Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, Browns fans.
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[00:00:55] Speaker B: Media it's time, time for the burning river sportscast. A few steps here or there, a twist or a turn the wrong way, inches, fractions and fractions of seconds will determine where roughly 300 men measure up and where they are valued in accordance with all 32 NFL clubs this week at the NFL combine. What the NFL has continued to push more and more as a premier offseason fan event is taking place this week and should further dial in team's offseason plans ahead of free agency in the NFL draft. While there's always some surprises and stories sure to catch the attention of fans, with some of college football's top talent scheduled to sit out drills, will the combine maintain its allure? Meanwhile, another collegiate institution is under fire, and what's next for our Cleveland Browns as the offseason turns on and free agency is set to open in just a few short days after the conclusion of the combine. We'll break it all down for you next on the burning river sportscast.
[00:02:27] Speaker C: My first thought was like, how's it look when they're all sweaty? Because I know I got some white clothes. You think of the infamous white t shirt contest. It's like these guys are going to sweat. There's some hot games in mid July, August, September.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Some guys don't wear anything at all. Some guys wear a jock strap. I mean, what do you do when Mike trout balls are out?
But yeah, just white pants in general, man. I just think it's a bad idea, especially for grown men. Yeah, white pants just should never be worn, right.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: I think they like it because a baseball player slides and you see, like the dirt streak because I feel like they like that.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: Yeah, but what happens if you don't slide and you get a dirt streak.
[00:03:10] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's the problem.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: That's what I'm saying.
[00:03:13] Speaker C: Wait a second. He slid face first. He didn't slide on his butt.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: That's what I'm afraid of, bro. If you're a streaker, you go dong out, or I don't respect you.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:28] Speaker D: And, you know, he's singing and I can feel know. And then all of a sudden, that beat drops in the drum. Boop. Boom, boom, boom. That was the moment. I was like, oh, man, this is it.
Romeo was an amazing coach. He was a good guy. A lot of people obviously criticized him for being too good of a know. They wanted him to know tougher on the players. He wanted them to know a little bit, know, strict or I guess, you know, yelling. And that just wasn't his personality. And he came from a place, know. He was with the New England Patriots and he won just with the same type of attitude that he had and.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Just run around dong flopping ass in the wind and then gets tackled by three fat security guards and they have to deal with his naked body. Yeah, that's what I'm here for.
Bald and butt crack.
Welcome into the burning river sports cast, presented by tapping media and brought to you by seaside events, is the official cruise event provider of the Cleveland Browns and organizer of the Browns fan cruise. I'm Kenny Thunder, filling in for red hot Ronnie jams, who is battling streptococcus. I'm joined today by the man who's tried more butt plugs than he has kinds of pizza, the big bone, man bone. Where can our listeners find all of the burning river sports guest content, including our exclusive interviews with Browns backers and former Cleveland Browns players to get turned up as we are just days away from the Cleveland Browns fan cruise put on by our good friends at seaside events, the official cruise event provider of the Cleveland Browns.
[00:05:04] Speaker C: Well, you can find this podcast wherever you get your podcast. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, podcast, Castro, good pods and more. And 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 handle for all these socials is at Burning River Sportscast and we are on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well with the handle at Burning Riverpod. And while you're at it, go ahead and check out our merch at ww dot thetapinmedia.com shop. We've got all kinds of cool stuff for you there? Cruise line, chubb line. Cold weather gear coming up. There's warm weather gear, too. The last couple of days have been great. 60 degree weather.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Got to get it all.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: Yeah. Get your sandals, get your tanks, your tees, whatever it is.
Make sure you just check everything out at the store.
We'll be constantly adding new items to that shop.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: Sure will.
[00:05:57] Speaker C: So today on the show we've got for you.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: What do we got?
[00:06:01] Speaker C: Part two of our three part series of what the Browns will need to focus on this season. Today's discussion will be on upcoming free agency and who the Browns should target and what pipe dream free agents we'd all like to see come and do. The Cleveland Browns.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Love it.
[00:06:16] Speaker C: Draft prospects.
That'll be. What is that next week, part three? Yeah, that'll be part three.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: That'll be our pre fan cruise show.
[00:06:24] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. So be ready to listen to that coming up next week. And also today, we have an interview with a Browns alumni that will be joining us on the Cleveland Browns fan cruise in March. And this guest was pre recorded and is being released now, but will be a heck of a listen nonetheless. Today's guest is none other than Steve.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: Steve Sanders.
[00:06:44] Speaker C: So go back and catch a few of the old podcast listens, the interviews with the former players, really great stories. Just a lot of that coming up. So, yeah, check them out.
And we will be starting to cut those up into shorter reels, some short form media where you can entertain yourself with those. So check those out.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: We're just blowing them out all over social media.
[00:07:10] Speaker C: And with that, the water is warm. In fact, it's hot because this is the burning river sportscast. So let's dive right in with.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: The burning river news story of the week.
Just something interesting I just saw come across newsblotter this week was that cap one is set to purchase discover for $35 billion and it would acquire some 305 or so million new customers.
[00:07:51] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: And I'm just thinking, how does that not violate any antitrust laws around monopolies in this country?
[00:08:00] Speaker C: It definitely seems like it would, but.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: There'S already so few credit card providers in terms of who's.
A lot of cards are, like, white labeled. You can get a card at speedway, but those are owned by the card networks, right? There's only so many of those. How are they just going to buy discover?
[00:08:18] Speaker C: Right?
[00:08:19] Speaker B: That's huge.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: So you're saying you have a Coles credit card that's backed by Visa or Mastercard or one of those big companies, right? Okay. Yeah, that's a big paycheck right there.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, a huge investment, too. $35 billion. I think the thing that is interesting about this for capital one is that discover runs the merchant side of things, too. So not to get, like, way deep in the weeds on that, but right now, capital one doesn't have any merchant processing, so anytime you swipe a discover card, discover gets a rip of that money, not only on the swipe that they're charging you for. Interchange on that. So let's say they get 3% on every swipe you make. They're also getting 2% or whatever the deal is that they made with the merchant to process your discover card. So they're getting a double rip on everything. So that's why I guess it's a good investment for cap one. It just sounds like.
I don't know how that.
Right. Cap one is officially going to be huge. They're going to have to be, like, the biggest card provider in the country. I don't know how a deal like that gets done in 2024, but sounds like it's going to take some time to close because I wonder if it's.
[00:09:30] Speaker C: Almost going to be one of the. Yeah, they're going to continue using the name Capital one, but be a. Under the name or discover. What is it? Find. Discover. So discover still will be a name and face, but it does sound like.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: Discover will be like, nothing's going to happen, especially right now. Right. This is kind of all like they've agreed in principle.
[00:09:48] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: Nothing's been signed yet. It's going to have to go through regulatory agencies and verify that it doesn't violate any antitrust laws. Both sides seem confident that it'll go through, but Capital one has already said, like, if you have perks or rewards with Discover, that those aren't going to change anytime soon.
I'm sure all the branding and stuff will still be in place for about a year or two before they can kind of merge. I mean, that's 300 million customers that they're going to have transition.
[00:10:16] Speaker C: That's like 300 million letters times ten. How many letters do you get sent by your credit card company?
[00:10:22] Speaker B: I've worked at banks for a long time in my professional life outside of this, and when we would have a merger with a smaller bank and take on 15,000 new customers, it's a process. Sure, 300 million.
Believe me, they're hiring a whole team of people to run a transition that size. But I just thought that was super interesting because it just seems like, how does that even happen in today's? World.
But I also have a second piece of the burning of a news story of the week, which really isn't news, but just something that happened to me this week that really made me angry.
[00:10:59] Speaker C: This is news for you.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: This is news for me. We kind of threw it in here with this. It was kind of miscellaneous segment.
There's a new dairy Queen in town.
[00:11:09] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: And part of my villain origin story is I worked Dairy Queen. It was like my first real job, I remember. So I went and worked there for a few years, like, through high school. It was like my first real job. And they were flexible with me to keep me on through high school sports and things. So I stayed there for a while.
There's a new dairy queen in town. And I go through the line. I'm getting my blizzard. And first off, the griddle is going to flip my blizzard, which, okay, it's free, right? Supposed to be.
And second off, the blizzard itself is coming out of the cup like it's way overfilled.
[00:11:49] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's already, like, getting sticky on the side of the.
[00:11:52] Speaker B: Yeah. And I'm like, what am I going to do with this? I'm not going to eat it while I'm driving. Right. Like, I have a ten minute drive home. It's just going to be a disaster by the time I get home because it's going to melt in the car. And I says to the girl, I says, can I get a lid?
[00:12:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: She says.
I said, well, can I get a Sunday cup lid?
And she says very confidently to me, oh, those don't fit.
And I looked at my wife and I about ripped her. I maintained composure in the moment, but as soon as we drove away, I was saying all kinds of colorful words because. And I have saved the cup.
[00:12:36] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: So that we can show everybody that this isn't like.
[00:12:40] Speaker C: Did you hear that, pop?
[00:12:41] Speaker B: This isn't like. You just toss it on and hope it fits. These things are literally meant to fit.
[00:12:46] Speaker C: That was a tight to the snap.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: On a Dairy Queen cup. Because what happens if you order a blizzard and say, I want whipped cream on the blizzard? That's the specific reason this was made this way. They're made to fit this cup. The girl says to me, oh, no, those don't fit. They don't quite fit. That right?
[00:13:06] Speaker C: Yeah. It sounds like she was a little ignorant on this topic.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: You can't speak so confidently about something that you don't know about. And I was like, listen, girl, you don't know that I'm a Dairy queen og the blizzard I ordered was a royal strawberry New York cheesecake blizzard. They invented that blizzard while I was working at Dairy Queen.
[00:13:28] Speaker C: So you've been eating those blizzards as.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: Long as I've been eating it for as long as it's been alive. And when it first came out, in fact, we used to put whipped cream on top of them. Yes, it was, like, a big deal. And we used the Sunday cup lids just like this one so that the whipped cream would stay on top. You could take it home.
[00:13:44] Speaker C: So did she put it on there and was like, oh, I guess I was wrong, or did she admit her fault?
[00:13:50] Speaker B: She didn't. And if I wasn't with my wife, I probably would have parked my car and went in and been like, let me show you how this works.
But instead, I just accepted it, and I was like, I guess I'll just hold this and hope it doesn't melt on my way home.
[00:14:05] Speaker C: You never got a lid that.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: I never got a lid that time.
I just accepted, well, what I did, because I was so pissed was I was like, throw me a strawberry sundae on there. Small strawberry sundae, because I wanted to go home and I should want to show Christine. I was like, because Christine was kind of, like, looking at me like, I don't know, maybe it doesn't fit. And I was no, like, it fits. It definitely fits.
So I got a Sunday, just to be sure. And sure enough, that's my Sunday lid. Fits right on the cup. You heard snap multiple times on and off.
Anyway, so I was pissed off. Sunday cup fits. And that's the burning river news story of the week. And now we move right into the burning river rundown.
All right, the burning river run down. In Browns news, Christmas came early for the Browns because the NFL announced that the salary cap would increase this year by a record $30 million, a little over $30 million.
The original estimates for this were between 1015, maybe a little over that. So for this to go up 30 million, this is huge news for the Browns because they aren't in as much of cap trouble as originally thought. After the announcement, sounds like this is the result of just a bunch of new media deals. Playoff expansion, et, so huge for the Browns.
Certainly you're going to have to continue to make some concessions on some contracts here. But instead of being where they thought they were going to be, around 20 to 22 or so over the cap to start the year, they're now sitting around six or seven or six and a half mil over cap. Okay, so when we think about having to restructure contracts, they could probably make realistically around $60 million in cap space by restructuring.
Obviously, some of that would come from Deshaun, which we'll talk about here in a second. But I think as we look at the other candidates for restructures right now, it's Amari Cooper, because he's got big money on the books. Deshaun, obviously.
But I think the interesting thing about Deshaun is that while he's an obvious candidate, because of the size of his contract, he hasn't been good yet.
[00:16:38] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: And the further we push his contract down the road, the further you push it into potentially dead money.
So given the cap increase, this might be a year where they go ahead and just say, look, let's just eat the Deshaun Watson money so they can get a year off the books and maybe work with other guys, like know if they want to extend him, they can cut his cap number down.
Nick Chubb is another one that continues to be talked about in terms of cap space.
Doesn't seem fair necessarily to Nick Chubb outside the fact that he got hurt, but there's ten or $11 million they could save in cap space by restructuring his deal.
But anyway, the big news is the Shire cap went up by record amount. The Browns aren't in as much a cap hell as they thought, which makes free agency all of a sudden palatable for the Browns. Just good.
[00:17:34] Speaker C: Yeah. They'll be able to hopefully hang on to some of the guys, maybe, that we're on the fence with, but thinking about the rest of the know players out there that possibly we could have brought in, maybe those teams will be able to keep them as well.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: That's a good.
I mean, we're not the only ones that are going to benefit from this. There are some teams out there that we're thinking, hey, we could sign a big name free agent. All of a sudden they can sign two big name free agents because they've got 60, $70 million in cap space already.
I think, again, the biggest thing here, the biggest positive to me, is that this maybe allows them to eat some of Deshaun's contract just because it's such an unknown whether he's going to pan out or not.
We're hoping that he gets healthy and is Deshaun of old, but until we see that, I think it's hard to confidently say, know, let's just keep kicking the can down the road with his contract because you may end up having to move on from him sooner than.
Yeah, and then last week, obviously, we talked about a lot of the free agents that the Browns are going to lose or potentially lose. So to your point, bone, we may be able to hold on to some of those guys now. I don't know, like Zadaria Smith probably is still the big one.
He, he can pretty much name his price this offseason, but a lot of those other guys that were kind of like depth guys and backup mean all of a sudden they're very realistic that they can just kind of keep that core together and move forward with that.
But we'll talk about free agents a little bit more here in just a bit. For now, we'll continue on with some of the Browns news.
Johnny Manziel, in the headlines again, in an interview last week, said part of the reason he struggled in Cleveland was that his boqb, Brian Hoyer, didn't make him feel like home or just didn't feel welcome when he was drafted.
I heard specifically, he said, like, the quarterback room wasn't a safe or comfortable place for him.
[00:19:34] Speaker C: Sure, I guess I kind of get that. But at the same time, you're getting paid millions of dollars to play football in a man's sport.
[00:19:43] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:19:43] Speaker C: You're a grown up at that point. It's like you're coming into somebody else's territory, essentially. Brian Hori is a hometown boy. It's like, I don't know. I think you got to earn a little bit before you can. I mean, he's reflecting now, but the.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: Sad part about this just overall is like, it sounds like Johnny's kind of grown up and he's realized what an opportunity he know.
[00:20:07] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: To go from a Heisman Trophy winner to NFL flame out in record time like he did.
But anyway, as the story goes, you said Johnny would ask questions in meetings and Brian Hoyer would kind of be abrasive, say things like, are we really doing this again? Or you still don't get it. And eventually it just shut Johnny down. He didn't care anymore, which is the wrong attitude, to your point.
You're professional, you're getting paid.
He ended up being a first round pick. Right. Because he was a second pick in the first round, I think so. He was like 21 or whatever overall.
[00:20:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: So, yeah, you weren't a walk on, a timid. You were the show.
You were a Heisman Trophy winner. You should be used to the spotlight and used to.
Johnny had to pay his dues in college to get to where, I mean, he was a walk on in college because he was undersized so you would think that you would kind of come in with a chip on your shoulder, like, I'm going to have to earn it.
[00:21:03] Speaker C: Sounds like he got a heavy dose of, like, humble pie.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Yeah. Just a reality check when it got there.
Yeah. Now, is it good that Brian Hoyer wasn't necessarily a good teammate?
Probably not. Brian Hoyer did respond this week. Said, know he was made to feel that way, Johnny was made to feel that way, that that wasn't his intention at all. But he did admit to feeling a good amount of apathy toward Manzel. Also know, being a hometown kid playing for the Browns, that was his dream job, and he didn't want to see anybody take it away from him. And that his problem wasn't necessarily with Johnny, but with the owner and the GM who were pushing for Manzel when he really just was totally unprepared for the job. So some of that's just, to me, it's like you're in an NFL locker room. Like, both guys kind of need to grow up, right?
[00:21:57] Speaker C: If I'm remembering that season correctly, it did seem like they forced, did Hoyer get hurt when Manzel came on? Did they force Hoyer to kind of sit and play Manziel that season?
[00:22:06] Speaker B: They started really well and they were, I think, seven and, yeah, and then I want to say it was the Indianapolis game and Hoyer just came out and was just bad.
[00:22:15] Speaker C: Right.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: He couldn't complete passes, and he completed more passes to Indy than he did to the Browns team.
And from that moment forward, it was kind of like where they wanted to get the rookie in and see what he could do, and he wasn't great.
He did have a couple of flashes here and there. I remember in the Buffalo game was one of his second or third starts outside of the undertaker pose he did in the end zone. He had some flashes and some drives that moved the ball down the field, but it was kind of like from there on out, it was kind of like musical chairs at quarterback to the end of the year, and they lost every game going down the stretch.
[00:22:51] Speaker C: I remember watching Manziel scramble and thinking, he's slow, he can't do this in the know.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: You remember him running around, certainly a different speed.
[00:23:02] Speaker C: I was like, he's going to die.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: And it was very clear, like, how little he was in the NFL.
[00:23:07] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
[00:23:09] Speaker B: Which to my, at the time, I was like, why are we running like quarterback power with him? I know that a part of his appeal was that he's an immobile quarterback, but you can't put him on naked boots and power runs.
His mobility should have been used in the pocket to create space and time, not to be a running back type quarterback. He wasn't vic back there. And that's eventually what did him in was he got pounded on a quarterback run on the sideline there, ripped up his shoulder for the year.
But anyway, just again, interesting that this drama continues to go know again. Johnny Manziel kind of growing up here, getting some interviews with a couple of different folks. That same interview, he apologized to LeBron and to Joe Thomas. LeBron for ignoring his attempts at mentoring Johnny. Joe Thomas for wasting some of his best years. I saw you also apologize to skip Bayless because Skip had the famous line on first take, that Johnny would one day be bigger in Cleveland than LeBron James.
Wow, I really let you down, man.
[00:24:22] Speaker C: So put that on replay.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Yeah, look, I mean, the whole thing obviously was a dumpster fire from the get go, literally from day one.
From the owner of a football team saying that, like, a homeless guy told him to draft Manziel, and that was what did him in. This whole thing couldn't have gone any worse.
But look, I still love Johnny. I think Johnny is a cool kind of pop culture icon.
I think he fits right in with the brown story for the last 20 years.
[00:24:52] Speaker C: It is neat hearing this, like, whatever, him talking about it now and hearing Brian Hoyer's perspective on it and all that, whatever was going down, because it's all kind of drama, NFL, our team, and just kind of continuing the saga and carrying on from that documentary on Netflix a couple of months ago or whatever.
[00:25:10] Speaker D: A year ago?
[00:25:11] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, just listen to some of his stories about in college, about how all the drinking that they would do before the game all week long. And so you could almost understand where he was coming from, where it's like, I drank six, seven days a week, and I won the Heisman, right? And then the next year, my stats were better to the point where everybody was like, this guy's got to go to the NFL.
[00:25:32] Speaker C: Not even that. He, like, beat Alabama in the heyday. It was like Alabama lost. It was because of Johnny Manziel. Maybe Mike Evans had something to do that, too. I think that's who he was throwing the ball to, wasn't it?
[00:25:43] Speaker B: But who was their bowl game? I mean, I remember being out on New Year's Eve watching him in the bowl game against, gosh, who was it? But it was just classic Manziel just running all over the field, chucking up balls.
Look bad. NFL quarterback. Fun as hell to watch in know, but I think again, he just fits right in perfectly with the Brown story.
Just bad job all the way around there. Bad job on the ownership, bad job on Johnny for not being more mature coming in. Bad job on Brian Hoyer not being what you expect of a veteran. Bad job of petting in the coaching staff, of not making sure that your team was prepared to play. I mean, for Manziel to come out all this time later and say like, I didn't watch any film. Kyle Shanahan also said, I knew Manziel wasn't watching film. What are we doing?
We, what are we doing? It's an NFL franchise. This is Warner.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: It doesn't fly.
[00:26:37] Speaker B: What do you mean? Everybody knew he wasn't doing his job, but we said let's throw him in there anyway.
So yeah, fun stuff there with Johnny.
But moving on at the combine this week, interesting news. Andrew Berry elaborated on what he submitted was a petition to move the trade deadline back starting this upcoming of like it seemed like this should have already been done.
[00:27:07] Speaker C: Is this his idea?
[00:27:09] Speaker B: This was his idea coming from the Browns to the NFL leadership to say the trade deadline is too early in the season.
[00:27:15] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:27:15] Speaker B: Which makes sense because the deadline was never moved back when they expanded the season to 17 games and wants to be proactive because everybody knows they're eventually going to move this to 18 games. 17 is an OD number, goofs up all the scheduling. 18 seems like probably the right number and it seems like a fair number for everybody that wants more. NFL football understands it's a brutal sport, understands you can only play so hard so long.
18 feels like a fair amount to fans who are bloodthirsty and to players, especially if they can maybe build in another buy. If you build in two buys during the season and play 18 games, I feel like players would be pretty supportive of that.
[00:27:57] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that'd be crucial, having a second by week because you get stuck with one of those early bye weeks.
I think that can be dreadful for an NFL team.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: Oh yeah.
And really they should be able to get rid of then another preseason game, right? So you do two preseason games, 18 regular season games, building two buys, you have kind of the perfect schedule for any sport, for players and for viewers.
So I think that makes a lot of sense.
Looking at other major sports leagues right now. Baseball and basketball trade deadline is after 65% of the games are played. Hockey trade deadline after 78% of games are played. The NFL today is after just 45% of the season has been played. So the new trade deadline would take that to 55% of games played, which still would be the earliest trade deadline out of all the major sports.
[00:28:52] Speaker C: Was it one week later? Is that what he's going for? Or two weeks later after a certain.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: Game after week ten? Week ten was going to be the trade deadline. Yeah.
To me, again, this is a common sense reform. The NFL should jump on immediately.
Good on Andrew Barry for being proactive with this. Again, it kind of seems like something the NFL just should have done once they expanded the season.
[00:29:16] Speaker C: Yeah, it does seem like one of those no brainers.
[00:29:19] Speaker B: It always seemed like it was early anyway to, I mean, especially given where we're headed.
Seems like it's definitely something that they should do.
In other news, Browns scorecard was released this week.
This is an annual player scorecard where the players are asked to anonymously grade their franchise.
[00:29:51] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: Things did not go well.
Yeah, numbers.
[00:29:56] Speaker C: It doesn't look very good.
[00:29:57] Speaker B: In 2022, their numbers were markedly higher overall. They ranked 23 out of 32 teams and received an average of a d plus on their annual scorecard. So a couple of the categories here that were marked really poorly was treatment of families. Browns received a d minus.
It was said that the player meeting area for families to meet up to go into the stadium is like a tent outside. There's not like a room inside where they can go to that. They had trouble with communications and things, some of the daycare facilities, whatever. For families during the game, locker room apparently was another big issue. Seems like players are complaining that there wasn't enough room in the locker room for either their stuff or things they were doing in the locker room. I don't know what else you'd do in a locker room besides change your clothes and put your stuff in there.
[00:30:54] Speaker C: But, man, I don't know how many players are on the team that have been on other teams. So they're comparing other teams. Right. What does this team have or this team does it? Right?
[00:31:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's a good point. I mean, some of these teams, probably. Some of these guys, maybe that came from players or teams that had new facilities, certainly to compare to the Browns stadium that was built in 1998. Right. It's probably not as good.
The weight room was another d on the scorecard. Apparently.
What I read is there's not an actual weight room, just weights in a room. I don't know how that differentiates from a weight room to just, there's weights in a room.
[00:31:33] Speaker C: That's why we have so many soft.
[00:31:35] Speaker B: Tissue injuries that could be interestingly enough, strength coaches were rated the highest at a b plus.
So players apparently respect their strength coaches.
[00:31:46] Speaker C: They do good with what they got.
[00:31:48] Speaker B: But they don't respect their weight room.
Team travel was another one that was ranked A-D-I don't know how to really improve that, I guess get better planes, softer airplane pillows, better meals on the planes, maybe. And then the really interesting ones here that were marked high actually were. Ownership was one of the highest grades at a solid b, meaning that players felt that the ownership group was willing to invest in and competitively invest in making the team better and head coach as a b minus.
Basically what they said about Stefanski was that he most of the time listens to the team, but maybe not as much as they would hope.
[00:32:41] Speaker C: Okay. They feel like they're being heard some.
[00:32:43] Speaker B: Of the time, some of the. Yeah, so. But overall, not good d plus across the board as the average grade for this. Some of the other things that were graded just for content sake, for context sake, food cafeteria nutritionist, dietitian, training room training staff.
Now it's kind of along with the other interesting.
[00:33:08] Speaker C: This has got to be turned around just based on. I know the perception of the Browns around the league has gotten better, but I still feel like it's northeast Ohio.
[00:33:18] Speaker B: And the fact of the matter is that if you look over the last 20 years, the Browns have lost more games than any other franchise. So when you're trying to attract new talent here, exactly. Whether it's from the draft and just guys wanting to play here or free agents that you're trying to appeal to, to get them to come here, that's not really.
[00:33:37] Speaker C: It'd be nice not to have to overpay every big name player we bring in.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: Right. Every receiver that comes in and blames out, for sure. So hopefully they get a, I mean, look, like, again to your, like, it's Cleveland.
[00:33:53] Speaker C: Right?
[00:33:54] Speaker B: We love Cleveland, but we were born and raised here, and we're kind of like, know the people that stay don't like big city. They like small town. They like the fact that they can drive to Cleveland in an hour for a concert and drive home. And it's not like being in LA or Atlanta. We like that. We like a little bit of city, but we all go back to our suburbs and everything's fine. Yeah.
[00:34:18] Speaker C: The springs and summers in northeast Ohio are great, I think. But I would say the procession outside of Ohio would be like summer.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah. I think people that live here, like, four seasons, but if you're making $11 million a year and you're on a $50 million contract and you're 23 or 24 years old. Would you rather be somewhere where it was sunny 300 days a year, somewhere Gulf Coast, Miami, la?
So, yeah, the Browns should be like tops in the league, right? I mean, facilities should be excellent.
Your training facilities and things should be world class.
Head coach and ownership are those things that sometimes are going to vary because of the turnover there and just the direction of the team in general. But your facilities should be top notch. Players should be treated like royalty, I believe.
[00:35:18] Speaker C: I heard Minnesota was one of the highest graded on this chart here or whatever, this scoring survey, which I think makes sense because, I mean, their weather and winter is probably worse than ours.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: I've heard that a lot, that that new stadium is just beautiful.
[00:35:33] Speaker C: Yeah, but like you said, it's a new stadium. Ours is 1999.
[00:35:37] Speaker B: Yeah, but, yeah, it's just something that this has to change. And Kevin Stefanski apparently came out in the combine today and said they were already working on some of these things for Stefanski's sake. Maybe he's thinking maybe I'll listen to the team more. I don't.
Yeah, I mean, I know the know, obviously we've talked about are they moving to Brook park? Are they building a new stadium or putting a dome on the stadium and renovating it on the lakeshore? I know there's already plans in place to upgrade the practice facility in Berea, so some of these things, hopefully over the next two, three years, will be flipped the other way.
But to me it's like non negotiable. Like it has to be because you're just not a destination city.
In other NFL news, Peter King retired earlier this week. Must be why he was dusting off draft notes from the Browns for an office in 2018 last week, talking about how the Browns weren't impressed with Pat Mahomes's fundamentals.
Peter King's one of those guys like living legend, been, I think a journalist for like 40, 44 years or something.
So end of an era there.
It's one of those guys that did a lot of writing for ESPN. So happy trails to Peter King.
Now, speaking of something a little more interesting here, the combine.
[00:37:09] Speaker C: Oh yeah, it's heating up.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: Is the combine dying or is it? Okay, so what do you think, bone? Given this, some of the top prospects, Marvin Harrison, Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake, may all skipping events altogether, and even some NFL head coaches, Sean McVeigh, Matt Lafleur, Mike McCarthy, Robert Salah, Kyle Shanahang, among others, are all just not interested in being at the draft.
[00:37:41] Speaker C: It'S like every year you have these whatever freak athletes, they score extraordinary on certain aspects, whether cone drill or bench press squat 40. And it's like every year you have some of these guys that just fail, and you're like, that guy was supposed to be for sure true. And it's just like, does it really matter? Or is it, I mean, some of these coaches that aren't even coming.
[00:38:07] Speaker B: That's the question, right? It seems like every year there's a guy that breaks the 40 records, he's the fastest guy at the combine. It's like, did those guys end up actually being good NFL talents or were they just they trained for the 40?
[00:38:19] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:38:23] Speaker B: Thinking about that in general from a player perspective, what do you think about that? Like Marvin Harrison saying, I'm not training to run a 40. I'm not training to run a condor. I'm going to run routes, and I'm going to catch footballs and play for the NFL.
[00:38:35] Speaker C: And a guy like that has so much good film, it's just like everybody already knows. Right.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: Well, and then it's like, it begs the question, is the combine in today's day and age truly even necessary? I mean, when you think about every NFL team probably has a swat team of personnel, guys and scouts that travel the country all year long, watch college football, make notes on these guys. They had their draft boards built before the season ends.
Could you just go to pro days of guys that you had questions about?
[00:39:05] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:39:05] Speaker B: And call it a day. You're going to go there anyway.
[00:39:08] Speaker C: I feel like in the past, you've heard the pro day has become the most important part about drafting a guy, right. Certain coaches, whoever's going to see or they make a big debut, who's going to be at the pro day? Is it the head coach? Is it just one of the special coordinators on the team or a scout or an assistant or whoever it is.
[00:39:27] Speaker B: Right.
[00:39:28] Speaker C: But I don't know. I kind of think the combine is dying a little bit because I don't know. Is it that mean?
[00:39:36] Speaker B: I don't necessarily know. I was never really, I guess, tuned into the combine. And I know the NFL has tried to push this as must see tv, but I don't know. How many big guys can you watch? Bench press 225 and even that, it's.
[00:39:52] Speaker C: Like, okay, so the guy worked on his 225 bench press for a couple of months, pat his stats.
[00:39:58] Speaker B: Does the guy that does 33 reps versus the guy that does 25 reps, is he really going to be a better pro yeah.
[00:40:05] Speaker C: How's his feet?
[00:40:06] Speaker B: Right?
[00:40:07] Speaker C: Wish they do drills for that as well.
[00:40:11] Speaker B: And it just seems like the way that these guys, it seems like every inch counts, right? It's like these guys get moved up and down draft boards based on, well, he was a top prospect, wide receiver, but he ran a four, six and a 40, and that's just not good. But think about some of the guys in NFL history that are the best at their position, and a lot of them didn't run the fastest 40 time, didn't bench the most reps, didn't have the best cone drill.
I don't know. To me, it's just like it almost doesn't seem necessary in this day and age to have a combine. The people that it seems like it benefits the most are those bubble guys.
[00:40:51] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: Like, if you're coming from a small school, maybe you didn't have that much exposure, and all of a sudden you run four three in the 40 and you get some people looking at you going, we'ren't really considering that guy, right. But we do need speed of that position.
To me, but the 40 still seems.
[00:41:12] Speaker C: To be one of those drills, even for a big guy like, wow, he can move, linebacker can.
[00:41:20] Speaker B: There's certainly some value in it, right? I mean, that's how they've been picking players for a long time, so it's not like it's totally useless. And it's a lot of the same stuff they do at their pro day. I just guess I kind of respect Marvin Harrison's position on this to be like, I'm not a 40 yard sprinter. Like, I'm a football player, so I'm going to do things that make football sense. And if you're going to not draft me because of a 10th of a second on the 40 time, then don't draft me because I guarantee, like, I'm going to be a better pro than the guy that just ran forty s all off.
[00:41:53] Speaker C: I feel like for a guy like him who has proven himself over the last couple of years, like, wholeheartedly at Ohio State, the best talent there is playing some of the best teams.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: Well, that's why to me, it begs the question, is the combine really then worth watching? Because you're not seeing your top tier guy. Those are the guys that you want to see. We would all love to see Marvin Harrison run a 40, and you'd hope he runs sub four four.
You want to see Caleb Williams throw, especially a guy like Caleb Williams with all the fanfare and expected to be number one draft choice, let's see what you got. But you're not going to see it because these guys know that the only thing that it can do is hurt them.
[00:42:33] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: Right. I mean, if you run a slow 40, you miss some open routes, throwing during throwing drills.
Why would I go out there and take that chance when I can work with people that I know, guys that are on my team today, throwing routes to in my own training facility that I've been at for the last three or four years?
[00:42:51] Speaker C: I feel like that holds true, especially for a quarterback. It's like you go have a bad passing day, maybe not throw into your guys like you just said, yeah, save it for the pro day.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: But then, like, a guy, like, in your element, then, like a guy like JJ McCarthy that wasn't necessarily known as like a prolific passer in Michigan, is expected to be a high draft pick and is going to get an opportunity in front of a bunch of people to show off what he's got at this. But that must see be that be televised.
[00:43:22] Speaker C: I mean, it pretty much just goes down on.
[00:43:26] Speaker B: Think ESPN really air this.
[00:43:30] Speaker C: Or they air highlights?
[00:43:31] Speaker B: I think they primarily air, but, like, it's a huge deal in, like, they've tried to make it like, this whole event for a week long. I mean, they got coaches out there doing. Did they let things come into that? Yeah.
[00:43:46] Speaker C: Okay.
I didn't realize that they're packing fans.
[00:43:50] Speaker B: Into the stadium, but to me, it just seems like the combine at this point is almost not that we see these guys week in and week out play college football. There was a time when only primetime games were featured on two or three channels, right? And it's like during college football season now I can watch Akron play Wichita.
[00:44:12] Speaker C: State and probably like five different views per play. You want to see the end zone shot, you want to see the sky.
[00:44:19] Speaker B: I mean, every game is televised, and if you look at a Saturday and you just go through, like your tv guide, college football is on no less than ten channels. So I don't know, with the visibility of college football today, the lack of top prospects coming out to even do drills, I just can't see why people would even go to this at this point and even why it's necessary for the NFL.
I know that it's necessary for these guys to talk to all the players. So I guess it's convenient from that perspective to be able to do get all the players in the same room or most of the players in the same room at one time to be able to have interviews with them, talk to them, get to know the, I mean, all the rest of this just seems so unnecessary to me at this point.
And I think the NFL started to tell you that when NFL head coaches are like, I'm not going.
[00:45:08] Speaker C: That's what gets me the most. Yeah. I wonder how Goodell feels about, and these are big name coaches too.
[00:45:15] Speaker B: These aren't just, oh for sure. I mean, it's almost like from your, like Goodell's almost got to be furious about this because the NFL has put a ton of money and marketing into trying to make this big know outside the draft. It's the next biggest event in the season.
[00:45:29] Speaker C: I mean, I would say Shanahan, especially going to the Super bowl, this year's biggest name NFL coach in the league right now maybe besides whatever, Kansas City and them nuggies. But I don't.
[00:45:44] Speaker B: Mean those are all Sean McVeigh teams from big guess, you know, like listening to some of them or at least some of the conjecture as to why they're not going is it seems like every coach, every scout, everybody that's connected to the NFL in some way somehow that maybe either has a job in the NFL or wants a job in the NFL is there this week because they're looking for 5 minutes with that coach. Hey, can I get in this guy's ear? Can I make an impression on him to get a job so I could see from that point of view, does Sean McVeigh want to be walking like getting interrupted walking from the combine to dinner and back to his hotel like six times by people that are, hey, like, have you thought of this? Have you seen this? Do you know this guy? Like have you talked to this?
I mean, that being said, it's still supposed to be this premier event in the NFL and these guys just aren't interested in, um, I don't, I, to me, it seems like the NFL draft combine days are numbered because it just doesn't seem necessary anymore.
Anyways, that kind of wraps up our football news, but we do have a couple of quick pieces here about the MLB and NCAA basketball. So first, in MLB news, the new uniforms apparently are transparent.
[00:47:17] Speaker C: Yeah, they've been having issues.
[00:47:19] Speaker B: They've got see through pants now. So what do you think about that bone?
[00:47:22] Speaker C: Well, my first thought was, how's it look when they're all sweaty? Because I know I got some white clothes. You think of the infamous white t shirt contest. It's like these guys are going to sweat. There's some hot games in mid July, August, September.
[00:47:36] Speaker B: And that's primarily the issue is with the white uniforms, okay. Because you can just see right through. You're looking at guys underwear, you're looking at guys shirts that are tucked in. But here's the thing, look, we both played sports and, you know, in that locker room, everybody kind of has a different comfortability, right. Some guys will wear the long underwear, some guys wear briefs. Some guys don't wear anything at all. Some guys wear a jack strap. I mean, what do you do when Mike Trout's balls are out?
[00:48:12] Speaker C: Yeah, you can see the camera angle. However they do it, they're going to have to be careful how they shoot some of these shots, I think because it's still supposed to be family friendly tv.
[00:48:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, this got x rated really quickly.
So. Yeah, clearly the MLB has to fix.
[00:48:29] Speaker C: Such a, like something as important as uniforms.
[00:48:32] Speaker B: Right?
How do those even get made when you're like, hey, this is the prototype. Great. Love it. Lightweight, flexible people. It's breathable. These guys are going to love this.
[00:48:42] Speaker C: Right?
[00:48:42] Speaker B: Oh, you can see their butt crack. Oh, no.
[00:48:48] Speaker C: Segment. How many butt cracks were caught on camera this weekend?
[00:48:51] Speaker B: How did you not catch that?
[00:48:53] Speaker C: Because that'll definitely be one of the first things people notice, especially that's a sweaty area when you're playing a game like that outside running around. I mean, everything just drips, funnels to that area.
It's like a pathway for it.
[00:49:06] Speaker B: Big wet funnel.
And like white pants.
Man, here's the thing about white pants, too, in general. So I always think about this, like with golfers, the confidence it takes to wear white pants.
[00:49:18] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:49:20] Speaker B: I guess when I was 23 it wasn't as big a deal and I'm not old now, but look, there's no telling what could happen on any given day. Do I want to be wearing white pants in front of national television audience?
[00:49:34] Speaker C: How many games are there? 184 games or something like that.
What is it, 90 of those games are going to be wearing white? Possibly. Yeah, that's a dominant color.
[00:49:46] Speaker B: And yeah, basically every home team wears white.
[00:49:50] Speaker C: I don't know if the Guardians and Indians wear gray a little bit at home or is it always white?
[00:49:56] Speaker B: And it seems like through even training, like that's what some of the teams have done is they're trying to wear their old jerseys.
[00:50:02] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:50:02] Speaker B: So they aren't showing their balls.
Yeah, I mean, huge blunder by major league baseball. And I think Nike has this contract with fanatics, so they got to get this fixed because you can't just be showing balls off on tv. That's not good. Balls and butt cracks and just white pants in general, man, I just think it's a bad idea, especially for grown men.
White pants just should never be worn. Right.
[00:50:29] Speaker C: I think they like it because a baseball player slides and you see, like the dirt streak. I feel like they like that.
[00:50:36] Speaker B: Yeah, but what happens if you don't slide and you get a dirt streak?
[00:50:38] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's the problem.
[00:50:40] Speaker B: That's what I'm saying.
[00:50:41] Speaker C: Wait a second. He slid face first. He didn't slide on his butt.
[00:50:45] Speaker B: That's what I'm afraid of.
So anyway, the MLBs fixed that.
And then that brings us to another hot topic in basketball, NCAA basketball, to be specific.
Two players have been hurt in the last couple of weeks due to courtstorming incidences. First it was Caitlin Clark, and then there was another incident this week.
The kid's name.
[00:51:18] Speaker C: Yeah, she's a big name. Big time.
[00:51:19] Speaker B: Yeah, huge. Huge. And that was on national tv, on, I think there was Ohio State game, actually.
And so it was a big win, obviously, and kids stormed the court. I mean, a couple of things. The conversation all of a sudden, is it time to ban courtstorming? Is there a way to control courtstorming or do we just continue to look the other way? Is this just a part of the game in college sports?
[00:51:48] Speaker C: I don't know. I feel like you can't ban it. It's like if one person does it, right, you get in trouble. But if it's a big moment and everybody does it, you look the other way. Right. But as long as these were accidents and it wasn't something intentional, I don't.
[00:52:02] Speaker B: But I guess that's the problem, right? Even if it is an like, can you imagine if Caitlin Clark tore an ACL, getting tripped over by a fan and you have the NFL or the NCAA's most prolific female basketball player in a generation misses the rest of the season because of court storming. That would be terrible.
[00:52:21] Speaker C: On the flip side of mean, I've been to some concerts, like in mosh pits and stuff back in my heyday.
[00:52:30] Speaker B: Back when you wear white pants.
[00:52:31] Speaker C: Yeah. You get crushed by some of these people, just like storming the stage or whatever it is.
You can get uncomfortable very easily, especially for somebody who's smaller.
[00:52:42] Speaker B: That's part of the problem, right? Is that there's no responsibility being held by the kids that are storming the court. Sure, because I get that you probably want to run past the players on the opposing team and tell them they suck and make fun of them for losing, but they're supposed to be there. You're not right.
You should at least try to not get in their way. You figure they're probably pissed off and they're angry. Most of these athletes especially, too. Especially in men's sports, and I'm sure there's some big girls in women's sports, but especially in men's sports, when you got hyped up, dudes with extra testosterone that are pissed off that he just lost a huge game, and you got freshman clowns running by, I'm calling them names.
[00:53:31] Speaker C: Opposing fan, right?
[00:53:33] Speaker B: Asking for something bad to happen. And we've seen enough of that. Just like in NBA games in recent history where fans have said one too many words to a star and run our test, these kids and these guys are just like, they will beat your ass. They are professional athletes. They are on a different level than your average liberal arts kid. Yeah, a couple of game suspension, that's not good either. But I think the problem to me is courtstorming is not something that is pre planned. So it's like, how do you control it? Because to me, it's one of those organic moments where if you're going up and you're playing and you're unranked and you're playing a number two or number three in the country, and you kind of go in expecting to lose, and then all of a sudden, miraculous bounces go your way, some kid goes off for 40 points, that is a bench player, and you take down a titan of the game.
It's an organic reaction. It's not like, hey, we were all playing a storm into court later, you guys want to go, everybody's just turned the hell up because they just had this huge gain, this huge win. How do you stop that?
[00:54:47] Speaker C: I don't think you can. I mean, there's too many people. You don't have enough police force, and it would almost have to get violent in a way where you don't want to provoke that or even initiate that with.
[00:55:00] Speaker B: That's what I heard one reporter say, they should just arrest every kid that stores the court. It's like, how are you going to arrest 20,000 kids, right? What is there, 15 cops in the building?
[00:55:09] Speaker C: Yeah. And there's your fan base.
[00:55:13] Speaker B: They're the ones getting concessions and stuff.
You obviously can't do that.
[00:55:21] Speaker C: You're building a barrier of some sort, but that restricts viewing, that restricts access to the court.
Just the whole fan experience, I feel like, would be less if you had something like that. I don't know if you could use nets or something, but in a baseball game, they have nets at certain points of the stadium, so you couldn't get through that. But I guess I've sat behind that before and the game was still good.
[00:55:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess if you could.
[00:55:45] Speaker C: Can you imagine having nets, like, just seeing that on tv? Like, they net the whole stadium? I feel like that just kids would.
[00:55:50] Speaker B: Be just crawling on the net.
They crawl on the field goal post. Why wouldn't they crawl up?
[00:55:55] Speaker C: The Nets put electricity on them. Next.
[00:56:04] Speaker B: Could you threaten to expel kids that storm the court? I guess that's the first question. Do we want to do away with storming the court? Because to me, it's kind of a cool photo op, right? When a court gets stormed or a field gets stormed after a big game and everybody's out there and they're slapping hands with the head coach and taking their selfies with the best players, it's fun. It's a cool part of the game. Do we really want to ban that? I guess is the first question.
[00:56:32] Speaker C: I think it was Tennessee beat Alabama a couple years ago, and they literally carried the field goal post up the stadium.
[00:56:39] Speaker B: It was like, that was cool. Probably not a good hindsight. That's probably one of those moments where some sort of responsibility and accountability should click in, where it's like, guys, should we really be doing this? But, I mean, hell, to watch it on tv is hilarious, right?
[00:56:56] Speaker C: Yeah, that was cool. That was cool.
[00:56:58] Speaker B: So I think that's the first question that the NCAA has to answer is like, do we want to ban it? Because you could outright ban it and just say, any kid that touches the floor gets expelled, period.
And that would end it real quick.
[00:57:10] Speaker C: Even $1,000 fine. You're going to be charged $1,000 or whatever it is. I don't think it could be $20,000, but it would have to be a point where this kid could pay it. But you're not going to like that, right?
[00:57:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I think you could probably do that if you really wanted to ban it. But I guess maybe the other question is, do you put a timer up on your jumbotron that says we have to at least give 2 minutes to the opposing team and players to exit before we can?
[00:57:44] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:57:45] Speaker B: And while fans respect that.
[00:57:48] Speaker C: Yeah, not in the moment.
[00:57:50] Speaker B: Well, that's the problem, right? It's this organic thing. But on the same token, I get it.
You can't just, without regard for others, run through players and into players just because you're excited and happy you won.
[00:58:05] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:58:07] Speaker B: It's a really tough spot for the NCAA to be in, because I don't know that there's a great answer to it.
I mean, think about the days we just talked about netting on netting, arresting players, arresting kids, expelling them from school.
This shouldn't be the response to we're excited, our team.
[00:58:32] Speaker C: That's all. Negative reinforcement. Let's do positive reinforcement. If you stay in your seat, you all get a free taco bell.
[00:58:41] Speaker B: If you wait until the timer goes off and take your tickets to Taco Bell, we'll buy you a taco.
[00:58:46] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:58:47] Speaker B: Okay.
That's thinking with your big head bone.
[00:58:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:58:50] Speaker B: Positive reinforcement.
[00:58:52] Speaker C: Keep them in their seats. If you stay in your seat, you have a chance to win a ticket to the.
[00:58:58] Speaker B: Maybe you could get a ticket on your way onto the court. If you stay in your seat, one by one, you can come to the court in a civilized manner.
[00:59:06] Speaker C: Yeah. Here's your voucher.
[00:59:08] Speaker B: We'll put ushers at the end of it, but you have to wait and at least get your ticket. And you can't get a ticket until the ushers let you on the court.
[00:59:13] Speaker C: Yeah, you have to have them ready for moments, especially in big games and stuff.
[00:59:17] Speaker B: Yeah, that actually could work if you said, hey.
Yeah, that's actually the best solution I've heard so far. Bone.
[00:59:26] Speaker C: Oh, nice.
[00:59:27] Speaker B: Nice work. First day on the job and you came up with the winner.
Pretty good.
[00:59:33] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll see if anybody listens to me.
[00:59:36] Speaker B: We'll see if we can get this clip to go viral here. All right, well, I guess that does it for burning of a rundown.
Some fun stuff there. Let's go ahead and take a quick revenue break and then jump right into some more fun.
[00:59:53] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
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[01:00:33] Speaker B: All right, before we get into our discussion on free agency, let's take a few minutes to talk to another Cleveland Browns alumni that will be joining us on the Browns fan cruise. This was a pre recorded interview. There was some confusion as to whether or not this individual is going to be on the cruise. Not on the cruise. If we could read this interview or not, but we finally got in the okay, and we do have confirmation that this individual will be joining us on the Browns fan cruise here in just a couple of days. So without any further ado, enjoyed by Riverside FM.
[01:01:24] Speaker E: All right, so our next guest is born and raised in northeast Ohio and played college football here as well. A fan favorite during his stint with the Browns due to his local roots. He is one of the only Browns players and possibly the only Browns players that also played for our local arena football team when it existed. The Cleveland Gladiators. Boys, please help me welcome Steve Sanders.
All right, Steve, thanks for joining us.
[01:01:51] Speaker D: How are you, my guy, man, I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Thanks for that introduction, man. It made me sound like I did something, actually, so it made me feel a little good, man. So excited to be on with you guys today, man.
[01:02:02] Speaker E: Don't sell yourself short.
[01:02:03] Speaker B: Hey, you play in the league, you did something right.
[01:02:07] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[01:02:08] Speaker E: Any stats are more stats than we have.
[01:02:13] Speaker D: Exactly. That's usually how I kind of tee it up, but excited to be on with you guys, man. I'm a lifelong Cleveland Browns fan, so it's good to talk a little sports and thank God it is football season, so I'm ready to talk a little bit of football. Yeah.
[01:02:27] Speaker E: Before we get into some of the questions that we have for you that are more football related, we do want to talk about one thing here. You are going to be on the Browns fan cruise in March of 2024. It has been confirmed floating in the middle of the ocean, then stopping at Nassau and Jamaica with us. And so we have to say, being that we are brought to you by the Cleveland Browns fan Cruise, we're the podcast of the Browns fan Cruise. We're going to be on the Browns fan cruise. We're going to be mcging the events on the fan cruise. We are really looking forward to sharing that fan cruise with a former player such as yourself. So can you tell the listeners just a little bit about the fan cruise here?
[01:03:06] Speaker D: Yeah, man, this is exciting to me. It's the first that I've ever heard of a fan cruise. Kind of bringing all the fans together and kind of being out at sea with all these different activities and things to do, man. So I'm excited about it. Honored to be a part of it again. Like I said, man, lifelong Cleveland Browns fan, born and raised in Cleveland. So I grew up watching the Browns and now getting a chance to post career still even be involved as a Browns alumni is exciting. So I can't wait to sell away with you guys, man. So all the fans that are going to come out and support, we're going to have a great time. It's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of activities planned, things like that that I get to be a part of too, as well. So I'm excited once again. Look forward to kind of being on with you guys, too, as.
[01:03:49] Speaker E: I we'll come back to the Browns fan cruise here a little bit later on. But for now, I do want to get into this and talk a little bit about you for all the fans here.
As I mentioned during my introduction, you are born and raised in Ohio and in fact, you went to school in Cleveland. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
[01:04:07] Speaker D: Yeah, I grew up in Cleveland all my life. So being a young kid who just loved remember, you know, getting a chance to watch my first Browns game. I can't remember exactly when it was, but I was know, seven or eight or something like that. And I think I saw the Browns playing Pittsburgh and I think that may be one of the games where took back two punts or something. And it's funny, my brother was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, so he was telling me to root for the team in black and gold. And I was like, no, I like this brown team. So I remember watching those guys.
Exactly. And then that's all I ever wanted to be. When I grew up, I wore number 21 because I thought Eric Metcalf was like the coolest thing ever. So I got a chance to play as a kid in inner city Cleveland, played little league, went on to play high school, excel, became an all american and track, and in fact, that's how know really got a chance to play football because I was like one of those kids that got looked over because I came from inner city Cleveland, but I was allstate and all those things like that. But Urban Meyer was actually just got the head coaching job at Bowling Green State University. And he came to Cleveland looking for some athletes and coach over at Glenville Tegin senior. He's like, all my guys already committed, but you may want to go take a look at this kid over at Cleveland east. And I had a track meet coming up, so he came and watched me run hurdles and the rest is history. He said, if that kid can run that fast, I can teach him how to play football. So didn't even see me play football. They gave me a scholarship based upon my athletic ability, jumping over hurdles, but I was a pretty good football player, too, as well, in high school, so got a chance to go on to Bowling Green State University and did pretty well.
Became all time leader in a few different stats and receivers, and then went on to get a chance to join the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent.
[01:06:04] Speaker B: That's amazing. That's the dream, right? Every little boy's dream, you have your favorite sports teams and your favorite players, and you dream of putting on that uniform. Can you talk about just, like, what was that moment like when you finally got to put, like, pen to paper, put that jersey on for the Browns?
[01:06:19] Speaker D: Yeah, man, it was a dream come true. Honestly, it's hard to put it into words, man, but I remember the first time I walked on the field.
We were warming up and getting ready and everything like that, and I really had that moment where it hit me, like, wow, I'm actually playing in the NFL, and I'm playing for the Cleveland Browns team. I've grown up watching, and now I'm on the field, and it was in pregame warm up, and Phil Collins, I can feel it in the air tonight, came on, and he's singing, and I can feel it. And then all of a sudden, that beat drops in the drum. Boom, boom, boom, boom. That was the moment. I was like, oh, man, this is it. Let's go, man. So I remember that my first game, getting the opportunity to play for first couple of seasons, I was a practice squad guy just working my butt off, man, just trying to impress coaches, impress gms and anybody I could. I was one of those guys who just brought my lunch pail with me every day. I was the first guy on the field before practice doing different things. I was the last guy off the field working with the quarterbacks, just trying to make myself visible and just working on anything I could. So got the opportunity to become a starter game and be an active roster in about 2008. So that was pretty cool just to get that experience of kind of a kid who really was undrafted and then ultimately stand on a team and working my way up and then getting opportunity to play.
[01:07:51] Speaker B: And you played so many Browns coaches, they think in the last 20 years, you played under Romeo, correct. During your time?
[01:07:57] Speaker D: Yeah. So I played under Romeo. A lot of coaches in that time frame.
[01:08:02] Speaker B: Can you speak to just Romeo just as a person, just as a coach, and maybe your relationship with him during that time?
[01:08:10] Speaker D: Yeah, man. Romeo got a raw deal, man. I think romeo was an amazing coach. He was a good guy. A lot of people obviously criticized him for being too good of a know, they wanted him to know tougher on the players. He wanted him to know a little bit, know, strict or I guess yelling, and that just wasn't his personality. And he came from a place where he was with the New England Patriots and he won just with the same type of attitude that he had and went on to have some success after the Browns. So I thought Romeo was a really good coach, gave me an opportunity, always had much respect for him. And even after he left the Browns and was Kansas City Chiefs, I still stayed in contact with him, too, as well. So I just know that he was a good coach. And I like Romeo personally. One of the best coaches that I ever played for, actually.
[01:09:00] Speaker B: He's one of the winningest, I mean, in the stretch here since the new Browns have been back.
[01:09:04] Speaker E: And I will say you hit on a point, too, that I agree, know, love him or hate him as a coach, I think you kind of see through it and into the locker room a little bit that Romeo was a really good guy. So regardless of how fans felt about.
[01:09:19] Speaker B: Him, seemed like players liked him as a coach.
[01:09:21] Speaker E: Yeah, I would agree with you that he kind of got a raw deal and it was hard to see him go the way that he did.
[01:09:29] Speaker D: Yeah, ten and six that one season in 2007, man, six Pro bowl guys, and we were one play away or one first down away or whatever it was from the Colts. I want to say it was the Colts and the jets or Colts and bingles. I can't remember who it was, but I know the Colts were involved and they benched Peyton Manning and we were all like, oh, man, we needed them to win. And if they would have won, we would have went to the playoffs. That year would have changed a lot. So, you know what I mean? It's a game of inches, man. And that's the thing about the NFL that a lot of people may not understand is that the little things that can happen that can turn everything around or can go in the opposite direction, you just have to continue to try to overcome adversity.
[01:10:13] Speaker B: That was the Jim Sorghy game, right?
[01:10:15] Speaker E: Yeah. Kenny points to that ten and six season a lot.
I think that's one of Kenny's fondest memories, is the year that you guys were ten and six. He just fondly remembers it and talks about it a lot.
[01:10:29] Speaker B: It was a good team. It was a fun team to watch.
[01:10:32] Speaker E: So spending time with the franchise, obviously, it's more than just playing football. You become involved with your teammates off the field or even your community. With that in mind, what's one of your favorite off field memories from your time here in Cleveland, man.
[01:10:47] Speaker D: Off the field, man, we had a lot of good times, man. Cleveland was a city that was just rocking around that time. LeBron was in the city, just starting his career out and around that casual.
[01:11:02] Speaker E: Finals times for the magic and stuff. Wasn't it 2008?
[01:11:10] Speaker D: There's a lot going on in the city, but I can just remember my boy cribs. Shout out to my boy, Josh Cribs, man. We developed a bond, man, and became good friends, and I remember being on his show, what was the show called? Josh's cribs or something like that. And being on Cribs show was pretty fun because it gave us something to look forward to doing during the week outside of practice and everything like that, because I think we shot a lot during season. So the wide receiver group that we had at that particular time was a pretty tight knit group. We all hung out together, did a lot of things in the city, went to dinner and things like that. So it was always those things that I think I remember. I remember giving back a lot, taking old equipment from the guys who would wear it one time and about to throw it away, and I'd be in a locker room with boxes like, hey, can you throw that in here? And grabbing guys old gloves, old cleats and things like that, and then going and donate them to local high schools. And it would be funny because they really appreciated it. And their colors were like, blue and yellow, and they were out there with orange and white cleats on, but they didn't care because they had something that the browns that wore. So something like the little things like that are things that I remember a lot about, is just being able to give back in a way where I know it meant a lot to them because I was that same kid that was looking up to the Browns players at that particular time when I was younger.
[01:12:36] Speaker B: That's awesome. I mean, that had to be so special for those coming equipment. That's awesome.
[01:12:44] Speaker E: And then kind of along those same lines of different memories and things like that and just experiences that you had, you were with several different teams. You've alluded to and mentioned how you worked really hard to make sure you stayed on that active roster, know, did those things. You actually bounced to a couple different leagues as well. So do you have any advice to the, especially the younger players that are on the browns team right now?
[01:13:14] Speaker D: Yeah, man. I mean, to those guys that are trying to make the team, everybody knows the draft pick guys, everybody knows the guys who make the big money, you know what I mean? But the team in the league actually is made up of guys who are fighting for a spot every single day. So to those guys that are trying to earn that spot, earn that opportunity, you got to come to work every single day. You got to have a mindset that you got to be the first guy out, last guy in. And if you do that, that hard work pays off. You never know who's watching you. You never know who sees you out there putting in that work. And sometimes that's the difference. Everybody's got talent. If you make it to the NFL, you have some level of talent. So everybody has that level of talent to be in the room. But again, it's a numbers game. So sometimes a lot of those guys don't make it because of the numbers. But if you can just do one little thing that can separate you from somebody else and give you an opportunity to stay on another week, another two weeks, and then all of a sudden, things happen, injuries happen, whatever it may be. You make a big play in practice, coach gives you an opportunity to get on the field, and you got to take it and run with it. You see all those different stories around the league where you get those guys know, maybe undrafted guy. I remember somebody like Victor Cruz on the giant guy was undrafted, and then all of a sudden he's in the Super bowl catching Super bowl touchdowns and things like that.
Exactly.
[01:14:39] Speaker B: You know what I mean?
[01:14:40] Speaker D: So you hear about those stories and they're too far in between, but again, you strive for it. You try to work your butt off to get to that opportunity. And I think that's what Cleveland is all about to know blue collar town, everybody works with what they have. You try to help people where you can, but you really bring your lunch, pedal every single day and just go to work. So I think that's what represents Cleveland well.
[01:15:08] Speaker B: Was there a moment or maybe a mentor coach, just anyone in your life that helped you realize that you had that kind of potential? Like NFL potential? It's a different mean at some point, you go, most of us, the game outruns us. But was there a moment that you go, I'm absolutely capable of being in this league, or was there someone that helped you understand that about yourself?
[01:15:34] Speaker D: Yeah, man. There were two moments, actually. So the first was, I was in high school. I was a senior in high school. I was playing east high school over there on 79th in superior, and one of the former Browns players came to our practice, and he came out, and I'm losing his name right now. I want to say it was, he's Antonio Brown's uncle. You guys know what I'm talking about. He played.
If you look it up, you'll remember. But anyway, he was a safety, I want to say. And he came out to practice and he know, who's the best guy on this?
Saying, me, me and or whatever. He looked at me and said, are you the best guy on this team? I was like, you know what? I like to think I am. And he said, why? I said, because I worked the hardest. Nobody out here can outwork me. And he was like, that's the mentality that's going to get you somewhere. So I kept that with me. And then he said, only one of you guys are going to make it. He's like, I hate to be the one to give you that harsh reality, but that's the statistics for NFL players. Less than 1% of guys make it. So if it's 100 guys out there playing and trying to make it into high school, maybe one guy gets that opportunity to get to the NFL. So I just kept that in the back of my head and worked hard. And then the second thing was when I got to college, almost pretty much got sent home. My grades weren't good. I was a guy that worked really hard but wanted to kind of party and experience college a little bit too early before I became a guy that was on the field making plays. So Urban Meyer had left and went to Utah, and then a new coaching staff came in. Actually, our office coordinator got the head coaching job, but my wide receiver coach shout out to Zach Azani. Zach Azani really told me that I had the talent. I had the ability. I just needed to prove it. I just needed to get out there and work my butt off and prove it. And Zach Azani is now the wide receiver coach for the New York jets. So he's been around guys that he's coached and he was a wide receiver coach for the, you know. So he's been around a lot of guys. I stay in contact with him, too, as well. But those were kind of two moments in my life where I was like, okay, I got the talent. I just got to go out there, put the work in and continue to improve and get better.
[01:17:52] Speaker E: Awesome. That's all such great insight to kind of the league in the trials and tribulations that you all go through every single day while you're grinding to make the teams or excel once you make it to that active roster. So it's awesome to hear, especially from a former brown.
But for most of the guys in the NFL, they do get this sort of second, this life after football. And so that's what I want to kind of start talking about now, is your life after football. So can you tell us what you're up to today? And are you still involved with the game at all?
[01:18:28] Speaker D: Yeah, man. So what I'm up to today is actually my wife and I own a medical company. We own a company called Intercommunity Health. We're licensed in three states. Business is good in the behavioral health, trying to help as many people as we can in the mental health space and doing really good, hiring doctors, hiring physicians that work for us. So it's a great opportunity for us to help a lot of people that are having mental health challenges. Then I also have a nonprofit organization called Training Camp for life, developing champions in sports and in life. So I wrote a book called Training Camp for Life, and then I turned it into a nonprofit organization. So really just giving back to athletes, student athletes, parents, coaches, anyone who is around the game at a youth level and a high school level and even a college level. So getting that opportunity to help those student athletes and teaching them everything that they learn in the sport, they can apply to the other areas of their lives. So that's a cool thing to do at the time, post career, too, as well. And then the last thing I'll say is just got involved with Nike football and Nike football camps, I should say, and helping out with Nike football camps, overseeing some of those leading and directing camps. I flew out to Alaska a few weeks ago and ran a Nike football camp out there.
Just kind of all over, man. But everything that I try to do is always around to some degree, helping people in different areas of their lives.
[01:19:57] Speaker E: In parts of Alaska right now, it's like almost 24 hours of sunshine right now, I believe.
It was a long day, wasn't it?
[01:20:04] Speaker B: Yeah, it was.
[01:20:07] Speaker D: First time ever being out there, so it was cool. But it was like 1130 at night, and it looked like it was maybe 07:00 p.m. Was just about to go down. But it didn't go down.
[01:20:17] Speaker E: Yes, fun fact. And I don't know what part of Alaska it is, but they do a baseball game, a youth baseball game every year, and it's the no lights game because it literally stays sunny for the last 24 hours.
So they started at midnight and they have enough light all through the game to play. So pretty cool. But now I'm just going to bring this back to the time that we'll get to share with you on the open ocean and a couple of amazing stops along the way coming up here in March of 2024. So let's talk about some of the things that everyone should be looking forward to on the inaugural Browns fan cruise. So, first of all, what is the event or activity during the entire cruise that you yourself are going to be looking forward to the most?
[01:21:04] Speaker D: You know what? I think it's going to be some level of competition between the alumni. I'm just going to throw this out there, man. I don't think there's a guy that can beat me in running right now.
I don't know if we got enough field out there for us to run on the ship, but I think that you all pretty much can beat everybody out there. So I think if we can get an alumni race of some sort, that's the thing I'm going to be looking forward to the most. I know that's not on a schedule, but I'm just kind of throwing that out there.
[01:21:32] Speaker B: We can put it on a schedule.
[01:21:33] Speaker E: We'll figure it out. I know they're going to be doing when we have the stops, they'll be doing beach games, so maybe we could float the idea. Love to take it from us, but.
[01:21:41] Speaker B: We may need to bring some hurdles out.
[01:21:43] Speaker E: Yeah, exactly.
So that's the event that you're looking forward to or hoping for the most. What event do you think or activity do you think that the fans should be most excited about?
[01:21:57] Speaker D: You know what, honestly, I'm not just saying this because I'm on with you guys, but I think they should be looking forward to what you guys are doing, man. The way you guys cover the team, what you've done with the podcast, what you guys are doing, I think you guys have a good following, too, as well. So I think they're going to be looking forward to being on with you guys and getting in front of you. And the way that you're going to interact with the alumni, that's going to be cool because that's what's going to tee it up. That's what's going to make it fun and interactive so we can be a little bit boring. So we get around cool guys like you. You can help us out a little bit and make it exciting for the fans. So that's what everybody's going to want to see. And I'll throw this out there, too. That's March 2024.
We could be looking at celebrating the Super bowl on that boat. Wouldn't that be cool? The inaugural.
That would take everything to a whole nother level.
[01:22:49] Speaker E: They might need two ships.
[01:22:54] Speaker D: I'm kind of scared. I don't know if we make it back, we'd be partying so much out there, man. Let's see if we win a Super bowl. Oh, my goodness.
But we could be celebrating for sure a really good season because I think the team that we have is going to impress a lot of people. I think they're going to live up to last year's hype. I think last year we had high expectations. Of course, with Deshaun Watson now coming into a full season and Costafanski's offense and Nick Chubb. That offensive line is the best offensive line in the league, man. So with all those weapons and improving on defense, I think that we're going to make some noise. So I'm excited to be celebrating a good season on that cruise, too, as well.
[01:23:36] Speaker E: I love the optimism, and I got to say, you were making us blush a little bit there.
[01:23:43] Speaker B: Appreciate that.
[01:23:45] Speaker E: But real quick here, I do want to shout out there is a Brownsbackers organizational, like a competition they're doing for Brownsbackers organization. So I just want to throw that out there right now. A lot of Browns backers are listening to us. We are the official unofficial podcast of Brownsbackers everywhere. So 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 with all that being said, and these guys competing for who's the best brownsbackers group out there, do you have anything you want to say to the Browns backers across the are in the world? These are the official members of the Brownsbackers. You got anything you want to say to them specifically?
[01:24:41] Speaker D: Man, I can't wait for you guys to show up. I think you're going to show up and show out. I think these prizes, I'm going to be excited to see who gets them. But I've been all around the world, man. I've traveled a lot and I kid you not, I run into Browns fans everywhere, all around the world. You know what I mean? So you're going to find Browns fans everywhere. So the Browns backers are deep. I think they're going to come and impress and try to win these prizes. So I'm excited to see who comes out with it.
[01:25:10] Speaker E: All right, and then any final words for the rest of Browns nation as a whole?
[01:25:16] Speaker D: You know what, man? I guess I'll close it out like, you know. Here we go, Brownies. Here we go.
There it is.
[01:25:27] Speaker E: All right. Well, thank you so much for joining us, steve. We really appreciate it. It's been an absolute pleasure and we can't wait to see you on the cruise, man.
[01:25:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Time to party.
[01:25:36] Speaker D: Oh, man. Absolutely. It's going to be some partying going on, for sure, man. So I'll see you guys, the guys out there at sea. Can't wait to see all the fans out there at sea, too, as well. It's going to be a great time, man. Thanks for having me on. Yep.
[01:25:47] Speaker B: Take it easy. Thank you.
[01:25:58] Speaker D: You're listening to burning river sportscast.
[01:26:00] Speaker B: Go Browns.
All right. Steve Sanders seems like a real cool.
[01:26:19] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. It'll be cool to rub shoulders with.
[01:26:22] Speaker B: Him out on the cruise, for sure. So just a small sample of the stories you'll be able to hear if you go on the Browns fan cruise and get the chance to hang out with all these guys. So whether you're going on the Browns fan cruise, whether you're not going on the Browns fan cruise, be sure to check out all of our interviews with all these guys. Check out the TikToks reels, bunch of really interesting tales that we've heard throughout this entire interview process. So we do have one more interview. We're not sure, given that we're running out of time, whether or not we're going to get to him before the fan cruise. That is Hanford Dixon. He is a very busy guy. But even if we don't get him before the fan cruise, we will be sure that he sits down and spends some extra time with the birding river sportscast on the cruise if we don't talk to him. Whoa.
Wow.
What is that?
I know what that is. That is the official signal to remind you that the Cleveland Browns fan cruise is just eleven days away.
[01:27:27] Speaker C: That's right. March 11, we set sail for five unforgettable days at sea with 16 Cleveland Browns alumni.
[01:27:34] Speaker B: I can't wait, man.
[01:27:35] Speaker C: Yeah. It's going to be so much fun.
[01:27:37] Speaker B: Awesome.
[01:27:38] Speaker C: Hopefully we don't have to work too much. I want to hang out with some of these guys.
[01:27:42] Speaker B: We'll try to keep our working to a minimum, for sure. That's how we do things at Tabith Media. We work as little as possible.
No, this is going to be so much fun.
If you're not going, you're missing out. This is going to be a tremendous time. Leaving a port of Miami, hitting Jamaica, hitting the Bahamas. I just can't wait to see that crystal Clearwater.
It's going to be awesome as hell getting to spend time with all of our favorite Cleveland Browns alumni. So just eleven days from now, we got to start planning a little bit here. We got to get the rest of our stuff together, get everything packed, get our inventory put away, and then start thinking about how we're going to actually broadcast our portion of the fan cruise. We have, obviously, jobs on the fan cruise, but we also want to make sure that we bring all of the cool things that we are doing and seeing and talking to players about to our audience here, the birding sportscast. So we got to figure out exactly what that's going to look like so we can get some good content out to you guys once we get back from the fan cruise.
Hopefully we'll have enough Internet signal on the cruise to release some stuff while we're on the cruise.
[01:28:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I've never been on a cruise, so I'm curious to see.
[01:28:58] Speaker B: We've been told it's possibly going to be a little difficult to do, but maybe when we get ported in the Bahamas and in Jamaica, we'll have enough signal that we can actually release some of the things that we're doing. So looking super forward to that.
All right, real quick here, before we get into the free agency frenzy, we are introducing a new segment today called get your dander up. This is an opportunity for each of us to get our dander up. What do we mean by that? It's just thinking about something that may have happened to us this week, something that's on our mind, something that just really just grinds our gears and pisses us off. We need more of a platform to complain about things here at the burning river sports guests. So that's exactly what we're going to do.
And my first take on this here is I have had it with these fake streakers.
[01:30:15] Speaker C: Who are these people?
[01:30:16] Speaker B: Who are these people? I'll tell you, these guys that interrupt a game like the Super bowl, and they have their Twitter handle written on their chest and they're wearing jeans or shorts or sweats.
Bro, if you're a streaker, you go dong out or I don't respect you.
That was streaking back in the day, right?
[01:30:38] Speaker C: It's not streaking if you don't do that.
[01:30:40] Speaker B: Yeah. If you don't take your clothes off. If you don't have the confidence and the bravery to take your clothes off. You're not a streaker, you're a faker. And I've absolutely had. Because all these guys now just do it to try and get followers on TikTok Falcon Twitter, and they're not even going dong out.
[01:30:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:30:53] Speaker B: I mean, that's just an embarrassment. I think if you don't have the confidence to just take off all your clothes and go, the punishment should be firing squad after the game. Sure. You're an absolute waste of space. You're a human rain delay. No one should take you seriously. But the guy that gets too drunk in the stands, makes a bad decision, loses a bet to a friend, and just goes, fool, no pants. No pants dance, and just run around dong flopping ass in the wind, and then gets tackled by three fat security guards and they have to deal with his naked body. That's what I'm here for.
That's streaking. And I respect that.
[01:31:36] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree completely with you. And my thought is, I wonder if in the last few years, if they've brought some serious charges against people or something as far as, like, public exposure.
[01:31:48] Speaker B: Indecent? Exactly.
[01:31:49] Speaker C: Like, stuff like some sexual assault charges or something on somebody.
[01:31:52] Speaker B: That's why it's a risk.
[01:31:54] Speaker C: It is. Yeah, but I mean, something like that can be on your record for 50 years. Like, this guy is a child predator. Well, but at least himself to 80,000. Exactly. Yeah.
[01:32:08] Speaker B: I don't know what the consequences, man.
[01:32:11] Speaker C: I don't know what the consequences are. So that could be serious.
[01:32:14] Speaker B: Okay, so I'll go get your dandruff b or one a.
The United States is just a little uptight here.
[01:32:22] Speaker C: Sure.
[01:32:23] Speaker B: It's like you saw a naked guy.
Is that the worst thing that happened to you today?
[01:32:29] Speaker C: Probably not.
[01:32:30] Speaker B: Is that the worst thing that's going to happen in your life, if that's the worst thing that happens to you ever, is like, you saw a fat, naked guy running with a chili dog down the sideline and got punched out by Tyree kill.
That can't even be that bad of a thing.
Around the world, nudity and things aren't looked at that same way, where it's like, it's just natural human body. It's nature.
[01:32:54] Speaker C: I feel like you can almost claim this as a form of art where, I mean, the people get away with that. This is a form of art.
[01:33:00] Speaker B: Especially if you have your Twitter profile test your chest. Right? This is the first amendment. I should be allowed to take my clothes off. Porn is protected by the first amendment. Why not streaking? You just need a good lawyer.
[01:33:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree.
[01:33:13] Speaker B: But overall, I'm just tired of the fake streakers.
[01:33:16] Speaker C: Sure.
[01:33:16] Speaker B: I mean, if you aren't dropping trowel and going out there just full ass in the wind, it doesn't count. It doesn't count. You're just wasting everybody's time.
You deserve the harshest punishment.
[01:33:30] Speaker C: Yes.
[01:33:31] Speaker B: The guy that goes ass out in the wind, he probably gets put in the drunk take for the rest of the game and he let it go. It was kind of funny, man.
He just run around ding and flopping.
[01:33:43] Speaker C: You don't get to see the rest of the game.
[01:33:45] Speaker B: Yeah, it's punishment enough. That's fair enough. Anything you got going on is getting your dander up.
[01:33:52] Speaker C: Mine's not as good as yours, but this one has been on my mind every now and then when it comes up, and it's come up quite a few times, especially with Deshaun Watson being on the team. So you bring in a guy for what, 230,000,000? Right. For five years, and somebody says to me, well, he's just going to get hurt. Yes. You bring in a guy like that and he's going to get hurt. And then two years down the road, this said individual says, told you guys, you.
[01:34:18] Speaker B: I told you that would happen.
[01:34:19] Speaker C: I'm like, dude, it's the NFL. Like, saying a guy's going to get hurt in the NFL is like telling a toddler or betting on a, like, we're potty training. He's probably going to poop his pants, but he might make it to the toilet. I don't know, but it's like, it's pretty much a guarantee. I told you he would poop his pants.
[01:34:35] Speaker B: Who's the last player that made it through an NFL season fully healthy?
[01:34:38] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm just like, I've heard this take twice from this individual. I'm just like, are you prideful in that statement?
[01:34:45] Speaker B: I told you, you had the forethought and the foresight to know an injury was definitely going to happen.
[01:34:51] Speaker C: Yeah, I knew it. Bad deal. He is going to get injured.
[01:34:53] Speaker B: Now, what would be more impressive is if you like Nostradamus it. And you said, give him two years. So he's going to tear his rotator cuff. He's going to break his whole shoulder.
I could almost respect that.
[01:35:04] Speaker C: Sure, but you call the injury this specific injury.
[01:35:07] Speaker B: But if you Monday morning quarterback it two years after the fact on something super vague, what do you miss? Cleo?
[01:35:14] Speaker C: Right.
I don't know, that gets my dandruff.
[01:35:20] Speaker B: That gets my dandruff up, too. All right, well, this was fun. This was a good first installment of getting your dander up. If Red Route Ronnie was here, I'm sure he would have something to get his dander up, but he's got streptococcus, so he can't talk right now. And frankly, bone and myself don't want streptococcus before we go on the caribbean cruise coming up in a couple of weeks. So we're trying to stay healthy. That being said, let's jump right into the free agency frenzy. Eight.
Okay, so obviously this is a huge time of year. We got the combine this week, and then the free agency starts on right around the time of the fan cruise. So just a few days after the combine ends or a week or two after the combine ends, there's a ton of big name free agents out there this year. Really going to be interesting to see how teams balance, especially the Browns. How we balance the big names that are out there in free agency, some of the cap woes and restructuring that need to be done. And then also where we're going in the draft. I know we're going to talk about draft more next week, perhaps have seven selections, but no first round selection. So it's going to have to be another one of those very delicate dances for Andrew Barry and company to get right, because this team still obviously needs talent in a couple of places, but you've kind of limited your ability to get at some of those. So with that being said, we're going to talk a little bit about some of the more intriguing free agents on the market that the Browns may take a look at or have been tied to already, and then we'll jump into a little bit of our wish list here. But first things first. One of the big names that has come up already is Jacksonville wide receiver Calvin Ridley.
Thinking about a duo with him, and Amari Cooper. This is a guy that had over a thousand receiving yards last year, should be relatively fresh considering he came off a suspension for a full year for the previous year because he was caught up in that draft Kings saga.
[01:37:45] Speaker C: Gambling action.
[01:37:46] Speaker B: Yeah. So being a guy that he's still on the right side of 30, but he's, I think he's 20 or 29, but should be more fresh than other guys his age because he got a whole season off, essentially, and came back and put in a really professional effort this year. I think he was a leading receiver in Jacksonville, by the way.
So, yeah, what do you think about Calvin Ridley?
[01:38:07] Speaker C: I like Calvin.
I think he's fast, good route runner. He's proven commodity in the NFL. So he played with a few different quarterbacks and has succeeded, I think, with each team. Where was he was in Atlanta for a minute. He got drafted by them and I just know from like fantasy he put up some pretty good numbers before he got suspended for the season and then coming back after that. He didn't seem to have a slump.
He was still.
[01:38:35] Speaker B: I mean, Calvin to me is definitely one of the more intriguing names in free agency because if you eliminate the draft Kings thing, I mean, he's really had a decent career in, you know, a big name draft pick that came in, was expected to do big things and really hasn't been a disappointment. He's been productive his whole career. As you mentioned, he's played with a couple of different quarterbacks and been successful in both places. So to me it's just a matter of, I think this is one of those names because of the name that you're going to pay a premium for.
And he is 28 29, which is fine for this year, next year. But what do you sign this guy to? I mean, is this a four year deal?
Is he going to be worth what you're paying him when those third and fourth years come due? Would he be an asset to this offense? Absolutely.
I think it would be quite a scary duo with him and Amari. I just don't know if even though the cap isn't going to be as difficult to overcome as we initially thought, I still don't know that you want to blow your load on know.
How about Tyron Smith, left tackle Dallas, given the injury history on the o line, may not want to take a chance here, but if they do, they could get a top tier left tackle that isn't going to demand top tier money due to the fact that he has missed 37 games since 2020 when he has played, he's played very well. Fourth best tackle in the game, according to other problem is this guy's a little long on a tooth. Turns 34 later this year. Not the typical prototypical guy that Andrew Berry would bring in, but sometimes you need guys like this to fill out the roster and if you can shore up the left side of that line for a year or two, does it make sense?
[01:40:36] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't know. A veteran presence at the left tackle position. He's left tackle, correct? Yeah.
Line. I feel like the older guys continue to play well, especially guys who have experience and have had success. I guess I'd be a little worried about the injury history, but with that, like you said, maybe you could get a deal on but just continue to build depth for the o line.
I don't know a lot about this individual, but if they well, I'd be happy to have the depth.
[01:41:11] Speaker B: To me, Tyrone Smith is. Can you get him for the right price because of that injury history? I do like the fact that he'd be a veteran presence. I do think that he would shore up the left side of that line.
Whether or not you decide to keep Jed Wills or not in the long term, I think having a guy like Tyron Smith that could come in and play for a year or two, shore up that side of the line and maybe mentor a guy like Jed Wills so that when Tyrone's deal runs out, maybe that's finally time for Jed wills to mature and become a really solid tackle in this game.
But I absolutely do not want to overpay for a 34 year old left tackle. So we'll see there another intriguing name here. Given the amount of linebackers that the Browns are losing in free agency, they're potentially going to lose Jordan Brooks from Seattle, 513 tackles in the last four years. He's averaged over 100 tackles every year, had 184 tackles in 2021. Seahawks declined his fifth year option on his rookie deal.
Another guy that he's going to be a commodity. He's going to be somebody that other teams are going to want. So you may have to pay for him, but is this the kind of defensive playmaker that makes the unit a more elite unit?
[01:42:34] Speaker C: I guess based off his stats, he's been consistent. He seems to find a nose for the ball, not a player. I watch all the know just because I don't see a lot of Seattle football, but you're playing next to a guy like Bobby Wagner, I would think you're going to be picking up some good just linebacker technique, and their defense is usually pretty solid, too. So Jordan Brooks is. They can get him for the right price. He seems like a good dude, good player. Bring him in. I don't know. I mean, if we're losing that many guys, it'd be nice to have somebody who has a lot of experience to kind of fill that void, play alongside.
[01:43:13] Speaker B: But that's one of the things that I've talked about from a position group for the Browns, I think is one of the biggest needs is we've never, I mean, since the Browns have come, mean thinking about good linebackers, you've got really, really good. I mean, Jamir Miller, that's the first one I pretty good. Carlos.
Did Danzie play here?
[01:43:37] Speaker C: Yeah, Carlos Danby. They brought him in for a couple.
[01:43:40] Speaker B: Carlos Danzby, he played well, and William McGinnis.
But outside of those guys, he was.
[01:43:47] Speaker C: More like an outside guy, and still.
[01:43:51] Speaker B: He wasn't great, right? I mean, if this Browns defense can add, there's no other Ray Lewis in the world, but somebody that is a leader like Ray Lewis, that's productive to some extent.
80% of a guy like Ray Lewis, right? If you can find that guy, that's a huge run stopper. Get to the quarterback, has just heightened awareness on the field that really becomes the quarterback of that defense. I mean, that is something the Browns desperately need. You have so much talent in the secondary, so much talent across that defensive line.
You just need that one big body, productive guy in the middle. And so far they've done it with just like by committee, and they've been relatively successful, especially last year under Jim Schwartz. But to me, to have a guy like a Roquan Smith would make all the difference in the world for this team. I don't know. Jordan Brooks is that guy. He's certainly been productive.
I'm not familiar so much with Seattle's cap situation. I'm fascinated as to why they declined his fifth year option.
To me, that's a red flag. And unless it was just purely a monetary decision, they just couldn't keep him because the mind didn't work out. But a guy that's had 513 tackles in four years, right?
[01:45:14] Speaker C: That's a lot of tackles.
[01:45:15] Speaker B: I mean, how are you not finding a home for that guy? So that's really my only hesitation there is like, why doesn't Seattle want him? Is there something else going on? Is there an attitude issue? Is there a scheme or a fit issue that they didn't.
I just. With this team in this window, I don't have time for any of that nonsense. Whoever comes in has to be ready to go, wants to fit in and wants to.
And again, that's conjecture on my part. I don't know if Jordan Brooks is a bad apple or not. I just find that fascinating that if the Browns had a guy that had 513 tackles in four years on their roster, I would want to keep him.
[01:45:56] Speaker C: Sure.
[01:45:57] Speaker B: Moving on. Austin Eckler, undersized running back playing for the Chargers for last couple of seasons, soon to be 29.
This could be a good move if they kept Chubb or moved on from him. Super versatile veteran running back could be an interesting spell if Chubb stays on the roster would probably cost some money because he's been productive for the last three, four years.
But thinking about moving on from know the Chubb hunt backfield to Checkler could be interesting.
[01:46:38] Speaker C: I think that'd be pretty fun to see Austin Eckler and Chubb. I don't know, they get some packages with both of them on the field.
Probably not. They didn't seem to do that with Hunt and Chubb. But if Eckler coming in, getting the checkdown and the screens and the little pass dump offs to him and he can just make something happen after the catch.
[01:47:00] Speaker B: Yeah. To me it just really is interesting because of having them both on the same team almost doesn't make sense to me because I think both of these guys are now three down backs. I think they both are absolutely early down backs, right? They're guys that you want to get going, get churned in to run wear out of defense. But I think both guys have tremendous hands.
Austin Eckler, I think most people, conventional wisdom would say Austin Eckler is the better pass catching running back out of the backfield, but that's because the Browns just didn't throw it to Nick Chubb a lot. We had Kareem Hunt, I think, and I've said from day one, Nick Chubb has the most underrated hands in the NFL, especially at his position.
The other question is, is Nick Chubb healthy?
It's a fascinating name. Certainly would cost some money to get a guy like Eckler in here, but has been hugely productive in LA.
Here's a guy that was an undrafted free agent that came in when the Chargers had a big name running back in Melvin Gordon and made himself the starter.
[01:48:08] Speaker E: Basically.
[01:48:08] Speaker B: I mean, basically took that job from Melvin Gordon and has been productive ever since he was banged up a little last year. But he's just one of those true all purpose guys, right? He's never rushed for 1000 yards in a season, but he catches four or 5600 yards every year, throws on a couple of touchdowns there. So super versatile guy. I worry a little bit just about him getting close to 30, being undersized. He's certainly taken a beating to this point in his career. Again, banged up last year really for the first time where he missed significant time.
I don't know if it makes sense to have him and Chubb in the backfield together. I think if they let Chubb go, I would absolutely want a guy with Eckler's talent back there just because I think Deshaun needs all the talent he can get. At this point, I don't think you can go into next year. Jerome Ford is your number one back.
But that being said, again, I don't know if it makes sense to have Chubby and Eckler in the same. I think they both do the same mean.
[01:49:14] Speaker C: I don't know. Eckler getting know, maybe a reduced workload would suit him. I don't know.
[01:49:20] Speaker B: Well, and that's a good mean. Maybe Chubb's in the same boat coming off the injury where they're thinking we want to keep both guys on a pitch count because we want to extend their careers.
[01:49:30] Speaker C: Sure.
[01:49:32] Speaker B: So it would be interesting from a utilization standpoint how you would go about using both those guys for sure.
But he definitely, I think his last contract was worth $24 million. So for another running back, if you're looking at three years, 25, 30 million.
[01:49:50] Speaker C: I'm counting on Nick Chubb being here. I really want him to be here. And having Kareem with Chubb when he came into the game, you weren't really ever worried. You're like, yeah, Kareem could take care of the ball. We trust him this and that. Now Kareem's getting a little older, lost a step this year. So having a guy, whether it's Eckler, whoever it is they bring in just a know when Chum's not on the field essentially would be, well, I guess that's a bonus for.
[01:50:17] Speaker B: That's a great question, is would you rather have Austin Eckler or Jerome Ford as your second.
[01:50:24] Speaker C: Eckler?
[01:50:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll take that. Could be interesting.
Again, certainly a talented player. I mean, I'm not saying I don't want Austin Eckler. It's really good running back.
It's unfortunate. There's actually a lot of really good running backs out there again that are going to have a hard time getting deals this year. Speaking of, let's go first, other running backs that maybe we could bring in to spell Nick Chubb if he stays. Or thinking about like second tier guys that would kind of take that role of Jerome Ford as a spell or just a balance guy to get Nick Chubb some air on the sideline.
Zach Moss is the name has come up. Clyde Edwards, Hilaire from Kansas City, Devin Singletary. Singletary is interesting because he spent his first four years of his career in Buffalo with Ken Dorsey, who's obviously come over from Buffalo to be our offensive coordinator.
And I think he played in Houston last year. So it'll be yet to be known whether or not Houston wants to resign, but again, because he's a talented back, but he's one of those kind of second tier guys. So any of those names interest you at all?
[01:51:46] Speaker C: Devin Singletary, when he played for of, I don't know. I was kind of just blah on him, but I feel like this past year in Houston, I was like, he seems way better than he used to be. I don't know if it's a different scheme or what. They used him differently in Houston, but maybe that doesn't bode well with Ken Dorsey being the offensive coordinator here. But I don't know. He just seemed like a new back this year in Houston.
[01:52:07] Speaker B: Yeah, he seemed like he was. I don't know if it was just personnel down there because they didn't really have another good running back. He ran for almost 900 yards this year and four touchdowns. Dude's 26 years old, so he still has plenty of tread on them, their tires.
But again, I kind of feel the same way about his time in Buffalo. Like, he was kind of underwhelming.
[01:52:28] Speaker C: Sure.
[01:52:29] Speaker B: And if that's what you get with the Ken Dorsey Devin singletary combination, is that a good thing? I don't know.
Clyde Edwards, Hilaire man, his role has been so limited in Kansas City because there's so much talent.
Like, when he burst onto the, like he was an every down, like he was, um. And then his role just got slowly more and more diminished as time went on because they're such a spread the ball around type offense, spread the wealth offense.
Zach Moss is another guy that take him or leave him. I kind of think Zach Moss and Jerome Ford are very similar.
[01:53:13] Speaker C: I feel like Moss had a couple breakout games this year. What was it?
What's his face wasn't playing.
[01:53:20] Speaker B: Jonathan Taylor.
[01:53:21] Speaker C: Yeah, Jonathan Taylor. And he filled in better. I think he kind of grew his name a little bit this year because in the past he was also another just blah player. Like, he had so much hype but never lived up to it. And then I feel like this year he had some huge games that kind of maybe put his name on the map a little bit.
[01:53:39] Speaker B: Yeah, another guy is 26, so some definitely young enough to bring in and be here for a while. Rushed for almost 800 yards this year. Five touchdowns.
Again, to me, I don't know if he's any better than Jerome Ford.
All these names, I think, are interesting. I think they could certainly do the job. Probably better than Kareem Hunt can at this point, but I don't know that I'm all in on any one of them.
Which brings us to the next question. If Nick Chubb doesn't stay, do the Browns make a move to get one of the more what let's call these like blue chip talent players.
Derek Henry, 30 years old. Josh Jacobs, 26 years old. Saquon Barkley, 27, but been banged up quite a bit. Tony Pollard has been productive. He's 27. DeAndre Swift is only 25 and hit 1000 yards this year for Philadelphia.
Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins I have on this list because I don't know that either one of them would come here just because of the.
There's just for whatever. Like it seems like there's trade partners that the Browns have and the guys that they get free agents from Baltimore is not one of those teams that doesn't happen. But that being said, gus Edwards is one of those guys that every year when JK Dobbins gets hurt, is productive as hell, runs hard, runs angry. I could see him. He's big too, playing in a Browns jersey. JK Dobbins I think is really interesting because he's so young. Even though he's been injury plagued since he got in the league, he still has so much athletic potential that you wouldn't pay a lot for him because he keeps coming off injury.
But man, if he gets healthy and stays healthy, what a weapon you'd have.
[01:55:46] Speaker C: I obviously if Chubb is healthy and we don't pay him, we pay one of these guys. I think you're going to have a lot of mad Browns fans.
[01:55:53] Speaker B: That's true.
[01:55:55] Speaker C: But if it is an injury issue and he can't just do it anymore, I mean, you're the NFL, you got to play the best guy. So I think Danjay Swift would be sweet to bring in. I don't know what that would cost, but his age is appealing and I feel like he can do it all. I think he's an every down back.
I think he could fit in well. I mean, backs tend to do well. I feel like in Stefancy's schemes possibly. I don't know.
[01:56:23] Speaker B: I mean, our offensive line certainly makes things easier on these guys. It seems.
[01:56:32] Speaker C: All Josh Jacobs.
[01:56:34] Speaker B: These are all your top names.
[01:56:35] Speaker D: Great.
[01:56:36] Speaker C: I think Josh Jacobs would fit AFC north football perfectly.
[01:56:40] Speaker B: I like Josh Jacobs a lot. He kind of fell off. Seemed like last year, I don't know what it was. It just seemed like he wasn't the same Josh Jacobs he had been.
[01:56:51] Speaker C: Real quick touching back on the Ravens stuff. Jamal Lewis, right? Came to play for the Browns, ran I think 1000 yards before a year.
[01:56:59] Speaker B: I think he was like our first thousand yard back since 99.
[01:57:02] Speaker C: Like really? Jamal Lewis. But man, he was fun when he played for us for a little bit.
[01:57:07] Speaker B: You know what was not fun? When he didn't play.
[01:57:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:57:09] Speaker D: When he did.
[01:57:09] Speaker B: When he ran for 295 yards against just wrecked people at the NFL rushing.
[01:57:13] Speaker C: Record took their souls.
[01:57:14] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. When he was in his prime, what a tremendous talent he was.
But, yeah, that's a good point. I guess Jamal Lewis and our good friend Dave Zastadil came from.
I guess it's happened before.
I just, for whatever reason, seems like it would be like it can't happen, right? Hopefully we didn't too much there.
[01:57:42] Speaker C: Lip sync.
[01:57:47] Speaker B: The name I keep thinking about is like, patrick Queen. I would love to get Patrick Queen, but for whatever reason, it just seems like Ravens players won't come here. But I guess there is some history, there is some precedent. Well, it is.
[01:58:00] Speaker C: It's just like you touched on it earlier. The Ravens just always have a stud linebacker. It's like, why can't we have one of those? I'm telling, like every year they have one.
[01:58:09] Speaker B: Patrick Queen would be so awesome.
[01:58:11] Speaker C: They got two of.
[01:58:13] Speaker B: He's so. He's so good, but I can't even put him on my wish list because I just can't see it happening. I at least tried to pick guys that I thought were possible to come here. My wish list. So that being said, let's talk about.
Oh, wait, no, real quick. We didn't talk about wide receivers yet, so let's talk about wide receivers first and then we'll talk about our wish lists.
[01:58:33] Speaker C: Okay.
[01:58:34] Speaker B: Yes. So this is by far probably the biggest need, which I would argue maybe is linebacker. But most you'll look at wide receivers. The biggest need for the Browns right now.
So a couple of wide receiver names that have come up so far. Michael Pittman Jr.
Looks to be, again, one of the more blue chip talents out there. Would probably cost you a pretty penny.
Gabe Davis, another interesting one because he spent time with Dorsey in his production has been solid, but maybe not always super consistent.
He's had downtimes and boom times, but if you look at his numbers overall, they're pretty good.
Possibly a lower price tag on a guy like Gabe Davis.
Good size, though. I think he's like six. 2220 Marquise Brown. Marquise Hollywood Brown coming from, I think, Arizona.
Again, another guy that's probably got a little bit of a lower price tag. Just production hasn't been huge, but does he have the production of a number two receiver? Certainly could be I think one of the more likely scenarios here is the Browns are going to do just like they did on the defensive line last year and totally remake this room. I know Amari Cooper is there. I know Elijah Moore is.
I mean, the only one that I even look at is safe is mean. I know we have two young guys in, Cedric Tillman and the Venus Flytrap. Yeah, there's his name. Ronnie's favorite wide receiver.
[02:00:23] Speaker C: I'm lost, too. Sorry, I'm no help.
[02:00:26] Speaker B: I can't think of his name.
[02:00:27] Speaker C: Played at Purdue, right?
[02:00:29] Speaker B: Yeah, David. David Bell. So you got young guys and David Bell and Cedar Chillin. But to me, neither one of those guys have done anything. So it's like if one of those guys had to be a casualty to bring in a guy like Gabe Davis and Marquise Brown, I'm all for that.
Any of those names do anything for you?
[02:00:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, he brought in both. Those mean it gives you, I guess, a better chance to hit on somebody, maybe know, build some chemistry with Deshaun or Flacco.
[02:00:59] Speaker B: Well, that's what I think it is. I think it's a matter of like, they're going to bring in more guys than they need and then whittle it down from there, even if they have to overpay right now and eat some of that money later. Because I just think they have to get this right. They have to get it right for Deshaun. It's the most important part of the team is what this team is going to be able to do on offense this year and how Deshaun is going to be. And if they go through another year and we go, Deshaun just didn't have the, that's, that's all on Andrew Barry. So I don't think they can miss here. I think they have to over buy and work backwards from there based on who shows up in camp and plays well during the preseason.
[02:01:43] Speaker C: Yeah. Another year of counting on the draft to bring in a receiver where it's just like this guy's a project he may hit.
[02:01:50] Speaker B: It's not like you have, if you were in a position to draft Marvin Harrison or neighbors, one of those guys that can't miss going to be a thousand yard receiver every year. Sure. But it's said that this receiver class is deep. So without a first round pick, we'll likely go receiver in the draft, I would think, as well. But again, I just think it's like this has got to be all options on the table. They got to put together the best possible spread but they also have to make sure they have money left for other things. So it's like, how do you bring in a bunch of different guys and still balance the other needs? Your team has anything else on that piece?
[02:02:42] Speaker C: Mean, Michael Pittman would be great, but, yeah, expensive.
Put him across the field with mean. That'd be fantastic. Yeah.
[02:02:50] Speaker B: I mean, Michael Pittman's one of those guys that's been incredibly productive. I just think Michael Pittman probably is going to want wide receiver one money.
[02:02:59] Speaker D: Yeah.
[02:02:59] Speaker C: Arthur Brown's going to do that this.
[02:03:00] Speaker B: Year, and I don't think they will. And to be honest, look, I love Amara Cooper. I think Amara Cooper is great. If they wanted to replace Amara Cooper because they wanted to just redo this whole room, and you were going to bring in guys like Michael Pittman, maybe Mike Evans, more power, like, I would be totally for that.
[02:03:18] Speaker C: Sure.
[02:03:18] Speaker B: I mean, even though it would suck to lose a guy like Amari, who has been a fan favorite, obviously had the huge game this year against Houston where he set the receiving record and stuff for the Browns.
I didn't win a Super bowl this year.
[02:03:33] Speaker C: The.
[02:03:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
All right. Anyway, that brings us know from people that we know the Browns have either been tied to or should be looking at to who we believe or who we would like them to go after if we were playing GM here. So red hot Ronnie jams, obviously, again with the streptococcus, he did provide his wish list here. So I'll go through this.
Basically, we picked, like a guy and then, like an honorable mention guy. So red hot Ronnie's number one target is the aforementioned Michael Pittman Jr. So, one of the top wide receivers in free agency in the last three seasons, he's caught 88, 99, and 109 receptions, respectively, in Indy, who we all know has had a revolving door at quarterback most of this year at 109 receptions with Gardner Minshew as quarterback would be a really strong complement to Amari. Cooper only perceived downside.
He's considered more of a chain mover, not a field stretcher. But I think that that's not necessarily a bad thing. When you're thinking about if Amari is your number one, you need a guy that's a possession receiver that's going to bring down important third down catches and things. So I don't know that that's a huge negative on Michael Pittman.
I will mention Ronnie has Daniel Hunter's edge rusher says this guy opposite Miles Garrett would be scary as hell.
No disagreements there. Look, I think Michael Pittman is again one of the best receivers in free agency right now.
Probably doesn't demand the same price tag as like Mike Evans, but still could be costly but tremendous production, and he's probably worth every penny that you pay him.
And then certainly Daniel Hunter with Miles Garrett. Just talk about youth. Speed would be great.
So that will bring me to my picks here.
I'm looking at a gentleman named Frankie Lou vu, linebacker for Carolina for the last couple of years, 63 240. Good speed is only 27, so definitely has some of his best playing days ahead of him. Nine and a half sacks since 2022. Tremendous run stopper, get after the quarterback, limitations in pass coverage, but that's the strength of our defense in general right now. So I think I don't need a linebacker that's great in pass coverage when I have all the money that I have invested in my secondary and the talent that we have there.
I really just want a guy that can eat up the middle of the field anytime there's someone in the box.
What I think is intriguing here is that the Browns, obviously the front office, has moved to this analytics look at everything.
He's the highest rated free agent linebacker across all the advanced analytics numbers, and we know that they love that. They love their advanced analytics numbers.
Deal expected to be a multi year, $20 to $30 million range, so wouldn't break the bank. The only downside here, I think, is the Carolina seems motivated to resign. This guy seems like talks had stalled for a while, but kind of picked back up here near the combine where you're starting to see some news about. They're trying to re enter conversations with Frankie Levoo, but I know they have another linebacker down there that they are also interested in resigning. So it may just be a matter of he could be a cap casualty, but again, I just think I want that guy that for the next five to seven years is just going to be a man eater in the middle of the field. And this kid's got tremendous speed, talent, strength, good head on his shoulders, and again, he checks all the advanced analytics boxes, too. So I think that'll be a really interesting move for the Browns. Honorable mention? I kind of made up my own rules here. I know we said we were just picking up one player for wish list and then an honorable mention. My honorable mention is a new wide receiver room. Again, I'll reiterate, I think this team has to rebuild. You have to over build, and then if you have to cut one of these guys later down the road and eat their cash, so be it. I'm looking at guys that I can sign potentially on a bargain but have either been productive or should have been productive, maybe weren't in the right system.
Guys that are young enough that they're still going to be around in the next four years, that their talent isn't going to decline. The guys that I've picked out here, I think Curtis Samuel from Washington, 511 195, had 600 yards, four touchdowns last season. That to me is wide receiver, two production. He to me is like the ideal guy to come in and complement Amari Cooper.
Kendrick Bourne is another one that I find incredibly fascinating. Played in New England, six, 1205. His best season was 2021. 55 catches, 800 yards, five touchdowns. Again, perfect receiver to wide receiver, two production as a compliment to a guy like Amari.
And then another couple of guys just that I picked out here that I've thought are really good athletes, that each offer interesting skill sets. Jalen Rager, I know he hasn't been tremendously productive, but he has good size. I think he's been in systems that weren't necessarily wide receiver friendly. I mean, New England last year, Mac Jones was kind of a train wreck. You got Billy Zappy in the mix.
I think Matt Patricia was calling plays for them. He's been fired.
So I just think given he's an athlete, I think given the right system and the right scheme could be successful.
And he's only 25. And then another guy I have picked out here is equinimiuse Brown. Played in Chicago last year. Six, 5215. I mean, just the size of this guy, it makes him a red zone target again. I know he hasn't been tremendously productive here, but I think a lot of that is, again, just right place, right time, best fit, not a good fit.
Can he be a fit for this Browns offense? I'd love to see them bring in again just a roster of guys like this that are kind of second tier guys but could be really dangerous in the right offense. And you just pick and choose from there. And rather than trying to break the bank on a guy like Mike Evans that's 30 years old, Michael Pittman, again, is going to cost you some money. Marquise Brown, like some of these guys, like, I just am not super high on Gabe Davis is another big name that's out there, but I think he's been a little bit inconsistent. So to me, guys like this that maybe just need that next chance, I think would be incredible potential for the Browns in a new wide receiver room this year. I just think, again, they can't miss on this, so they have to figure out some kind of plan here that works. And I don't know how you do it unless you just bring in a buttload of talent and let it fall where it may.
[02:11:16] Speaker C: No, I like it.
[02:11:18] Speaker B: Brings us to bone.
[02:11:21] Speaker C: You brought up Mike Evans. He is my pipe dream.
[02:11:25] Speaker B: You're not wrong.
[02:11:27] Speaker C: I read recently he wants 25 million a year. So obviously great wide receiver succeeded with multiple QBs his time at Tampa played with one of the greats or the great Tom Brady. He's a stud. Six, 5230, ten straight 1000 yard seasons. Had 13 touchdowns this past year.
Just having him opposite of Amari, just good character. Dude never causes any issues. You never hear about this guy in the news. Aside from just being like the quietest, best receiver, the most quiet best receiver to ever play in the NFL. I feel like you see his name on some of these lists like of all time greats. It's just like well Mike Evans is there. Yeah, it's like, yeah, he's right there with Jerry Rice.
[02:12:10] Speaker B: It's almost crazy. Like he doesn't seem like he's played for ten years, right?
[02:12:14] Speaker C: And I feel like he's always been fairly healthy.
I guess I haven't looked at it but just like from fantasy numbers and perspective and stuff, I feel like he's never been out for a year or whatever, which speaks to his thousand yard seasons. But yeah, big price tag. But man it's not my money. I would love to see him on the team.
[02:12:35] Speaker B: And again with the cap going to where it is. It's not an impossibility. If the Browns wanted to pull the trigger on Mike Evans they could. It'd be sweet and maybe you lose some depth elsewhere but like Mike Evans and Amari Cooper together. Yeah, I can't argue with that.
[02:12:54] Speaker C: I like him as a player, I've always liked him in fantasy. So it'd just be one of those guys like, yeah, I'd be happy to wear a Mike Evans jersey.
So another guy, we've already mentioned him but Daniel Hunter is a stud of a defensive end, edge, rusher, whatever you want to call him.
That guy had 16 half sacks this past year.
He plays for Minnesota, which we've had a couple of year history of getting players from Minnesota. A little connection there so maybe it could happen. Another big money guy.
[02:13:26] Speaker B: A lot of Browns front office guys.
[02:13:28] Speaker C: In know we got a connection know bring in Daniel Hunter.
Miles would love you for would they would wreck people, wreck quarterbacks.
[02:13:41] Speaker B: I can't disagree with you. I mean Daniel Hunter would be as far as wish list goes. I mean Mike Evans and Daniel Hunter got to be at the top of that list. Is it 100% practical?
[02:13:51] Speaker C: Probably not.
[02:13:52] Speaker B: Maybe not. But, hey, it's a wish list segment, so if we're saying, hey, who can we bring in that would change the game for the Brown? I mean, God, if you have Mike Evans here and Deshaun's not successful with Mike Evans, Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, and David and Joku.
[02:14:08] Speaker C: Yeah. Problems.
[02:14:09] Speaker B: There's a problem.
[02:14:10] Speaker C: Put Joe Flacco.
[02:14:12] Speaker B: And the problem is in your wide receiver.
Oh. That being said, let me remind you to call the burnout sports guest hot take hotline.
Don't forget to call and leave your hot takes on the hot take hotline. Remember, these are hot takes. We want hot takes. We want hot takes. We want hot takes. 3302-2780-8033-0227-8080-3302-278 operators not to anybody.
[02:14:44] Speaker C: Nobody's there.
[02:14:45] Speaker B: Nobody's there, especially not this week.
[02:14:46] Speaker C: Ronnie's not even here.
[02:14:48] Speaker B: Ronie jams is absent as can be.
And be sure to check out our gear. Ww dot tapin thetappinmedia.com shop.
That'll do it for us. But as we close up here next week, we will continue to cover any browns news that comes up. We will review any major circumstances that come out of the combine. Be keeping a close eye on that all weekend long. See if anybody does anything spectacular, anybody gets hurt, anything that's notable at all. We will then also prepare our kind of our pre draft show, thinking about draft prospects that make sense for the Browns. So that would be the end of our kind of three part series here. We talked about free agents leaving free agents that we want to get and draft prospects that maybe make sense for us here.
And then that will also be our pre Browns fan cruise episode. So we will bid you farewell as of then.
[02:15:52] Speaker C: Yeah. Come check us out on social media pages. You can find tap in media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the at handle handle. Is that what you call.
[02:16:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[02:16:02] Speaker C: Yeah. At the tap in media. Yeah, sorry.
You can also find the burning river sportscast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at Burning river sportscast. Also find us on x at bidding river pod. And then you can find the podcast, River Gear Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Pocketcast, Castro, good pods and more and more.
[02:16:31] Speaker B: And that brings us to facts for facts for days. I'm excited about facts for days today.
[02:16:56] Speaker C: Me too.
[02:16:58] Speaker B: I'm kind of sad they read out Ronnie's not here because I feel like he would be excited about this. But the bone man's here and you're here, so let's get to it. Given it is combine and draft time, we know that the NFL draft was not always seven rounds. Oh, there was at one time as many as 30 rounds. Yeah, 32, I think was the most ever. So several permutations there as the number of teams and rounds has varied over time.
Also, in recent news, there's been a lot of talk about Brock Purdy, the success of overcoming being Mr. Irrelevant. Yeah, it led me to wonder, who is the most irrelevant. Mr. Irrelevant of all time.
[02:17:45] Speaker C: Interesting.
[02:17:46] Speaker B: Well, I can tell you who it is.
At five foot ten, 180 pounds, from Dunborough, Ohio, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Kelvin Kirk, wide receiver with the 487th pick in the draft.
[02:18:01] Speaker C: Nice.
[02:18:02] Speaker B: Becoming at this time, 1976. This is 1976 draft. Mr. Relevant wasn't a thing. Yeah, he was the very first Mr. Irrelevant. They made up the award that year because the 1976 draft is famously revered as being the most numbered draft picks ever in a draft. Okay, so I said this guy is definitely irrelevant because we've never picked this many players before.
So he's not only the first, he's the most irrelevant of all, the Mr. Irrelevance of all time. So for comparison's sake, the NFL went to seven rounds in 1994. So the number of players drafted in the seven round draft varies between 240 and 260 players. So 487 picks.
[02:18:49] Speaker C: Yeah, it's irrelevant.
[02:18:51] Speaker B: Sadly, Kelvin passed away at the age of 49 during a pickup game of basketball, having a massive heart attack. Rip.
The good news is though, Kelvin Kirk being Mr. Irrelevant wasn't all that irrelevant. He blazed out with the Steelers very quickly in camp, but signed in the CFL and played in the CFL for seven years.
A relatively successful career masked more than 6500 all purpose yards as a wide receiver, kick returner, and over 20 touchdowns. Nice. Not a bad canadian football career. Found his place also interesting. Just a note. I didn't realize this, but after each draft, and again, this started 1966, the new Mr. Irrelevant and his family are invited to spend a week during the summer in Newport Beach, a trip to Disneyland.
[02:19:53] Speaker C: Whoa.
[02:19:54] Speaker B: A golf tournament in their honor, a regatta and a roast, giving advice to the new draftee, and a ceremony awarding him the lowsman trophy, which basically is the Heisman Trophy. But the guy's humbling the football.
[02:20:09] Speaker C: This is all paid for. By who? The NFL?
[02:20:11] Speaker B: It's paid for. Oh, shoot.
It's a guy. Who? Sam Palada or something I think his name is. And he did it from 1976 until he died in 2010, and then his daughter picked it up and does it now. But I had no idea that they do that for every. Mr. They get this whole week long vacation in their honor for being the last person in the draft.
[02:20:39] Speaker C: I wonder if all of them do it. Do all the Mr. Owens partake it?
[02:20:42] Speaker B: I think they do. And so what's funny is, like, a year or two after this happened, Pittsburgh, and I think it was maybe Chicago, were both in line potentially for the last pick in the draft, and they kept trading it back and forth, and it became this never ending trade back and forth because they wanted their guy to have this vacation or whatever, to have the trophy and the visibility of being Mr. Irrelevant. So the NFL had to actually implement a rule that was like, guys, like, the draft order is the draft order, and we're not doing this for Mr. Irrelevant. But of course, leave it to the Pittsburgh Steelers to get stupid for no reason.
[02:21:16] Speaker C: Ruin it.
[02:21:17] Speaker B: Yeah, ruin it for everybody. But anyway, thought that was absolutely fascinating. The Mr. Relevance gets all that stuff.
But also, most importantly, we should remember again, Rip Kelvin Kirk, the 487th pick in the 1976 draft, the most irrelevant. Mr. Irrelevant of all time.
Number two, I've been fascinated by world history, the pyramids.
[02:21:52] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[02:21:53] Speaker B: Great pyramid at Giza.
It's funny because when we were in school, we were told there are all these egyptian slaves, and they built these pyramids.
[02:22:06] Speaker C: Sure.
[02:22:08] Speaker B: Modern science today is basically like, no, it's not even possible for slave labor to have done this. These would have had to been the most highly trained craftsmen in all the world come together to even think about this. And even that probably isn't plausible. We have no explanation, really, for how these things were built, the precision with which they were built.
And one of the more interesting points here is that the great pyramid of Giza is aligned to true north within just a 10th of a degree.
Scientists have no ability to explain this ancient egyptian brilliance.
[02:22:51] Speaker C: Yeah. How they did it.
[02:22:52] Speaker B: Like, how they even determined true north thousands of years ago.
[02:22:58] Speaker C: There's so many things about the pyramids that you hear some of these guys talk about, like all these numbers, there's so many more numbers that they break it down. And it's so crazy.
Hearing all the theories about how they're built is interesting. I think it's fascinating.
Yeah. The power structures or power plants. Some people claim that there are.
[02:23:24] Speaker B: A lot of the talk now is like they would have had to have some kind of technology that has been lost over time that we just don't know about, because how they were able to, I mean, these bricks weighed like millions of pounds.
There was millions of bricks weighing 15 tons that they were lifting and moving to the top with precision. Yeah. All the way to the top. And these structures for most of the modern world, for like 4000 years were the tallest structures in the world. Right.
And just the precision that they were built with the white, I think they were. I don't know if they're granite like casings that were around them. So they were like this limestone shape. Yeah, limestone. They were like smooth and white and totally. You couldn't even slide like a credit card in the cracks.
It's mind fascinating all the way around and just I really find fascinating. This is like, we have no idea.
You could talk to any scientist and just be like, I don't know, aliens. And they'd be like possible.
Just as possible as any other theory. We don't know.
But that alone, to be able to determine true north 5000, 6000 years ago within a 10th of a degree and had a face that way.
[02:24:40] Speaker C: It'S awesome.
[02:24:41] Speaker B: It's just like.
[02:24:43] Speaker C: That's why history is so cool.
[02:24:44] Speaker B: It's wild, man.
So number three, some more history.
This has to do with marathons.
[02:24:55] Speaker C: Okay.
[02:24:56] Speaker B: Marathons are really dangerous.
As illustrated by the story I'm about to tell.
[02:25:04] Speaker C: Okay.
[02:25:06] Speaker B: The name marathon itself comes from the legend of Theodipides, sometimes called philodipides.
[02:25:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[02:25:14] Speaker B: Who was a greek messenger. The legend states that while he was taking part in the battle of the marathon, which took place somewhere in the realm of August of September, 490 BC, he witnessed a persian vessel changing course towards Athens. As the battle was near a victorious end for the greek army, he thought this was definitely an attempt by the defeated Persians to rush into the city and claim a false victory or simply just raid, take all their stuff.
Hence claiming authority over the greek land. So said that he ran the entire distance to Athens without stopping, discarding his weapons and even his clothes to lose as much weight as possible and burst into the assembly exclaiming, we have won, before collapsing and dying.
[02:26:03] Speaker C: Yes.
[02:26:04] Speaker B: So the guy that invented the literal marathon died running the marathon.
[02:26:09] Speaker C: Dangerous.
[02:26:10] Speaker B: Very dangerous. We should run marathons.
[02:26:15] Speaker C: He had to be in pretty good shape.
[02:26:19] Speaker B: You got to be in good shape now to run a bear. Apparently fiadipides not in good enough shape.
[02:26:25] Speaker C: No. Yeah.
Heart just got too excited.
[02:26:32] Speaker B: I don't know, I just find advancing that now we do this for fun.
[02:26:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[02:26:37] Speaker B: The guy who first guy that ever did this died. And we were like, let's do it again.
Let's just do this every year.
[02:26:44] Speaker C: For fun, we train a little better.
[02:26:46] Speaker B: Maybe let's do it for diabetes. Let's do it for heart awareness.
Like, the guy literally died. His heart exploded in his chest.
[02:26:54] Speaker C: Well, and then you got those people that are running like double ultramarathons.
[02:26:58] Speaker B: Well, I mean, those guys are just showing off.
[02:27:00] Speaker C: This is insane. Your iron man, 200 miles.
[02:27:02] Speaker B: Yeah, 250 miles. Swim a leg of it. Yeah, that's just too much.
[02:27:09] Speaker C: Have you heard of the people who. To prove the footwear companies wrong? Like, they'll do it in high heels or boots or just whatever. They're like, well, I can run a marathon in high heels. We don't need no running shoes. I've never heard there's people that do this.
[02:27:21] Speaker B: They run marathons in high heels.
[02:27:22] Speaker C: Yeah, they'll just be like, running shoe gimmicks are a waste of time. It's just marketing.
[02:27:28] Speaker B: Oh, so disproving the science.
I can run just as fast in any shoe.
[02:27:33] Speaker C: Yeah. I don't know how fast they do.
[02:27:34] Speaker B: It, but could they run that fast in Doug funny shoes?
[02:27:36] Speaker C: I don't know. Yeah.
Somebody do that marathon and Doug funny shoes.
[02:27:44] Speaker B: Well, that was interesting. That was facts for days. And that's all for us today.
Mr.
[02:27:50] Speaker C: Bone, Bone.
[02:27:51] Speaker B: Bone epit. Don't just be a part of the problem, be the whole damn problem. And if our friend Red High Ronnie James was here and not outlaw streptococcus, he would say, only you can prevent river fires.
Burning river sportscast. Burning river. Burning river. Burning river sportscast.
Bowen, I must say, you did a tremendous job filling in for the guy that usually sits there.
[02:28:23] Speaker C: It was pretty scary.
[02:28:24] Speaker B: It was pretty solid work.
[02:28:26] Speaker C: Thank you.
[02:28:26] Speaker B: Really happy to have.
[02:28:27] Speaker C: I had a few freezing moments. I just froze. I was like, what do I say now?
[02:28:31] Speaker B: They're not as bad as you think, man.
[02:28:33] Speaker C: Then I opened my eyes and I was like, I'll just read this.
[02:28:34] Speaker B: We've been doing this a while, and you're way ahead of where we were when we started. I've been observing for very, very nice job today. Very excited to have you. Thank you so much for filling in for red outrun.
[02:28:47] Speaker C: Thanks for having me.
[02:28:48] Speaker B: It was fun, and that'll do it for us. Good night. Cleveland.
[02:28:53] Speaker D: Browns fan cruise and the burning river sports cast.
[02:28:56] Speaker B: What better combination could you possibly think of? Motorboat. You play the motorboat, you Motorboat son of a bitch. You old sailor, you. You know, I was thinking during that interview, what were you.
[02:29:08] Speaker E: Nothing. Because you don't have thoughts. Because you're a brainless idiot.
[02:29:12] Speaker B: Wow. My name is Utrit. Son of Utrit.
[02:29:15] Speaker E: By the way, I want my foreskin back.
[02:29:17] Speaker B: It doesn't matter what you think. Women's guide to anal sex. And it was the second edition. Who makes the second edition? The weather. Outside is weather.
[02:29:27] Speaker E: The other one. The finger eating food.
[02:29:29] Speaker B: Fingers ejaculate all over my body and my genitals.
[02:29:33] Speaker C: Yes.
[02:29:33] Speaker B: Oh, my God. I have everywhere. You don't need fundamentals when you got heart in Jesus. In Jesus.
[02:29:44] Speaker C: That's right.
[02:29:45] Speaker E: Touchdown.
[02:29:45] Speaker B: Anyway. Oh, no. We suck again.
[02:29:49] Speaker E: It's going down.
[02:29:53] Speaker C: What do you mean, funny?
[02:29:54] Speaker B: Funny how? How am I funny to that? I'll say. Kyle Shanahan didn't like Johnny Manziel either, so f him.
[02:30:02] Speaker C: I wonder why.
[02:30:03] Speaker E: Dead wrong.
[02:30:04] Speaker B: And Kyle Shanahan doesn't know the rules, so calm down, jet.
[02:30:08] Speaker E: All I do is win win no matter what.
[02:30:11] Speaker B: The leads are weak. Leads are weak?
[02:30:14] Speaker D: Fucking leads are weak.
[02:30:16] Speaker B: You're weak.
[02:30:17] Speaker E: I mean, last year when I went and went home, my wife's pants hit the ground.
[02:30:22] Speaker B: Erroneous. Erroneous on both counts. Wow.
[02:30:25] Speaker E: But damn.
[02:30:26] Speaker B: I'm sorry. I hijacked your segment for a second to do some good podcasting.
You know why, Mr. Because you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight. I drove an $80,000 BMW. That's my name.
[02:30:39] Speaker D: I live my life a quarter mile at a time.
[02:30:42] Speaker E: Now, I think we've officially lost all of our more conservative viewers.
I don't think they want to listen any longer.
[02:30:49] Speaker C: It's Mother Nature.
[02:30:50] Speaker B: Where's logo girl when you need her?
[02:30:52] Speaker C: I desperately want to make love.
[02:30:53] Speaker E: It's cheese.
[02:30:54] Speaker C: We need cheese girl.
[02:30:55] Speaker B: Now down goes Anderson. Down goes Anderson. Who's canceled now? Who's canceled now?
[02:31:02] Speaker E: Probably me.
[02:31:03] Speaker B: You making a photo of fat people?
[02:31:05] Speaker E: I'm not just you.
[02:31:08] Speaker B: We're a whole race, basically.
No way.
[02:31:12] Speaker E: You're just straight finger banger salad.
[02:31:16] Speaker C: You first get shocked, and then you get the shocker you like to see almost naked.
[02:31:23] Speaker D: That's cool, man.
[02:31:24] Speaker B: Whatever.
[02:31:26] Speaker C: You're just people that get together and watch football and raise money, and we're like, that pretty much sums it up.
[02:31:32] Speaker B: Are you not entertained?
Are you not entertained?
This is not why you.
[02:31:54] Speaker E: Today's episode was brought to you by Topath Vodka. Topath Vodka, an award winning, ultra premium, extremely smooth, high quality vodka, six times distilled and made from Midwest corn and Ohio fruit. Clean and crisp. A truly high quality spirit. Made right here in northeast Ohio. Available locally in northeast Ohio and online in 44 states. Topath vodka.
[02:32:18] Speaker A: Hey, Browns fans, this is your chance to join the company of some of the Browns all time greats on the first ever Browns fan cruise. Picture this for five unforgettable days, you're sailing across the beautiful Caribbean Sea, reliving the Browns'greatest moments, getting autographs, snapping photos and celebrating on the beach with your favorite Browns alumni like Josh Cribs, Webster Slaughter, Eric Metcalf and a dozen others. Book now and take advantage of our easy, budget friendly payment plans on this once in a lifetime, all inclusive cruise adventure. The clock's ticking, Browns fans. To book your cabin and for more information, visit brownsfancruise.com or call 216-284-6472 Today Browns fan cruise where diehard fans and Browns alumni come together for the trip of a lifetime. Don't wait. Secure your spot today and go browns.
