Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, Browns fans.
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[00:00:55] Speaker B: Media the it's time.
[00:01:18] Speaker C: Time for the Burning River sportscast. With the Browns resting on an early buy, what's up? Continues to be down and out again as another week of this Dairy Queen blizzard of a season carries on with pumpkin spice cheesecake. Surely on the way, the return of the $230,000,000 man remains a bit more uncertain. One thing that is for certain, this week's opponent is one with talent, potential and expectations. And if DCR has to take the field again, look out, because he'll melt faster than one of them paw pass kale smoothies. And it'll be a long day for our Brownies. Did the rest of the team get the R R they needed? Is this the Browns'first legitimate measuring stick game of the year? Are Kenny Pickett and the Steelers a legitimate threat to the north? And does any of this matter if Deshaun doesn't man up and put the city on his back like he's paid to do?
[00:02:01] Speaker B: We'll break it all down for you.
[00:02:03] Speaker C: Next on The Burning River george Cast.
You know, whether it's you at your own job and someone know red out. Ronnie James isn't doing his job right, you're going to instantly get defensive. You're going to get defensive. You don't want to have to hear that shit.
[00:02:18] Speaker D: Toastitas pizzas. The little round ones.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: Pizza bagels. Pizza bagels.
No.
[00:02:27] Speaker C: Happy for you that you found Trailer Swift.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: But like Trailer Swift, old Trailer Swift, they lost to that mom over there.
[00:02:37] Speaker C: Wow.
Safety off.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: Yeah. And Robert Sala gave the game ball to Nathaniel Hackett.
[00:02:44] Speaker E: Wow.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: What? Did I say something wrong? Did I say something that was factually inaccurate?
[00:02:51] Speaker C: You just went hard M on him.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Russell's washed Sean Payton is ass.
[00:02:55] Speaker C: Russell Wilson washed Sean Payton's ass. That's what's going on in Denver.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: No, you heard it here first.
[00:03:00] Speaker C: Welcome into the Burning River sportscast presented by Tap in Media. And brought to you by the Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise. I'm your host, Kenny Thunder, alongside the hottest ring girl in the business, 36 24 34. He is red hot. Ronnie jams. Lest we not forget our tasty I shouldn't say tasty. Our trusty board op back in the house. This week, bringing alongside the sweetest marrow in the game, the big bone man. Big bone man. How sweet is that marrow?
[00:03:26] Speaker D: Oh, it's sweet. Very sweet.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: That's how I like it. Back to Ronnie two questions true or false bone marrow is your favorite food.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: True.
[00:03:35] Speaker C: Nice. And where can bone marrow enthusiasts find the most delectable bone Gooeys? Inside of a podcast.
[00:03:42] Speaker B: They can find our podcast wherever they get their podcasts. Talking apple podcasts. Spotify Stitcher. Google podcasts. Amazon Music. Theodore iHeartRadio podcast. Castro good pods and so many more. I like when you call them tasty bun.
[00:03:55] Speaker C: That was for sure.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube, the only place that you can find our video podcast. And check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Our handles for all of those, including YouTube, is at Burning of Sportscast. And we are on X, the Artist formerly Known as Twitter as well, with the handle at Burningover Pod. And while you're at it, check out our merch WW Thetappinmedia.com Backslash Shop. We've got shoes, hats, mugs, mousepads shirts, shorts, flags, phone cases, and so much more. Make sure you check all of that out and buy something. Buy it if you want. Just buy it. We're always releasing new stuff.
[00:04:34] Speaker C: Christmas is coming.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: Just keep checking back. Yeah, Christmas is coming. Good gifts. Good gifts.
But listen, we've got another monster show for you today. Monster Mash, to get you back into the swing of things as we come out of the by. Today, we have an interview with the Bay Area Browns backers. We've also got an interview with another Browns alumni that will be joining us on the Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise in the second half of the show. Today's guest.
[00:04:57] Speaker C: Hell, yes.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Kevin Mack.
[00:04:59] Speaker C: Hell, yes.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: And finally, we have the week six preview of the game against the San Francisco 49 ers. That's going to be a good one, so strap in. But for now, it's time for the Burning River News story of the week.
[00:05:18] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: You okay over there?
[00:05:23] Speaker C: No.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: Break time.
[00:05:26] Speaker C: Quick wardrobe change.
You go, you scare.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: All right, so there was a pumpkin out in California this week that weighed in at 2749 pounds. It won whatever contest was going out there. Going on out there in California. And it set a world record for the world's biggest gourd.
[00:05:52] Speaker C: That's a lot of gourd.
[00:05:53] Speaker B: That's a lot of gourd. It's an enormous, lumpy orange pumpkin that can produce at least 687 pies.
[00:06:03] Speaker C: That's a lot of pie, my friends.
[00:06:05] Speaker B: Yes, you could probably eat them all.
[00:06:09] Speaker C: Maybe 685.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah. All right, well, that's your limit.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: That's where I tap out, tap in, tap out.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: The previous record for a gourd was 2702 pounds, set by a squash in 2021 in Italy.
[00:06:24] Speaker C: That's a big squash.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
Pumpkin much more delicious.
[00:06:28] Speaker C: I don't even know how to play squash.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Nobody knows.
But the dude in California that grew this pumpkin, turns out he grows gourds in his yard watering them up to twelve times a day for extra care.
[00:06:42] Speaker C: That's all it takes if you want to be in the world record book. Just water your plants.
[00:06:46] Speaker B: That's it. You just water your plants.
You get so excited, you wet your plants.
All right, so he did win $30,000 for his efforts.
[00:06:56] Speaker C: It's not a bad payday for growing a gourd.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: How long did he have to grow that gourd?
[00:06:59] Speaker C: I bet water in California, though, is expensive given all the droughts and the wirefires.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: So it was basically an even trade. $30,000 in water, $30,000 in pumpkin winnings. All right, so that'll take us to the week five recap.
You're right, my friend, there was no week five recap. Why? Because we were on by. So in other Browns news this week, the back and forth regarding Deshaun Watson's injury continues between Watson, Barry and Stefanik. This whole thing is just starting to look worse and worse.
And it's especially bad now because we're recording on Monday. We always record on Monday, release on Thursdays, we're recording on Monday. And Deshaun Watson didn't practice today. So coming out of the buy, Deshaun Watson doesn't practice. After they went back and forth on, was he medically cleared? What does medically cleared even mean? Which we'll get to in a second.
And then also everybody kind of downplaying it and saying it's no big deal, he'll be fine. But here we are, he had a full week to recover and he is sitting the first practice coming out of the buy. So what are your thoughts on this?
[00:08:08] Speaker C: I just don't think any of us thought for a second that this would even be a question coming out of the buy.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: No, the way they were talking, they were like, it's not a big deal.
[00:08:16] Speaker C: He potentially could have played last week in the last game, two weeks ago at this point, you would have thought, okay, unless this was way more serious than we were ever led on to believe.
It's bizarre, too, because this front office has a history track record since they've took over at managing the messaging coming out of Berea much more closely than the Dorsey administration did and even works before that. So the fact that they can't get this one right when it's the focal point of your entire franchise is very concerning. I don't know what the hell is going on, to be quite honest. All I know is that you paid this guy $230,000,000.
You got to get him back on the field.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Well, this whole thing this week with Stefanik trying to somewhat recant and say, well, yeah, I said he was medically cleared, but medically cleared and able to perform are two completely different things.
[00:09:13] Speaker C: Somebody should have told that Baker Mayfield, then.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: So what it sounds to me like, though, is, yes, you're correct there, but what it sounds to me like is a couple things here, right? So one, we talked last week about Barry and Stefanik kind of posturing to know when this whole thing goes bad, who are we pinning this on?
So I do think there is a lot of bad stuff happening behind the scenes in Cleveland between Stefanik and Barry that we're not really privy to. We're kind of starting to see it spill over a little bit right now. But I believe that Stefanski taking a shot at Watson by saying he was medically cleared and it was his choice.
I think that indicates that he's trying to himself, like, say, hey, if this goes bad, this wasn't my fault. It's $230,000,000 quarterback that he decided not to play. And in turn, I believe Watson now is firmly in the Barry camp, and he's like, this guy brought me in. This guy can't coach. Whatever.
[00:10:15] Speaker C: And then there was another report this weekend that there were players on the team that were frustrated that Deshaun didn't play in the last game. True.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: There were those.
[00:10:21] Speaker C: Part of that could be Stefanski standing up for his own team, saying, hey, I don't know why I didn't play either.
He's still got to keep that locker room together as best he can.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think no matter which way you look at it, like I said, there's so many different sides to this story. There's Stefanik, potentially, and again, I'll remind everybody we call him Stefani because we have no respect for him because his play calling sucks ass. So until he figures things out, he's Stefanik until further notice, not Stefanski. So we know his name, we choose not to use it.
Stefanik, though, whether he's sticking up for.
[00:10:55] Speaker C: His team, stefani just has a nice ring to it.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Stefanik sticking up for his team. The team being disappointed in Watson, watson seeming to be in Barry's corner. Barry and Stefanik fighting. Like, any way you look at this, if you read between the lines, it just points to a lot of bad shit happening behind the scenes.
[00:11:12] Speaker C: And that's just something in general that you don't want to have to do with your favorite football team is have to read between the lines. Anytime you're in that situation, there's something bad going on.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: To your point, it's been the one thing that we've been able to kind of hang our hat on is like, we kind of know what's going on at all times. They all provide, at least seemingly we're on a page and presenting the same thing to fans, but not anymore.
[00:11:34] Speaker C: Not now.
The thing is, when you're winning, things are going great. Nobody cares. When you're losing and things aren't going great, there's fingers pointed everywhere, so nobody wants a finger pointed at. Know whether it's you at your own job and someone know Red Hot Ronnie James isn't doing his job right, you're going to instantly get defensive. You're going to get defensive. You don't want to have to hear that shit. So I think it's the same politics right here playing out in front of us. The problem is there's just too much at stake for that. It's one thing to have office politics in our lives, but this is a Browns team that had expectations this year to come out and compete for an AFC North title.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, bone. Was it you?
You're saying I'm not doing my job?
[00:12:22] Speaker D: We'll talk about it later.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: No, I mean, I agree with you. It's just ridiculous that we have to even talk about these.
And here's the thing that we didn't talk about before, is before the season. Not even before this season, before Deshaun Watson came to Cleveland.
[00:12:39] Speaker E: Do you remember?
[00:12:39] Speaker B: Everybody talking about he's coming here because he wants to play with Stefanski. He wants to play in Kevin Stefanski's offense. Kevin Stefanski is a quarterback guru.
Well, all of a sudden, that seems like it's pretty damn false. And it turns out he really did only want his $230,000,000 guaranteed and he could care less about Kevin Stefanik.
[00:12:58] Speaker C: Well, there's a new tentacle because you're actually 100% right when this news story broke that Deshaun was going to be traded and it was real, we weren't on the short list of Deshaun.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: Steve no.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: You want to go to no, he was looking at Atlanta.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: In fact, we were in the last four, and then we were one of the first ones we were the first.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: One eliminated until we guaranteed the contract.
This could have very easily been a desperate Deshaun in a situation where he didn't know what was going to happen. With 22 pending civil lawsuits saying, these guys are giving me the most guaranteed money. Let me get out of this stage of my life and know I at least have this taken care of, and then I'll worry about football again. And that's really concerning because it's possible he may not even want to play here. This could be the start of Deshaun pulling an OBJ, trying to get himself.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: Out of and I don't none of us know because none of us is in the building in Berea.
But with all that being said, you know what cures all in the NFL?
[00:14:00] Speaker C: Mac and.
[00:14:03] Speaker D: Toastitas pizzas.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: The little round pizza bagels. Pizza bagels.
[00:14:11] Speaker E: No.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: Winning. Winning cures all in the NFL. And so if they can find a way to turn this all around, then none of us will be talking about this in a couple of months. And hopefully good things will be happening and they're winning, and it doesn't matter.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: Browns is the Browns we'll see.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: But speaking of injuries, we talked about Deshaun's injury or lack of injury or whatever's going on with him.
Also on the injury front here, you thought we were thin on the offensive line, right?
[00:14:40] Speaker C: Those were pretty heavy guys.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: I mean, like thin. Like as in I hate you, shut up.
[00:14:46] Speaker C: They're all over 300 pounds.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: Depth was not good on the offensive line with all the injuries so far.
[00:14:51] Speaker C: Oh, sure, I give you that.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: Yeah. So Joe Batonio, our Pro Bowl offensive lineman, was seen leaving the team facility last week on crutches with an unspecified injury.
So there's that. Don't know if he's going to play this week or not.
[00:15:07] Speaker C: And no one's even talking about that, so I don't even know.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: I won't say her name. The beat reporter for the Browns reported that earlier today.
[00:15:15] Speaker C: No, I mean, I'm saying it hasn't been even blown up to the deshaun point yet.
[00:15:19] Speaker B: Well, that's because everybody's talking about deshaun. Nobody's talking about the fact that we literally lost another Pro Bowl lineman to protect him.
[00:15:25] Speaker C: The mainstream news may not even pick that up until game day.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And then speaking of offensive linemen, the Browns have checked in on Broncos Garrett Bowles as confidence in Jed Wills has finally taken a hit. And the Broncos are expected to be sellers at the deadline.
[00:15:41] Speaker C: Yeah, because they suck.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:15:44] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:45] Speaker B: Boy, your boy bone, man. Russell Wilson. Russell's not tussling.
[00:15:50] Speaker D: Yeah, he's struggling.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: Yeah, he's not good. He's washed.
[00:15:53] Speaker D: His team gave up 70 points.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: He's washed.
[00:15:56] Speaker C: Russell will struggle.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Russell will not be good.
[00:16:02] Speaker C: I don't know much about Garrett Bowles, but he can't be as bad as Jed Wills. I'm for the move.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: Nobody can. It turns out Jed Wills is going to get a job at the Rapid, and he's just going to let people in.
[00:16:14] Speaker C: That would be the perfect job for him.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: Despite not playing a game in week five, the Browns saw their playoff probability drop to 41%. So even when we didn't play, we took an L.
Look, I don't know.
[00:16:33] Speaker C: What to make of this AFC North right now. I mean, clearly by the fact that I can't pick a game in the AFC North, but oh, you're really bad.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the worst teams I've ever seen, but they apparently are first in the division.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: They got Mike Tomlin.
[00:16:45] Speaker C: Baltimore hadn't done anything to impress me, but they are the better team than the Steelers, and they ended up losing in a big Browns. The browns is the browns. They should be good. But here we are having all kinds of weird conversations about things that aren't football.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: True. And it's really annoying.
[00:17:07] Speaker C: We just talk about football and Cincinnati has pulled themselves out of the depths of despair.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Have one good game and everybody feels good.
[00:17:13] Speaker C: All it's like the ace. The ace. You know, at the beginning of the season, this was the best division in football, and it didn't look that way after first three or four weeks. And then all of a sudden, a week later, and everything's changed.
[00:17:23] Speaker B: Yep. How the tables have turned.
[00:17:25] Speaker C: How the turntables turn.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Tables turn. All day tables turn.
Finally, in other Browns news, the dude that we just can't stop talking about, baker Mayfield, he was on the Pat McAfee show this week, and he said on that show, quote, I'm still confused about my browns exit and why I'm not playing there anymore.
And for everyone that's know, I just want to say this for everyone that's like, why are we still talking about Baker Mayfield? He isn't a Cleveland Brown anymore.
Listen, one, Baker Mayfield's always going to take a shot at Cleveland. He always does. So we have to talk about that. But two, I got to say, even I, someone who wasn't a big Baker fan, still has to look at the overall situation, who took his spot, the fanfare that came along with that, the contract that came along with that, the allegations from that player, from beforehand, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And with all that in mind, we'll continue to talk about Baker until Deshaun Watson earns that paycheck that the Browns handed him, and the comparisons will always be there until Watson makes them completely irrelevant.
[00:18:37] Speaker C: Well, that's the thing. If Watson had come in and just went gangbusters this year, nobody would say Baker's name. We wouldn't care. But the fact is that, look, even if people didn't care for Baker, this guy brought us to the playoffs for the first time in 35 years, won a playoff game.
There's just this illegitimate narrative out there that Baker was this trash quarterback, and he wasn't trash. He was good enough to win games in the NFL, which is something we haven't seen a lot of in Cleveland. Stefanski has been one of the most prolific coaches since we've come back to League 99. I think he's won 27 games here or something. That's not a lot. No, but Baker was a big part of that. So it's just like until Deshaun comes out and plays like we expect him to, you're always going to have that comparison. And now that he's down there and has the Buccaneers in the first place in their division, it's harder and harder to defend $230,000,000 the other way and all the draft picks and all your cap capital, right?
[00:19:41] Speaker B: And you've said it day in and day out, and I can't agree more is the fact that we were sold this bill of goods.
Without that elite quarterback, we couldn't get to the next level, and instead, for $230,000,000, what we're getting is a quarterback that's playing at the same level, if not worse. I mean, if you look at their stats, they're slightly like they're almost identical to Bakers when he was here. I don't know if people look at that, but they're almost identical to Bakers when he was here. And in fact, as far as interceptions and things like that, they're slightly worse. And so for $230,000,000 in completely destroying draft capital and those types of things, it's a wash.
That's unacceptable, right? That's just unacceptable. So until Deshaun Watson earns that paycheck and plays the way that he's supposed to play and makes these comparisons irrelevant, they're going to continue to happen. So everybody just needs to get used to it. You're going to hear about Baker until Deshaun Watson I would love to get you plays well or gets run out of time.
[00:20:45] Speaker C: I would love to get to a point where we're comparing Deshaun Watson against the other top passer in the league and that's what we're comparing him know, hey, this guy over in hell.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: Forget about the other top passers in the league. What we were sold on Deshaun Watson was we would be comparing him to the other great passers in Cleveland Brown's history.
[00:21:04] Speaker C: Well, but even Cleveland Brown's history, baker Mayfield's one of.
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Like it was like a foregone conclusion. Like he was going to break every record that Brian Syipe and Bernie Kozar had and he was going to be the greatest quarterback the Browns have ever seen.
[00:21:18] Speaker C: What I'm saying, though, is Baker had already done that.
I mean, we don't have a prolific history of passers here. We have a lot of guys that are beloved by fans and won a lot of games here. But the game was very different. So statistically, like, it's not hard to catch up to those guys if you just play competently. And that's what you saw out of Baker for most of his career here was above average quarterback play ish and that was not good enough, apparently not.
[00:21:47] Speaker D: To beat a dead horse. But Baker's final season, he played almost the entire year was a torn labrum.
[00:21:52] Speaker E: Correct.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:21:53] Speaker D: Which never really gets mentioned. And he was either his decision to keep playing or the coaching staff and administration just continued to put him out.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Yep. And either one is should he should have realized in him self, I can't keep playing for my team and the coaches should have shut him down.
[00:22:08] Speaker C: But the whole thing is this is the worst kept secret in Cleveland is because that administration wanted him to fail. They wanted him to go out there and put it all on him and they wanted him to fail.
They wanted people to say, I'll play hurt for you, but that's not good enough. That's what they wanted people to and.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: It'S I feel like there's no surprise that in Cleveland, the narrative right away with Baker, like as the season progressed and they continued to play bad was it was all on Baker. Whereas this year with Deshaun Watson, it's like, well, you shouldn't play through the injury. You shouldn't do that.
[00:22:39] Speaker C: Yeah, we don't even want our $230,000,000 quarterback playing through injury.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: It's just OD. And again, I just want to say this and emphasize this. I am not a Baker fan at like, I don't hate the guy. I'm happy that he was able to win a playoff game for us here and get know, a decent amount of wins compared to what we were used. Um, but I'm not a huge Baker fan. I think I look at it know, both sides and I'm just like, yeah, it doesn't really I just look at it doesn't make sense compared to what they sold us.
[00:23:12] Speaker C: I just look at it through the lens of look at all the talented players that have come out in the last couple of years that you could have added to this roster as a piece.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: Right.
That's my biggest hang up and had.
[00:23:23] Speaker C: A quarterback who was competent 75% of the time.
[00:23:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. I'm going to move on because we could talk about this all day. Let's get into the division roundup.
Ready? Down, foot.
All right, so obviously the Browns were on by this week, but the rest of the AFC North did play. So let's get into those games. Baltimore loses to the Pittsburgh Steelers 17 to ten.
Obviously, none of us saw that coming.
[00:24:00] Speaker C: Nobody picked the Steelers to win this game. Not even our group outside of here. No one did. The only people that believe the Pittsburgh Steelers could win that game was the Pittsburgh Steelers.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Even their fans are like, don't know.
[00:24:12] Speaker C: Baltimore just played sloppy. They didn't look good.
I mean, you're coming off a team that just beat us. What was the score of the game? They beat us 27 three or something. And they did not look like the same team. Lamar laid out a couple of really nice balls to Zay Flowers or whatever, and that kid just can't catch the ball to save himself 28 to three.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: My bad.
[00:24:34] Speaker C: And it was just kind of ugly. The defense played piss poor, and I just let the Steelers hang around just long enough. And I think that Pittsburgh Steelers team is full of savvy, veteran guys that when we look at it and we say, like, who's the best teams in the NFL? Who has the best talent? And you look at these young guys and you look at like, Justin Jefferson's of the world, and you look at your McCaffrey's of the world and how those guys change the game for your team. Those guys don't exist in Pittsburgh. But you know what you do have is you have a bunch of guys that are older veterans that are opportunistic, and when a ball gets popped into the air, a ball gets put on the ground with just those guys always seem to find it.
[00:25:12] Speaker B: They got some young talent in there that's I'm not talking about Pickett or Pickens. Which one's? George Pickens. George pickens is good.
[00:25:20] Speaker C: Pickett.
[00:25:21] Speaker B: Pickett.
[00:25:22] Speaker C: He's the one good young piece they have. Yeah, pickett now, but Pickett, I don't know. I mean, is Pickett good? Are we going to have to have this realization they're in first place?
[00:25:29] Speaker B: I will not talk about this.
[00:25:31] Speaker C: Is Kenny Pickett good? Maybe he's not good, but is he the Baker Mayfield of three or two years ago where he has moxie on a team that has a bunch of veterans around him?
[00:25:40] Speaker B: He wears two gloves.
[00:25:41] Speaker C: I know he wears two gloves, but they're in first place in the division.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: You're not allowed to be good at.
[00:25:46] Speaker C: Quarterback if you wear two gloves, they're in first place in the division.
[00:25:50] Speaker B: I hate you. Listen, needless to say, we were all wrong on this pick. We all picked Baltimore. We were all wrong.
Next up, Cincinnati beat the Cardinals 34 to 20.
Bone man mailed in his pick on this one, and he picked the Cardinals to win at home. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Kenny was wrong. I was the only one that went with Cincinnati. I was right. And so that leads us to our current standings. I am at six and eight, Bone Man's at five and nine, and Kenny always bringing up the rear at four and ten.
But what a weird season it's been.
[00:26:27] Speaker C: I love the rear.
It's been a weird year. Picking AFC North games for sure. This is always a tough division to pick because these teams are so closely aligned from a talent perspective.
I really didn't see Pittsburgh beating Baltimore. I mean, you could play that game 100 times, and I think that's the only time that happens. And the Cardinals just ran out of gas in this one, frankly. They played with Cincinnati for three quarters and looked like they had their chances that they might figure something out, and they're just not a very good football team right now. And Cincinnati is on the rebound with the injury to Joe Burrow, he looked a lot better, a lot more comfortable, and then obviously, Jamar Chase was just a monster in that game.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: Bone, thoughts on the AFC North?
[00:27:12] Speaker D: It's impossible to predict. I think Mike Tomlin is just a stud, and he just always has freaking.
[00:27:17] Speaker B: X factor for those guys. I just don't understand it. I wish we had a coach like him, but instead Browns fans think, I guess not so much anymore. It is finally starting to sour on Stefanik. It's not just us saying that he's not very yeah.
[00:27:32] Speaker D: Hot seat.
[00:27:33] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
[00:27:34] Speaker C: He's not very good. The new squid.
[00:27:39] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:27:40] Speaker C: Now stand the squid and look at that.
[00:27:44] Speaker B: All right, so that'll do it for the division roundup. Let's take a trip around the NFL.
All right, we're going to start with Mac Jones. This week, Mac Jones was benched for the Patriots in a horrific loss to the Saints. The Saints won this game 34 to nothing, and Bill Belichick seems to break his, quote, worst loss of his career record weekly. Is the end near for Bill?
[00:28:17] Speaker C: It has to end at some point, right?
[00:28:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:21] Speaker C: And unless they find a new franchise quarterback, I don't know how are they tanking for Caleb? I mean, they have to tank for somebody because Mac Jones is just not the answer.
[00:28:34] Speaker B: He's so bad Kenny forgot his name.
[00:28:36] Speaker C: I just think, look, Belichick's obviously a good coach, right? You don't win, whatever, seven Super Bowls he had without being a good coach. But I think Tom Brady was such a huge part of that equation that when you break them up. They're just not the same individually. Now, Tom went on to have the Super Bowl in Tampa, which is great for him, but even he couldn't keep doing it over and over and over again.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: No, but I feel like it proves that Tom was the bigger piece of the puzzle.
[00:29:01] Speaker C: Well, and Tom probably was over the last decade and a half, but I think Bill was the one that had the foresight to put him together and to train him during the first, probably four to five years of his career that made him into the juggernaut that he was.
And I just think that unless they end up with some new talent because, look, that division is Miami, which is young and good, buffalo, which is young and good, the jets, which have maybe one of the best defenses in the NFL. And who knows if Aaron Rogers comes back healthy or not? It's not going to get any easier for them.
[00:29:37] Speaker B: There no they're the clear bottom of that division for the foreseeable future.
[00:29:42] Speaker C: But I do think that Bill Belichick wants the all time wins record, and I think he's like, 20 or so games from that. So his ego may force him to keep coaching. I just don't know if it's going to be in.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: That may take him how bad that team is.
[00:29:54] Speaker C: That may take him five years with Mac Williams play.
[00:29:58] Speaker B: Damn. Speaking of blowouts, the 49 ers stomped the Cowboys this weekend, 42 to ten.
[00:30:06] Speaker C: Yeah, this was a route.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: This was bad. And the Cowboys were supposed to be pretty good. I mean, although, granted, this is the second time the Cowboys have been blown out this year, but the only two losses they have were complete blowouts. Besides that, they've looked pretty dominant, though.
[00:30:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I watched this game, too, and it was also go ahead. It was just kind of a slow burn. Like, it didn't feel like a blowout as it was happening, but then it.
[00:30:33] Speaker B: Was got to the end.
[00:30:34] Speaker C: You were like, wow, what is with.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: All the blowouts in the NFL this year? Has anybody else noticed this? Is anybody else confused by this? Because it's just weird. There's just so many blowouts. There's never blowouts in the NFL, and it seems like every week there's like four or five nothing.
Nobody's got any thoughts? You guys are just okay with that?
[00:30:56] Speaker C: I quit the show for a minute. Look, you know, my honest take is, like, I don't want to have this conversation because it's going to bring me back to Baker, Mayfield, and every conversation, all roads lead back to Baker with you. I think what it is is that it's really hard to win in this league. Dak Prescott has been a franchise quarterback for the Cowboys for how long?
[00:31:15] Speaker B: But at this point, it's got to be debatable that he's a franchise quarterback.
[00:31:18] Speaker C: But he is a franchise quarterback in the definition of, like, he throws for lots of yards. He throws for lots of touchdowns, and his team has a winning record. Do you go back to the Browns when they were bad, when they tore this thing down to the studs and you were one in 31, this thing was ugly here.
[00:31:33] Speaker B: People just seem to forget that.
[00:31:34] Speaker C: And then things got a lot better under Stefanski when Baker was here, and it's like, it's still not good enough. But I think what you have here is you just don't have it some nights. It's impossible to be an elite quarterback all the time in this mean, who hasn't had bad games this mean? Josh Allen's looked bad at some times this year.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: Joe Burrows.
[00:31:58] Speaker C: Burrows looked bad.
Aaron Rogers obviously busted his ankle on the first play game.
[00:32:03] Speaker B: I will say Bone Man mentioned off air, he said, does that speak to the parity?
[00:32:07] Speaker C: Right?
[00:32:07] Speaker B: That's what you were asking about the parity. But it goes both ways. I mean, you look at the Cleveland Browns this year, they've won 27 to three and lost 28 to three. And they're not the only team that's like that. There's multiple teams that have won or lost either way. So it's just wild. It's weird. But anyways, let's move on to Taylor Swift.
So Taylor Swift was not seen with Travis Kelsey on his birthday, and she was not at his latest game.
[00:32:35] Speaker C: He had his arm around another girl.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Yeah. And you know what happened? He's sprained his ankle. But then you know what happened? He caught a touchdown pass after he came back in the game. So what does it all mean?
[00:32:45] Speaker C: I don't know. I know there was some talking to media this week about Travis Kelsey saying, like, they didn't mean to be. So outwardly, just out there, they didn't mean to be.
[00:32:57] Speaker B: They didn't mean to private about everything, so they didn't mean to. 400% increase in Jersey sales. You didn't mean to.
[00:33:02] Speaker C: I agree with you. My thought is the reason she was not there is because Andy Reid probably came to them and said, like, guys, this is a huge distraction. We can't have this going on on our sideline all year long. Happy for you that you found Trailer Swift.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: But, like, Trailer Swift, old Trailer Swift.
[00:33:21] Speaker C: But you can't just have an A list full of celebrities in your family box every weekend. We can't have that.
[00:33:29] Speaker B: They seem to be doing fine.
[00:33:31] Speaker C: They almost lost the game the last time.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: Man, I wish I could root for a team that I could say, well, we almost lost once. We almost lost. That would be phenomenal. Anyways, next up, Anthony Richardson played another game for the Colts. And just like that, out for a month.
[00:33:48] Speaker C: AC. Joint feels bad.
[00:33:50] Speaker B: AC joint sprain can't play football like that in the NFL. You just can't.
[00:33:54] Speaker C: No, we've said it since he started playing this.
[00:33:56] Speaker B: He can't do it.
[00:33:57] Speaker C: He's too much of an athlete. He relies too much on being athletic.
[00:34:01] Speaker B: And he's a big dude, so he thinks he can take on, like, all these defensive ends and linebackers and whatever.
[00:34:05] Speaker C: You saw how well that worked out for a guy like Cam Newton, who for a while you can play like that. And if you're tough enough to get through and you don't get hurt, sure. But eventually, that all catches up to you.
[00:34:14] Speaker B: It all catches up to you. The hits feel different in the NFL, and I'm not talking right away. I mean, they do. I mean, they're much bigger in general, but over time, those build up and could really tear you down.
[00:34:27] Speaker C: That's why Deshaun needed so many massages.
All right, but I will say this about the Colts. I do think they just should let Minshew mania take over there in the games where Gardner Minshew has taken the majority of their snaps, they're three and O.
[00:34:43] Speaker B: Well, we get them next week.
[00:34:47] Speaker C: I think that's going to be a tougher game than people think. I think that people think that the Colts suck, and I think Gardner Minshew is decent, and they have a we're.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Not talking about that game.
[00:34:56] Speaker C: Josh Downs, who looked really well this week.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: Please stop breaking down next week's game. We're on this week's.
[00:35:02] Speaker C: You know what?
[00:35:03] Speaker B: It's my show, too.
[00:35:04] Speaker C: Okay?
[00:35:07] Speaker B: In other news here in the same press conference that Mike McDaniels confirmed that Tuo went with his own play call on the long touchdown to Tyreek Hill over the weekend, it was mentioned the Dolphins have more yards than any team in NFL history through five games.
Bone man's dying over there. Mike McDaniel's response to that, mission accomplished. Our whole goal, this entire offseason was statistical output through five games.
[00:35:36] Speaker C: Of course it was.
[00:35:37] Speaker B: He then went on to add, the emphasis on the run game is intentional, and it gets the team going. And he continued, if you guys had it your way, all the running backs would be run out of town too soon.
[00:35:49] Speaker C: I like Mike McDaniels.
[00:35:51] Speaker B: Man, oh, man. Mike McDaniels is the best. He just literally says whatever the fuck he wants at all times.
[00:35:55] Speaker C: I mean, to have a coach that just has no and you go back.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: And look at his pictures from when he was the ball boy for the Broncos, he's just got, like, earrings all over the place. Just looks like he's like, I don't give a shit. This is me. I know football better than all of you guys, and I'm going to say whatever want.
[00:36:14] Speaker C: So I wonder, though, what his staying power is, because we kind of said and felt the same way about Sean McVeigh three years ago. Here's this young, handsome guy that remembers everything.
[00:36:25] Speaker B: Sean McVeigh, though, sold his soul.
They said, fuck them picks.
They said, we're just going to go all out for it. And they got their Super Bowl, and.
[00:36:34] Speaker C: He probably should have retired after that.
[00:36:36] Speaker B: He probably should have.
[00:36:37] Speaker C: All that talk about was he going to retire? And they're like, Why would he retire? He's, like, 32 as well.
[00:36:41] Speaker B: This is why.
[00:36:41] Speaker C: Now you're bad again.
[00:36:43] Speaker B: But I think Mike McDaniels has a lot more staying power because they're building the team differently. I mean, they've made some big trades and things, but they have guys that they've drafted. They're doing things.
[00:36:54] Speaker C: Although, have you seen this Puka Nakua kid?
[00:36:57] Speaker B: Yeah, in La. Yeah.
[00:36:59] Speaker C: I've never heard of him until he's.
[00:37:01] Speaker B: On my fantasy team three or four weeks ago. Yeah, he's on my fantasy team. He's killing it.
[00:37:05] Speaker C: Yeah. Really impressive. I still don't know who he is. He looks like Troy Palmalu's ex brother.
[00:37:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
But we mentioned Tyreek Hill and Tua. Speaking of good quarterback, wide receiver duos.
This just in, joe Burrow and Jamar Chase are still pretty good.
[00:37:23] Speaker C: Yeah, Jamar had a hell of a game.
[00:37:25] Speaker B: What do you go for? Like, 186 yards or something like that?
[00:37:30] Speaker C: It was a lot.
[00:37:31] Speaker B: It was big time. Big time.
[00:37:33] Speaker C: Big play.
[00:37:34] Speaker B: And then also this week, one of the games that I've been looking forward to all season finally happened. And Nathaniel Hackett got his revenge as Sean Payton in the Broncos lost to the Aaron Rodriliz Jets. They lost to that mom fucker over.
[00:37:48] Speaker C: Whoa.
Wow.
Safety off.
[00:37:53] Speaker B: Yeah. And Robert Sala gave the game ball to Nathaniel Hackett.
[00:37:57] Speaker E: Wow.
[00:37:59] Speaker B: What? Did I say something wrong? Did I say something that was factually inaccurate?
[00:38:03] Speaker C: You just went hard M on.
Look, Nathaniel Hackett has been taking it since last season about just him being a suck ass coach. And then Sean Payton gave it to him. All and now the shoes on the other foot, man. Doesn't feel very good.
[00:38:24] Speaker B: No. And they got problems over there in Denver.
[00:38:28] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, they do.
[00:38:29] Speaker B: Oh, man. Russell's washed Sean Payton his ass. It's just insane.
[00:38:35] Speaker C: Russell Wilson washed Sean Payton's ass. That's what's going on in Denver.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: No, you heard it here first. Oh, God. You heard it here first. Listen, why does Sean Payton have you noticed he continues to just run his mouth? He's like Baker Mayfield.
[00:38:52] Speaker C: Welcome to 88.3 Baker. Talk all day, all night, and every night.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: No matter how bad they play, he's like, I'm just going to keep running my mouth. I don't care.
It's wild.
[00:39:01] Speaker C: Do what you do, man.
[00:39:02] Speaker B: And he's got, like, that permanent pressed lips look. He just always looks like he ate something sour.
But I digress. Digress. I digress.
They're in Denver. I digress. Nice.
[00:39:18] Speaker C: You digress. What color do you dye it?
[00:39:21] Speaker B: Green.
[00:39:22] Speaker C: Why would you dye grass green?
[00:39:24] Speaker B: That's the mystery.
[00:39:25] Speaker C: You could digress any color you wanted to, but why would you dig green?
[00:39:27] Speaker B: Think about it.
[00:39:29] Speaker C: Anyways, I thought about it.
[00:39:31] Speaker B: Running back finally signed a decent contract this past week as Jonathan Taylor signed the extension with the Colts worth 42 million over three years, with 26 and a half million guaranteed. I think this is a step in the right direction for running backs, potentially. Or it could not be because Moss is out there. Lighten it up for the Colts.
[00:39:51] Speaker C: Yeah, Zach Moss played pretty well.
[00:39:52] Speaker B: Are they going to have a complete split and then they're going to say, see, we told you we didn't have to pay him.
[00:39:57] Speaker C: Look, I think even though Zach Moss played well, I think Jonathan Taylor is the way better player. So I think once he gets on the field finally, then it's going to be evident that he's the guy. But yeah, look, step in the right direction for running backs. Glad to see finally one get a good contract.
The whole story here has never made sense from day one.
We're not going to pay Jonathan Taylor. Okay, fine, you can trade Jonathan Taylor, but I want five first round draft picks in return. Well, that doesn't make sense either because you don't think he's worth even a contract and then at the end of the day, he comes off the pup list and gets $42 million. So what the hell even happened here?
Ursay just drunk off his mind, probably.
[00:40:39] Speaker B: Let's be honest. Probably he probably is.
[00:40:41] Speaker C: He just thinks he's God out there in Indianapolis. I don't know. He's just doing whatever the hell he wants. Whatever he wants.
[00:40:48] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know. But I do hope that because they paid him and with Mike McDaniel's comments about running know I'm hoping the Browns do right by Nick Chubb in the offseason, but we'll see still coming off that.
[00:41:01] Speaker C: Yeah, he's they're going to get him for a budget now.
[00:41:04] Speaker B: But anyways, that'll do it for our trip around the NFL for this week. Kenny, you want to do a Brownsbackers interview?
[00:41:12] Speaker C: I love interviews with Brownsbackers.
[00:41:15] Speaker B: All right, we'll do one. Okay.
[00:41:30] Speaker C: Powered by Riverside FM.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: Okay, so this week for our Browns Backers interview series, we have the opportunity to chat with Bud Genovese who is the president of the Bay Area Brownsbackers. So without further delay, let's go ahead and welcome Bud. Bud, how are you?
[00:42:00] Speaker F: Great. Good to be on your show.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Thanks for being here. And so tell us a little bit about your chapter, where you guys are located, when you were established, viewing locations, all those things.
[00:42:13] Speaker F: Okay, yeah, we actually started in 1986, if you could believe that, with eleven people.
[00:42:18] Speaker B: That was before we were born.
[00:42:21] Speaker F: Exactly.
I was only twelve years old.
[00:42:26] Speaker B: Right. No.
[00:42:29] Speaker F: But our original president was Harold Manson and he was a lieutenant colonel in the army in Monterey and he grew up in Houston, if you could believe that, way back. And he used to listen to the Browns from 1946 on, if you could believe that. So he was not an Ohio native. He started the club. He was out in Monterey, then he moved to San Jose, started the club and I helped him. Eleven of us started the club in 1986 and we've grown over the years. We're actually over 3000 people. And we're in six sports bars. San Francisco.
San Jose, walnut Creek. Livermore.
Let's see. Did I name them?
Oh, and Mountain View. So we have quite a following in each of those sites and we seem to dominate those sports bars, even though we have to compete with there's actually still Raider fans out here and we have to compete with Raider fans and 49 er fans for the attention. But we certainly get a good following and we get good attention at the sports bars, giving us a nice screen and so on. And so each location has a location leader because we're sort of spread out geographically, but that's how we handle each location. I primarily go to the San Jose one.
[00:44:11] Speaker B: That's awesome. And not many of the Brownsbackers chapters are quite that large out there, so that's phenomenal. And I will say you guys are probably having a hell of a time this week with the 49 ers being the opponent and some of the back and forth that's going on out there, I would think. Right?
[00:44:28] Speaker F: Exactly. Actually every week we have to tolerate the 49 er fans, and the Raider fans, actually they seem to just stick around and the 49 ers now play in Santa Clara. So as you know, even though it's San Francisco, santa Clara is right a suburb, really of San Jose, it's right about 45 miles south of San Francisco. And so we get, again, in the neighborhood I live in, we actually have 4900 players that live in my neighborhood. And so we're quite involved with that, putting up with them.
[00:45:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I bet.
Talking about your community and things like that, are you guys involved with your community at all? I know most of the Brownsbackers chapters do like community service work and charity work. What types of things are you guys involved with out there?
[00:45:32] Speaker F: So because of our location out here, we do have modest dues and we use the dues to provide halftime raffle. So we have a free halftime raffle of Browns items, hats and other items that we give out at halftime. So the funds that we collect mainly support the items we buy for each location. Extra funds we donate back to the Cleveland Browns Foundation and also out here, the local humane societies.
[00:46:07] Speaker B: Good choices there.
[00:46:09] Speaker F: That's basically it. We're probably not as active as some of the clubs in Ohio as far as communities work, but we try to donate extra funds to those two groups mainly.
And we also have sponsored players that come out over the years, typically in April or in the spring.
We've had cribs here. Kevin Mack.
Ozzy newsom, actually, even. And so over the years we've had many players come out for what we call banquet. We pay for their travel and their hotel and it's quite fun. We usually get a couple of hundred people for those banquets.
[00:46:54] Speaker B: Wow, nice. And as far as the charity work goes, every little bit counts and goes a long way. So your work out there is much appreciated.
[00:47:05] Speaker C: But let me ask you, do you find that I know with 3000 members that's kind of hard to keep track of everyone, but do you find that most of your membership is folks that either grew up in Northeast ohio and have moved to that area of the country or is a lot of it very localized and just people that grew up rooting for the browns for one reason or the other.
[00:47:25] Speaker F: Oh no, that's a great question. I would say 95% of the people are transplants people that work in Apple. So in San Jose we have Apple Computer, we have intel, a lot of the tech firms, facebook, Google, right down the street. So we have a lot of tech people, a lot of people that have moved out here. We do have a few natives though. So it is interesting. We love the natives that join our club. And we have one gal that's going to be going to the Browns game, 49 er game. She grew up in the East Bay, a little past Oakland, but all her family was big 49 er fans. So when she grew up, she says, no, I'm going to pick a team. She picked the browns. I don't know. I didn't ask her how, but they've never been to Cleveland. They're all flying to Cleveland this weekend and I gave her some tips of where to go for sure, to visit the Rock Hall and so on downtown. They're going to stay at the arcade.
[00:48:30] Speaker B: And we're happy to have her as a fan. But does she know what she's signing up for? I know.
[00:48:35] Speaker F: Well what's even worse, I have a nephew here, born and raised in San Jose. His dad's from Dallas, but not so much a fan.
I brought him to the Browns sports bars. He's a huge Browns fan.
[00:48:50] Speaker B: Now the fans are know you can't help but jump on board once you.
[00:48:56] Speaker F: Meet all of exactly.
It's a lot of fun to meet fans that are not native Ohio, but it's predominantly people that have moved out here and we've met some great people and I'm still in touch. I have a friend that I met out here. He moved back to Northeast Ohio and we're still friends.
[00:49:18] Speaker C: Nice. When's the last time you were out this way, bud?
[00:49:22] Speaker F: So I was at the Tennessee game, so I still have season tickets in Cleveland and I sell all the games except one. And I guess I picked a good game to come to.
[00:49:35] Speaker B: That was a good choice.
[00:49:36] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:49:36] Speaker B: Yeah, no. So speaking of your chapter again though, are there any upcoming events that you guys are hosting? I know probably this weekend. I would guess with the 49 Ers being the opponents, you probably have a lot of things going on.
[00:49:49] Speaker F: So the game is going to be on local TV. So our challenges are going to be revving up in the emails for people to come out to the sports bars to show up even though it's going to be on local TV. And so that's basically it. No party. We do have special party parties when the Browns come here. So the last time the Browns were here they did play the 49 ers was it a couple of years ago? A couple of three years ago. And we had a party the Saturday night before we had Kevin Mack, and basically I think it was Kevin Mack signing autographs.
[00:50:32] Speaker B: We like Kevin.
[00:50:34] Speaker F: Yeah, it was quite well attended. And the hotel we picked was in Mid Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose. And coincidentally, the Browns were staying there. Well, we didn't know that.
[00:50:47] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:50:48] Speaker F: And so none of the players mingled, but some of the coaches mingled around and we talked to them. So it was quite fun.
[00:50:56] Speaker B: Nice.
So let's switch gears a little bit here, go over to the football side of things. Obviously, there was no game last week, so let me ask you this. What are your thoughts on the season so far?
[00:51:10] Speaker F: Yeah, extremely happy that the defense is so solid and I think a little bit surprised at the last game.
But I think correct me if I'm wrong, I think the offense handed some of the field position to the Ravens. We call them the Purple Browns.
[00:51:40] Speaker B: Purple Browns, I like, they definitely the offense underperformed and gave up quite a bit of field position to the opposing team for sure.
[00:51:50] Speaker C: And it was DTR's first game.
[00:51:51] Speaker F: He didn't play great, but we're quite excited with the team. And of course, everybody was so disappointed with the Chubb thing. And we're very hopeful that the left tackle will learn to block better.
Have you heard of anything on that?
[00:52:12] Speaker B: We wish we had. Really good news for you. That said, he learned to block overnight, but so far he still seems to be a little bit of a turnstile.
[00:52:21] Speaker C: I did hear locally, though, today some rumor mill on the trade block that they were potentially looking at at least bringing someone else in for the rest of the season just to see if that pushes him or if they need to replace him. So I think we're going to get an answer on that sooner than sooner than we think.
[00:52:38] Speaker F: So yeah. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he's an excellent run blocker. Is that right?
[00:52:45] Speaker B: Typically, that's what his grades have shown. Is he's a better run blocker than pass?
I mean, let's be honest. When you have Nick Chubb, typically I mean, I know he's injured now, but typically when Nick Chubb's running behind you, we need him to be the opposite. We need him to protect our quarterback because Nick Chubb can cover up some of those blemishes and make you look good even when you're not. That so exactly. Yeah, that run blocking doesn't do much for us right.
[00:53:14] Speaker F: And we have a lot of fans that scream about Stefanski. I'm from the camp that if you have the talent, I don't care who the coach, uh, but I guess I'm in the minority. Maybe there's still a lot of heat on Stefanski. Can we talk about that or not?
[00:53:30] Speaker B: Yeah, we can absolutely talk about it. We put heat on him every single week. I'll be honest with you.
Yeah. We're not big fans of we actually call him Stefanic on our show, Stefan, because we said that he'll earn his last name back when he starts playing. Calling plays better than 2020.
[00:53:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:53:51] Speaker B: And so until then, we call him Kevin Stefanik. And yeah, I mean, that's the bottom line, is that we just want him to just call better plays.
Make the plays make sense is the biggest thing.
[00:54:06] Speaker F: Exactly.
Maybe you didn't see the 49 er game, but Brock Pretty gets the ball out fast. They have a lot of quick screens, and I'm not sure why we're not doing that.
And it takes the heat off the quarterback if he's getting oh, yeah.
[00:54:24] Speaker B: And it just seems that every time Kevin more or less draws up a play, the difficulty level of it is ten out of ten. And it's this slow developing deep bomb of a pass that hardly ever works out. And then that one time it does, and he's like, See, this is why I do that.
[00:54:46] Speaker F: Exactly.
[00:54:48] Speaker B: So, yeah, obviously, we're pretty critical of him, but I'm hopeful that he turns that around.
[00:54:57] Speaker C: We just want the Browns to win.
[00:55:00] Speaker F: Exactly. So what does Alex Van Pelt do then?
[00:55:07] Speaker B: He's just a name?
[00:55:09] Speaker F: Does he help develop the place?
[00:55:12] Speaker B: I don't know.
It's a little bit of a mystery here in Cleveland. What he actually does, we're not real sure.
[00:55:18] Speaker C: He just provides console, I guess, to I mean, he called a good game when the COVID game in Pittsburgh, when Kevin had the playoff.
[00:55:29] Speaker F: Oh. The other thing that bothers me about Stefanski is he's too calm. In other words, there's been some horrendous things that he should have been jumping up and down at the refs. Have you guys talked about that for sure?
[00:55:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we've seen the opposite of that out of Jim shorts this year. I think he's been a breath of fresh air when it comes to providing some emotional leadership to the team.
[00:55:52] Speaker B: The defense responds because they want some energy out of their coach. They don't want this guy that's going to deadpan everything and be cool and collected in every single situation. Like, yeah, it's probably beneficial in some situations, but if you show no emotion whatsoever, football is not the game for you, buddy.
[00:56:09] Speaker F: Exactly.
[00:56:13] Speaker B: But let's take a look at this week's game. I know you get a chance to follow the 49 ers a little bit closer than we do out here in Cleveland.
So can you give us your thoughts on this week's game?
[00:56:27] Speaker F: Yeah, are they three and a half point underdogs the Browns?
[00:56:32] Speaker B: I believe they are, yes. Yeah.
[00:56:33] Speaker F: I think it should be ten.
I'm not a betting person, but if I was, I would take that.
And I hate to say this, but unless Wills improves and unless they improve their quickness of getting the ball up, they're going to get rolled. The 49 Ers just roll Dallas quite easily.
It could be ugly, and I hate to say that again, I'm an optimist. I think after today, they could almost run the table. How's that for optimism? I mean, after the 49 er game?
[00:57:14] Speaker B: Yeah, you're not wrong. They should be in at least every one of the remaining games. There's no reason they shouldn't win or at least have a chance to win.
[00:57:24] Speaker C: All of them, it just seems like they have a lot of playmakers out there. I think what, McCaffrey had four touchdowns a week ago. Kittle had three, I think, last night. So they just can hurt you in a lot of.
[00:57:37] Speaker F: It. And then not just Boza, but I don't know his name, but the other defensive end is also quite good. And they were both getting after.
[00:57:50] Speaker E: Jack.
[00:57:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:57:53] Speaker F: And he just didn't have a chance.
[00:57:56] Speaker E: No.
[00:57:57] Speaker C: That front seven is pretty scary.
[00:58:00] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. And so one last question for you here, bud. Deshaun Watson worth $230,000,000 or no?
[00:58:11] Speaker F: Well, that's a yes or no question.
[00:58:16] Speaker B: Yeah, you can expand. Yeah, we got time.
[00:58:22] Speaker F: I'm quite surprised that they didn't do more homework as far as his method of play.
I didn't know he holds the ball so long. It just doesn't work anymore in the NFL.
You know, the quick answer is no, it's not worth it. And I actually like, even though he had a bad game, I like, Dorian DTR.
[00:58:54] Speaker B: Is it Dorian Thompson Robinson? Yeah.
Yeah. And I know even with the bad game, like you were saying, I know a lot of people are still pretty high on him and still think he has a lot of potential.
Let's be honest, he was kind of thrown to the wolves at the last minute there.
[00:59:12] Speaker F: Exactly.
[00:59:16] Speaker C: The game plan didn't really seem to fit him.
[00:59:17] Speaker B: Right.
[00:59:18] Speaker C: Because it's a rookie quarterback in your first game. And we put the ball in the air almost 40 times. Again, going back to Stefanski and his play calling, it just didn't seem to make a lot of sense.
[00:59:26] Speaker F: Exactly. It's totally wrong.
And Wills wasn't blocking and it was just a awful combination of events.
But again, I'm hopeful for Watson, and his injury was sort of a mystery. Have they figured it out yet?
[00:59:46] Speaker B: No, he didn't practice today.
We're recording this on Monday. He didn't practice today. So that's concerning coming out of a bye week. We don't know if he's going to play or not.
[00:59:56] Speaker C: Yeah, it was expected that at the press conference today that he was going to be kind of ready to roll. And so. Concerning that. They came out and said that he's still not quite 100% right.
[01:00:06] Speaker F: And I get upset when the national media keeps bringing up his past.
He's paid his dues. That's over with and I can't stand that.
What do you all think?
[01:00:22] Speaker C: It's definitely put us as fans in a tough position, I think. But to your point, that's why the NFL suspended him, right? So that piece is done and paid for. I think the more frustrating part for us as fans now is we were told we were getting this huge upgrade at quarterback position and to this point he hasn't played all that well outside of the game.
[01:00:40] Speaker F: Right, right, exactly. So yeah, I guess the question is still there and hopefully it's going to get better.
We certainly expect a playoff team.
When you have a top defense, you should be in the playoffs.
[01:01:00] Speaker C: Yeah, you would think.
[01:01:02] Speaker B: Absolutely.
Go ahead.
[01:01:06] Speaker C: But I see you got some merch on there that has your Bay Area Browns logo and then there's a shirt in the back. I'm guessing these are things that you guys have put together for your chapter.
[01:01:15] Speaker F: So each year we do a redesign of the shirt. So the front still has our regular logo, but the back we got permission. I don't know if you can see it, but we got permission when we did this to do the Jim Brown. So it says, I'm really doing bad.
[01:01:39] Speaker B: We can see it perfect.
[01:01:40] Speaker F: And so Jim Brown the greatest and just a memory of him. And then on the bottom we have that. We're part of the Browns backers worldwide and list some of the cities.
What I'm always amazed too, as far as when you hear the national media, they go, oh, look at all the Browns fans in the stadium out here. They must have all flew in from Cleveland. No, they don't realize that there's Browns backer clubs all over the United States. And I'm not sure when that's going to ever get educated at the national.
[01:02:17] Speaker B: Media know, maybe these guys will start listening to Burning River sportscast and we can let them know that you guys are everywhere.
[01:02:23] Speaker F: Hey, we're know even in London I met their you've have you interviewed Paul Brown in?
[01:02:33] Speaker B: No, we have not. But I will say I just traveled to Ireland recently and I didn't get to go in and talk to anybody. But I saw there's a Dublin Brownsbackers.
[01:02:44] Speaker F: Organization out there you should check out on Instagram. Paul Brown UK so he's quite a fan and he's a native Londoner.
I do know that just I guess that's maybe why he picked the Browns. But no relation. But he's quite a character and big fan.
[01:03:11] Speaker B: So final question for you here, bud. What's your record prediction for the Browns? The rest, what do you think they're going to finish? Let's go with that. What do you think their final record is going to be?
[01:03:22] Speaker F: Oh wow. So I think they could win eleven games.
[01:03:28] Speaker B: Nice.
[01:03:29] Speaker F: So what's that? Eleven and six?
[01:03:32] Speaker C: Yeah, that's enough to get them into.
[01:03:34] Speaker F: The playoffs and to be the wild card or winner, they have to win the next division games, that's for sure. They have to beat Cinci again and then split with Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
[01:03:50] Speaker B: Yep, absolutely.
[01:03:53] Speaker C: Real quick question about just the divisional games out there. Given that you're 3000 miles away, is there still a pretty intense heat around the rivalries between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens?
[01:04:06] Speaker F: Absolutely. We still have fans that can't figure out who they hate more, baltimore or Pittsburgh. And with Joe Burrow being from Ohio, there's less hate for the Bengals, it seems.
But, but Baltimore and, you know, very heated with our fans here.
[01:04:27] Speaker B: I'm a Steelers hater and he hates.
[01:04:29] Speaker C: Oh, OK. There you go.
[01:04:31] Speaker F: We have that's a tie for yeah, they people out here keep up with that is for sure. And it's really remarkable how loyal people could stay with this team.
[01:04:52] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. We've been through some hard times. But hey, Bud, it's been wonderful having you on. We've really appreciated the time with you and hopefully we get a chance to catch up in the future.
So yeah, thanks for joining us. We really appreciate it. And again, hope to talk soon. Thank you.
[01:05:21] Speaker F: Hi, I'm Bud Genovese with the Bay area Brownsbackers and you're listening to the burning river sportscast.
Go Brown.
[01:05:38] Speaker B: Great talking with Bud from the Bay Area Brownsbackers out there. He's a legend in Brownsbackers circles.
[01:05:45] Speaker C: We've heard his name mentioned so many times in the before and the after call. Like with other Browns backers organizations, as we're planning the interview, they're like, that.
[01:05:55] Speaker B: Guy has it going on.
[01:05:56] Speaker C: Heard his name a bunch of times. So it was good to finally talk with him. And yeah, legend in his own right. Huge organization out there. 3000 plus members. I mean, that is just a huge operation to be responsible for.
[01:06:08] Speaker B: I don't want to be in charge of 3000.
[01:06:09] Speaker C: Great job out there.
[01:06:10] Speaker B: But you know what, that takes us to no. The better graver sports gas hot. Take hotline.
Don't forget to call and leave your hot takes on the hot take hotline.
[01:06:29] Speaker C: Remember and leave your hot takes.
[01:06:31] Speaker B: Remember, these are hot takes. Bone man.
Tell people to call.
[01:06:36] Speaker D: We want hot takes.
[01:06:37] Speaker B: We want hot takes. We want hot takes. We want hot takes.
[01:06:44] Speaker C: I'll settle for cold takes at this point.
[01:06:45] Speaker B: 3302-2780-8033-0227-8 call now. Operators are not standing by. Just an answering machine.
[01:06:56] Speaker C: Just an answering machine.
[01:06:58] Speaker B: All right, it's that time again. Take a quick revenue break and then get back here and talk with Browns legend Kevin Mack and preview the week six matchup with the 49 ers.
[01:07:09] Speaker C: Love it.
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[01:08:48] Speaker C: Kenny, what do you like? Medium roast.
[01:08:50] Speaker B: He's a medium roast guy.
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[01:09:09] Speaker C: Love it.
[01:09:16] Speaker B: All right, before we get into the week six preview, we're going to talk to another Cleveland Browns alum that will be going on the Browns Fan Cruise with uside FM.
All right, our next guest is a certified Browns legend. He was inducted into the Cleveland Browns Legends program in 2007. His career statistics include 5123 rushing yards, 46 touchdowns, and a two time Pro Bowler, one of the greatest to ever play the fullback position. Here he is, everybody. Welcome.
[01:10:15] Speaker C: The master.
[01:10:17] Speaker B: Hey, Kevin, how are you doing?
[01:10:21] Speaker E: I'm doing great, guys. How are you guys doing?
[01:10:26] Speaker B: Doing well. Doing well. Now, before we get started, Kevin, and get into some of the questions that we have for you here, we want to talk about something that we're very excited about. You will be on the Browns Fan Cruise in March of 2024. That's right. A Mac truck on a cruise ship. So you're going to be on the Browns fan cruise?
And so we will also be on that Browns Fan Cruise. We're the official podcast of the Browns Fan Cruise. We'll be MCing all the events on the Browns Fan Cruise. And so we're just really looking forward to sharing that Browns Fan Cruise with a legend such as yourself. So with that, can you tell our viewers a little bit about the Fan Cruise?
[01:11:07] Speaker E: Well, I know the cruise is going to be leaving out of Miami in March of 2024.
I'm kind of like you guys, this is going to be seaside events. Cruise with the Browns. They joined with the Browns and partner with the Browns to put this together.
I know there's going to be quite a few alumni and current players, so it should be fun and exciting.
[01:11:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I think we're up to 18 alumni, if I'm not mistaken, so it's going to be a good time, but we'll get back into the fan cruise here in a little bit, but let's talk about you. So I know you were born in North Carolina and you ended up going to college at Clemson. You played four years of football there, reached the national championship in 1981. So kind of tell us a little bit about your time at Clemson, if you will.
[01:12:08] Speaker E: For me at Clemson, it was quite an experience.
I really didn't get into the real serious organized football until I was in high school.
I only played like two years of high school ball, so going to Clemson was a real eye opener for me as far as being involved with an organized system like that and just kind of getting used to how things operated.
Small town, country boy, it wasn't like Clemson was a big city, but the shock of playing college ball and how demanding it was was a little bit of a test my first year.
Yeah.
[01:12:58] Speaker B: And so, yeah, you played four years know, like I said, you did reach a national championship. Were there anything that sticks out from your time at Clemson? That was kind of a highlight. I mean, being in a national championship game has got to be pretty cool.
[01:13:15] Speaker E: So we actually won that game, and it was a huge game for us at the time as a university.
My freshman year, we were six and five.
Nobody even had us on the radar to do anything that next year, my sophomore year. So my sophomore year, we were twelve and we played Nebraska in Orange Bowl and ended up winning that game really changed my perspective of football and how guys come together during the offseason, working hard together, not quitting, doing everything our coaches access, and it paid off for us that year.
[01:14:03] Speaker B: Yeah, that's awesome. I know not at quite the level that you're talking about, but we played high school football together and we were historically bad up until our senior year and everybody kind of came together. We came one game shy of winning this conference, but we made it to the playoffs for the first time in school history. And so just that camaraderie that you're talking about that coming together was fantastic.
[01:14:28] Speaker C: Now, Kevin, it sounds like you said you got a little bit of a late start to organize sports, but obviously a great athlete went to Clemson. That was a little bit of a culture shock for you when maybe during was it during your time at Clemson that you really felt, boy, every boy's dream to kind of grow up and play professional sports. But when was that really a reality for you? That, you know, I'm not only good enough, but I can make it and play in the.
[01:14:59] Speaker E: You know, it probably didn't happen until I got to Cleveland, really.
And as you guys mentioned before, I played in the USFL.
And I think one of the main reasons I went to the USFL. Is because I wasn't really sure of my abilities to play at the NFL level. And I just thought it was a great opportunity for me to get some more experience.
And if I did have a shot to play in the NFL, then I'd be a little bit better prepared.
[01:15:32] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
You were drafted by the Washington Federals in 1984, right out of college. I know that you were basically immediately traded to the Los Angeles Express and played that 1984 season in La. How was that one season in the USFL?
[01:15:47] Speaker E: It was cool. It was cool.
I was on a team with a great bunch of guys. Steve Young was on my team, guy Kit Returner, who's also a running back named Mel Gray.
There was a handful of those guys on that team.
There's probably about seven or eight guys off of that team that ended up transitioning from the USFL. To the NFL.
And also one of the guys who I played against while I was here in Cleveland, dwight Drain, the safety from Buffalo, he was a teammate. So there's a few guys that I had on that team that ended up being opponents once I got into the NFL.
Nice.
[01:16:36] Speaker C: So when you got to the NFL from the USFL, was that culture shock again, or was it very much the same as the way things were run? Just thinking about your training camp and practices and things, was it a whole lot different when you got to the NFL?
[01:16:52] Speaker E: Not a whole lot, but I must say it was more demanding once I got here to know Marty Schottenheim was the coach.
I basically walked in not knowing what I was doing, really. I knew I could play running back. I just had to prove it.
Believe it or not, I was still growing, so I hadn't reached my full weight yet that I ended up playing at at about 230 here.
So it was still a filling out process. And as I filled in and grew as a person and a player, there's some minor adjustments there that I had to get used to.
Yeah.
[01:17:42] Speaker B: And that was in that 1984. It was actually the supplemental draft, wasn't it, that you came over to?
So I know you played.
Go ahead.
[01:17:54] Speaker E: Yeah. So that turned out to be a pretty good year for us. I think Ernie, of course, who was the GM at the time, had negotiated deal. Bernie Kozar came in at the same time.
I think Gerald came in same time.
So there was a group of guys that came in to Cleveland in 84 as rookies or transplants from another league that really made an impression on the team.
[01:18:25] Speaker C: Special group of guys, for sure.
[01:18:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And I know you played for the Browns from 85 to 93. So tell us a little bit about your time with the team.
[01:18:39] Speaker E: It was great when I first got here, been a little scared, country.
[01:18:48] Speaker B: Was.
[01:18:49] Speaker E: It was kind of weird because I left La and I came here and it was like, okay, this is more my speed versus La and all the freeways and all the people.
It was kind of a stabilizing time for me. I got here, everybody kind of knows the story of me and Ernest and me and him kind of connected right away. So we did a lot of stuff in the offseason together, which really helped me out, having somebody on the team that really wanted me to succeed, wanted to help me succeed and help me learn the ways of the NFL and what I needed to really do to be successful.
[01:19:32] Speaker C: And obviously that was an important relationship for mean to this day, there's only been, I think, seven instances, including yours, where you've had two running backs go over a thousand yards in a season. What does that mean to you? It's a pretty special record to be a part of group of guys, elite group of guys.
[01:19:51] Speaker E: It's pretty special that we were able to accomplish that.
I don't think a lot of people realize that. It really came down for us. It came down to the last play of the last game of the season in 85.
I think we were playing the jets and Ernest got like seven or eight yards on his last carry that gave him his 1000 plus yards rushing. So it was kind of a nail biter right down to the end, but we got it done.
[01:20:32] Speaker B: Nice.
Fullback nowadays means something completely different than it did when you were playing. So can you talk about that a little bit? Because we say that you're a fullback and people are probably looking at people that don't know you as well are thinking how's a fullback running for 1000 yards? But it was a different time, right?
[01:20:52] Speaker E: It it was a different time.
It was different.
I've had people comment to me, it's like, well, you're a running back, but they list you as a fullback. And I'm like, yeah, I was a fullback. I played fullback.
They don't get it. It's like, okay.
And it's kind of funny because I remind people, I have to remind some people, do you guys realize that Jim Brown was also listed as a fullback when he was here playing? And a lot of people, they don't recall it or they don't remember. They just think of him as a running know. I was a little resentful at first when they say, Are you going to be a fullback? And I'm like, Dang, man, I want to be a tailback.
Let me get back there in the back and have somebody in front of me blocking.
But once I learned the system and learned what all the full bike position entailed, it was like, okay, I'm fine with this. I can do this. Yeah, let's go with it. The only regrets I had probably that first year was that I was pretty light. I was only about 215 then when I played my rookie year.
[01:22:14] Speaker B: That's a little tough, being a full back at 215.
[01:22:18] Speaker E: Yeah. But the speed helped me, though, so I was kind of happy that I was a track runner then.
[01:22:27] Speaker B: Well, obviously, the tailback fullback combination that we had at the time was pretty successful, and you had more yards than.
[01:22:35] Speaker C: The end of that 85 season anyway, so without a blogger.
[01:22:41] Speaker E: That'S true. So I shouldn't complain, right?
[01:22:44] Speaker B: Yeah. So you mentioned something with Ernest Biiner and kind of you guys developing that friendship and somebody wanting you to succeed on the field. So with that and having that kind of special relationship when you were a player, can you speak to is there any advice that you want to give younger players, especially on this browns team this year?
[01:23:08] Speaker E: All I would say to these guys is that stick together. You are a team.
You can't succeed by yourself out there as long as you stick together as a team, battle through what adversities you might come through, have to go through.
You can succeed. You'll be all right. You can work it out as a team.
But that would probably be my biggest thing, is to make sure whatever you do, you do it as a team.
[01:23:38] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Great advice there. And I know obviously you had a great career with the browns, but most guys, they kind of get this whole second life after football. Can you tell us what you're up to today? And if you're mean, obviously you're working with the browns right now, but is there anything else that you're doing? Are you involved with the game?
[01:24:03] Speaker E: Not a whole lot. Like I said, this whole transition thing that me and my wife are starting to go through, it's been taking a lot of time, and I don't know if you guys have ever had to renovate a house, but it can get a little scary.
[01:24:19] Speaker C: I'm in the middle of one right now, Kevin.
[01:24:22] Speaker E: Okay. All right. So you know what I'm talking about. They start opening up walls, and they start it's miserable.
You go, what?
[01:24:34] Speaker B: Change orders?
[01:24:36] Speaker E: I think it'll turn out great, but right now, it's just kind of hard to see.
[01:24:45] Speaker B: But did your contractors knock down your front porch?
[01:24:52] Speaker E: They knocked down mine.
[01:24:57] Speaker C: We'll insert that video.
[01:25:02] Speaker E: Don't tell me that was the one thing you wanted to keep, too, right?
[01:25:07] Speaker C: It was supposed to stay, and that was day one. They knocked the whole thing off my house. So that was great.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you've done?
Sorry, go ahead.
[01:25:22] Speaker E: No, I was going to say at least it's kind of tough for me right now because I was in Houston about three weeks ago, and I have no roof. There's none. It's like, oh, okay, guys, just put the roof on my house and I'll be happy. Right now.
It's just kind of crazy.
[01:25:48] Speaker B: Like, what if it rains?
[01:25:53] Speaker E: That was my big question, too. I'm like, okay. I'm like, if it rains, are any of my boards going to warp? Is this wood going to hold this place?
They were like, yeah, it's fine. But it was 110, so I don't know why I was worried about the rain.
[01:26:09] Speaker B: It would dry up immediately.
[01:26:11] Speaker E: Right, exactly.
[01:26:15] Speaker C: Can you tell us a little bit about the role that you've had with the Browns over the last several years?
[01:26:22] Speaker E: Yeah, this is going on year 16 for me now with the browns.
I'm actually in my second role. First role, I was in player development with the team and was working with another former player named Jerry butler.
We were pretty much in the locker room helping guys with whatever problems they might have off the field, dealing with stuff.
It's kind of a hard role to explain, but you have those days where you feel like you don't have enough time to do everything, so you're basically there helping advise them on how to handle their day to day life.
Also, while trying to make the team, if you're in training camp, just basic things that most guys don't really think about when they're in the middle of something like that. Because when you think about it, if you're at a team and you're trying to make a team, there's a lot of things going on in your life that don't stand still, and you have to handle those things. So that was my role then. Now I am in alumni relations.
At one point, I was running the alumni relations department for the Browns, but probably the last two, three years, I moved over to be a consultant.
Kind of anticipating my move and just kind of giving somebody else an opportunity to come in and learn what I did with alumni and how to keep them happy when they're doing stuff for the organization and they're looking to come to games and stuff like that. We always help our guys out in trying to make sure they support the team.
[01:28:32] Speaker C: Awesome.
[01:28:33] Speaker B: Yeah, that is great. And, I mean, I know that you're probably dealing with a lot of these alumni that are coming on the browns fan cruise with us, so always a good thing. And to bring it back to that time that we'll be sharing on the open ocean in march of 2024 and a couple of amazing stops along the way, let's talk about some of the things that everyone should look forward to.
What is an event or activity during that cruise that you yourself are looking forward to?
[01:29:03] Speaker E: You know, I have no idea. I've been on a few cruises, but it's been a while.
I don't know. I'm not a big gambler, so you probably won't see me in the casino much, but hopefully they got a movie theater. I know all the cruises I've been on. They've always had these little areas where you could hit golf balls off the back of the ship and stuff like that.
I'm a big golfer, so I love playing golf, and I'm just kind of looking forward to kind of getting away and not have to worry about much, just as they can say, let my hair down, which I don't have much of.
[01:29:47] Speaker B: Well, you mentioned movie theater, so does that mean you're a movie buff? What's your favorite movie?
[01:29:54] Speaker E: No, my wife is more of a movie buff than I am.
She's always dragging me to movies to see.
Sometimes we'll go see them and the next day I can't hardly remember any of it. So she's always like, oh, you wasn't paying attention or you weren't doing this. I was like, I enjoy good movies, so I'm into more of the thriller types and then the action movies. So you give me a little action. I'm always awake and paying attention to those.
[01:30:27] Speaker B: Nice.
[01:30:28] Speaker C: Sometimes it's just nice to be in a dark room with some popcorn, right?
[01:30:32] Speaker E: Yeah, that's true too.
[01:30:36] Speaker B: That's great. And I know that the fans will be able to kind of mingle with the alumni as well. There's not going to be any red ropes or anything like that. So is that something? I know typically you're going to events and there's this don't cross this line, whatever the case may be, but you're actually going to be able to get up close and the fans are going to be able to get up close and personal with you guys and talk and actually have conversations with you. So I'm sure that's going to be a little bit different as well. Are you looking forward to.
[01:31:07] Speaker E: Know, you know, being here in Cleveland, getting recognized a lot? So I actually do interact with a lot of people just out on my own everyday life here in Cleveland.
It's kind of funny because I played at 230, so I'm down to 195 now. So a lot of people, I'll walk by them and they'll give me a double take and they're not sure they'll look like and they'll go, are you? And then they'll call out somebody's name and it's not me. And I'm like, no, you got the wrong guy.
And then when I tell them who I am, oh, my God. They'd be like, oh, God, you look great. How did you lose so much weight?
But it's kind of funny to see some of the reactions sometimes. And then it's always great for us as former players here in Cleveland to have conversations with our fans and stuff here. I know, game day. I'm at the stadium on game day, and I always have quite a few interactions with fans who are there.
Awesome.
[01:32:18] Speaker B: So this is just another day for you, except it's on a cruise.
[01:32:23] Speaker E: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
[01:32:29] Speaker C: So you're built more like a basketball player now. What is your secret to your fitness?
[01:32:36] Speaker E: There's no secret. I just cut back on what I was.
You always got to cut back on what you're eating. You hate to do it, but as you get older I turned 61 in August, so my wife keeps reminding me, hey, you're not as young as you used to be. And I'm like, yeah, I've realized that. And then you have aches and pains from playing the game.
So some of the injuries and stuff that you have sometimes require you to get to a lower weight where you can manage your pain. Like, I have a knee that I need replaced. So instead of going in getting it replaced, I figured I could lose some weight and put it off for a couple more years before I have to really do it.
[01:33:31] Speaker B: That's fair. I would rather have my own knee than a fake knee.
No, but I do know so with the Browns Fan Cruise, I do know that there is a Browns backers organization competition out there for the Fan Cruise. Some of the winnings that go to the chapter with the most bookings is the chapter with the most bookings will get an all expenses paid balcony cabin for two on the Browns fan cruise. The chapter with the highest members to bookings ratio also gets an all expenses paid ocean view cabin for two. All members of the winning chapter will receive a specialty dining pass for two guests and all members of the winning chapter will receive a Browns Fan Cruise commemorative cleveland Browns Autographed football. So do you have anything you want to say to Brownsbackers across the nation and honestly the world? Because we know they're everywhere.
[01:34:28] Speaker E: I mean, I think those guys are mean.
I think about the amount of Brownsbackers that were around when had a we had quite a few, but I think it exploded over the years since I've been back with the team. In my first role, I did traveling on game day with the team, whether it was especially on away games. Me and the other guy, we would alternate away games and travel. So in traveling with the team, I just noticed that the crowds at the away games got bigger and and I'm not talking about the home team. I'm talking about Browns backers folks.
Through the years, I've had more and more Browns backers reach out, contact me to do events.
One right near my hometown in Charlote. I was there about three years ago or so. I think it was right before the Pandemic when we played the Panthers down there. So they actually brought me in, had me as a. Guest there. And I thought it was just mind boggling that there was a Browns backers organization in Charlote and it was a huge crowd, too.
I just know over the years with all the away games, those away visits, the crowds for the Browns are bigger and bigger each year. And that's a great thing for sure.
[01:36:12] Speaker B: The Browns Beckers really do some good work. I know. Even besides cheering on the Browns in our opponent's home cities, they do a lot of charity work. They do a lot of community service. So they're doing really good things across the nation and again across the world. I know. I just went to Ireland. There's a Brownsbackers organization in Dublin. So they're literally, I mean, good luck to those.
Hopefully. Hopefully there's lots of bookings from them because there's a lot of Browns backers that I would like to talk to on the ship.
[01:36:47] Speaker C: Are you close to wrapping? Because I got a couple of questions. Yeah, real quick. So obviously the fact that you played in the backfield for the Cleveland Browns for a long time and have been involved in the alumni side of things, I just didn't know, given that this year we lost the great jim Brown. If you had any special memory or just words to say about your relationship with him or just anything special that you might want to bring up here.
[01:37:17] Speaker E: Jim was a great friend.
It's interesting that you say that because when I came back to the Browns in seven, me and Jim had offices beside each other. So it was kind of funny at times because I guess he found out I played golf.
And Jim was a he's a big golfer. He loves to play golf. I think every time he came to Cleveland, he wanted to play golf. So at one point during our I think it was no, I could have been training I think it was training camp one year, he came in almost every day to ask me to go play golf. And I'm like, Jim, you know, I'm getting fired trying to go out and play golf with you every day. I was like, you're cool. You're safe. But me, I think they'll let me go in a heartbeat.
It was something that me kind of laughed about all the time. I was like, you know what, Jim, I'm not trying to get fired just so I can go out and play golf. So we might have to orchestrate this. We have to pull this together in a different way, take some time off and go play with you.
But he would always come by. He's like, hey, big guy, what you doing? Let's go hit some. And I'm like I'm shaking my head. He knows what I'm going to say. He knows I'm going to say yes. Who's going to say no to Jim Brown, right?
We had a lot of fun together out on the golf course together.
But I can't remember how old he would have been then, but he was still off the golf tee. He was still hitting the ball straight and right down the middle. I couldn't believe it.
Wow, that's awesome.
[01:39:16] Speaker C: It is awesome.
[01:39:17] Speaker B: No. And then one other question that I missed here. So, during your time in Cleveland, did you have a specific off the field memory? I know you kind of become a family with your teammates. You kind of learn to call Cleveland home, even if you're from a different area. So was there a special memory off the field from your time in Cleveland that you remember most?
[01:39:45] Speaker E: Yeah, I do.
It's like when I got.
[01:39:54] Speaker B: There was.
[01:39:55] Speaker E: Quite a few guys who already knew each other. They were good friends, and they do stuff with their families, and they were already doing stuff together.
Even though I grew up down south, I wasn't a big guy for going out on the water and stuff in.
So one of our teammates, Eddie Johnson, the linebacker, I don't know if you guys remember him, but he had invited me and about three or four other guys out to go fishing out on Lake Erie. And I'm thinking, okay, this is it's. Like, if he's inviting this many guys, it's got to be a big boat. So it was a nice size boat. We were on. We're out fishing.
It's early in the morning, kind of cloudy. The boat starts moving up and down, up and down.
The captain of the boat offer us coffee.
So they had put milk in the coffee, and we're on this boat. I'm sitting there drinking coffee, and about 45 minutes later, I'm sick as a dog. I'm hanging over the edge of the boat. Everything I ate and drank is coming out. And these guys, they are just rolling. They're laughing at me.
And I'm like, hey, can we go back? And they're like, no, you got about five more hours. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to die out of here. It was just, like, one of the most awful, sick feelings you could have, but there's nothing you can do about it. And once I got it out of my system, I was fine.
But those guys, they told that story for a long time about me getting sick on the boat. It's like, okay, all right, I got to find something to get back at you guys with.
So it's Eddie Johnson.
[01:41:52] Speaker B: Was it one of those things just yet?
[01:41:57] Speaker E: Go ahead. Go ahead.
Yeah. I was going to say Ernest Reggie Langhorn. Eddie Johnson. I think Stephen Braggs was on the just it was a nightmare for me, but they loved it. All they can do is laugh.
[01:42:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And so it sounds like it's one of those things, like, every chance they got. Hey, remember when Mac threw up on the.
[01:42:31] Speaker E: Yeah, so so fun times, little stuff like that, you run into what you have with your teammates, know, kind of bring you a little closer together, also leave you with a little bit of, okay, I got to pay these guys back, too.
Awesome.
[01:42:48] Speaker C: No. Great story. I appreciate the candid look back there. I know we're running up against time here. We really appreciate all the time you spent with us. But I did want to get just your thoughts on this year's Browns team in the season and any expectations you have for this year.
[01:43:09] Speaker E: Well, I try to hold down the expectations, but I think they have a good team. I think they have a good team.
I don't want to jump off the cliff and say they're going to be the next Super Bowl champs, but I think they're going to surprise a lot of people this year. I don't think people are really expecting them to do that. Well, I know we're hoping Deshaun recovers some of his skills and the way he played in Houston, everybody wants to see that come to Cleveland, but when you consider he's been out for quite a while, it's more of an exercise of patience. He's going to have to be patient with it, but I think it's going to come and I think when he gets right and he starts playing the way he can, I think our offense is going to explode.
And I'm very pleased to see how the additions to the defensive has really shored up our defense quite a bit. I think we're going to surprise a lot of people this year. They're not going to expect the guys to play the way that they going to, and I think they're going to be lights out.
[01:44:31] Speaker C: Awesome.
[01:44:32] Speaker B: Nice. Yeah. Like you said, there have been improvements on both sides of the ball, so it's an exciting time. We're looking forward to the rest of the season and hopefully you're right and they are going to shock the world and do something really big here.
Kenny picked him to go like, I don't know, six and eleven or something like that.
[01:44:55] Speaker C: We'll see what happens.
[01:44:58] Speaker E: He's the old pessimistic, I think burns too many times.
Well, I know what you mean.
[01:45:11] Speaker B: When.
[01:45:12] Speaker E: You think about it's a different game. They approach the game differently these days.
When I played, we came to training camp, we beat each other to death. So by the time we got to the regular season, we knew we were ready to play because we were practicing 100% each other against each other in training camp.
These guys, they do it a little differently. They kind of ease their way into it. They don't want to get anybody injured or lose anybody doing training camp or preseason. So they don't have as many snaps in preseason as we used to have.
So that kind of slows their progress at the beginning of the season. And I think that it's just my opinion that's what you see from different teams around the league, it just depends on how they're playing, how they're practicing, doing training camp, and how much effort they're really putting into it to simulate 100% on the field.
So it usually takes guys a game or two to get caught up, but once they do get caught up, then they start rolling fair.
[01:46:24] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think we've seen that, especially the last couple of years as training camp has kind of been I hate to use the word softer, but it's just been minimized a bit. Yeah. The impact on the players and things like that. We've seen exactly what you're talking about, and it takes usually two, three, four weeks for them to ramp up in the regular.
Yeah.
[01:46:46] Speaker C: Kevin, I got one more rapid fire for you.
[01:46:51] Speaker E: Okay.
[01:46:51] Speaker C: You in your prime or Nick Chubb, who wins?
[01:46:57] Speaker E: Say that again.
[01:47:01] Speaker C: You or Nick chubb in your prime, who wins?
[01:47:08] Speaker E: Probably Nick. I would give it to him.
He has more breakaway speed than I had.
Once Nick gets out in front of you, I don't think you're catching him.
[01:47:25] Speaker C: It's a humble answer.
[01:47:27] Speaker B: He's an impressive guy, so it's hard to pick against, but no. Listen, Kevin, we really appreciate your time.
Go ahead.
[01:47:45] Speaker E: Yeah, I was going to say Nick's my favorite player on the I gotta I gotta show him some props.
[01:47:55] Speaker C: We're with you.
[01:47:55] Speaker B: Yeah, us, too. We can't stop talking about Chubby here, but no, like I said, we really appreciate your time. It's been an absolute pleasure. We won't keep you any longer, but we will probably be catching up with you on the fan cruise in March of 2024. So, again, Kevin, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.
[01:48:18] Speaker E: All right, guys, thank you for having.
[01:48:42] Speaker B: Man, good time talking with Kevin Mack.
[01:48:45] Speaker C: Kevin Mack? That's my dude.
[01:48:47] Speaker B: K-E-V-I-N. That's what you're telling me? That's how you spell his name?
[01:48:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Mac. The Mac truck?
[01:48:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:48:53] Speaker C: Kevin Mack. Look, I'm looking forward to seeing Kevin Mack on the cruise. It'd be a good time. He looks like he's ready to go.
[01:48:59] Speaker B: There's just so many good alumni on this thing. I thought, you know, first year we're doing a fan cruise, we'd probably throw a few names out there. Maybe you know, some maybe you don't, whatever. No, it's like an all star lineup of alumni that they're bringing out.
[01:49:11] Speaker C: And it's awesome because it's guys from the past, teams that were great and teams that we grew up with that we watched. So it's a good mix of younger guys, older guys, and they all just have incredible stories. Some of the things that these stories are Wild Man told us so far, I've been absolutely blown away by, so I can't wait to get on this big boat and hear all their big tales.
[01:49:34] Speaker B: I'm a little scared still. I've never been on a cruise. I'm not scared that anything's going to happen. I've just never been on a cruise.
[01:49:39] Speaker C: Once the cruise is over and we're headed back to port. I'm definitely pushing you overboard.
[01:49:42] Speaker B: Thank you. If I fall off the cruise, even if we're just in port, you fall.
[01:49:48] Speaker C: Off it's like 100ft to the water.
[01:49:49] Speaker B: I'm going to get really hurt.
[01:49:50] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. You'll probably die.
[01:49:52] Speaker B: Thank you. He just on air. Said he's going to kill me when we get back to port.
[01:49:56] Speaker D: I think you got to break the tension of the water. You got to have something fall before you hit.
[01:50:01] Speaker B: Is that the key?
[01:50:02] Speaker D: Yes, I believe that's the key.
[01:50:03] Speaker B: This is why we're bringing own man. He saved our lives.
[01:50:05] Speaker C: Don't all things fall at the same velocity?
[01:50:07] Speaker B: Yeah, but if you throw it in front of you, how small does this thing have to like a pebble.
[01:50:13] Speaker D: It needs to create a ripple in the water, break the tension.
[01:50:15] Speaker B: I got to carry a pebble with me.
[01:50:16] Speaker C: Like when Olympic swimmers have the fountain running.
[01:50:19] Speaker D: Yeah, exactly.
[01:50:20] Speaker C: She could spit. Maybe.
I actually have some things in the facts for days for you that might help you with this.
[01:50:25] Speaker B: Okay, we'll get there in a minute. But for now, let's get into the week six preview.
Sir.
All right, guys, this week we have the San Francisco 49 Ers. And I know you're dreading it just as much as I am because this is going to be a tough one to preview. I mean, tough as in we're probably all going to say they're going to lose, but let's back it up a little bit. Kenny, you got any matchup previews or opposition research for us?
[01:50:57] Speaker C: It's going to be a tough game.
[01:51:00] Speaker B: Genius take by Kenny Thunder.
[01:51:03] Speaker C: Look, the 49 Ers are five and they got the Whiz kid, Mr. Relevant, back there at quarterback. Great, well coached team on both sides of the ball. They got stability out there. They've got a lot of the same guys.
That middle linebacker out there is Warner. Is it Fred Warner? Incredible.
They don't have a lot of question marks anywhere on that team right now.
I think you could pick any matchup and go, yeah, it's going to be tough. There's going to be a matchup there. We'll see what happens.
[01:51:33] Speaker B: I did highlight two of them, so I'm just going to throw those out there.
The first one is the Browns offensive line versus the 49 Ers defensive line. And you might be saying, why is this a highlighted matchup? Well, I'll tell you why. Because our offensive line has been ass and their defensive line has been unbelievable. So the game may be won for them and lost for us. Just simply right here. Like this may be the entire game.
[01:51:58] Speaker C: I mean, obviously, Nick Bosa, phenomenal. Javon Hargrave, you don't find much more defenders, more stout than Hargrave. And Eric Armstred in the middle, clellan Farrell, he had a good game this weekend, so I don't know. I mean, he's just as capable as anybody else in the defensive line of having a good game. So, like I said, I think that Fred Warner at linebacker is just an absolute monster. So I think the things that defensive line does opens up holes for him to make impact plays.
[01:52:26] Speaker E: Yep.
[01:52:27] Speaker B: And then next up here, browns DBS versus Brock Purdy. And I put this one in here because I think it's interesting. The Browns DBS have been solid and Brock Purdy has apparently been really good, too. But I don't know if he's just been uber efficient or he's actually like a really good quarterback.
I don't really know. I don't get to see enough Brock Purdy to really make a good judgment call on him.
[01:52:51] Speaker C: I would say this. I just said there's no question marks on that team. Brock Purdy is the one question mark that's on that team. Now that he's bad, we're going to lose them the game. I just still don't it feels almost.
[01:53:04] Speaker B: Like how long is this going to last?
[01:53:06] Speaker C: Yeah. Like, I just don't know what he is exactly.
He's proven to obviously be someone that they have confidence in that they would trade Trey Lance away for.
Obviously, he does nothing but win.
[01:53:21] Speaker B: All I do is win win no matter what.
[01:53:24] Speaker C: But I just wonder, like, all roads lead back to Baker Mayfield, right.
There's a reason Baker wanted to go to San Francisco when he got nobody's.
[01:53:38] Speaker B: Going to listen to this episode. It's just all Baker Mayfield.
[01:53:40] Speaker C: When he got flipped around last year, he wanted to go to San Francisco because they have a really good football team around them. So whether it was Brock but would Kurt Cousins be effective in San Francisco right now?
Would they be five and o with Kirk Cousins? Yeah, probably so. That's what I mean.
[01:53:56] Speaker B: I'm not saying for some stupid amount of yards so far.
[01:53:59] Speaker C: Yeah. I'm not saying that Brat Purdy is trash. I'm just saying I don't know what brat purdy is. Really. He's played ten NFL games.
[01:54:05] Speaker B: To your point, I think the team covers up a lot of his blemishes. Yeah.
[01:54:09] Speaker C: I think if there are things about his game that are not strong yet, he's got so many playmakers around him and so much veteran leadership and good coaching around him that it insulates him from making mistakes that are really, really bad.
[01:54:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So again, that's part of why I put that in is like a matchup to watch is because I just don't get to see enough Brock Purdy to make a real judgment on what he actually is.
[01:54:30] Speaker C: All he does is win, though.
[01:54:31] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. And speaking of which, the 49 ers as a team, you mentioned it already. They have a five and O record. They're coming off a dominant win over the Cowboys. And here's the deal. I hate to say this because we are Browns fans here. We root for the Browns. We want the Browns to do well, but their team is just better. Right now, the Browns are not in a good place at the moment. We have all kinds of things going on off the field as far as injuries, non injuries, pointing fingers, who knows what's going on. And we're just not in a good place right now. And they're in a phenomenal place. So I think this is going to be probably the biggest test of the rest of the year. And it could be a real turning point in the season one way or the other. I think if they can somehow find a way to win this one, it can potentially catapult you into starting to win more games and helping you take that next step.
[01:55:28] Speaker C: Well, what I said in the very open was, is this the first real measuring stick game of the year for the Browns? Because we've heard ad nauseam, best team on paper. Like, here you go. You get the opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the NFL. This is clearly one of the premier right now.
[01:55:46] Speaker B: This is clearly the best team.
[01:55:48] Speaker C: How you stack up against this team position by position and output versus output, this is going to determine, at least for a little while, how good this team actually is and how far they can go. Because you really haven't had a test like this against a good team. You've kind of played down to every opponent that you've played with and you got burned a couple of times and you came out on the right side a couple of times. So this is a team that's not going to let you beat them. You're going to have to take it.
[01:56:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. And I will say conversely, if they get blown out in this one, we're seeing all the finger pointing already starting behind the scenes here. And it could just get exponentially.
The whole thing could literally just implode yet again, like we're used to seeing in Cleveland Browns history.
[01:56:34] Speaker C: The Browns are going to be searching for another buy if they get blown out this week.
[01:56:38] Speaker B: Yeah, so we'll see. But before we move on here and get to our picks for this game and the rest of the AFC North, kenny, what's the injury report?
[01:56:59] Speaker C: All right, injuries, obviously, Deshaun Watson that we talked about, no one knows. Today he's listed as out. So hopefully that changes as the week goes on because it could really be not a good scenario for DTR.
[01:57:13] Speaker B: Dude, if DTR has to play this team, one, he might die, and two, he might never play football again. He might just be like, I'm done.
[01:57:23] Speaker C: If he survives and wins, though, he puts his name on the map forever.
[01:57:27] Speaker B: If DTR plays and wins this game, all those conversations that were put to bed last week are going to start up just that quick again.
[01:57:36] Speaker C: Right? He'll be the franchise quarterback.
[01:57:38] Speaker B: Oh, God, I love being a Cleveland Browns fan. It's the best. I fucking love it.
[01:57:43] Speaker C: Pochick question books considered day to day.
[01:57:47] Speaker B: Along with the rest of our offensive line.
[01:57:49] Speaker C: Yeah, that was during the Titans loss or the Ravens loss because we beat the Titans.
Miles Garrett, also listed as questionable.
[01:58:03] Speaker E: He's always questionable.
[01:58:04] Speaker C: Left foot injury as well.
[01:58:06] Speaker B: Miles Garrett's. Always questionable. He's always listed with like, left foot right.
[01:58:12] Speaker C: Injury. I've noticed is he still has all that kinetic tape on his shoulder from the car accident last year.
[01:58:19] Speaker B: Kinetic tape, though, is like one of those things that if players use it for a while and it feels good, they just keep using it, I guess.
[01:58:26] Speaker C: So it's like a drug ALK, right. Questionable.
Exited Sunday's game against the Ravens with a chest injury is all they're calling it. So those are the big names out right now. Again, I think Miles Garrett probably plays the Sean Watson we're hoping plays don't know about. Alex Ryder, Ethan Pocheck at this point and the rest of these guys are injured reserve.
On the injury front for the San Francisco 49 ers, elijah Mitchell is listed currently as out and he's really the only one. I mean, that team is pretty healthy right now. They've got a couple of guys on injured reserve and pup, but obviously they're a great team.
[01:59:06] Speaker B: But that probably plays into why they're five.
[01:59:07] Speaker C: And yeah, every other team, it seems.
[01:59:10] Speaker B: Like the injury bug is destroyed right.
[01:59:12] Speaker C: Now is a real thing and only have one guy, really that's even in the last month that's got banged up. That's impressive.
Fully healthy 49 ers team against a not so healthy Cleveland Browns team with a quarterback that we don't know who's going to play or when, which is.
[01:59:27] Speaker B: Weird because we're coming out of the buy. We should be healthy, but you'd think that anyways, players to watch. Let's go ahead and go around the horn here, boys. And we'll start with Bone Man. Who you got? Who's your player to watch in this game?
[01:59:40] Speaker D: I got to say Miles Garrett. I think our defense needs to set the tone this week and yeah, just get on Purdy and make some moves.
[01:59:48] Speaker B: Get on, purdy.
[01:59:51] Speaker D: Our defense has got to keep us in the game. I was kind of thinking back to the Pittsburgh game. I felt like there was some really hard hitting that Monday night. Pittsburgh hit us, too, but I feel like the Browns D was rocking some people as well. So hopefully bring some smash mouth AFC North football against them. San Francisco 49 Ers I like it, Kenny.
[02:00:17] Speaker C: I think the running game has to be there for us to win the game.
[02:00:20] Speaker B: It's been nonexistent since it's been nonexistent.
[02:00:22] Speaker C: Pierre Strong has led the Browns in rushing the last two times out. From the running back perspective, I'm going to go with Pierre Strong as my player to watch just because he's our leading rusher. Apparently if Kareem Hunt ends up getting the bulk of the carries, then he'd be my player to watch. Same for Jerome ford at this point say lead back. Whoever ends up being lead back because they probably have to rush for I.
[02:00:46] Speaker B: Guarantee you we come back next week, they all get like six carries.
[02:00:49] Speaker C: Yeah, but Pierre Strong will probably have six carries for 29 yards. He'll be a leading back lead back. At some point. They have to either give him more carries or less, these guys less because he's their leading rusher every week. So, yeah, stamp it. I'm going. Pierce Strong, I think he's going to have a big week. I think they're going to finally figure out, hey, this guy has some wheels. And I think he goes for 110, 115, and it puts the Browns in a position to win this game.
[02:01:15] Speaker B: What?
I was not expecting that. I'm a little shook.
Listen, I'm going to be boring here, but I mean, it's true. I'm going with Deshaun Watson just because we don't know if he's gonna play. If he does play, is he gonna be effective?
[02:01:30] Speaker C: I mean, technically he's out right now, so you can't even pick him. You have to pick DTR.
[02:01:35] Speaker B: Well, even still, I guess I would go with DTR if he was the one playing. But no, I mentioned it earlier in the show. We're still waiting on Deshaun to earn any part of his $230,000,000. We're still waiting on more than a mere glimpse of the player he was in Houston. So those are the things I'm looking for. As you can tell, I'm starting. My Deshaun Watson confidence meter is quickly coming farther and farther down, especially with the antics these past couple weeks.
[02:02:03] Speaker C: Here's a scary thought. What if he's done? What if he's Russell Wilson?
[02:02:07] Speaker B: I mean, I agree he could be washed.
[02:02:09] Speaker C: What if he's washed?
[02:02:10] Speaker B: And that is a very scary thought because we did the same thing that the goddamn Denver Broncos did and paid him 200 and some million dollars.
[02:02:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[02:02:18] Speaker B: In all of our draft stock.
[02:02:22] Speaker C: Fuck.
[02:02:24] Speaker B: Let's move on.
King of the north.
Anyone doesn't know by now this is our year long AFC North Pickham competition. At the end of the season, whoever comes in last place gets punished in the offseason this year. Kenny, who was in last place last year, had a gross of eggs thrown at him by fans in the munilot before a preseason game. We have not figured out what the punishment will be this year, but we will soon and we will let you know. We're taking suggestions if you have them, call into the hot, take hotline and leave that on there. It will be gross, but yeah. So with that, let's go ahead and jump into things here. We've all had a lot of bad picks this season, but I've had the least amount of bad picks out of everybody. So there's that. Let's go ahead.
[02:03:26] Speaker C: I think this does go to show that the AFC North is hard to predict, it's true.
[02:03:29] Speaker B: But especially I will remind everyone of the records before we make this week's picks. My record sits at six and eight. Phone man is at five and nine, and Kenny is at four and ten. How's it feel being on bottom?
[02:03:44] Speaker C: We're coming back this week, though.
[02:03:46] Speaker B: Comeback coming back. If I wanted to come back, I would have wiped it off your forehead.
[02:03:52] Speaker C: I would have wiped it off your mom's forehead.
[02:03:54] Speaker B: Seriously. Again, Cindy Andrew dropping her name.
[02:03:59] Speaker C: Wow.
[02:03:59] Speaker B: After that.
[02:04:00] Speaker C: Cindy Jams, where are you?
[02:04:03] Speaker B: All right, anyways, let's get into these games. The Steelers are on by this weekend, feeling good with their start to the season.
[02:04:08] Speaker C: Well, yeah, they're in first place. Fuck them.
[02:04:10] Speaker B: Yeah, but this week, Baltimore travels to Tennessee to play the Titans. Kenny, who do you got?
[02:04:18] Speaker C: I'm going Baltimore in this one. I think they got embarrassed last week losing that game to Pittsburgh. I think they come out on fire this week. And Lamar Pry throws for three touchdowns and rushes for 100 yards. I think he's just going to have to be the whole team for a while.
And Tennessee, they've played better since we played them, but I just still think they're not very good.
[02:04:38] Speaker B: Nice, Bowman. Yeah.
[02:04:41] Speaker D: I got to go. Baltimore, their defense is still stacked.
Yeah. Lamar to Mark Andrews.
[02:04:47] Speaker B: Damn it. So it's going to be a clean sweep again. We're all picking Baltimore. That really burned us last week.
[02:04:52] Speaker C: Yeah, sure did.
[02:04:54] Speaker D: Not this week.
[02:04:55] Speaker B: Not this week. Apparently you heard it from Bone Man first. You heard it straight from his bones.
Next up seattle visits Cincinnati.
We'll go with bone first? Who you got in this one, Seattle?
[02:05:10] Speaker D: My man Gino.
[02:05:11] Speaker B: Seattle.
[02:05:12] Speaker D: He's going to come into Cincinnati and get a big win for Seattle, keep their winning ways going.
[02:05:18] Speaker C: All right. I'm going Seattle as well because I think Gino is just still on a resurgence tear. I think that the other thing that Seattle has done in recent weeks really well is run the ball.
[02:05:33] Speaker E: It helps.
[02:05:34] Speaker C: And I think that if you look at their running game versus Cincinnati's, joe Mixon is again, we've talked about Mixon, like Joe Mixon's fastest prime. I think he's still serviceable back in this league, but I've never been that impressed where I was like, this guy's a top five.
[02:05:48] Speaker B: Pretty unimpressed.
[02:05:49] Speaker C: So I just think that they are running the ball really well right now. And I think Gino is a tough out. He's good. He's a tough out.
[02:05:59] Speaker B: Well, here's where some things may differ, because I'm picking Cincinnati in this one. I like them at home. I liked what I saw out of Joe Burrow last week. And, I mean, I didn't like it because it's bad for us in the AFC North.
[02:06:11] Speaker C: But you love Joe Burrow.
[02:06:12] Speaker B: But Joe Burrow played a lot better last week. Jamar Chase. Looks like Jamar Chase.
I think maybe that calf is finally starting to heal up for Joe Burrow. And I see them getting a big. Win at home to keep climbing back into the standings here in the AFC North.
[02:06:27] Speaker C: You love Joe Burrow, and when the Cincinnati Bengals make the playoffs, you're going to root for them.
[02:06:31] Speaker B: I will never root for the Cincinnati Bengals.
[02:06:33] Speaker C: You love them.
[02:06:35] Speaker B: Next up is the 49 ers coming to town to take on our Cleveland Browns. So I will start this one, guys. I think this is going to be much closer than people think.
As much as I've talked bad about the Browns and being the worst football team and just having a trouble competing in certain areas, I do think that the defense is going to come in just balls out.
[02:07:04] Speaker C: They're going to bring their balls out. If you just showed up a Miles balls out, I'd be afraid.
[02:07:10] Speaker B: I would be afraid too. Miles, put your balls away. I think Miles Garrett and that front seven is going to put pressure on Brock Purdy, and I think they're going to Ratle him a little bit. And I think it's going to be a defensive battle, a low scoring game.
I see the 49 Ers winning, but my score on this one is like 1710, 1713.
Somewhere in that range. Bone, what do you got?
[02:07:39] Speaker D: I want to do a homer pick so bad.
[02:07:41] Speaker B: Don't be scared.
[02:07:44] Speaker D: It could be big right for my tally there. I also don't want to end up getting destroyed in the punishment.
Yeah, I just can't do it.
[02:07:55] Speaker B: I got to pick the 49 Ers.
[02:07:57] Speaker D: I think I'm with you.
[02:07:58] Speaker B: The eternal optimist has turned on the Cleveland Browns.
[02:08:01] Speaker D: Our defense is going to show up.
[02:08:05] Speaker B: What's your score here, Bone? I'm disappointed.
[02:08:07] Speaker D: Let me give you a score.
[02:08:10] Speaker B: Disappointed in you.
[02:08:11] Speaker D: I don't know.
Make it like 2017.
[02:08:15] Speaker B: Okay. I was going to say make it like a wacky one. Like 14 to two.
[02:08:21] Speaker D: I almost did it. I almost picked them.
[02:08:24] Speaker B: You still can.
[02:08:25] Speaker D: I couldn't do it.
[02:08:26] Speaker B: Kenny, what do you got? This is usually the time where Kenny's like, I'm going to go against the grain. I'm going to do it here. I'm going to pick the Browns and they're going to lose.
[02:08:37] Speaker C: Um, I think the Browns are coming off a buy. The 49 ers are making the west coast trip.
[02:08:46] Speaker B: That is a good point. Go.
[02:08:47] Speaker C: There we go.
[02:08:50] Speaker B: Your argument might swing Bone man. And he might be you know what? I'm going to change my pick.
[02:08:54] Speaker C: I still don't know what to make of Brock Purdy, but if there's any defensive coordinator in the league that I think can come up with a game plan to mitigate his effectiveness, I believe it's Jim Shorts.
[02:09:07] Speaker B: Are you doing it to him? Are you doing it?
[02:09:09] Speaker C: Browns 31.
[02:09:10] Speaker D: Do it to him.
[02:09:11] Speaker B: Did you say 31 to 20? You think we're going to score 31 points on the 49 Ers?
[02:09:16] Speaker C: Now, let me preface this. This is a Deshaun plays. If DTR plays, we're going to lose by 100.
Make a pick but if Deshaun plays look, I think this is put up or shut up time, right? Like you got this whole team you spent all this money on. You put all this work in the offseason, the best team on paper. We've heard it over and over and over again. You've got $230,000,000 invested in that quarterback. Stand up and act like this is a team that you were built to be. Go out and take it from them.
[02:09:41] Speaker B: Hell yes. Zach changed my pick. He's done it. Hell yes.
[02:09:45] Speaker C: We got Browns 2017.
[02:09:49] Speaker B: Boneman has changed his pick. Browns 2017. I am the only Browns fan on this show that is not taking the Browns to beat the five and 49 Ers. Just the first pandemonium here.
[02:10:02] Speaker C: Flip in King of the north history.
[02:10:04] Speaker B: I think it is. That was wild, man. He's done it to me. I'm so excited.
Do you know what that takes us to? That takes us to the Burger podcast. Hot take. Hotline.
All right, everybody, don't forget to call the Hot Take Hotline. Remember, these are hot takes. We want to know why the 49 ers will lose to the Cleveland Browns. We want to know what is so good about the Browns, why we keep watching them, why there's so many Browns backers organizations. What the hell are we doing with so many fans when we just seem to give our fans heartbreak?
But we love them. I love them.
[02:10:40] Speaker C: We'll take.
[02:10:40] Speaker B: I love them so much.
[02:10:41] Speaker C: We'll take cold takes. We'll take any takes at all. Bring your takes.
[02:10:44] Speaker D: We want hot takes.
[02:10:45] Speaker B: We want hot takes. We want hot takes.
[02:10:47] Speaker C: We want hot takes.
[02:10:48] Speaker B: 3302-2780-8033-0227-8080-3302-278, call now. Operators are not standing by.
[02:11:01] Speaker C: Just the machine.
[02:11:01] Speaker B: Just the machine. And be sure to check out our gear at WW Thetappinmedia.com Backslash Shop. Go to show specific. Burning rivers, forestcast. That's us. And that'll do it for us, Kenny.
So what can we expect next week?
[02:11:21] Speaker C: What can we expect next week?
[02:11:23] Speaker B: That's the question I ask. Are you not here? You got no snare in your headphones.
[02:11:29] Speaker C: I'll tell you what we're going to expect next week. We're going to have a fucking celebration.
[02:11:34] Speaker B: Hell, yeah.
Let's go.
[02:11:37] Speaker C: And then, of course, we'll follow that up with another interview with the Brownsbackers chapter. Probably not that one that you wrote into the script because I don't think we played the Titans again. But we will talk with them at the Better Better and then we will have another fan cruise interview with one of our favorite alumni, John Greco. And then we will preview the weeks of a matchup, which I already fucking did against Indianapolis Colts. So we don't even have to have that part of the show, but we're.
[02:12:07] Speaker B: Going to anyways because me and Bone would like to talk about it.
So don't forget to check us out on social media. Tapin'media is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at the Tapin'media. And Burning River Sportscast that's this podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at Burning River Sportscast and on X at Burning River Pod. And don't forget, you can find our podcast wherever you get your podcast. I'm talking to Apple podcasts. Spotify. Google Podcasts. Amazon Music. Stitcher pandora Heart Radio podcast. Good. So much more.
[02:12:36] Speaker C: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Good one, Kenny.
[02:12:39] Speaker B: You know how to take us down.
Kenny, hit me with some facts.
[02:12:59] Speaker C: Facts for days. Remember we were talking about when I threw you overboard and you need to get to the ocean?
[02:13:04] Speaker B: Tension.
[02:13:04] Speaker C: Then Zach mentioned you need to break the tension in order not to die.
[02:13:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[02:13:07] Speaker C: Okay, I have a couple of facts for you here.
[02:13:09] Speaker B: What's the first one?
[02:13:10] Speaker C: These are all about different speeds. Water balloons, things leave your body.
[02:13:15] Speaker B: Okay?
[02:13:17] Speaker C: So fact number one, a cough can travel as fast as 50 expel almost 3000 droplets in just one go.
[02:13:25] Speaker B: That's one of those big ones.
[02:13:27] Speaker C: So as you're falling from the top of the cruise, you can just give.
[02:13:30] Speaker B: It a boo boo.
[02:13:32] Speaker C: 50 miles an hour. Might make it down there fast.
[02:13:34] Speaker B: Incredible.
[02:13:34] Speaker C: If that doesn't work, number two, a sneeze can travel up to 100, create upwards of 100,000 droplets.
[02:13:43] Speaker B: Oh, goodness gracious. That's how the COVID spread.
[02:13:46] Speaker C: That is how the COVID spreads 100%. That's how it spread. It did not spread. Number three. And number three is the only one that I would not recommend on your way off a cruise ship into the ocean.
[02:13:58] Speaker B: What is it?
[02:13:58] Speaker C: The point of ejaculation. Sperm are traveling pretty fast, approximately 28 mph.
[02:14:03] Speaker B: In order to get that out in front of me, I would have to go so fast on my way down.
[02:14:11] Speaker C: Man they are very quick though.
[02:14:13] Speaker B: You're under a lot of pressure at.
[02:14:14] Speaker C: That point, 28 miles an hour, you'll get a speeding ticket in the school zone. And then once they're inside of vagina, they can move even more quickly. Within five minutes of ejaculation, your sperm may have already entered the fallopian tubes.
[02:14:27] Speaker B: It's over for you.
[02:14:28] Speaker C: It's over for you. But I don't recommend ejaculating on a way off a cruise ship because hard pass.
[02:14:33] Speaker B: One, it'd be difficult to do, and two, it'd be difficult to do.
[02:14:36] Speaker C: The sneeze is probably your best bet if you can, because this travel fast and have a bunch of droplets. So definitely breaking the surface tension to the water, thus protecting your innards, your skeleton and all your bones.
[02:14:48] Speaker B: Okay?
[02:14:49] Speaker C: And don't just be a part of the problem, be the whole problem.
[02:14:52] Speaker B: And only you can prevent river fires. Burning rivers forever. Burning rivers, burning rivers. Forecast burning river, river.
[02:15:04] Speaker C: So many fluids leaving your body.
That's what we bring to you on the Burning River Sports cast.
[02:15:10] Speaker B: How fast can you spit?
Yeah.
[02:15:16] Speaker C: While we have the crew here, let's figure that out.
[02:15:20] Speaker B: Who cares?
[02:15:22] Speaker C: How fast can you spit?
[02:15:23] Speaker B: Burning river, burning river, burning river. Radio voice. I like that. Burning river.
There once was a burning river.
[02:15:35] Speaker C: You can spit over 19ft in 5 seconds. So do the math.
[02:15:38] Speaker E: Yes.
[02:15:40] Speaker B: That's fast burning river forecast.
Stop tapping it over there.
[02:15:48] Speaker C: Browns fan cruise and the burning river sports cast. What better combination could you possibly think of?
[02:15:53] Speaker B: A little scared still. I've never been on a cruise. I'm not scared there anything's going to happen. I've just never been on the cruise.
[02:15:57] Speaker C: Once the cruise is over and we're headed back to port, I'm definitely pushing you overboard.
[02:16:01] Speaker B: Thank you. If I fall off the cruise, even if we're just in port, you fall.
[02:16:06] Speaker C: Off it's like 100ft to the water.
[02:16:07] Speaker B: I'm going to get really hurt.
[02:16:09] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. You'll probably die.
[02:16:10] Speaker B: Thank you. He just on air. Said he's going to kill me when we get back to port.
[02:16:15] Speaker D: I think you got to break the tension of the water. You got to have something fall before you hit.
[02:16:20] Speaker B: Is that the key?
[02:16:21] Speaker D: Yes, I believe that's the key.
[02:16:22] Speaker B: This is why we're bringing Bone, man. He can save our lives.
[02:16:24] Speaker C: Don't all things fall at the same velocity?
[02:16:26] Speaker B: Yeah, but if you throw it in front of you, how small does this thing have to be? Like a pebble.
[02:16:31] Speaker D: It needs to create a ripple in the water, break the tension.
[02:16:33] Speaker B: I carry a pebble with me.
[02:16:35] Speaker C: Like when Olympic swimmers have the fountain running.
[02:16:38] Speaker D: Yeah, exactly.
[02:16:39] Speaker C: She could spit. Maybe motorboat.
[02:16:40] Speaker B: You play the motorboat.
[02:16:43] Speaker E: You motorboat son of a bitch. You old sailor, you.
[02:16:47] Speaker C: Now let me preface this. This is a Deshaun plays. If DTR plays, we're going to lose by 100.
[02:16:52] Speaker B: Make a pick.
[02:16:53] Speaker C: But if Deshaun plays look, I think this is put up or shut up time, right? Like you got this whole team you spent all this money on, you put all this work in the offseason. The best team on paper. We've heard it over and over and over again. You got $230,000,000 invested in that quarterback. Stand up and act like this is a team that you were built to be. Go out and take it from them.
[02:17:11] Speaker B: Hell yes. Zach changed my pick. He's done it. Hell yes.
[02:17:15] Speaker C: We got Browns 2017.
[02:17:19] Speaker B: Boneman has changed his pick. Browns 2017. I am the only Browns fan on this show that is not taking the Browns to beat the five and 49. Ers. That's the first pandemonium here flip in.
[02:17:33] Speaker C: King of the north history.
[02:17:35] Speaker B: I think it is. That was wild, man. He's done it to me. I'm so excited. By the way, I want my foreskin back. It doesn't matter what you think. All I do is win. Win no matter what.
There's a reason. Big.
What do you mean funny?
[02:17:51] Speaker C: Funny how?
[02:17:51] Speaker B: How am I funny?
[02:17:52] Speaker C: The weather outside is weather erroneous. Erroneous on both counts.
[02:17:59] Speaker B: You thought we were thin on the offensive line, right?
[02:18:02] Speaker C: Those are pretty heavy, guys.
[02:18:04] Speaker B: I mean, like thin. Like as in I hate you. Shut up.
[02:18:08] Speaker C: Wow.
[02:18:09] Speaker B: But damn.
[02:18:09] Speaker C: You know why, Mr? Because you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight I drove an $80,000 BMW. That's my name.
Where's logo girl when you need her?
[02:18:20] Speaker B: I desperately want to make love to a schoolboy.
[02:18:23] Speaker C: Down, Joe Sanderson. Down goes Anderson.
[02:18:29] Speaker B: Finger banged her salad.
[02:18:33] Speaker D: You first get shocked, and then you get the shocker.
[02:19:00] Speaker B: Today's episode was brought to you by Topath Rum. Topath Rum silver rum made from the highest grade molasses distilled three times in a copper pot. Still, this rum is designed to be the backbone of a great cocktail so good you can drink it by itself. Available locally in northeast Ohio and an online in 44 states, topath Rum.
[02:19:23] Speaker A: Hey, Browns fans.
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