Lots to Say: NFL Free Agency and 'What Were They Like?'

Bobby Bones asks Matt Cassel about being a scout or GM during NFL Free Agency.  Which of the moves has been game changing or means nothing?  From Josh Allen getting paid to the Rams acquiring Davante Adams.  Where is Aaron Rodgers going to end up?  Matt explains how these moves will help direct teams in the Draft.  Bobby is excited to see how all the QB moves play out.  

'What were they like?' has Bobby and Matt ask about their experiences with Lionel Richie, Tom Brady, and Brett Favre.  'Big Take or Big Fake' on Daniel Jones being a Pro Bowl QB and Dak Prescott winning a Super Bowl.   Matt reveals the Top 3 WRs that he passed to in the NFL and how these players are dealing with changing teams and homes for their families.  Wrapping up, Matt explains more QB terms and defense coverages.

Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel is part of the NFL Podcast Network 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is
a production of the NFL and iHeart podcasts.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
We got loss to say, we got lost to save
what a begger? And we hope you stay because we
got lost to say, Yeah, we got lost to say.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Now here's Bobby that what's up, everybuddy? I think we
should start by just talking about all of the moves
or lack of moves, but a lot of money being spent.
Have you ever thought about Matt getting into like like
general managing personnel. Has that ever been something you wanted
to do?

Speaker 4 (00:47):
It would be it would be fun.

Speaker 5 (00:48):
I don't think I would want to get into the
player personnel side, just because those guys grind and they're
always traveling doing all that stuff. But actually being in
the front office and working different types of deals that
would be fun. The landscape changed so dramatically since when
I came in. I mean you think about even two
years ago, salary caps at thirty four. It's at like
two seventy five now, So you're just you can sit

(01:09):
there and be played with money that's really the owner's money,
but at the same time go out get the guys
that you want. But it's going to the highest bidder.

Speaker 6 (01:17):
You think you'd be a good scout probably, But I'd.

Speaker 5 (01:19):
Also I'm one of those guys that's very skeptical. So
I'd sit there and I'd probably over evaluate somebody and
find more weaknesses than strengths, and then they'd be like, dude,
this guy's awesome.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
I was like, sorry about that.

Speaker 5 (01:30):
I just I thought maybe he'd be he'd be a
little bit upset that he uh, he stumbled out of
his break or something.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
I don't know. I'd just be you know, a little
probably too too critical.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
I want to go over and use your critical skills here,
and let's talk about some of the moves. And even
if the player's not moving some of the moves, the
teams have made to spend money on some of these players.
So I will present what the situation is, and you
tell me if you think it is a game changer or.

Speaker 6 (01:59):
If it's just you know, stay in the course.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
The bills extend Josh Allen six years, three hundred and
thirty million dollars with two hundred and fifty million guaranteed.

Speaker 4 (02:07):
Wow, it's good time to play quarterback in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (02:11):
I think this was just staying the course, obviously goes
out wins the MVP. We talked about it the entire
year about the talent that surrounded him probably wasn't comparable
to other teams, but to go out and have the
year that he did proves that he's that guy. And
now he's the highest paid quarterback in the league, and
deservedly so.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yeah, and I think we've learned too that if you
sign your big players earlier, which is this is an
extension more than it is his contract was up, that
even if it is a monster deal, when it comes
back around when his deal would have been up, they
would have it would have cost them a lot more
than if they were.

Speaker 6 (02:47):
To do it now.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
So as much as this is the it's the biggest
guaranteed contract of all time with two fifty, although the
whole thing is not guaranteed, but the two fifty is
more than when the Browns made their knucklehead full guaranteed
contract to Deshaun Watson. But what's going to happen is
in six years you're gonna go, oh, yeah, that was
kind of a deal in comparison to what you know

(03:09):
teams are paying now.

Speaker 6 (03:11):
So yeah, they had to do it. You didn't want
to lose your guy.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
If you get a quarterback, now, the last thing you
want to do is let him go, especially if he's
like a in the top third of quarterbacks. So yeah,
I'm with you, but it was a move that needed
to be made. Let's go to the Rams signing Davante Adams.
The deals two years, forty six million dollars, twenty six
million guaranteed.

Speaker 5 (03:31):
I like it to bring in a guy like Davante Adams.
He can still play, there's no doubt about that. Put
him in Sean McVay with a veteran quarterback with Matthew Stafford,
which they.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
Redid his deal as well.

Speaker 5 (03:41):
Now you've got a true guy on the outside and
an alpha alpha male that he's going to go out
and produce. And I think that there's question marks about
Davante personality wise. From the Raiders you saw him on.
What was the It wasn't the hard knocks, it was
the wide receiver. Yeah, wide receiver, And you had some
questions there going up man. I mean, from a personality standpoint,

(04:02):
he ruffles the feathers a little bit, but at the
same time, he's still a hell of a player and
will add a tremendous amount of value for that team
in that offensive unit.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
And I think Cup is as good as gone. You know,
they even did the ah we loved La. We hate
to go, but it looks like we're gonna have to go.
But with Devanta Adams and Pooka and Stafford, you know,
is this the time of just putting it all on
your offense, like all your money, just going full offense
and just hoping your defense can keep you in games.

Speaker 5 (04:32):
Well that's the thing about the Rams too, when you
look at what they've done. They've drafted really well, particularly
on the defensive side of the ball. They've got a
ton of value on that side. So they're young, they're aggressive.
You saw them in the playoffs. They just got better
and better as the year went on. Now they sustained
a lot of injuries on the offensive side the ball.
But if you surround Matthew Stafford as talented as he is,
with a true grouping of wide receivers on the outside,

(04:56):
I mean this team will compete for championships because that's
the type of caliber I believe matt Stafford is. So
protect him up front and also put talent around him
on the out outside. I think that they have a
great recipe for success.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
The Steelers traded for DK Metcalf and so the Seahawks
got a twenty twenty five second round pick and a
late round pickswap for this upcoming draft. The Steelers get
DK Metcalf and so with that though, so they have
DK and now they have George Pickens. George Pickens, what
do you think about that trade for the second round pick.

Speaker 4 (05:27):
I think it's awesome.

Speaker 5 (05:28):
Dk Metcalf is an absolute beast and he produces, he's consistent,
he's usually healthy, so he's a true number one wide receiver.
Then you have George Pickens on the other side. I
mean you've got two potentially number one guys on the outside.
There puts you in a really good position at a
playmaking standpoint for the Steelers.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
I think this is great trade.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
I like at Pittsburgh though, and it's like, who's going
to throw the ball to those guys? You know, this
morning it was Rogers to Pittsburgh, after it was Rogers
to the Giants, and both of our predictions, I was
mine was a giant Jorse with Pittsburgh. So I mean,
if they get Aaron Rodgers in that is that offense
is going to be good.

Speaker 5 (06:08):
They're gonna be really good, and that might be the
play is saying, hey, look we just went out and
got DK Metcalf. Now you've got George Pickens DK Metcalf.
Is it Pat Fryarmouth as their tied end run down
the middle? So you've got these three components, and that's
attractive to any quarterback because if you're Aaron Rodgers, you're
looking about where can I go in and have success?

(06:28):
Where do they have people around me that can help
me be the player that I need to be. Same
thing when Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay at the
end of his career, he went there because of the
talent on that roster, particularly on the offensive to side.
So it becomes more attractive to a quarterback like Aaron
Rodgers when you go out and you spend the money
on another number one wide receiver, I think.

Speaker 4 (06:48):
That they could be really good.

Speaker 5 (06:50):
But they definitely don't know who's going to be quarterback,
but they put themselves in a position at least to
make a play and make it attractive place to come.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Miles Garrett was extended by the Browns, and this was
a soap opera because Miles Garrett put an ad in
the paper in Cleveland was like, Cleveland, I love you.
I don't want to leave the city, but I feel
like the team isn't really doing blah blah blah. And
then he goes and he's doing the press tour and
he kind of lost some of that love by the
city and he's like, I'm not playing. They're like, we're
not trading you. And then next thing you know, it's Boom.
Highest paid person that's not a quarterback ever, four years,

(07:20):
one hundred and sixty million with one twenty three guaranteed.

Speaker 6 (07:23):
Holy craft thoughts, m.

Speaker 5 (07:26):
Dude, he's an absolute stud. I never thought Cleveland was
going to ever let him walk out of the door.
Why would you trade your number one player on your team,
one of the most dynamic defensive end, if not the
most dynamic defensive end, just because of his size, his speed,
his versatility. They move him around and so well played
by him. I mean, let's let's throw a temper tantrum

(07:46):
for a little bit, see what happens, and then gets
rewarded with one hundred and sixty million dollars deal. I mean,
it's it's not exactly how you write it. Up, but
at the end of the day, he got what he wanted.
And now I guarantee he really loves the city of Cleveland.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
So much more.

Speaker 3 (07:59):
I feel, honestly, like, in my heart, I feel like
he not so much wanted to leave Cleveland, but he
wanted to play for a team and an organization that
would give him a chance to win a championship because
he is so elited about thirty years old and so
he's got six seven real prime years left in him.
But a wise man named Teddy Biassi WWF once said

(08:20):
everybody's got a price. I don't feel like he was
really holding out for more money or saying, hey, I'm
not gonna play.

Speaker 6 (08:27):
I really feel like he.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
Wanted to leave, but there is a point, There is
a threshold, and I guess that threshold is one hundred
and sixty million, where you're like, you know what, I
have changed my mind.

Speaker 5 (08:35):
I have changed guess what I'll be in there in
the gym tomorrow. I love Cleveland. I'm gonna do a
lot of stuff around the city and just yeah, my
mind's totally changed.

Speaker 4 (08:46):
Now. It's amazing what money can do.

Speaker 6 (08:48):
The Ravens and Ronnie Stanley.

Speaker 4 (08:53):
Great deal.

Speaker 6 (08:54):
Three year, sixty million bucks. He's awesome.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
Like your point.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
Yeah, if you're Derek Henry, if you're Lamar Jackson, that's
just a sigh of relief, right.

Speaker 4 (09:02):
One hundred percent.

Speaker 5 (09:03):
Because the most important guy on your offensive line is
always your left tackle.

Speaker 4 (09:07):
He's your bookend.

Speaker 5 (09:08):
He's usually matched up against the best pass rusher that
every other team has. So if you have somebody there
that you trust that can cover your blind side and
at the same time be a dominant force, that's just
a headache that you don't have to worry about. So
that's why they're so valuable that left tackle position is
because if you have a guy there, that really stabilizes
your offensive line because interior wise, you can usually go

(09:31):
out and get guys that are good enough to hold
up on the inside, but those guys that are special
on the outside, like Ronnie Stanley, you want to keep
them around for as long as possible.

Speaker 6 (09:41):
Raiders trade for a quarterback Geno Smith.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Seahawks got a twenty twenty five third round pick Geno
back with Pete Carroll, so that's kind of cool. I
do feel like they're drafting Gino and they're probably also
if I'm just guessing, going to draft Shador at six
if he's there, so they're also going to get a
young quarterback.

Speaker 6 (09:59):
But Geno Smith going to the Raiders, thoughts.

Speaker 4 (10:01):
I love it. I mean, I know Pete Carroll has
a ton of respect.

Speaker 5 (10:04):
He was there when Gino resurrected his careers just a
few years ago when they let go of Russell Wilson.
But now he's got a bona fide number one quarterback
coming in that he's familiar with. He can also help
set the tone for culture and the personality of Pete
Carroll and what's to be expected.

Speaker 4 (10:21):
He's a true leader.

Speaker 5 (10:22):
He's somebody that's well respected from what he's been through
in his career, but also how he's performed when he
got his opportunity. So I think it's a home run
for the I mean Oakland Las Vegas Raiders and where
they're going.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
I know, I always want to do with the Chargers,
I know, and I do with the Chargers till San
Diega Ago. Yeah, same thing all the time the Bears
trading for Tuny from the Chiefs.

Speaker 6 (10:44):
I was a bit surprised.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
I mean, especially with the Chiefs, I won't say offensive
line woes because they had some injuries, but they got
a fourth round pick for him.

Speaker 6 (10:53):
What are your thoughts on that.

Speaker 4 (10:54):
I was not expecting that either.

Speaker 5 (10:55):
I mean, Touny was their most valuable offensive lineman last year.
Not only did he play guard, he moved out and
played left tackle as well when they had the injuries
and all the stuff going on. So he was a
guy that was a staple guy on that offensive line.

Speaker 4 (11:12):
But it was interesting that they traded him away for
a fourth round pick. It might have been.

Speaker 5 (11:15):
Because the salary cap issues or whatever they deemed was
the reasoning behind it. But Chicago picks up a home
run again for them because they want to protect Caleb
Williams moving forward and to solidify that offensive line who
struggled last year for Chicago. Bringing a guy like Tony
again veteran presidence, good locker room guy, and also has
played at a really high level throughout his career, that's

(11:39):
a great pickup for Chicago.

Speaker 3 (11:40):
I guess, if I'm putting on my speculator eyeball on, it's
obviously resigning Trace Smith at the priority with Kansas City
and then they're going to have to just draft a
couple offensive linemen. But that is one thing Kansas City
has been able to do really well with Andy Reid
and that organization there is draft well and have guys
you don't have to pay a lot too because they're

(12:01):
in their rookie deals, while also having your guys that
are making the big money and consistently moving them when
it's time for some of those guys to get paid,
and then redraft well again, because that's the key to
keeping your organization successful, right, is drafting well year after year.

Speaker 5 (12:18):
One hundred percent, because you only have so many draft picks,
and if you hit on first round, second round is
a little bit different because those guys are usually bona
fide studs, right, But then you get into the third
and fourth round and continue to draft well and get
guys that come in and develop at such a rate
the way that they have in the history of success
that they've had with drafting guys like that, that's what

(12:41):
really stabilizes your organization for the long haul, and that's
what they've been able to do.

Speaker 4 (12:47):
Now.

Speaker 5 (12:47):
It's always a question mark if you don't go out
and take care of that offensive line, especially when you
have Patrick Mahomes back there, then there'll be a lot
of questions to be answered.

Speaker 4 (12:55):
There's no doubt about that.

Speaker 5 (12:57):
But due to their recent history and throughout their regime
under Andy Reid, they've done a remarkable job and they're
hoping to hit success with those draft picks again.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
All right, So I'm recording this after Matt and I
have already split up.

Speaker 6 (13:10):
Matt and I, we're working.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
From different locations, and a lot of news broke as
far as free agents, so I wanted to make sure
we got them all clear here. Not that you can't
see them online, let's be honest, but we don't want
you guys to think, well, I can't believe they missed
Justin Fields.

Speaker 6 (13:25):
So okay, we'll go first.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
The Jets signed quarterback Justin Fields to a two year,
forty million dollar deal, And what sucks for me is
I had this massive Steelers championship belt that's signed by
Justin Fields.

Speaker 6 (13:39):
Now, what the crap am I supposed to do with that?

Speaker 3 (13:42):
The big news was the Seahawks sign Sam Darnold to
a three year, one hundred million dollar deal. I think
everybody and their cousin and their mama and their mailman
figured that was going to happen. Once Gino Smith went
from Seattle down to the Raiders, and so they had
money and they had space, and they.

Speaker 6 (14:03):
Wanted a quarterback. But now who are going to throw too?

Speaker 5 (14:06):
Right?

Speaker 3 (14:06):
Because Dk Metcalf is gone, so that I'd be interesting
to watch. But the Sam Donald, I won't even call
it saga like it's exciting. I'm super pumped for him.
I never even met him. I know people who know
him say he's a great young dude. So rooting for
Sam donaldare the forty nine ers released Kyle uch Check
after eight seasons kind of blows my mind a little bit,

(14:27):
not because I'm in the Kyle Yuchik fan club, but
because he seemed like such a forty nine er, like
such a gritty player that would do it all, but
it all came down to dollars. I actually presented with
Kyle Uchcheck at the NFL Honors this year on Fox,
so I got a chance to know him, I mean
a little bit. We spent a couple hours together. I
love that dude. And I asked him, Hey, will you

(14:47):
be released after eight seasons? And he said, why are
you asking me this? I have no idea And then
I said, I don't know. I didn't even ask him that.
Najee Harris signs a one year deal with the Chargers
that with incentives, can be up to nine zero point
twenty five million dollars.

Speaker 6 (15:03):
I actually really like this signing.

Speaker 3 (15:06):
Whenever Matt and I were talking about underrated free agents
a couple of weeks ago, I put Naji Harris there.
I think Naja Harris still has some tread on the tires.
The Cowboys, hey, they signed a running back.

Speaker 6 (15:17):
What do you know? What do you freaking know?

Speaker 3 (15:20):
I mean he is a run He does run with
the ball, so he is a running back by Javonte
Williams from the Broncos one year, three million dollar deal.
I don't know there's going to be setting any rushing records,
but they do need people that actually know how to
put the point of their finger over the ball as
they run through the line.

Speaker 6 (15:38):
So how about them Cowboys.

Speaker 3 (15:41):
The Saints re signed Chase Young to a three year
deal up to fifty seven million bucks. I do like that,
and also they got off for a pretty good price.
The Vikings signed by a Murphy cornerback three year, sixty
six million dollars, and the Broncos signed former forty nine
ers defensive players Dre Greenlaw, who I love Dre Greenlaw,
but I'm a big Arkansas guy, and safety talanoa hufanga.

(16:04):
So the Bronco looking to add defensively to what was
already a better defense, but an offense where they finally
have a quarterback they trust. So Denver just continues to
get better.

Speaker 6 (16:18):
I did see and I give you one other thing here, because.

Speaker 3 (16:21):
There are starting to be some rumors about some of
these other backup quarterbacks and where they're going to land.

Speaker 6 (16:27):
But Zach Wilson to the Dolphins. How about that?

Speaker 3 (16:35):
Zach Wilson gets a reported one year deal with the
Miami Dolphins. He will be to his backup, which means
he'll play I don't know nine games, but Zach Wilson
will be the backup one year, six million dollar deal.
You gotta wonder if the Jets did to Zach Wilson
what the Jets did to Sam Darnold, what the Jets
did to We can continue to do this with like

(16:56):
eight different quarterbacks. But I do like to see quarterbacks
who are in a bad situation get a chance. And
maybe with the Dolphins it might be annuals he will
be able to develop a bit and get another shout
at a starting job somewhere. So okay, that was me
breaking in I'm sure many other things we've broken since then.

Speaker 6 (17:16):
I just didn't want to forget those.

Speaker 7 (17:17):
Thank you for listening to lots to say.

Speaker 3 (17:35):
We're gonna be a secondment called what were they Like?
Where I'm gonna ask you about somebody, Matt that I
think you had a relationship in some way. I don't
know any stories about it, and you just tell me
what were they like? And then you do the same
to me. I'll go first, Dustin colqu with the punter
like I've heard some pretty interesting stories about him in general,
like what kind of guy was he?

Speaker 4 (17:54):
Oh? He was hilarious? Did he was? He was an
out of the box thinker, prankster.

Speaker 5 (17:59):
I remember he was always that guy that in the
locker room and all that was pulling pranks, having fun.
When the coaches would come and do bedcheck, he put
on this gold sequence like thong and lay down on
the bed like this as they're walking in and.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
You're like, what are you doing right now?

Speaker 5 (18:16):
But the all time story that I remember, so Ryan
suck Up, our other kicker, was telling me this story.
There's a guy by the name of Anthony Sherman and
he had a brand new, souped up truck, and so
Dustin hijacked his I don't know Twitter or whatever and
basically said he was donating it to charity. So Anthony

(18:39):
Sherman had no idea that this was happening. So all
of a sudden it started to blow up on Twitter
and everything, like he's on Pat McAfee had him on
like this is amazing, and Anthony Sherman had no idea
that he had done this. But now he's backed into
a corner like what am I supposed to do? So
he ends up raffling it off, gives his truck away,

(18:59):
his brand new truck that he had souped up like
wheels everything else. Gives his truck away because us and
set this thing in motion as a joke.

Speaker 4 (19:07):
But it caught so much fire and so much attention.
He was on the news, he was on Pat McAfee.
He's blown up, so then he doesn't know what to do. Now.
I do think that somebody donated him another truck after
they heard the story, thank god. But I was like, Dustin,
who does that one?

Speaker 5 (19:24):
I'd beat your per selling my truck with help me
knowing who like to go to that extreme and just
be like, oh, this would be hilarious.

Speaker 4 (19:32):
I was like, what is what are you doing? I mean,
it's unbelievable.

Speaker 6 (19:36):
That's pretty funny.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
And if whenever he was auctioning off his truck he
didn't know he was going to get another one, that
shows you what kind of guy he was, Like he
was backed into a corner but still committed to giving
it away.

Speaker 6 (19:51):
And then whomever that was it.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
Donated a truck later, like shout out to you because
you made it all better and even but that's funny.

Speaker 4 (19:58):
That was pretty funny. I was like, that's pretty good stuff.

Speaker 5 (20:01):
Now, you were on American Idol and I know you
know Linel Richie, So tell me a little bit about
a good Linel Richie story.

Speaker 6 (20:10):
Okay, what was Lionel Richie Like?

Speaker 3 (20:11):
First of all, I was on idol for four years,
and Lionel Richie is famous. Whenever being famous was everybody
knew you. Now famous, so fractured, you can be like
the greatest Broccoli influencer and like people are like, oh,
I follow Tricia Broccoli and she's like she's famous to
like a very select few people. It's hard to be

(20:34):
just ubiquitous where you exist everywhere. Lionel Richie was that famous,
Like this is like the eighties the early nineties, so
massively rich, obviously massive star, not only riding singing toy
in every way. So you really don't know how cool
someone's going to be when they are that big. But
through my experience now of having a life of working

(20:56):
with middlely famous and very famous people, the very famous
people are often the nicest because they have nothing to prove,
there is no insecurity. The comparison would be soap opera
actor to Tom Hanks. Well, Tom Hanks has nothing to prove.
Tom Hanks is just a dude, good dude being who
he is because he has no insecurity. He's Tom Hanks.

(21:17):
Where the soap opera actor maybe like, yeah, I'm cool,
all my guys with me, I got my crowd, my posse,
where I got all my fancy clothes on trying to
prove how cool I am. Well, Lionel Richie was the
absolute kindest, greatest guy ever. I have two really fun
Linel Richie stories.

Speaker 6 (21:35):
Now.

Speaker 3 (21:35):
I was fortunate enough to get to be around him
a lot. It wasn't even just a spot here a
spot They're like we would have dinners, and when Lionel
would tell a story, everybody shuts up. And that's a
room where people are again fighting for oxygen because Luke
Bryan's there and you know Luke now, and Katy Perry's there,

(21:56):
and Lionel's there, and I'm there, and Ryan Seacrest is
there and so and Katie. At the time, like Katie's husband,
Orlando Bloom was there, so everybody has like everybody's used
to be in the center of attention in that group.
So it's almost like a battle royal who's gonna win.
So everybody's doing story after story. But when Lionel starts talking,
and he's very he's calm, he's very calculated, and he's like,

(22:22):
you know, Aerita Franklin once left me a voicemail. Everybody
shuts up immediately because Lionel's talking. He doesn't demand it,
but because he's Linel and he has the greatest stories,
he automatically gets it. Story number one, we were in Savannah, Georgia,
and we're all sitting around a dinner table and again
same thing. Everybody's talking, and it's just like you wait

(22:44):
for somebody to take a breath, you jump in with.

Speaker 6 (22:46):
The story or you just get swallowed.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
So everybody's doing their thing, and Lionel goes, you know,
a flua from my California over to Europe. And I'm
just gonna paraphrase the story a little bit, but he
was like, most of the time I would I would
fly fly private, I'd fly my own plane. He said,
in this time, I wasn't able to get my plane,

(23:10):
so I flew commercial. Now, Lionel has been a one
hundred millionaire billionaire, I don't know for how long. So
you know what, not crazy that he flew privately from
the States to Europe, because that's.

Speaker 6 (23:24):
About a two hundred thousand dollars flight.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
But if Lionel's flying over to play some prince's private
show for a million dollars, that's that. And he wants
to fly over. Yeah, he wants to fly over and
have his energy. And he said, I was flying commercial,
and I was in first class, and I decided to
take a nap, and I wasn't used to all the
people around me, and so I fell asleep and I

(23:49):
woke up and there was a phone taking a picture
of me. And I was a little startled by the
phone because I'm not used to people taking pictures of
me while I sleep, and he said, so I called
the flight attendant over and I said, flight attendant, would
I be able to get an sie smoothie with a
certain kind of berry with a little honey, and can
I get it with some cinnamon?

Speaker 6 (24:10):
And she said no, we don't have that.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
And he said, that's the last time I'm flying commercial
and so but it was like such a kind version
of a rich guy that I was like, dang, even
when Lionel tells us stories of being rich, like he's awesome.
But my favorite, favorite, favorite ever was we were about
to do an episode of Idol. I think it's my
second season there. And Ryan had never missed a show.

(24:34):
Ryan is on time all the time everywhere. The ultimate
professional is Ryan Seacrest. And it was about twelve minutes
before the show started and Ryan still was not there,
and so they began to be concerned and he quite like,
I'm sick. I can't even get up. And usually if
you're sick, and I've done this doing my stand up shows,

(24:55):
you you get a steroid shot. It takes a minute,
you get it back for a while, you got a
bunch of energy and then you die afterward, but you're
able to get the job done.

Speaker 6 (25:04):
Ryan was.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
He was so sick he was not able to do that.
So it's minutes before the show starts and they say, hey, Bobby,
we need you to host the show.

Speaker 4 (25:12):
Now.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
I don't think it's bigger than I am, but I
had no rehearsing as far as like where to go
on the stage. Stage direction is a big deal, especially
douring live television because cameras are going. It was also
a celebrity episode where celebrities were singing with the artists,
and so I'm like, okay, cool, can you run me
through stage direction real quick?

Speaker 6 (25:30):
And they're like, got it.

Speaker 3 (25:32):
So they run me through and there's like four minutes left,
and all of a sudden, I'm standing backstage. I'm just
kind of looking at notes and someone taps me on
the shoulder. Now, where the judges sit when we record
is all the way across the theater. I mean it
is a pretty far walk, and so it wasn't a
short walk. But that with about four minutes ago, that

(25:52):
tap on my shoulder turround and it's Lionel Richie and
he's like Bobby, and I say, hey, Linel, what's up.
He goes, I just wanted to give you some words
of encouragement. He goes, the year was nineteen seventy one,
and I'm in right, I know, we only got four minutes,
but he's talking slow. He's also talking slow, and I'm like,

(26:12):
oh boy, we're gonna get there in time. And he
says the Commodores. He goes, that was my band and
the Commodores we had. We had never really had a
look on national television. And we get a call and
they're like, they need you on American Bandstand in five hours.

Speaker 6 (26:28):
Can you be there?

Speaker 3 (26:30):
And we looked at each other and we're like, are
we ready for this? And we thought, we don't think
we're ready, but you know what, we're gonna show up
and we're gonna do it. And you know what, Bobby,
we showed up and we dominated that night on American Bandstand.
And that is a big reason as to why the
Commodores existed, and that's why Lionel Richie is right here
on this show, because when they called us, we showed

(26:52):
up and we did it to the best of our
ability what we had been practicing for our whole life.
And that is what you're about to do right now.
So I want you to walk out there and be
the commodores. And I'm thinking to myself as talking, this
is like the coolest pop up speech I've ever had
my whole life, Like, this is a crazy Lionel Richie.
And so it almost felt like a TV show, especially
those Christmas shows where Santa Claus is like talking to
somebody and they know Santa Claus is like Uncle Frank

(27:15):
or something. But then you turn around and Santa Claus
is gone, and you're like, maybe, oh, that was Santa Claus.

Speaker 6 (27:19):
I turned around, there's no Lionel Richie.

Speaker 4 (27:20):
He was nowhere.

Speaker 3 (27:21):
I don't know how he he was over seventy years
old and he was gone. And I look back in
his bat is unreal. He's at the table. And I
walked out and did a great job. But he was
so giving, he was so kind, and he just was
the opposite of what you think someone that famous would be.
And after I left, idle and he's so famous, you

(27:41):
think he probably forgets everybody. It was like two years later,
we were both in Vegas and I get a text says, hey,
Lionel just saw on social media.

Speaker 6 (27:48):
You're in Vegas.

Speaker 3 (27:49):
You and your wife want to come over and go
meet up with him and his wife. And I was like,
first of all shocked, even remembered two years later. So
we did, and he remembered. It was awesome. I could
not say enough great things. He didn't wear a gold
thong in a bed, which would have been awesome.

Speaker 6 (28:03):
That had been awesome. But Richie A plus.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
That's solid.

Speaker 5 (28:08):
I mean in the fact that you said he called in,
Seacres called it in how how long before the show?

Speaker 3 (28:14):
Well, Seacres was trying to get there, So it wasn't
that he was like calling in going like disappeared, but
he was trying to like build it up so we
could go and do the show. But he finally was
not doing it at about twelve minutes before the show started.

Speaker 5 (28:29):
Wow, yep, dude, that is you just have to kind
of gather yourself. I would think a little bit. You
didn't have any adrenaline or anything like that. You're like,
I got this be a commodore.

Speaker 3 (28:40):
Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna put this back on you.
This is the same thing that happened. This is these
are our lives in parallel. That's the same thing that
happened to you and Brady bro.

Speaker 5 (28:49):
True sayment, True sayment, Yeah, yeah, I was just I
was just thinking that okay, yeah, yeah, you prepare for it,
you're you feel like you're ready, but you don't know
until you know like your direction. You to go out
there and you're like, all right, let's go, let's do
it and see what happens.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
And you just trust the process that what you've been
doing the whole time has led you to this place
to be able to perform at a level now. I
don't remember the first three or four minutes of it.
I think I kind of sem my blackground out. I
was just like, there were like three, two go, and
I was like, I remember starting on the prompter, my
first things were welcome to American Idol. I am not

(29:24):
Ryan Seacrest, and it wasn't even in the prompter, but
I said that, and then I don't remember the first
few minutes. And I think you said the same thing
about when you got in after Brady got heard.

Speaker 4 (29:33):
It's just adrenaline, man.

Speaker 5 (29:34):
You go in and all of a sudden they say, hey, Castle,
you're going in, and you can feel I felt my heartbeat,
felt the ears, and plus there's ninety thousand or whatever.
It was eighty ninety thousand people there sitting there going, man,
this sucks.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
Castle's going in right, including myself.

Speaker 5 (29:52):
So like you get through the whole first series is
a blur, and then all of a sudden you calm
yourself down a little bit and then you're starting to
get into sequence and you know, oh, this is football,
this is what I've been training for. But those first
that first series or first few minutes where you're just
overwhelmed by emotion really, and it's all about controlling those emotions.

Speaker 4 (30:10):
It's wild.

Speaker 3 (30:11):
Did you have a moment, because I did where before
we went on, I looked up and they have the
massive American Idol logo and that has been such a
big part of American pop culture for decades where I
looked at and I was like, man, for a second,
I just want to appreciate that this has been a
stable in American pop culture and I'm about to host this.
Did you ever have one of those moments, like your
first time in where you looked at something and we're like, huh,

(30:32):
this is real.

Speaker 6 (30:32):
I want to take a second. It's going to be
real cool.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
No, not at all. Mine was full fear factor. I
was like, just Sti'll mess it up.

Speaker 5 (30:39):
I'm being dead honest, Like, I wish I could have
sat there and taken the moment in. I think the
first time I was able to do that was the
following game, and I told you this story where we
went to the Jets. We played them and ended up
being and Brett Favre was the opposing quarterback and he
came over shook my hand, and at that point, I

(30:59):
it kind.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
Of came full circle.

Speaker 5 (31:01):
I was like, that was one of the coolest moments
that's ever happened, like the fact that Bret far of
my childhood idol, came over and shook my hand. But
prior to that, no, I was a fish out of water.

Speaker 7 (31:10):
Man.

Speaker 4 (31:10):
I'm just like trying to stay afloat. Come on, Ben,
come on, give me some oxygen.

Speaker 3 (31:15):
I got to meet Matt's wife, and because I hadn't
met your wife yet, but Matt and I have very
close mutual friends, which is part of the reason we're
doing the show together, because they like vouched to each
of us for each other.

Speaker 6 (31:25):
And so.

Speaker 3 (31:27):
I had a show at what's called the Rymann Auditorium
here in Nashville. It's a very legendary place, and I
got to meet your wife, and yeah, she looks like
she would destroy somebody on a volleyball court. Like she
looks an A plus athlete. I can tell just by
looking in her eyes.

Speaker 5 (31:43):
She's definitely a better athlete than I am. She's definitely
more springy, just an absolute stud. And she's got one
of those personalities too, you know, like there's women that.

Speaker 4 (31:52):
Like to work out.

Speaker 5 (31:52):
She likes to get after it, and she she just
she could have been a Navy seal, I think, with
the mindset that she has. But she's always she's always
been a stud and really good mom too. But I
also got to meet your wife, who who couldn't have
been sweeter, And a lot of your family was there
as well. I mean, and let's talk about the raging
idiots for a second. I mean, you put on a

(32:13):
show like you wouldn't believe if you guys have never
seen Bobby and this crew.

Speaker 4 (32:18):
I mean, you guys absolutely slaid.

Speaker 6 (32:21):
Well, Okay, let's let's let's do that then for a second.

Speaker 4 (32:24):
So can we get into that we can?

Speaker 3 (32:26):
Yeah, phenomenal, Sure, sure, And I was super grateful you
came because I know you have a bunch of kids right,
if I've kids, So so that's it's not like you
can just leave at any moment. So, and it was
a Tuesday night and we do this show.

Speaker 6 (32:40):
We've done it every year for ten years.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
We had to stop for COVID for a minute, but
for Saint Jude, and we give all the money to
the hospital, and yeah, tell.

Speaker 5 (32:50):
Them how much money you raised for Saint Jude's. It's
an incredible cause.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
Well overall, like twenty seven million dollars.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
Phenomenal, Yeah, phenomenal.

Speaker 6 (32:58):
Yes, it's great.

Speaker 3 (32:59):
And so we made, you know, some hundreds of thousands
that night, and we had a lot of friends show
up and play with us. But I guess I never
thought that you had never seen me in that element
because we've just done this together.

Speaker 6 (33:13):
Was that weird?

Speaker 3 (33:14):
Like I come out and I gotta have a guitar,
Like you don't know me as that at all? Like
the guy doing comedy? Was that a bit bizarre?

Speaker 5 (33:21):
It was a little different, I mean, And then the
next thing I know, you're literally on stage headlining, just
rocking with the red the red jacket, red microphone, dancing
your face off. I didn't know you had those kind
of moves. And then you're busting out with the lyrics.
You might have burned I don't know, twenty thousand calories
just in that one night with as long as you've
been on stage dancing and singing.

Speaker 4 (33:42):
And playing your guitar. It was incredible and you played
with everybody.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
Yeah, that's the hard part because I'm not what would
be a traditional musician, So for me to have to
learn a bunch of music, it is tough because I
play guitar, but I don't play guitar, and Nashville it's
the giants of music, right, so can I grab a guitar?
I just learned it so I can do comedy. But yeah,
it was a really fun show and if anybody's listened
to this, we'll do it again next year, probably at

(34:05):
the Ryman, and you should come. And I just thought
I would rather get in a fight with Matt than
his wife because I think she she would tear my
head off. Like very attractive, very feminine. But still I
was like, I can see why she was a pro,
like a volleyball player at that level.

Speaker 4 (34:22):
Yeah, she's she's just stud What was your favorite act?
And I thought one of.

Speaker 5 (34:26):
The funniest thing was when you had your glasses on
that was playing Otown.

Speaker 6 (34:31):
It was so stupid.

Speaker 4 (34:32):
I hate was one of the funniest things.

Speaker 6 (34:34):
It wasn't it was. It was a funny it was
it funny.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
So I do things that are supposed to be funny,
and like I do comedy stuff and I play comedy songs.
But and this wasn't supposed to be funny. I thought
I was having like schizophrenia because Otown. I used to
be in Otown the boy band way back in the day.
And so they came out, we reunited for the first
time in years, and afterward I kept hearing their music

(34:59):
and so I asked my band, do you guys hear
Then I asked the crowd do you guys hear their song?
And I was like no, no, no, And I'm like,
I'm hearing things. So I put my monitor back in
my ear. I don't hear anything.

Speaker 6 (35:08):
I put my ear down on the monitor on the ground.
I don't hear anything.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
We play another song, but the whole time anybody's playing anything,
I still hear the Otown song in my ear, and
I'm going I'm going berserik right now. Turns out I
have those meta glasses that take pictures and play music.
I didn't realize the music was playing through my glasses,
and that's why I was the only person that could
hear it, because I literally was the only person that
could hear it, and everybody else was.

Speaker 6 (35:29):
Like, dude, you're going crazy. Yes, that sucked.

Speaker 5 (35:32):
That was It probably sucked, but like from a show's standpoint,
I was just laughing myself going because everybody you asked that,
none of them were like, oh, I have no idea
what you're talking about, which probably made you feel even crazier.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
Yeah, my whole band was like, we have I thought
they were playing a prank on me. I literally thought
they were playing a prank on me. So, uh yeah,
it was.

Speaker 6 (35:50):
It was. It was a fun night, and yeah that's all.
I'm glad.

Speaker 3 (35:55):
I'm glad it's over because we just want to pull
it off and we did, and I appreciate everybody who
came out. And we're gonna take a little break when
we come back. We're gonna do something called big Take,
Big fake. And so I'm going to give you an opinion.
Either it is my opinion, this is my big take,
or it is not my opinion. And I'm just trying
to convince you it is. We're gonna play big take

(36:15):
or big fake. We'll do that next. So this is
called big take or big fake. So what I'll do,
Matt is I will give you an opinion and you

(36:38):
tell me if I really believe it or if I
really don't believe it, and I'm just trying to.

Speaker 6 (36:42):
Fake you out. Are you ready?

Speaker 4 (36:43):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (36:44):
Daniel Jones is and will be a Pro Bowl quarterback?

Speaker 6 (36:49):
Do you think I believe that?

Speaker 5 (36:51):
I do think you believe that because I've heard you
talk about Daniel Jones and I know you have an
affinity for him. So you and I have had a
little bit of discussions before about just situational fit for
him with the Giants. He thought he got a raw deal,
but he's a guy that's capable from the physical standpoint
to go out there and get it done. And he's

(37:11):
played well at different times in his career. But you
put him in the right situation and he's somebody that
has the skill set to go out and be a
Pro Bowl quarterback.

Speaker 4 (37:20):
So I do believe that you believe that.

Speaker 3 (37:23):
That is a big correct take. And here is why
now we're still waiting on again as of this recording,
because everything is so fluid. If he ends up with
the Colts, he'll start. Yeah, if he ends up with
the Vikings, depending on McCarthy's injury, JJ McCarthy's injury, he
may play.

Speaker 6 (37:42):
And right now those are.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
The two teams that they're indicating he could sign with.
But I mean, when you look at and I went deep,
he played behind one of the worst offensive lines in
the NFL, not only last year, but the year before.
He got seck thirty times in six games before towards
ACL And yeah, so not only was he getting crushed,
he then had the ACL injury in twenty twenty two

(38:05):
and dables first season. Listen to the stats that Daniel
Jones had two hundred and five passing yards, a sixty
seven point two percent completion rate, fifteen touchdowns, five interceptions,
seven hundred eight rushing yards, and seven rushing touchdowns. He
took the Giants to the playoffs and won a playoff game.
That's when he was healthy.

Speaker 6 (38:27):
That's it.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
That's just when he was healthy. There's nothing else to say.
I just think he is a much better quarterback than
people are giving him credit for. But it's hard to
give somebody credit when they haven't played well. Or they've
been injured, because we don't really see how bad an
offensive line is just by watching on television.

Speaker 5 (38:43):
Right, and the offensive line is everything to a quarterbback
because if you drop back and you trust the guys
in front of you, then your process isn't sped up.
Your sense of urgency is you're going through your reads
like you should, but all of a sudden you're getting
hit and hit and hit. Well, all those things change,
especially from the mental side because you're a little bit
more rushed, or you take off run maybe when you

(39:04):
have to hang in there a little bit longer. But
those hits have an impact on a quarterback, and so
you put him with the good offensive line, good coaching staff,
I think he'll excel in a big way.

Speaker 3 (39:15):
And if he does play with the Vikings, I think
he's just on a we'll call it a one year
Sam Donald plan where even if he goes in and
backs them up, the same thing Donald did in San Francisco,
which I think was kind of the plan in Minnesota
as well. Maybe he started a bit before J. J.
McCarthy was able to play, But I mean, these guys
get behind an offensive minded head coach that actually allows

(39:38):
them to develop and then they go and play really
well afterward. So I'm excited for Daniel Jones. I never
met him, but I've been rooting for him and I
feel like he if he has given the right weapons
and I'll say weapons, even his offensive lineman, like he
has proven he's been really good.

Speaker 4 (39:52):
All right.

Speaker 6 (39:53):
Next up?

Speaker 3 (39:53):
Is this a big take or a big fake? Dake
Prescott will never win a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
That's a big take. I think that you believe that.

Speaker 5 (40:04):
They have improved since the nineteen nineties that they can
one go deep in the playoffs, let alone win the
super Bowl. It's challenging for every team every single year.
But you're also in a division with the Eagles, right,
You're also in a conference that you're not a top
contender year in year out. Now you have your good years,

(40:25):
and I think that they're always competitive. I just don't
know if it's going to be under Dak Prescott during
his tenure there. I hope it is, because I think
he's a heck of a player, There's no doubt about it.
I just don't know if he'll be able to get
over that home.

Speaker 6 (40:37):
Yeah, I think Dak's a really good quarterback as well.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
He is still even after Josh Allen's new contract, making
more per year than Josh Allen. Dak's still the highest
play quarterback at sixty million a year. And I don't
think it's totally because of Dak. You're right, it's another
big take. All these may be true, by the way,
there is no rhyme or reason. But he's been the
Cowboys quarterback for eight seasons. He's not made an NFC
Championship game. The Cowboys dominate for the most part in

(41:03):
the regular season, and it's been a Cowboys pattern at
this point.

Speaker 6 (41:07):
His playoff records two and five.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
The Cowboys, as you mentioned, have had a Super Bowl
drought of thirty years. And it's not so much a
Dak thing but a Jerry Jones thing. And I love
Jerry Jones. But if we're just looking at the data
that has been presented to us in a vacuum.

Speaker 6 (41:25):
And with they're about to have to pay.

Speaker 3 (41:28):
They paid Dak, they paid CD, they got Michael Parsons
to pay, and to pay him is going to be
even more expensive now that you've had Max Crosby and
you also had.

Speaker 6 (41:42):
Miles Garrett just signed for that money.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
So his value just went up, and they've been waiting,
just been like kicking the can on signing him, I know.

Speaker 5 (41:48):
And that's the thing is when you wait and then
you start to see these big contracts roll through, it
actually hurts the organization because Mike could Parson I guarantee
his representation sitting there and going, look at these two guys.
I'm younger than both of them. I've got a lot
more in the tank. You're going to be up there
in that area right there. So it's going to cost

(42:09):
the more money Now that they waited and drag their
feet onsign him.

Speaker 3 (42:13):
The Steelers should move on from Mike Tomlin. He cannot
win the big games anymore. Is that a real take
or is that a big fake?

Speaker 5 (42:20):
I believe it's a big fake. The reason I say
that I love Mike Tomlin. I think he's been one
of the most successful coaches during his tenure of any
coach in the NFL. And I don't know what the
run was for the playoffs in terms of how many
consecutive playoffs he's gone to, but he's already proven.

Speaker 4 (42:37):
That he's been able to win big games. I think
for him.

Speaker 5 (42:40):
Also, anytime you lose your franchise quarterback of Roethlisberger, for instance,
it takes some time to find that next guy. From
Kenny Pickett, you bring in Russell Wilson, you have justin fields.
You've got a number of different guys that come into
that organization that don't fit the mold to be your
franchise guy. Well, it's hard to win games in this league,
let alone win games consistently when you don't have a

(43:01):
real number one at the quarterback position. If they're able
to solidify that position, I think Mike Tomlin, we've known
his track record and the type of defensive unit that
they consistently have. If the offense catches up with that,
I believe that they put themselves in another position to
win a championship.

Speaker 3 (43:16):
Yeah, I don't believe that at all. I like you
think Mike Tomlin is a fantastic coach, and I think
he's had teams that probably in any other scenario probably
win four games, five games, but because he has such
a great coach. But again, it lends itself to if
you do not have a quarterback, if you do not
have a B B plus a quarterback, it's going to

(43:39):
be hard to win.

Speaker 6 (43:40):
Enough games to make a deep run.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
I think because he has had a lack of a
number one since Big Ben that it's been award winning
coaching that has gotten them to five hundred and above
every single year. But the problem has been that purgatory, right,
I mean, if you don't lose a lot of games,
you're not going to get a top pick unless you
trade for it, or therefore you can't win a lot

(44:06):
of games because you don't have the personnel to win
the games.

Speaker 6 (44:10):
So he's been in this weird purgatory.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
But it would be nice to see him get a quarterback,
Like even if it's Aaron Rodgers and I cannot stand
Aaron Rodgers, used to love him. Like nine months ago,
I loved Aaron Rodgers like I like outspoken people.

Speaker 6 (44:22):
I do, even if I don't agree with them.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
Yes, I feel like he got he started acting like
he was smarter than everybody instead of just being smarter
than most people. So therefore I started to not like
him as much, not even what he was saying, just
for like how he seemed. So I've been an Aaron
Rodgers guy I would like, even though I'm not anymore.
I would like Aaron Rodgers to go to the Steelers.

(44:46):
I think that would be cool, even though I picked
the Giants, and to have Mike Tomlin have a shot
at having an offense that can actually win him games,
not a defense that needs to win him games where
you just beg the offense to not lose you games.

Speaker 5 (44:59):
Right Exactly, When you have a defense that can go
out and play the way that they do, they're always
going to be in tight, tight games. But then all
of a sudden you put a guy like Aaron Rodgers
in there with the dudes that they have with Medcat
and pick Medcalf and Pickens and somebody that can deliver
the ball and get.

Speaker 4 (45:14):
Up two scores. That's a tough football team to beat.

Speaker 5 (45:17):
When you're not just grinding it out, you know that
you have confidence in that offense side of the ball
to take the take the ball down the field and
score on a continuous basis. That's that's when it gets
fun for any team because you've got talent on both
sides of the ball and you can compete at really
high level with anybody.

Speaker 3 (45:48):
If I were to ask you when talking about wide receivers,
talking about Pittsburgh specifically, and you have Pickens and you
have DK different kinds of receivers, but both elite. But
if I were to say, who were the grittiest wide
receivers you ever played with? And you can define gritty
however you want, Like who would be your top three?

Speaker 5 (46:06):
You know, I think in two thousand and seven when
or two thousand and eight when I was in New England,
I mean Randy Moss was there, and that dude was
nobody could go up and out compete him for a ball.
He had incredible hands, He scared you with his speed.
He was a really smart football player. Another guy that
was there at the same time is Wes Wilker, which
I don't think he gets enough credit. He had five

(46:26):
seasons with over one hundred and something catches, and he's
a guy that controlled the middle field.

Speaker 4 (46:31):
Nobody could cover him man to man underneath.

Speaker 5 (46:34):
Smart player would go over the middle, take the tough hits,
and he would sacrifice his body more than you'd like
him to. But at the same time, I mean, nobody
could cover him. So those guys both when you say gritty,
A guy like Dez Bryant, who was only with for
one season in Dallas.

Speaker 4 (46:51):
He's another guy that was just this absolute dog on
the field.

Speaker 5 (46:55):
Now, he would definitely get after me if I didn't
throw him the ball.

Speaker 4 (46:59):
I was scared for my life. I'm not gonna lie.

Speaker 5 (47:01):
I was sitting there going, man, he might try to
hurt me, like on the sideline right now.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
So he was just one of those dudes. Now, he
had some injuries early in that season.

Speaker 5 (47:11):
He had like a stress fraction in his foot, so
he wasn't fully himself, which I know for any player
that competes at a really high level, that's super frustrating
because he was used to just absolutely going out there
and dominating. But it took some time for him to
get back from that injury, obviously with the foot to heel.

Speaker 4 (47:28):
Dwayne Bow, he's another guy that was a dog.

Speaker 5 (47:31):
Now, he was different from a gritty standpoint because he
was just big and physical and without physical you.

Speaker 4 (47:37):
But he was the nicest guy. Now.

Speaker 5 (47:39):
He'd tell me sometimes he'd be like, hey, Cass, I
was open on that and I'd look at the picture.
I'd be like, Dwayne, there's two guys over you in
the safeties, way above you.

Speaker 4 (47:47):
I'm not going to throw you that ball.

Speaker 5 (47:48):
Ever, He's like, all right, Cass, just just look next time.

Speaker 4 (47:51):
So he was cool like that, but he was a
savage on the field.

Speaker 5 (47:54):
So I've played with a lot of ultra talented wide
receivers that had that gritty nature, and I think that
that just kind of goes with the position itself. If
you're an elite wide receiver, then you have something inside
of you that is like, give me the ball and
I'll I'll compete anybody that's up against me, I don't
care who it is.

Speaker 3 (48:14):
Was Moss the guy you mostly could just go, well,
can't even really see him, but I know where he's
kind of supposed to be.

Speaker 5 (48:20):
Throw one hundred percent. You just throw it in his area.
I remember the first touchdown passed I through that season.
I skyrocketed this thing nobody. I didn't think anybody was
going to catch it. I thought the first section in
the stadium was going to catch it. He goes up,
points it, boom, brings it down. I was like, Oh,
what a good play by me. No, it was a
better play by you, Moss. Oh this is a funny story. Actually,

(48:41):
Moss is another dude. As I talk about him constantly
because a lot of people don't understand how smart he was.
But we're playing Seattle in Seattle, We get in the
huddle and Moss is on the outside and he's like,
we're about to start the series. So we're all in
the huddle and Moss never wanted to look at the
quarterback because he never wanted to give anything away. So
he starts talking to me. He's like, Cass, He's like, hey,

(49:01):
I'm going up the rail. Just throw it up the rail.
They're sitting on me, they're squatting on me, and I
was like, you've got an D cut on this play.
He's like, no, I'm going up the rail. I was like, well,
why don't we talk about when.

Speaker 4 (49:10):
We go over there? And he got so mad. He's like, Castle,
Brady was here.

Speaker 5 (49:15):
We throw that at the ring and I was like, well,
Brady ain't here, he said, and then that's so he
didn't look at me that entire conversation.

Speaker 4 (49:23):
As soon as I said that, he said, what the
F did you say to me? Castle?

Speaker 5 (49:26):
I thought he was going to try to kill me
in the huddle. The lineman broke it up. I was like,
this is amazing. But it was just one of those
things where he knew what he wanted to get done,
and a lot of times we'd go over make that
adjustment and work exactly how he'd say.

Speaker 3 (49:39):
If a wide receiver was unhappy with you, or if
you were unhappy with a wide receiver meaning they ran
a wrong route, where would that conversation be, Whether it
be in the huddle or would you guys do it
on the sideline.

Speaker 5 (49:53):
Usually I'd get after him on the field, Like if
we're in the middle of a series and they were
short route, or they ran the wrong route, or they
weren't at the right depth, I'd get him on the field.

Speaker 4 (50:04):
And I had no problem getting after him.

Speaker 5 (50:06):
And those guys understood anybody that ever played with me,
and most wide receiver quarterbacks, they have that relationship where
they know it's not personal, but it is me holding
you accountable, and the same thing that they would hold
me accountable if I messed up. And so that's part
of the being a quarterback is you got to get
after guys on the field sometimes, But if it's sideline
and you don't really know what happened, then you go over,

(50:26):
you look at pictures and you say, well, what are
we doing here, and then that conversation happens. Now it's
probably a little bit more tempered on the sideline. It
can occasionally get superheated, but in the huddle or if
you're on the field and I see it, then it
would probably get a pretty good it'd be a good
back and forth between myself and the wide receiver.

Speaker 3 (50:45):
It's an interesting time because a lot of these guys
are either staying with the team that they were with,
so they're like re signing, or they're a free agent
they're deciding to stay, or they're a moving What is
that like kind of not knowing where you're going to go?
Like the personal part of that, because again we're seeing
these players and we're like, oh, cool is going to

(51:06):
LA or so and so it's going there, But like,
you're a human being with a wife and a family,
what is that unknowing?

Speaker 5 (51:14):
Like it's unnerving to be honest with you, because you
get in that position where you know your contract's up
and you're probably already in negotiations. Are we going to
be back with the team that I played for the
last four.

Speaker 4 (51:25):
Years or however long you have, and you're settled in.

Speaker 5 (51:29):
That community, you have your home, you've got your family,
the kids probably in school if they're of age to
go to school. So then you're sitting there going, maybe
we're going back here. But then as soon as you
start to realize they're not going to resign you, there's
a little bit of excitement, but you have to have
everybody on board. And I've been blessed to have a
wife that understands the dynamics of what I did for
a living. She played sports, so it was always an

(51:52):
adventure for us. At the same time, the older I got,
the more difficult it got and the more unnerving because
you're sitting there going, Okay, where am I going to
go now? And also, what does that quarterback situation look like?
What is there not coortunity for me to compete? Am
I going to be a bridge guy? Or am I
going truly there to be a backup and help some
young guy develop a little bit more? So there's all

(52:14):
those different dynamics, and then as you start to see
these guys get signed at your position, you're like, well, hell,
I'm better than him, Like what's going on here? Why
don't I have a job? And then you start questioning
yourself a little bit. But once you do get signed,
you're like, all right, we're all in. Let's let's get going.

Speaker 3 (52:28):
We talked some quarterback lingo in the last episode, maybe
the episode before that, and I drowned a little bit,
and be honest with you, little I bet off a
little more than I could choose. So this time, what
I'm going to do is I'm going to toss a
couple things out that I choose, and you.

Speaker 6 (52:44):
Explain to me as rudimentary as possible.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
I'm talking explain like I'm five, heck three, like I'm
a three year, like I'm a toddler. You've had many
of those, you had five toddlers.

Speaker 5 (52:55):
Yes, okay, okay, sweetheart, thank you, Yes, let me expes.

Speaker 6 (52:59):
Okay, let's talk coverages.

Speaker 4 (53:02):
Okay, coverages, got it?

Speaker 3 (53:03):
Cover three?

Speaker 4 (53:04):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (53:05):
Cover three is four linebackers underneath and three people deep.
When I say that, it means two corners on the
outside and a middle of the field safety. It's a
true zone defense. And so when I say that, I
mean the four guys underneath, they're responsible for the flat
curl hook area. So they have these zones that they

(53:26):
sit in. The corners are responsible for their third of
the field, and in that middle of the field safety
he's there play middle of field, but he can go
with the range to where he thinks the ball is
going to go, but he's deep middle trying to make
sure they don't throw the post over the top or
do something like that. And so he's got the deep
middle of the field. So they're taught don't let anybody
get behind you. Corners don't have help really, so they've

(53:49):
got to stay on top of that wide receiver on
the outside. The safety has free range, especially guys. You
always hear about it, like the ed Reeds of the world,
that he'd make you think you're thrown over here. You're
talking about looking him one way to throw somewhere else,
and then he'd just intercept the ball because he had
incredible range. But that's what it is. Zone defense, four under,
three over the top.

Speaker 6 (54:25):
All right, let's go, we'll take it up one.

Speaker 4 (54:28):
Do you think my three year old can understand that
I do?

Speaker 3 (54:30):
And for the record, some of these I know the
answer to, I'm just playing dumb guy.

Speaker 4 (54:35):
So yeah, you play ball, Doug.

Speaker 3 (54:37):
Yeah, but I still need I am hopefully learning maybe
something a little just a little trickle, a little trickle new.
And for those that are listening that don't know, I
don't want them to feel like I'm here actingly like yeah,
I can't believe you guys don't know. We're all in
this together.

Speaker 6 (54:52):
So we're kind of explaining it.

Speaker 3 (54:54):
And let's go Cover four. So the difference in Cover
three and Cover four is what.

Speaker 5 (54:59):
You got two high safeties now, so you've got three
underneath linebacker presence right, they're hook I think curl flat.
I should say that they're gonna go to But then
corners are responsible for a fourth of their field, and
then the safeties are responsible for for So it's literally
quarter up the field into fours. Each deep part of

(55:22):
the component. The corners and the safeties are responsible for
a quarter. Now that can change based on formation in
terms of where the safety help goes. But for the
most basic aspect of Cover four, we call it quarters.

Speaker 6 (55:38):
What about a cover six?

Speaker 5 (55:41):
Cover six? So cover six is similar. So it's quarter
quarter half is what we like to call it. And
there's different variations based on the system that you're in,
Like some people will use different numbers for different types
of coverage, but Cover six historically has been quarter quarter half,
meaning you're gonna roll say you've got a three by one,
which means three wide receivers. Over here, you're ex wide

(56:04):
receiver who's usually your number one wide receiver isolated on
the weak side, well cover six, as you're playing quarters
to one side, so it's quarter quarter and then half,
meaning you've got safety helpover that other corner will roll
up on that number one wide receiver, so you're basically
getting a two on one on one.

Speaker 4 (56:23):
Side of the field.

Speaker 3 (56:24):
Is that two one receiver in the half of the
field since he's by himself half of the.

Speaker 5 (56:29):
Field, Yes, So he's he's going to try to get
rerouted and play it for the most part like a
cover two. So you've got help over the top, so
he can't just run by you and run the gos
or the comebacks. So the corner is going to be
responsible for jamming him up, trying to force an outside release,
not letting him get inside, and then at some point
he'll fall off and look for anything else coming his direction.

(56:52):
But the safety at some point will take him over
as he gets into his section of the field.

Speaker 6 (56:58):
And the final covers question will be when they go
into cover zero.

Speaker 4 (57:03):
Oh yeah, love it, bring it.

Speaker 5 (57:06):
Cover zero is a max pressure and it usually involves
multiple safeties. Now, one of the safeties usually will have
the tight end. You'll have one of the linebackers out
there on the slot. I say linebacker, it's really considered
a nickel. But everybody's on an island. The corners are
on one on one, the safety is one on one,
the nickels one on one. But everybody else is pressuring,

(57:28):
so they're going to try to force you to either
throw hot or side adjust. If you go to a
seven man pretiction, it might buy you a little bit
more time, but they're always bringing at least one or
two more than you actually can pick up. So you
have to have a game plan to get rid of
the ball or to go some kind of max protection
and get the ball down the field.

Speaker 3 (57:49):
And if you're on defense and you're running a cover zero,
like you must get to the quarterback, right you have
to sell out to get to the quarterback because everybody's
on an island, right, Oh, everybody's on an island.

Speaker 5 (58:00):
And the other part about Cover zero or blit zero
is every one of those guys play with inside leverage
because if you get beat across your there's nobody in
the middle of the field because safeties are gone.

Speaker 4 (58:12):
Linebackers are gone, so as.

Speaker 5 (58:13):
If you ever get beat across your face in cover zero,
it's a home run.

Speaker 4 (58:18):
Now.

Speaker 5 (58:18):
The other thing is so they'll sit inside, so you
know that, so out routes or outbreaking routes stuff like
that is probably your best bet in getting the ball downfield,
corner route something like that, or if you just have
a stut on the outside, throw the go route. So
that's where the matchups are. But any and when you
get a cover zero and you can block it up,
you're going to your best matchup period because you want

(58:40):
to go to your dude that you think can make
a play and if he breaks one tackle, he's to
the house. But if they don't get home, I mean,
if they do get home, which they're planning on doing that,
then it's a pain in the butt because you're rushed
and guys aren't coming out of breaks, and it's it's works.

Speaker 3 (58:54):
Often as a fan watching, I feel like coaches or
quarterbacks or offensive coordinators are way too in love with
these fades in the corner.

Speaker 6 (59:04):
Of the end zone.

Speaker 3 (59:04):
It seems he's like watching they never work. What is
the fascination with the freaking fade.

Speaker 4 (59:11):
Well down there?

Speaker 5 (59:12):
It's amazing because when you get into the red zones,
particularly the low red zone, the field shrinks right. The
windows are so much tighter. They talk about it all
the time. For the quarterback, when you're throwing in the
front of the end zone, you want to put it
low so he can body it up. Because you throw
it high at the front, that's when balls get tipped
and things happen. And then you want to throw it
high in the back of the end zone because you're

(59:33):
giving your guy an opportunity to go up and high
point a ball. And when I say that, I mean
like an end cut on the baseline or on the
in line to the.

Speaker 4 (59:42):
End zone.

Speaker 5 (59:43):
You're trying to throw it high so that you're missing
all the underneath traffic because of the condensed windows, trying
to throw it high so he can co up and
high point that ball. But the fade has always been
something if you get one on one, they're bringing blit
zero or you trust in a guy. It's all about
the release pattern to me and the wide receiver if
he can go up, and he's got to be patient
because you sometimes you'll see those guys take one step

(01:00:05):
up and go to the corner of the end zone.
Just like you're saying, well, that corner just is able
to react. You didn't give him anything different, so that one.
Now he just runs you to the side of the
end zone, plays hands, and it's an unsuccessful play. The
best wide receivers that you've seen run the fade route,
a guy like Larry Fitzgerald. He'll go up and he'll
give you three one two three start so he can

(01:00:27):
go inside, he can go outside. But what that does
is it straightens up that defensive back and now you
give yourself space and time to go throw that ball.

Speaker 3 (01:00:38):
You would hear when talking about the difference in high
school to college to the NFL. In high school, throw
it when he's wide open. In college right when he
starts to get open, throw it, and the pros sometimes
you got to throw him open when he's not open
at all. Would you say that's an accurate description of
what you have to learn as a quarterback through those levels.

Speaker 4 (01:00:59):
I think that's one hundred percent accurate.

Speaker 5 (01:01:01):
Anticipation is key, particularly in the NFL, and that's what
we talk about all the time in our meetings, is
I've told you this, the depth when you're supposed to
be there, how you're getting there. You have to understand
that because there's a lot of time when somebody's breathing
down to your neck. You're throwing it, and the trust
has to be that you're at the right depth, you're
throwing it to the spot where you're anticipating him coming,

(01:01:24):
and you're blindly throwing this thing because he's not even
out of his break, but you're throwing it with the
anticipation that he's going to be there. And that's when
big plays happen a lot of times because it's a
catch and run through the zone and out the back door.
But you have to have anticipation in the league because
the guy's on the defensive side of the ball, particularly
at the cornerback position. They're such freak athletes that if
you're a split second late, you take that extra hitch,

(01:01:46):
you hesitate at all. Now that gives him the ability
to recover. Even if your guy comes out of the
break at a better angle than he did, he's going
to catch up and be able to either get hands
on it or potentially intercept it.

Speaker 6 (01:02:00):
A lot of trust.

Speaker 3 (01:02:00):
Could you throw balls if you had to blindfold it
in practice and pretty much much know where to throw
since everything is on timing.

Speaker 5 (01:02:10):
I don't know if I accurately could say that I
could put a blindfold on and just throw the ball.

Speaker 4 (01:02:15):
I mean I would. I could probably get it around
the vicinity.

Speaker 5 (01:02:18):
I don't know how accurate i'd be with a blindfold on,
but in general direction i'd be.

Speaker 4 (01:02:25):
I'd be around the guy for sure.

Speaker 6 (01:02:27):
Yeah, I'd use a blindfold for me.

Speaker 3 (01:02:29):
I'd be practicing with the blind Yeah, mister Miagy dodgeball
at the end, I'd be so dialed in. Blindfold me up,
then fourth quarter we should come up with that.

Speaker 4 (01:02:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:02:38):
No, I'll practice enough. I don't get a practice enough.
I'm saying, like you, a guy, practice you know all
the time. That's going to be it for this episode
of Lots to Say, go subscribe to the podcast please,
if you don't mind whatever feeds you're hearing this on,
if it's on the bibonjo feet, if it's on one
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would love it. It would help us. If you don't mind

(01:02:59):
give us a review, put a comment up. We don't
have many of those. We're still trying to make friends
here in the podcast world. So if you don't mind,
please do that as well. Kick off Kevin back, which,
by the way, Kevin got married.

Speaker 4 (01:03:11):
Yeah, ingrats keV. Thanks. Was that honeymoon? Oh it was beautiful, beautiful.

Speaker 8 (01:03:16):
I think maybe a day a little bit too long.
Took me a while to get back into it, but
it was beautiful.

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
You know when I said I felt, I was like
I sometimes I'm on vacation or honeymoon. I'm like, this
is a little too long. Everybody's like what, and I'm like,
you know, I only have so much fun before I
start to feel guilty.

Speaker 8 (01:03:30):
Yeah, my wife is pregnant, seven months pregnant, so it's
like you can only do so much and you know,
I can sit by that for so long. But she
loves it, and I'm like, all right.

Speaker 4 (01:03:39):
This is cool.

Speaker 3 (01:03:39):
Kickoff Kevin, Congratulations. Read who's about to get married?

Speaker 6 (01:03:42):
Coming out? How many months? Only two months? Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:03:49):
Yeah, you're getting ready? Cold feet?

Speaker 3 (01:03:52):
Now he's counting again, three months, three months, big moves.

Speaker 6 (01:03:56):
Castle's yelling cold feet, got it? Read r Berry, head
of all of our video. That's Matt Castle. Hum, Bobby Bones.
We've had lots to say, and we'll see you guys
next week.

Speaker 4 (01:04:04):
By everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:04:12):
Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is
a production of the NFL and iHeart Podcasts. For more
podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
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