis Week one. It's like,
you know, that is an official attendance

1178
01:04:43.159 --> 01:04:46.039
number, but that's just me.
Anything else, USFL, XFL anything before

1179
01:04:46.039 --> 01:04:48.320
we get out of here, I
appreciate your time to they haven't. Yeah,

1180
01:04:48.400 --> 01:04:50.639
man, I mean I think the
last thing I'll say is just like,

1181
01:04:50.719 --> 01:04:54.599
you know, again, we're entering
a period now where it's like,

1182
01:04:55.039 --> 01:04:57.880
I mean, well, the past
couple of weeks we've had the XFL USFL

1183
01:04:58.119 --> 01:05:01.639
crossover per se, and I just
think that's really been interesting to see because

1184
01:05:01.679 --> 01:05:04.400
again, you know, we had
talked about for a long time, and

1185
01:05:04.440 --> 01:05:09.400
this goes back years. I mean
you even really after XFL twenty twenty and

1186
01:05:09.400 --> 01:05:12.119
then kind of like when the USFL
was starting to get talked about in twenty

1187
01:05:12.159 --> 01:05:15.599
twenty one, it was like,
well, you know, imagine if we

1188
01:05:15.679 --> 01:05:17.760
had two leagues here in the US
competing at the same time, two outdoor

1189
01:05:17.840 --> 01:05:21.400
leagues, Like it was just again
for the people like us who really follow

1190
01:05:21.400 --> 01:05:25.719
these leagues closely and analyze them and
really know what's going on, you know,

1191
01:05:25.760 --> 01:05:29.880
that was a very um like that
that was just a concept that didn't

1192
01:05:29.880 --> 01:05:30.920
really seem like it was possible.
It was like, oh, like that

1193
01:05:30.960 --> 01:05:33.440
would be crazy, you know,
like imagine that, and here we are

1194
01:05:33.519 --> 01:05:35.559
living that, you know, And
I know, again it's a very short

1195
01:05:35.920 --> 01:05:40.400
kind of crossover time and you know, the XFL seasons winding down whereas the

1196
01:05:40.480 --> 01:05:44.480
USFL season is picking up. But
it's been fantastic to see, like there's

1197
01:05:44.480 --> 01:05:46.599
been so much to follow and there's
so much to talk about. I mean,

1198
01:05:46.639 --> 01:05:48.880
you know, I could probably go
on for another hour here if we

1199
01:05:48.920 --> 01:05:51.440
had it, you know, if
we brought up more players in certain scenarios,

1200
01:05:51.599 --> 01:05:55.239
and I wouldn't have a problem with
that. But yeah, man,

1201
01:05:55.360 --> 01:05:58.599
like it's just so cool to see
this all, you know, come together,

1202
01:05:58.760 --> 01:06:00.800
and I mean, man, I'm
to be a part of it.

1203
01:06:00.880 --> 01:06:02.440
I'll leave it at that. Yeah, it's exciting. I think Evan has

1204
01:06:02.440 --> 01:06:05.880
done a tremendous job this year covering
the you know, Houston if you guys,

1205
01:06:05.880 --> 01:06:09.880
obviously, I assume everyone here that's
watching follows Evan, but make sure

1206
01:06:09.880 --> 01:06:14.400
you go fallow Evan on Twitter and
he's just done the really and I just

1207
01:06:14.639 --> 01:06:18.440
that's what with the USFL and the
XFL, like, you know, realizing

1208
01:06:18.480 --> 01:06:20.800
the people that are spending the time
the money. I mean, I just

1209
01:06:20.840 --> 01:06:24.760
game this weekend as a fan here, you know, but but seeing you,

1210
01:06:24.800 --> 01:06:27.920
know you and the time you spend
every weekend and taking time away from

1211
01:06:28.000 --> 01:06:30.519
you know, I mean, living
your life in college and doing what you

1212
01:06:30.519 --> 01:06:32.360
could be doing to you know,
cover this because you love it. It's

1213
01:06:32.400 --> 01:06:35.119
something that you want to support the
players and do all that. I think

1214
01:06:35.159 --> 01:06:40.960
it's tremendous. It should be good. Well, we have the bye week

1215
01:06:41.039 --> 01:06:44.000
this week, I have a good
show coming up. We'll get ready for

1216
01:06:44.039 --> 01:06:46.760
the championship game. I'd be curious
that if the USFL ratings bounce back this

1217
01:06:46.800 --> 01:06:50.000
week, and obviously we'll have our
ratings news tomorrow. I don't think I'll

1218
01:06:50.000 --> 01:06:54.079
go live though. I got to
talk with one of our guests tomorrow around

1219
01:06:54.079 --> 01:06:57.360
the time that ratings are going to
be coming out. Anything else, Evan

1220
01:06:57.440 --> 01:07:00.440
before we get out? Oh no, I think that's it, man.

1221
01:07:00.559 --> 01:07:03.880
I've again thanks for having me on
as usual. This is really fun.

1222
01:07:03.960 --> 01:07:08.360
Glad, I could, you know, talk football and all these different leagues

1223
01:07:08.599 --> 01:07:10.840
that are going on now. It's
just such a crazy time, man,

1224
01:07:10.840 --> 01:07:13.920
And I'm so grateful for everything.
And I will say this too again kind

1225
01:07:13.960 --> 01:07:16.199
of like last note, even though
I feel like I always say, you

1226
01:07:16.199 --> 01:07:18.800
know, last note, and then
I keep saying things, But um,

1227
01:07:19.039 --> 01:07:23.719
you know, anybody who puts time
and money and effort into covering any one

1228
01:07:23.719 --> 01:07:27.440
of these leagues, whether it be
you know, there's the there's like the

1229
01:07:27.559 --> 01:07:30.679
USFL xfl CFL here. But then
you look at guys below that, like

1230
01:07:30.800 --> 01:07:32.039
Sam you know, he does a
lot of the arena ball, you know,

1231
01:07:32.079 --> 01:07:34.440
the more again, those are even
more niche leagues, you know,

1232
01:07:34.559 --> 01:07:39.400
more semi pro whatever you want to
call it or classify it. You know,

1233
01:07:39.639 --> 01:07:42.159
all those people deserve credit. You
know. You can sit here and

1234
01:07:42.159 --> 01:07:44.360
you know argue and I know Anthony
put out a tweet about, you know,

1235
01:07:44.480 --> 01:07:46.840
not having conflict on either side,
and I completely agree. You know,

1236
01:07:46.880 --> 01:07:50.079
I think, you know, we're
at a time now where we just

1237
01:07:50.119 --> 01:07:53.880
we need to appreciate this because we
don't know how long it's gonna last,

1238
01:07:54.119 --> 01:07:56.559
you know, from either side,
or you know, like this is just

1239
01:07:56.599 --> 01:08:00.639
such a unique time and really a
place where we never thought, you know,

1240
01:08:00.679 --> 01:08:02.519
we would reach. I mean it
was I think there was a lot

1241
01:08:02.559 --> 01:08:06.880
of people in this field who were
pessimistic after the af collapsed in twenty nineteen

1242
01:08:08.039 --> 01:08:10.920
and then Covid shut down the XFL
in twenty twenty. Like it was all

1243
01:08:10.920 --> 01:08:14.360
these times where we were finally getting
there, finally getting to a place where

1244
01:08:14.400 --> 01:08:16.239
it felt like we could do this. And then you know, last year,

1245
01:08:16.279 --> 01:08:18.640
yeah, the USFL, you know, kind of sealed the deal and

1246
01:08:18.680 --> 01:08:21.560
had you know, a full season
with their you know, and the XFL

1247
01:08:21.640 --> 01:08:25.720
is going to do it now a
year later alongside the USFL, and I

1248
01:08:25.760 --> 01:08:28.239
mean, man, you know,
it's just so cool against the seal.

1249
01:08:28.319 --> 01:08:31.279
It's like, can't stress that enough. Look for US Friday as normal,

1250
01:08:31.880 --> 01:08:35.199
big, big, well, you
know, our normal Friday show, and

1251
01:08:35.239 --> 01:08:40.359
then we will be live there for
the XFL Championship game, getting that all

1252
01:08:40.399 --> 01:08:42.640
set up on the river walks.
If you're in the area, you'll be

1253
01:08:42.680 --> 01:08:45.479
able to come by and say hi, but we'll be online for everyone doing

1254
01:08:45.520 --> 01:08:48.600
that. So appreciate everyone, appreciate
Evan. I'll play the outre music and

1255
01:08:48.640 --> 01:09:01.079
we'll get out of here. Thanks. Everyone likes its cred in UNIS