Slater's Latest on Cowboys Players Calling Out Coaches; Sean Lee Agent Mike McCartney on His Client's Future

On today’s episode of the 'Boys and Girl Podcast, Jane and Bobby discuss Jane’s report that players are unhappy with the Cowboys coaching staff. Plus, RJ Ochoa from Blogging the Boys stops by, and NFL agent Mike McCartney talks about his client, Sean Lee. Follow Jane and Bobby on Twitter and subscribe to get all the latest inside information from two of the most connected people in the Cowboys’ community.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello, Boys and girls, Welcome in to the Boys and
Girl Podcast with Cowboys NFL Network reporter Jane Slater and
NFL Network producer Bobby Bell. Cowboys Community with the inside
scoop on the Dallas Cowboys now coming straight to you

(00:22):
from the Lone Star State. Here's Jane and Bobby. All Right, Well,
I was one of the ones who went on record
this year heading into this season, Bobby and said that
this was a team that had an embarrassment of riches.
When you looked at them on paper, they seemingly had death.
They had a nice mix of picks in the draft

(00:44):
this year where they identified numerous areas saved for really
the safety position. Um, and they had they had, you know,
some guys coming back that you thought were really going
to finally have the year. And it's quickly gone from
embarrassment of riches to an embarrassment. So this is your fault,
is what you're telling me that you you you got
us all worked up and it's that now I'm just

(01:05):
kidding you know, you know, I will say this has
been UM, I don't think from a talent level. I
think I do think that they have naturally talented football
players and I think that you're seeing football players that
you know have played better in the past that are
not playing up to it now. And it's not just
age or anything. It's just they're making some bad mistakes.
And so from a macro perspective, not just talent, but

(01:28):
you look at all the things that go into a
talent and i Q and effort and heart and chemistry
and things like that. This so far through six weeks,
is one of the worst teams I've seen them field.
This is this is probably around two thousand ten, the
team that got Wade Phillips fired. Um, And it's it's
just it's a little frustrating and curious. And I think

(01:50):
everybody today, the players, the coaching staff, and probably the Joneses,
they're sitting around going what is what's the answer here?
And and it's tough because this is about a year
and a half now of going what is the answer here?
Because we were asking this question a lot last year,
and why is this? Why are things playing out the
way that they are? And as much as there are
injuries at play here, you've got some players who just

(02:12):
are not playing up to snuff. Some veteran players who
are good football players who you've given big money to
who are just not playing at the level they should be.
And I know this report that I had today, Uh,
I expected that it would make the rounds. I don't know,
maybe it was a little naivetey on my part that
this thing would explode as much as it did, because
I felt like some of this was a little obvious

(02:35):
um reporting that you know, at two and four, things
were beginning to leak from the locker room. I'm being
told that this is just not a good coaching staff.
They don't know how to teach um and that essentially
the players aren't buying into this. And I think I'm

(02:56):
a little shocked given the fact that, as you and
I have discussed on this PI podcasts, that the messaging
to the players has been let's keep everything insulated, it's
our one competitive advantage um. And so I wasn't really
hearing a lot. And so when we would talk about, well,
why are the Cowboys struggling defensively or offensively? Or is
there a buy in? We would hear these things that

(03:17):
have that would start being said. You know, it started
with Jalen Smith talking about simplifying the playbook, which, if
you'll recall, I said, that feels a little disrespectful to
a new coaching staff. That's true or not. If I
have a new boss that comes in at NFL network
and I'm asked, Jane, how do you like the direction
of your network? I say it's you know, it's going well.

(03:40):
I think we're all getting getting to a point, we're
getting to know each other, we're filling each other out,
or or or let's let's look at it a little
differently too, because you may if your boss is asking directly,
if Mike McCarthy or Mike and Holand is asking Jalen
Smith directly, how do you feel it's maybe not the
worst thing to air and say, hey, look this is
just what I'm seeing and have that respectful discussion. But
you can't go on Twitter, or you wouldn't do a

(04:01):
podcast interview and say, I really don't think you know,
I think my network class is exactly in the public.
You say, it's great. If you have any issues, you
deal with those in private. And again I appreciated his transparency.
I appreciate the honesty just from I think most people,

(04:21):
if asked, given a new boss and a new regime,
you might wait, maybe at least until the end of
the season and you have a bigger sample size before
you say something like that. Then we heard Everson Griffin
talking about abandoning the three point stance and Mike McCarthy admitting,
did it looked like they were improvising a little bit
out there and they needed to buy in more? And

(04:42):
then you've got Daniel Jeremiah questioning their effort and guys
just giving up. And so take all that in there
to that totality, and I think you and I have
been privately saying, I feel like there's a disconnect. I
don't know if these guys are buying into this coaching staff. Now.
I think it's hard to fully evaluate this coaching staff

(05:05):
given the fact they didn't have their starting corporate quarterback,
Dat Prescott in the quarterback room in the virtual o
t s. He was sort of your natural leader, right
he was away from the facility and he was working
out with the guys, but he wasn't in that room
to help set the tone with this new staff. Start
talking offensive side the ball, on the defensive side of

(05:26):
the ball. What we knew about Rod Marrionelli's he really
bought into these players as it related to how they
played on the field, but also bought into them as men.
And so when you've got a new coaching south, it's
hard to buy into guys who are as men if
you're not seeing them face to face until you get
to a contensed training camp, and then you're just focused
on not even preseason games. You're focused on playing the

(05:49):
l A Rams and so I think we need to
really honestly evaluate that. That's I think that's one thing
to think about. And then you get injuries and we're
not just talk. I mean, you you lost two starting
corners on defense. You lost Jong McCoy early in camp.
This is supposed to be like the lynchpin of your
defensive line. You lose not only shan Lee at linebacker,

(06:11):
but then you lose Layton Vanderish within the first quarter
of the first game. So again we're just talking defense,
and I go to the offensive side the ball. You
lose Blake Darwin and then we start losing the offensive line.
You're too starting tackles your center, and then I look
at the game last night and there goes the last

(06:32):
guy with any simbilance of experience, Zack Martin. Now Connor
Williams is your most season vent on the line. I
can see how this frustration would set in at white
people might be voiced in discontent today, I guess. But
my long winched way of saying this, Bobby is the
writing has been on the wall for a little bit. Yeah.
And I think that what you're seeing here and this
is speculative mostly. I mean, there's nothing we can say

(06:54):
to prove it, but I think you are seeing. It's
funny timing that last night seemed to be one of
their poorest performances, and you're starting to see people speak
out like you're you're starting to hear from people. I
don't know that that's a coincidence that as soon as
somebody who's as important to the nucleus and and the
culture there as Dak Prescott has pulled out and removed
from it, that things get a little you know, out

(07:16):
of control. Um, And you know, I think that it's
just I think people don't necessarily realize what a stabilizing
factor that he's been. I know we've talked about it before, Um, Randall.
You know, you look over the years, a guy like
people wouldn't have known last year Randall Cobb was a
big stabilizing factor in that locker. Randall cop really looked
out for um, you know the culture and and how

(07:37):
you know he he did. He did a big part
leaning in that. And I think people don't know about
the Randall Cobbs or don't know exactly. They know Dak
Prescott's the quarterback and he says the right things, but
they don't understand what type of role he plays to
keep everything cohesive, or you know the Shawn Lees who
will talk to Sean Lee's agent here in a few minutes,
Mike McCartney that you know what it is those guys
do to make sure that everything is you know, on

(08:00):
the level and everybody's doing their part and everybody's comfortable
with where things are going. And I think when you
pull out not just Sean Lee or Dak Prescott or
then Ramba cob leaves, or you pull out you know
Travis Frederick who was a captain for a long time,
and Byron Jones who's been here for a long time,
and then you blow out an entire coaching staff that
had the same messaging for a decade. It's it's an

(08:20):
adjustment period and I think you're seeing some natural pushback
that would come to a group of players that just
they're dealing with something new. Whether they're right or wrong,
they're dealing with something new, and it's different than the
culture they've always, you know, had. You know, it's interesting
that you point that out, because I keep looking at
I guess there are injuries as it relates to the season,

(08:42):
but the most damaging injury that they've had in recent
years was the loss of Tony Romo. And this was
a relatively young team. If you'll recall back in what
and not only do you lose Tony Romo, you lose
Kellen Moore and then you're looking down the depth chart
and you're like, oh, now we're gonna go with this guy.
We got the fourth row, four string guy behind Jim
Bill Showers. And even talking to players that were in

(09:05):
that locker room then and aren't there now, they talk
about the tone and the culture that he set in
such a short amount of time. It was why it
was nearly impossible for the Jones family and Jason Garrett.
And was it Wade Wilson or Scott Linehan that had
had a hand in this one or both? Well, I
mean both. Wade was the quarterback coach, Lenahan was the

(09:25):
offensive coordinator. They didn't go with the guy that they've
had since the early two thousands who would come back
healthy and was a season vet. Because of the leadership
that Dak evoked, that the way that this team rallied
around him in adversity, and we saw this time and
time again when their backs were against the wall. When

(09:47):
you would ask these players about this team, they always
said they felt like with Dak they could pull out
the wind. And yesterday it felt like the minute that
Zeke fumbled that ball and the defense came out. And
we'll get into this with r J Choa from blogging

(10:07):
the Boys that we're gonna have here on in in
a bit, it was as if any optimism from this team,
sort of anything that was left sort of escaped. And
I think again that speaks to questioning whether they actually
have the talent and the moxie, but also believing they
don't have the coaching staff to put them in a

(10:28):
position to get to In other words, this coaching staff
wasn't the reason they overcame. They overcame some of these deficits,
these double digit deficits, It was the players. But the players,
to be fair, also put them in these situations. Yeah,
I mean, and you know that mean where it's like
Spider Man, they're all kind of looking yes, exactly, they're
pointing it. Yes, it's yeah, there's a lot right now.

(10:49):
It's players and coaches, Yeah, very much that. I think
there is a shared responsibility here, not just between players
and coaches. It's probably one of those three way little
Spider Man pictures, because it's also the Jones. And I
think that the Jones is, you know, that is the
one constant that's been here for twenty five years during
the championship dro out um and that you know, I
think that they would have to and I don't think
they push back against this necessarily. They wouldn't say they've

(11:11):
done everything correctly over twenty five years. They know they
have some responsibility and how this has gone um, But
I think everybody's got a big hand in it right now,
and it's just not helped that they've been dealt adversity
of you know, all these injuries to big guys and
and and you know leaders and UM. And I think
that it's it's just starting to catch up to him.
And even as bad as the NFC East is, I

(11:34):
don't think that this team right now you could say
should be the favorite. I don't know that this is
a team that you think could just you know, scrape
by and get into the playoffs. I don't. I don't
see how they would be in any better a position
to win this division than Philadelphia or Washington. Um. I
think if Washington got a little bit more consistent quarterback play,
they easily win the division. But um, you know that's

(11:54):
gonna be a tough test for them again next week too,
is having to go up against that Redskins defensive line
with all the holes on the offensive line. And Andy
Dalton's you know, he got out of some sacks last night,
but he's not Dak and he doesn't get the ball
out as quick as Dak. And so I did have
one of my favorite notes I found last night, and
I know you saw this, is that the Cowboys have
been pretty evenly distributed and how they're getting you know,

(12:19):
hit pretty hard on defense. That usually you've got below
average past defense and terrible run defense, or below average
run defense and terrible past defense. The Cowboys have been
pretty equally bad it. So I was just curious, like
I wonder how who the last team was that's done
this where the Cowboys have given up fourteen UH touchdown
passes and ten rushing touchdowns through six games, and so
it was curious, Okay, who's the last tingm that did it?

(12:40):
So I looked it up and the last team that
did it was the two thousand five San Francisco forty
Niners that were coached by Mike Nolan and had the
offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy. Not that Mike McCarthy has anything
to do about the touchdowns given it, but two mainstays
of that culture in San Francisco that struggled so much
in two thousand five are here now in Dallas and
it's a repeat. And again I'd love to sit down

(13:05):
hast Subliminates with Mike McCarthy and get his sense of, like,
what is truly going on? It is. This is a
very challenging year in how we collect our intel and
our information because we don't have that interaction that we
would typically have UH in a normal year. So it's
been hard to sort of make sense about what's going

(13:26):
on in there. And just my sense now when you
take what we've heard on the record and now what
I'm I'm hearing today off the record, the reason why
I even put it out because I don't I don't
love putting out inflammatory reports like this. It's typically not
good for a locker room. Um, it's not good obviously
for the coaching staff. The way High viewed it was

(13:49):
it can't get any more broken, and maybe this forces
a come to Jesus that needs to happen during the season.
What I can't expect on Wednesday, when our podcast comes
out and when the Cowboys are back in the building, Um,
there'll be a denial of the reports. There will be
a vote of confidence for the coaching staff. UM. I'm

(14:12):
never going to name my sources. Uh, those sources are
never going to acknowledge what was said. But what was
fourth and Bared reporting, in my opinion, was this goes
deeper than injuries and effort. This is a lack of
a buy in, and it's early enough and this division

(14:34):
is bad enough that you can right the ship. So again,
maybe this prompts a come to Jesus meeting, But I
thought it important to report that we've been questioning is
there buy in? What's the morale in that locker room?
And what I reported today was interesting to say the least,
But I think to your point, I think this falls

(14:57):
on players. I think this fall on coaches. I think
this falls on the Jones family. It's a collaborative effort
of awfulness. To to borrow a phrase from Jason Garrett,
this has been a collaborative effort from everybody, or a
collaborative lack of effort. But you know, it's funny, I was.
I think you do bring up a very good point, Bobby.
We're seeing a lot of the same guys on the

(15:18):
football field this year, and when you look at the
their performances last year to this year, there is a
massive disconnect. I think what's hard is is it because
of COVID? Is it because they weren't able to get
into performance centers? Was it because they didn't have H
O T A S. Is it because they didn't have

(15:39):
preseason games? It is so hard to say this is
absolutely the coaches. But what is important is the players,
at least at this point, don't buy into these coaches
at all. Right now, Well, and it's tough, like because
it's concerning. Because of that point, it's tough to then
look at it and go, okay, well, you know what.
Kevin Stefanski was a brand new coach and leveland who's

(16:00):
having the same issue, and he's you know, making lemonade
out of lemons, and uh, Rod Mirnelli and the Raiders
are getting good pressure right now, and Matt Eber flew
some in the Colts, they're getting lots of turnovers and
and they're you know, one of the best defenses in
the league. It's just it's tough that goes okay when
you see coaches that leave and have success elsewhere, or
like we saw in the past, players that go elsewhere

(16:22):
and have success. Because that was one of the things
people always pointed to with Rod Mirrinelli was said, well, okay,
players are going off. They're having better success they had
with Rod Mirnelli. So when you see both the coaches
and the players leave and start having better success, you go,
maybe there's an overall culture issue here that explains why
everybody's struggling. And look, I'll never sit here and say, uh,

(16:42):
Jason Garrett was the best offensive coordinator they ever had.
I think what stood out about Jason was his ability
to get guys to play for him. In my time
covering this team, I never once had a player that
was in that locker room. Tell me they did not
buy into him as a coach. A lot of them

(17:05):
saw themselves as m depending on what era they were,
especially this younger group, they saw themselves as sort of
Jason's kids. Jason viewed them as his kids. And with
the exception of the Tavon Austin comment, which which was handled,
which was handled, and he corrected, he corrected and apologized for.

(17:30):
And that was the only time I really saw this
locker room sort of go what is that? Even the
players like Desks who grew frustrated with with Jason, they
patched things up. And So say what you want about Jason,
I just in covering this team and the reason why

(17:51):
I defended him as much as I did last year,
as I said, Look, these guys play for him, no
matter what the situation was. I don't know if it's
fair to say guys don't play for Mike. I don't
think he's been here long enough too. It takes a
while to build that trust, to develop that buy in. Jason,
of course was here as a quarterback. He was sort

(18:11):
of part of the organization. You knew that he was
Jerry's guy, right, But I just I never heard a
lot of these players teammates and players talk about him
the way that I've heard people talk about Mike on
the way out of Green Bay and in his short
time here. And again, this criticism doesn't just fall on

(18:35):
his shoulders, but he told you a couple of weeks ago,
this falls at my feet. He hired a lot of
these guys that a lot of these players are buying
into either. And again I've got to be very vague
about what I say, and because again you don't want
to create problems in the locker room. The purpose of
this report was this thing is broken in this way,

(18:55):
this early, and that is concerning because you can't overcome that. No,
I think. I think that's you can try. It's early,
but no, the and that's the biggest thing. It doesn't
matter how much talent you have. You can't overcome locker
room cancer. You can't overcome cultural culture cancer. That's the
biggest killer of teams, Like we've seen that throughout history
in any sport, is that, no matter how talented you are,

(19:16):
when there is you know, chemistry cancer, it's a killer
and and you know it's terminal um And I think
that's the thing that the caboys have to work out
right now is what is the diagnosis? And right now
it doesn't look good, but we can continue this conversation.
We're actually gonna bring in our j o Choa from
Blogging the Boys now and after that we'll talk with
Mike McCartney. The agent for Shawn Lee joining us now

(19:38):
is R. J o Choa, managing editor for Blogging the
Boys dot com. You can follow him on Twitter at
r j o Choa Brocho. How's it going. It's gone, well,
it's good to be with my friends Bobby and Jane. Um.
Certainly wish it was under better circumstances. I think, No,
you don't know. You don't you love it for your
writing purposes. You're like, oh yeah, I can I if

(19:59):
it bleeds it. You're excited right now, don't even lie.
The chaos is fun Um And for that I owe
a huge thank you to Jane, certainly on on this
fine Monday. Um, it's it's an interesting time. I'll say that.
Let me ask you this. You literally sift through all
these interviews even more so than I do, because sometimes

(20:20):
it is so hard for me to do TV. But
also jump on for Stephen and Jerry. There's so many
people that talk on this Dallas beat when you started
hearing things from Jalen Smith early into the season talking
about stiflying this playbook and Mike McCarthy talking about he
needs to do a better job coaching or it falls

(20:41):
on his feet, or guys are improvising and they don't
want this to be a one called defense. Did this
report shock you at all? I don't think so. UM.
I think Jalen's quotes are among the more interesting to
listen to. UM. And and something I've gone back and
listened to a lot in the last few weeks is

(21:01):
from his introductory press conference when he signed his long
term extension, and there's a line where he says, I'm
a leader and someday I'm going to be a captain
for the Dallas Cowboys. And I've never heard a player,
uh be that intentional about speaking about something like that.
I certainly don't doubt that it's it's a goal for people.
But that's why what Jalen says is really interesting to me.

(21:22):
And so yeah, I don't find it shocking. UM. I
think that there's a lot of I think a lot
of people try to connect dots in their minds, like
who said this and who's thinking that, And and Jalen
is somebody that is kind of a poster for a
lot of the problems right now. And so I think
that when you kind of sort of put together the
then diagram for Jalen specifically, Um, I'm not shocked that

(21:44):
that this is happening, even though he is really positive
with with all of his comments that they are kind
of you know that there's sort of forthcoming in an
ambiguous way, if that makes sense. And so it makes
sense that we're here well, and like I said, he
is not the only one that, it seems, has has
discussed some frustration. I mean, like I said, there's been
Everson Griffin that has sort of talked about abandoning what

(22:07):
is being asked of him, and we're seeing it on
the football field right Uh. All you have to do
is pop in the tape and it looks like they're
just going with their own instincts as opposed to trusting
the process, as Jason Geartt used to talk so much of.
And so I think the only thing that that was
shocking to me really in the spirit of the report
r J was that they're so frustrated this this soon

(22:32):
And I think it makes sense that you would be
frustrating given all the injuries. But we've seen them publicly
point the finger of themselves, but it sounds like internally
they're also pointing the finger to the outside and his
Bobby and I discussed earlier, we're still dealing with very
similar personnel from what we saw last year. Yes, some

(22:53):
of this effort from the players, but did they just
asked him to do too much too soon in a
condensed training camp? And should you have known the limitations
of this team and tried to reinvent the will when
it made a little bit more sense to do it
in the O t A s in the off season.
I think all of that is fair. Um, I think
it's really interesting. I know, Jane, you said in your

(23:14):
hit on Monday, you talked about how this team never
quit under Jason Garrett. That's something we've all said. Today's
though one year anniversary at least Monday is or Tuesday,
excuse me, of when the Cowboys played the Eagles last
year on Sunday Night Football after they lost to the Jets,
and everybody thought, you know, this is it, this is
where the skid really starts, and they beat them thirty
seven to ten, and that was kind of THEE told

(23:36):
you Jason Garrett's guys don't quit on him. And I
do think it's interesting. I think Jason Garrett has kind
of been um in a weird way of safety net
for the Cowboys players because he's always or was always this, well,
that's the problem, right, like Jason Garrett, So he's always
the first person that anybody pointed to blame. And I
think Dak Prescott was obviously a different sort of of
not safety net, but sort of hero that came in

(23:57):
and saved them. And there's nowhere for anybody to hide,
and I think that that makes people uncomfortable, and I
think that's why this is also not shocking, and it's
predictable in a really unfortunate way that the moment that
the heat got really turned up and they had to
be the ones to put it out, they kind of
started looking inward and pointing fingers, which is, you know,
a bit troubling. I think it's interesting that when you

(24:18):
think back to last year and the way they talked
about their execution issues, because there was that big debate
for a while of execution versus preparation, where's your issue,
Like what are we what are we to glean from this?
Or you know, we were all trying to figure out,
you know, are you a group of players that are
not prepared to go out there or do you have
the right preparation and you guys are failing to execute.

(24:40):
And the players were really insistent all year last year
that this is you know, this isn't about preparation. This
is about us going out there and we're making mistakes.
And Jalen specifically, I remember, would get very defiant and say,
these are Sunday mistakes, these are day of mistakes. This
is not about Monday through Saturday. And so then it's
interesting that a year later, Jalen's going, yeah, you know,
maybe the coaches could simplify things a little bit, and

(25:02):
Jane's hearing from players that you know, they don't really
know what they're doing. This isn't just we never heard
this during Jason Garrett's time. This is we heard the
exact opposite during Jason Garrett's time, and those players would
seem to do anything to alleviate responsibility from the coaches
and their preparation, and we're seeing kind of the opposite
from that right now. And I just wonder is that
growing pains? Is that players just adjusting to a new

(25:25):
normal for themselves and you know this is kind of weird.
This is like, you know, parents get divorced and we
have a new stepdad here step mom, and you know
we're getting used to being under them or is this
just you know something where this is. This isn't about
in contrast to Garrett. They're they're having troubles. This is
about they just as a group, regardless of comparing it
to Garrett or not. They don't trust Mike McCarthy and

(25:46):
they don't trust this coaching staff. I think you equated
to divorce pants to me. I remember when as a
freshman in high school, our English teacher was really rough
and that wasn't something that we were used to middle school,
like you know at that age, like you just you
don't do anything and you get good grades. And she
actually sort of demanded that we read the book and

(26:06):
you know, be accountable in that garden. And yeah, I know,
it was Lord of the Flies. It wasn't a great novel,
if I'm being honest, but um, and it feels like
that's the case, like I and I find it fascinating
that that Zeke would come out and be super accountable
and say that's on me, and I you know, say
something like I gave them momentum and I don't. I

(26:28):
can't think of the last time I heard any Cowy
was defensive player be that individually accountable to something. I
know DeMarcus Thoran said they were soft. Yeah, and and
that's fair. I mean he called him soft. But I
think a lot about to um last year. I think
it was after the Bears loss when I believe it
was Mike Folo reported that the cow was really missed
the leadership of Tyrone Crawford and how the young leaders

(26:50):
on the team weren't stepping up, and it just it
feels like Zeke is a young leader. And I know
people say, you know, running backs don't matter in the contract,
and that's a whole different decision in the discussion, but
that there's just there's a disconnect the like there had
to be a point between one coaching staff and another
or something connected them and said Okay, we're going to
carry this over. But it just it kind of feels

(27:11):
like they're just saying, man, you know, the way you
move the furniture around, that's why this is wrong and
that's why this is messing up. And it feels like
that's such an easy thing to point to and blame,
even though the problem seems a lot larger than that.
You know, guys, I want I want to walk you
back to because some of the stuff begins to sort
of trigger my mind is because it has been such
a weird year and it's been such anomaly. I did

(27:35):
find it interesting, even before Covid struck that one of
the first calls that Mike McCarthy didn't make was to
his quarterback. And remember these guys talked about they hadn't
really had much contact with him. I believe a lot
of them got to call the day of his press
conference to come up and meet him. Um, and there

(27:56):
were guys that were huge fans of his, Randall Cobb
among them, and then of course he was no longer here.
I just found it very interesting that we sort of
started off the bat with that. And again I don't
want to get into specifics of where the frustration lies,
or where the buy in isn't, or what side of

(28:18):
the ball it is, because I think we've got to
be careful, As I had said on the fan earlier
today in the past and didn't behoove these players to
go on record. I mean, think about Alan Hearns when
he called out Alan Hearns, Ryan Switzer, Bryce Butler, does
Bryant all receivers by the way, But yeah, Alan's mom too,
by the way, Mrs Hearns, Yes, right, I remember. I
just I remember pulling Alan aside and being like, why

(28:40):
would you How does it help you to name check?
And so when people are like, you know, put your
name on it, it's you know, it's chicken, it's anonymous,
I get it because you haven't seen the production on
the field from the guys either. But I also pushed back,
this is why we have anonymous sources and these particular situations.

(29:01):
I mean, we're talking job security and especially in COVID
and trying to get these guys in given the testing it,
I mean, a guy could be on a job and
so I certainly don't want to be responsible for that.
This to me, again, the spirit of the report was,
we don't just have a players are good enough situation
in Dallas. We don't have just a we don't have

(29:22):
enough players because of ventury situation of Dallas. We have
a guys aren't buying into this coaching staff situation. And
I just never heard that with Rod Marinelli or for
that matter, Jason Garrett, as hard as Rod could be
on these guys defensively, r J, did you ever hear anything, Bobby?

(29:42):
You talked to a lot of people. I had to.
I had a player one time get like teary eyed
and cry when they talked about what Rod Merrielly meant
to them, And so no, I never heard that. I had.
I had two players like very emotionally talk about how
he would print out pictures of president it's and say
what characteristics of those presidents that that particular player embodied.

(30:05):
And so it was those little things that his investments
in them away from the fielled men a lot. And
again I don't know if that's harder to do given COVID,
You know, is that is it harder in a condensed season?
Is it harder not to be able to, you know,
have family dinners that you normally would at an OX

(30:27):
started training camp. So you know what, I got this information.
I wanted to make sure where it's not if it's
we have to temper it by saying the spirit of
it is that they've lost the locker room somehow, But
could they ever have properly secured it given some of
the factors that went into this season. I think that's

(30:49):
a really fair question. I also think, like you say
this in a lot of Cowboys fans say, oh, well
they didn't win anything like whatever, But like Jason Garrett
presided over an era. I mean, you know that it
was a long time. Like obviously that didn't have the
success that anybody would want, But I mean you're talking
he was the only coach to ever be the head
coach of the Cowboys in the history of the Star right.

(31:11):
I mean, he was the coach for the majority of
the life so far of a T and T stadium.
Like he's obviously this this dude with you know, these
intense ties to the organization and that that is that
you know, like is Mike McCarthy. I mean again, in
a vacuum, is you go into to Duke U n
C games with guys that can you can you see
that like off the top of your head. Um. I
also think you know, and I don't mean this is

(31:32):
a demerit against mac McCarthy, but Jason Garrett's one of
the most charismatic people I've ever been around. Um, the
people are laughing at you right now. You need to
clarify that it's not necessarily like in the press conference setting,
because people don't. Yeah, press conference, Jason is is a
totally robotic sort of situation. Um. But the best example
I have is the proverb he's told about the I

(31:55):
believe it was the Buddhist in correct me if I'm wrong,
chain that And when he told that story, when at
least when I heard it, I was captivated that the
way he told that story about the bushel of strawberries
and everything, and that he is I could you could
call it like sports keep their eye on the strawberries,
worried about the lions coming this way, the cliff in

(32:16):
front of them, and as they are on the branch,
you've got what was it the ants that were eating that.
We're eating the side of the branch, and it was
fancy eating the branch, the elephants chasing them, I think,
and the tigers at the bottom of the pitter something,
and you just focused on the strawberry. And that's kind
of what I feel like he would get these guys,
you know, into and into that process. It was a

(32:38):
maddening process. And I know a lot of people sit
here and they say, Jane's such a home where it's
been so in defensive. I've been in defense of Jason
because that's what players have told me. That's the knowledge
that I have as it relates to their feelings and
their affinity for that particular coach. And again, could Mike
McCarthy garner that over time? Absolutely, it was funny. There's

(33:03):
a clip bump from Pat McAfee show today. I think
it's important that we dropped that in our podcast. He
was specifically asked about this report. Here's what he had
to say. I feel like you and the Floor have
a much different relationship than you and Big Mike had.
And I don't know if you've got a chance to
watch the games last night. Big Mike is entrenched in
battle right now with everybody. There's quotes coming out from

(33:24):
the locker room that he's not prepared and they don't
trust him, and blah blah blah, all this stuff. Would
it be difficult to go from the Floor to Mike McCarthy,
like the Dallas Cowboys are going from Jason Garrett, who
seems to be the clapper, upbeat all the time to
Mike McCarthy if you had to talk, not that you
wouldn't speak on their situation because you're not in the
locker room, but if you had to go from like
La Florida, McCarthy, do you think I would be a

(33:44):
difficult transition or no. Look, I don't know. I mean,
every every coach has been personality. I think at the
core there's a lot of similarities between uh, you know,
between coaches. I think you never want to to to
hear the inside sources or somebody from the inside, or
somebody going on not not going on the record, these

(34:05):
anonymous quotes or whatever, and you don't ever want any
of those things. Uh, as far as I know what
the facts are today, they're in first place in the division,
first place in any division. But Gros should be a
record as sure as you a home playoff game. We
won a division in at eight seven and one had
to win our last one to get a home playoff game,

(34:28):
so you know that division obviously has been been a
little down this year with I think Philly's with one
four and one and the other two teams are one
in five. Um, you know, but they still have a
lot of games against each other the long season. Obviously,
losing Dak doesn't you know, it doesn't help because he
was off to one of the greatest starts in history
as far as select out of yards he was passing

(34:51):
for in the efficiency. Um, you know, that tragic injury.
But um, Mike is he knows how to deal with
any type of adversity. You know, we went through, uh
the ups and down the time, mostly ups in Green Bay.
But but I know Mike nos has to hear those
difficult situations. But it doesn't matter who you are, whether

(35:13):
it's you know, somebody talking about a player or a coach.
Like you never want those unnamed sources to come out,
you know, that anonymous stuff. I think that's some chicken ship.
Yeah it is rat Hey, don't be a rat. Hey,
Let's keep these things internally. And in the report, James
later said, initially the players thought they would keep it internally,
but now things are starting to seep out. It's like, oh,

(35:34):
very nice of them for six weeks to decide not
to bury their coach publicly. That's a very interesting world
to have. All those anonymous you can get away with
saying whatever whenever. However, nowadays it's wild it's a wild
time and be alive here, it's wild time, be alive
six weeks. I mean, that's just that's just the culture.
We've talked about on the show about overreactions. You know,
six games in UM and you're just one game without

(35:56):
your you know, starting quarterback. So you know, it takes
time to to find your identity in any season. You're
gonna necessarily find it in six games, whether you're six
and oh or you know, one and five or two
and four like they are. So and you've gotta on
some level, you've gotta trust the process and give it
time to work itself out. The last year we had

(36:17):
to trust the process. You know, our first six were
five and one. But it is different. You know, things
are different, Schedules are different, messaging is different, and you
just have to embrace the changes and be comfortable in
things that make you feel unomfortable based on your past
and a lot of look, the other part is half
the locker room, maybe more in the locker room. It's

(36:39):
the first time doing it, so you know, they don't
know anything different. This is just the NFL to them.
They haven't been around other coaches or styles they have
in college, but I think you just have to embrace
the culture and and that's where the leadership on every team,
you know, has the opportunity to to lead from the front.

(37:00):
And you know, I would guess that this week they'll
becoments from the leaders that you know that clearly talk
about the field of the team. Just like for us,
you know, coming back from a difficult loss, you know,
it's it's important for us to messaging two. Like Mike
used to always say, listen to your language. You know,

(37:23):
how are you talking about yourself, your team, your situation,
your culture, because that that's going to talk about the
character of the football team. And I look forward to hearing,
you know, from our guys and and staying positive and
realistic about where we're at and where we're going. So
I think it's clear that this relationship had it had
its ups and downs. And again I would go back

(37:43):
to I appreciate Aaron sentiments there about the fact that
these guys are anonymous sources, but they're also guys that
Mike didn't draft. They're also guys that Mike didn't necessarily
all sign off on, and Mike could sign off on
guys next year. We've seen to the power he's wilded
in the building. I don't know fund name checked myself
right now either I'm curious, and you know we I

(38:06):
there was kind of a reference a little bit or
we're talking a little bit about how this is, you know,
new for a lot of guys. Then you mentioned that
press conference where there's some people in attendance on one
of them was Randall cop and Randall Cob obviously went
off inside with Houston, but as we mentioned um earlier
before the second with r J, Randall Copp was a
big leader in the locker room and he was a
big stabilizing presence for them. I guess I just want

(38:26):
to kick this over and this would be speculation. There's
no way to know this obviously, but I wonder how
different things are. And don't come at me with Sudie Limb.
You needed Ceede Limb. I'm not talking about not drafting
Ceede Limb. I'm just talking about, in another hypothetical world,
what is it that how much better would it be
for Mike McCarthy right now, he's trying to win the
locker room if he had an advocate like Randall Cobb

(38:47):
who was as influential as he was in the locker room.
I think you can argue that ha ha, Clinton Dix
could have been that guy, um, you know, in that
particular respect, and I think that that's an important thing.
And you're right. I think there is no if you
want to call it a Vent diagram, there's no middle, right,
Like there is no Ven diagram for the Mike McCarthy

(39:08):
way and whatever. And so everybody is used to things
being done a certain way, and like all the things
like you know, the boxing gloves and the hammer you know,
to the players of the week and things like that,
Like I think those things are are cheeky or whatever,
but they're easier to buy into if they've been the
way that things are done the entire time. But if

(39:30):
Mike McCarthy comes in and he's, you know, just dropping
these new things, and you're this like fourth fifth year player,
you're making whatever you're making on your second contract with
the team, it's it's kind of like whatever. This just
this feels like another stop on the road. And obviously
there's a lot of challenges that this unique season has presented.
And I don't think that that's done McCarthy any favors,
but I do think, you know, I also thought a

(39:50):
lot about recently how Mike McCarthy took accountability for the
turnover differential, And I thought a lot about, um, how
Jason Garrett handled the Tavon Austin thing I've in the
Minnesota game last year, and so I think that there's
improvement in that respect, and that's hard to see right now. Um,
but but yeah, I mean, it feels like there are
too many fires that can feasibly be put out at
one time. And again, uh, speculation here, but should it

(40:13):
have been a bad sign to us that bringing in
McCarthy wasn't enough to keep Randall Cob here? The fact?
Should we have read anything into that at all that
he went I'm going to Houston now, I'm being serious.
He got paid. I understand, I understand he got paid.
I just I do think it's interesting that it's I've
thought about that. I've wondered how much it may have helped,
especially right now when there's some discontent to have. I'm

(40:35):
just saying that a second child. No, alright, fine, I'm
just I was just but I do think there would
have been some value this year for Mike McCarthy to
be able to have Randall Cobb here as an advocate
who was already respected in the locker room and who
had experience with Mike McCarthy. And I've thought about I
wonder how much that's been a detriment to Mike McCarthy, Like, man,
it really would have been nice to have him here
right now. But then what would you have done with

(40:56):
Cooper Galla? I mean, does that put Cedric Wilson out?
I mean you're not gonna well, you would have just
ended up picking Caleb and Chason probably if you would
have resigned Cobb, And if we had to go back
and redo that, I would say, ceedee. Lamb is like, sure,
you've actually got one. I'm not saying it's anything that
they should have done, like should have gotten Cobb instead

(41:17):
of Lamb. I just think it's interesting. I wonder if
McCarthy internally thinks it'd be nice to win this locker
room of right now if I had him as an
advocate here now. See, that is a good point. I
think you could get a guy that's seen McCarthy's process
and got it to to buy into it. I feel like
he's going to have to do something with this defense though,
with Mike Nolan, with uh Tom Seula. It feels like

(41:40):
blind loyalty right now, and I think that's an area
that has to get addressed. And like I said, I'd
reported this a couple of weeks ago. People that have
worked with and played with Mike Nolan in the past,
great guy, just not sure if he should be defensive coordinator.
M sounds like the all Cowboys head coach and we

(42:02):
and we remember we we've gone through his record as
a defensive coordinator. Well, the whole place will burn down
if the Redskins or sorry, the Washington football team is
able to continue that thirty four point streak of the
Cowboys next week. So I guess we'll sit by and
wait for that. R J. O cho is managing editor
for Blogging the Boys dot Com. You can follow him

(42:22):
on Twitter at r J o Choa and listen to
all the podcasts over there are j Thanks appreciate it, man. Thanks.
We are as big a fan of yours r J.
As Good morning football. And I found that word, Jane
is I'm not I'm I'm a huge fan. It will
get you on next time where I won't talk so
much and take up so much of the time. How's
that I appreciate it, Jane, I also appreciate the content

(42:43):
you gave us on Tuesday. UM. I hope that we
have some more fun things to talk about. But you
guys are killing the podcast game. I like the new
cover art, if I'm being honest, So thank you, thank you.
Joining us now is Mike McCartney. He is an agent
for Priority Sports and he also represents Sean Leek I
was linebacker Shawn Lee, as well as co represents Cowboys

(43:05):
offensive tackle Lyle Collins. You can follow him on Twitter
at Mike McCartney seven. Mike, how you doing. I'm doing
great today. How you guys doing? I'm probably doing better. Well.
I have to get your thoughts on this report that
I put out today. How do you feel about the
locker room losing? Uh? Faith in the job that you're

(43:28):
doing down there? So I went in the character when
somebody first brought that to me and said, listen, I've
always taught high and tight running backs have to carry
the ball high and tight. After the two fumbles, anyway,
hey T T. T. Barber had to learn that. He
had to learn finger on the ball, and yeah, all
that right, right, somebody else might need to learn that today. Yeah, No,

(43:53):
it's um. You know, those are always uh explosive reports,
right and when you have it very city is when
things like that come out. And you know, Dallas is
having some adversity right now, and it's probably not the
only place in the NFL that's dealing with these kind
of things. So those are tough issues for coaches and
players to deal with. Now. I was hoping you were

(44:15):
gonna have a little fun with me there and Mike,
because the reason why we brought you on this show
mostly is because you are the greatest bit that's going
on on Twitter these days during the games. There are
so few highlights amongst Cowboys Twitter as it relates to
the Cowboys and how the season is going, and you
are hearing all of the collective anks because so many

(44:35):
fans keep reaching out to you as if you are
head coach Mike McCarthy. There's an important distinction. Your name
is Mike McCartney. So have you enjoyed understanding what it's
like to be a head coach of a football team,
particularly the one that has a star on the helmet? Well? Yeah,
I mean, you know it's funny. My fantasy team I
call it's called Mike McCarthy for three hours a week,

(44:58):
and I need to change that because I'm getting destroyed
today too. Um it started in Green Bay when Mike
was there, and but it's certainly picked up steam in Dallas.
And you know, you have a decision to make. Am
I gonna get mad at fans? Am I gonna you know, respond?
And kind I'm just figured let's just have a little
fun and little levity. You know, there's Twitter is a

(45:18):
tough place to be on game day. You know, my
favorite one of the bits on the evening talk shows
is that read the mean tweets? Do you have a
few that you could just read for us that happens
to read the game yesterday? I mean, I I don't
have my Twitter. I guess in front of me. I
have so many responses. Um literally minutes before you called though,

(45:42):
if I could find this, um uh, I'm still getting killed.
Like I said, I'm gonna see if I can't personal?
How personal? Is it? Is it just like man, you suck?
Or is it like you know? Because I know Travis
Frederick recently, he's been retired for a little bit now.
But I guess when Tristan Hill had that controversy of

(46:02):
rolling up on I think it was Chris Carson in Seattle.
Then there was a lot of people saying that was
a dirty play, and I guess Seahawks fans not knowing
who it was, just we're googling who Dallas Cowboys number
seventy two and they were getting Travis Frederick back. And
so Travis Frederick said in an interview recently that he
was getting like I hope your children die, and like
people just like hurl this out of like that was
not me. I've been retired for a year now. Wrong

(46:23):
side of the ball. Does it get really nasty or
is it just general like, man, you suck, you should
be fired. Oh no, it gets nasty. Somebody said to
fire my fat you know what last night, so which
I love that using to back. Come on, man, at
least spell it right. P h A tun um. Shouldn't
you be coaching and not tweeting just asking rights back?

(46:44):
I'm very adept doing two things at once, Jim. And
then my favorite from today is, hey, coach, seems like
you're losing control down their players calling you out. You respond,
you got bad info, Charles. I'm actually up in my
office and none of my players have called me out today,
get your facts, tra So if you too don't have

(47:08):
Mike McCarthy's handle and just want to get your angst out,
Mike is seemingly taking it for you. At Mike McCartney
seven right right, spell it right? Uh. I had a
good friend that you know well, Jane from NFL Network
just texts me. He says, I think you need to
change your your picture to a picture of you and Mike.
He said that would really throw Yes. Yet now have

(47:28):
you have you gotten a chance to uh talk with
him and share with him, like, man, you gotta like
you gotta pick it up, because I my mental health
can't take this on Twitter much longer. I have not
since he got to Dallas. But a few years ago
a j Hawk's wife threw him a surprise retirement party
in Columbus, Ohio, and Mike showed up as the coach
of the packers. So I went up to him, and

(47:49):
I have known Mike for years, and I said, hey,
I don't know if you know this, but a lot
of people think I'm you on Twitter. He kind of
looked at me like, what are you talking about? So
I didn't really pursue it at the time. And again
in Green Bay it was kind of bad. It's nothing
like Dallas. Yeah, Mike doesn't strike me as a guy

(48:10):
that sits in his bedroom at night before he goes
to bed and peruses what is being said about him
on Twitter. He just doesn't strike me as one of
those coaches that would even care to go there, or
for that matter, even have a ghost handle. We do
know that there, you know, Kevin Duran of course had
his ghost account, but Mike McCarthy doesn't seem like he

(48:32):
careth And I will say, and I like, generally nobody's
ever wanted to like say who or where, But I
you know, I have heard from several folks that they'll say,
oh yeah, like most like assistant coaches or scouts or
other people around the NFL, they do have like accounts
that they browse from that are not there, And so
I know that's a common thing. But yeah, I don't
know that Mike McCarthy is necessarily a part of that.

(48:53):
I don't know that he's got a ghost account that
he would search from. But you know, with all that
the talk of you know, Haines Report and and things
like that, and things seemingly uh looking rough for Dallas
in terms of culture and things like that. How much
do you think your client to gout, you know, el
Shan Lee. How much do you think that that team
right now is just missing not necessarily just even his

(49:14):
play on the field, but his football like you, and
and his leadership ability to kind of cultivate, uh, you know,
a a stronger bond amongst those players right now. Yeah,
I'm sure they're missing Sean a lot. You know, Sean
brings unbelievable experience. His ability to watch tape and and
and see things before they happen on a football field,

(49:35):
you know, goes a long way. But just the leadership
and and pushing guys, I think a lot of times
with the new staff getting on the same page can
be difficult at times, and I think we're seeing that
a little bit with the defense and having a veteran
like Sean, a glue guy right in the middle there
would be really beneficial, I would think. Let me ask
you this because unfortunately the knock on Sean for years

(49:56):
has but he can't stay healthy and you know him
incredibly well. One of the more uh visual things I
think that stood out for me was all or Nothing.
You see him on New Year's Eve going through the
tape after GET another disappointing season. One of my favorite
stories was a few years ago. He and his wife
will stay in Santa Barbara during the off season, but

(50:18):
he flies all the way home, which is it's just
forty five minutes from Oxtar training camp, flies all the
way home to board the Cowboys plane and fly back
with his teammates. A lot of players will just meet
you in California. What other examples of Sean are there
that maybe the fans don't see an? Unfortunately, that narrative
of him not being able to stay healthy is what

(50:40):
permeates as it relates to Sean. I think Sean takes
great interest in his teammates. A lot of times we'll
talk about a player that's either struggling or doing some
great things, and I'll often wonder, well, you know, when
I do this with a lot of my players, do
they even know if it's especially if it's a guy
on the other side of the ball. Sean always has

(51:02):
a strong opinion. He's he seemingly has always talked to
a player. I made a comment about the receiver room,
and it just seems like it's a really good room,
and you know, he said to me, Mike, We've got
a great receiver room. And he goes into depth about
how each player and what the strengths are personality wise,
football wise, and he's very, very in tune. And I think,

(51:23):
you know, he genuinely cares about his teammates. That's why
he would show up and travel with them, right, And
so we're never gonna know all the little things he's
doing off the field because he's not gonna I mean,
Sean has done so many things for other people off
the field and I find out a year or two
later and I'm like, dude, can't we like share that?
And he's just he's not that kind of guy. He's

(51:44):
a one on one guy that genuinely cares about guys
in that locker room, wherever they are, whether they're starters, backups,
whether their offense defense, it doesn't matter. And I think
that's special. It's so funny you say that because I
remember when Layton Vanders came here as a rookie, and
of course Sean got hurt that year and there was
the transition. I wanted to do this sit down piece
with him where the student becomes the teacher and I

(52:07):
think Sean felt uncomfortable about it because the spotlight was
going to be on him, and he was so focused
on making sure that that Laighton was developing and that
he wasn't hindering that. And then of course we saw
last year him step into that role and and how
much they needed him. Uh, They're on defense and being
a captain and being a leader, and then you you
see this year and it's it's hard watching him at practice, Mike,

(52:30):
honestly seeing him back there on the resistance courts because
you know that this team could certainly use him. Because
to your point, I actually heard this amazing story about
Sean Lee as it related to one of his teammates
a few years back. I'm not at liberty to share that,
but I said to this particular player, I said, I
cannot wait, team come on a podcast with me one
day and share that story because it's so interesting and

(52:54):
it just speaks to how much he cares about his
teammates that I think there's gonna be a lot of
those story ice when he announced his retirement at some
point someday that that are going to come out about
Sean Lee that a lot of us have never heard
about because he doesn't want people to know about them.
He's a very private person. Yeah, he's private and he
and just like you said, he'd rather have the spotlight

(53:16):
being his team, his teammate. You know. So I went
to his wedding a few years ago, and and you know,
through the years, I've been to a lot of player
weddings and sometimes maybe they don't invite a lot of teammates.
Sometimes maybe they do and guys don't show. Sean had
a lot of teammates there. He had a lot of
teammates from Penn State, and he had a lot of
teammates from the Cowboys, and you know, the biggest names
on the team were there. That says something when they

(53:39):
when a guy is willing to, you know, take an
afternoon off and go see a teammate of his getting married,
they don't always do that. So, yeah, there's he's a
special guy. I love Sean. I love talking to him.
I hate the fact that he's missed so many games
from injury. I know it bothers him because he wants
to be out there helping his team win. And I
still think though, when he's healthy, he's something to him.

(54:01):
You know, he ended strong last year, and we just
got to get him through this. Um, you know this
period now in the next couple of weeks, and and
you know, as I keep saying, if you're gonna miss
any time, let's miss the first part of the season.
And hopefully there's a stretch run. And in the NFC,
I think they still call it the east um as
opposed to the least. UM. There's a chance here. So

(54:21):
he's got a chance, you know, he's got his opportunity
to make his market, his team. There was a lot
of speculation I think from people, not not that necessarily
any of it was founded. It was just I think
a lot of people were running. You know, I wonder
if it's getting close to time for Sean Lee to
hang things up. And he did come back. He's obviously
dealt with this injury. UM, how much to your knowledge

(54:42):
and to what you can share, how much of a
question do you think that was for him this offseason?
Was do I come back and play some more? Or
was he teetering at all? Or do you think he
was always just no, I'm ready, I'm coming back for
that's not even in my head yet. I think he
handled it perfectly. We talked when the season ended, and
you know, it's really easy to make emotional decisions when
you're physically beat up, when you're mentally beat up. And

(55:03):
there's not an NFL player come early January that's not
physically and mentally beat up. I don't care if you
win or lose. It's a grind of a season. So
when we talked, he said, I'm gonna I'm gonna travel
with my wife and I'm not gonna think about football
and I'll make my decision when I got back. And
that's absolutely the right way to do it. And I
think when he was on his trip, you know, at

(55:26):
one point he was like, there's no way I'm not
playing football again. I love this game too much. And
you know, it's gonna be interesting to see what happens
this next offseason. You know, if he's healthy, hasn't happened
a lot. But when he's healthy, he still plays at
a high level. And he's so smart. I think the Cowboys,
with all their struggles on defense, can I'm hoping they

(55:46):
really find a role for him where you know, his intelligence,
his ability to read defense or offenses and anticipate what's
going on before it happens. You know, there's a spot
for him to showcase all that and his loyalty. I
think as thing that's that stood out, there was an
an SC team that intimated to me a few years back,
when Layton was obviously shining here in Dallas that if

(56:09):
he ever decided that he was done with Dallas or
Dallas side of part ways, they were going to come
after him. And I remember as that information sort of
got out, the Cowboys immediately we're able to work something
out with him, and as it was described to us,
and what I respect the most about you, Mike, is like,
you're very protective of your clients. So I'm not going

(56:31):
to ask you to tell it, to tell us what
that contract was, but it is my understanding that he
gave them a hometown discount obviously to stay in Dallas,
and it sort of speaks for his love for this team. Yeah,
it's you know, as an agent, what's most fun is
when you can go to free agency and you can
have several teams, you know, after your player in and

(56:51):
see what their real value is, not the value you
decide upon before the market before you can get to
the market. So um, you know, in Seawn's case, I
just knew it would be. It was just gonna be
really difficult for him to leave Dallas. He's you know,
he's got a special relationship in that locker room. I
think he's got a special affinity for the Jones family.

(57:12):
You know, he's Dallas Cowboys through and through. And I
think you know, even though you you go to free
agency and there are some teams that are attractive, at
the same point, you you can't help but think, Okay,
when I'm forty fifty sixty years old, to be able
to say I've played my whole career at the Dallas Cowboys,
there there's not a whole lot of guys that played

(57:33):
at his level that can say that. I think that's
gonna be really meaningful for him for years to come.
Do you think that whenever it is he does decide
to make that call to hang it up, um, you
talk about his love for the game and his high
i Q and things like that, do you think it's
a natural transition for him to just say, Hey, maybe
I want to go explore coaching or do you think
when he decides to retire, he's you know, gonna take

(57:54):
some time away or maybe just not even get back
into football post retirement. What what what do you think his
approach will be when he's fine only done playing. Yeah,
we've talked about that. I he um, he has to coach, right,
I mean, he's just too smart, He's got he's already
kind of coaching. Yeah. And so you know what level
is it? Is it high school or the other you
know two professional levels, college and pro football. I don't know.

(58:16):
I personally think, you know, a Shawn Lee at the
high school level not only making a difference in the
players on the field, but off the field. He's got
so much to offer, you know, for our youth, our seven, sixteen,
seventeen eight year old kids, to be able to spend
a couple of years with Sean, not only is he
going to prepare and potentially a play in college, he's

(58:38):
going to prepare him for life. I have a brother
that coaches high school football. You know, it's a it's
a huge job, I think, a really important job. But
I could see Sean completely flourishing. One of my clients,
Josh McCown, has been doing that a little bit off
and on the last couple of years, and and he
loves making a difference in those kids lives and I
think Sean will be exactly the same. We see guys

(58:59):
like John hitting up Bobby who really appreciate high school
coaching for that same reason, saying that they really want
to buy in to these younger guys and make a
difference for them. So without getting in again to specifics,
because I know that that is something you're very guarded with.
Can we expect to see Shaun Lee at some point
this season? How at least has his recovery been going. Yeah,

(59:23):
I think Shawn's progressing well. And you know, he's he's
got a Once they start his practice window, he gets
three weeks to get ready, um in practice and hoping
that sooner than later. But there have been no setbacks. Um,
I think he's you know, the pain is is subside
and so he's he's in a good place and uh,

(59:45):
you know, hopefully it's just you know a matter of
time here. But you know, my hope is when we
get to November, you know we're going to see the
full Shawn Lee incent and making plays and anticipating things
and beating offensive lineman to the play. You know, it's
what he's been doing for years, you know, Jane, the
way you can really tell that he's Mike McCartney and
not Mike McCarthy is because um, he actually gave an

(01:00:07):
answer about how a player is progressing back from an injury.
So you know that's that's how that right there. If
you had any question, that's how you know he's not
Mike McCarthy. Yes, so don't rip me on Twitter. Well, Mike,
I didn't want to take too much of your time today.
I just as I was glancing on the Twitter time
let again last night, I found you to be get
one of the small bright spots as it related to

(01:00:30):
this team and the feedback that it's come with it lately.
I didn't want to take up too much of your
time today. Thank you for popping on our show, and
again fans, you can have fun with him at Mike McCartney,
not McCarthy. Steven. Well, thanks guys, been great visiting with you.
Have a great day enjoyed Dallas on the Tuesday after
momaving football all right, Well, thank you so much to

(01:00:51):
our j O Choa and Mike McCartney for joining us today.
UH lots out there to discuss right now with Jane's report,
and UH a lot more for us to discuss later
this week, we'll be talking to JP Finley about this
game coming up with the Redskins. Man, I gotta stop that,
I keep saying Redskins the Washington football team with w
f T. We'll talk to JP Finley later this week

(01:01:13):
from NBC Sports Washington. He's always got a good beat
on things, and uh, we'll look to sort this out
a little bit more and hopefully have some more answers
for you by Friday. Until then, we'll talk to you
next time.