July 25, 2025 • 39 mins
Hour Two of the Good Morning Football Podcast begins with hype around the Bears. Hosts Sara Walsh, Manti Te'o, Mitch Morse, and Willie Colon discuss the vibes around the Cowboys heading into camp. The table offers up their memories of Hulk Hogan. Manti, Mitch and Willie give their thoughts on the Raiders releasing Christian Wilkins. Plus, Manti delivers his Top 10 Linebackers in the NFL and has the table blind rank the top five.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Good Morning Football is the production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Good Morning Football. It is Friday, July twenty fifth.
I'm Sarah Walsh, joined here in Los Angeles by man
Tai Tea. We got a pair of former offensive linemen
holding down the fort there in New York City and
Mitch Morse and.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Willie Cologne hanging out there. You guys had a good
week with us.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Yeah, it's been fun. I mean, hey, Willie's the man
for you guys.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In broadcasting, that's called a leading question, Like I really
didn't give you a choice that you've.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Had fun, right, right, guys, Like.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
I shouldn't what we're supposed to say.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, I know, I know, Willie.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well maybe it was leading for a reason. No, we've
had a great time. We're so happy to have you guys,
and we got another hour to go.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So let's get this thing started on a Friday.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Let's really good.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
It is Friday. We know it's Friday.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
You know why because the producer Gina in our ears,
she's so excited she can taste the weekend coming. Everyone's
so happy on a Friday. Here Sarah, along with Mantai
and then the dynamic duo that is just taking the
sports broadcasting world by storm, Willy and Mitch, who are
going to open an ice cream shop. Will he told
us in the last hour. Willi and Mitch's out there. Look,
I mean, look.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
At this just on the front.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Although Mitch looks like he's pondering the questions of life there,
Willi's just happy that you're coming into the ice cream shop.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Mitch, what are we thinking?
Speaker 5 (01:41):
Maybe there's more flavors than vanilla? And why does everyone
keep walking out of our ice cream shop?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Immediately when they walk.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
They're like, this guy's got questions for me and Willy
and Willie's like, come on in. Mitch is like going
to toss out questions about, you know, existential stature.
Speaker 6 (02:02):
And that's that's the That's a that's a look that
you have when you go to the ice cream shop
and you ask him can I sample the ice cream?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And like, now we don't do a sample samples? What
do you want to sample? Vanilla offers Vanilla.
Speaker 6 (02:14):
Yeah, that's a that's a face that Mitch makes when
somebody asks that.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
All right, well, Mett, let's see what kind of face
you have to make about the Bears, because this is
where we're kicking things off now for three and out,
We've got better safety.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Kevin Bayer this is first down.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Impressed with the way his head coach Ben Johnson carries
himself and leads the team.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Take a listen, you.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Know the young guys kind of call it aora. Just
he just no no for really like he breathes competition.
You could just tell just the intensity. I think he
just he just wants the best for everybody, and I
think that type of energy raises the level of everybody
in the team. You know, you're only as strong as
your weekest link. So that's what we're trying toppreciate every
single person in the building. We're just trying to get
one percent better every day. And it doesn't look you know,
(02:57):
everybody knows success.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Isn't like this. It's kind of like this ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
But we're just trying to eliminate those dips and make
the dips smaller.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
As we can tell you the clown, we're trying to
win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
You know, I think Bridge said it in an interview
when he was doing this training camp, but it was true.
Ben Johnson wants to build a dynasty, and we want
to be that dynasty. We want to be the guys
that kind of get this thing started.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Myself another preseason, a lot of hypes surrounding the Bears.
It feels like mantaid, We've been here season after season
after season, like.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
This is it.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
We've got Caleb now, this is it. Now we got
Ben Johnson, this is it. So we've seen this story
played out at this time of year before.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Are you guys buying in?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Is this the year that the hype matches what these
Bears are going to do at Manti?
Speaker 6 (03:38):
Well, I think there's hype around every team in the
NFL right now. I think, more accurately, there's a lot
of excitement around the Bears franchise. Now that you have
a coach like Ben Johnson that you know because he's
been in your division for so long, you know what
he's going to bring to the table. But what I
do like and what I am excited about is the
fact that when I look at the clippings of Charge
not Chargers camp, bro, I'm still on to make the
(03:59):
case of Bears Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson actually pulled the
first team in seven on seven because they couldn't get
aligned right twice. Like that just goes to show where
Ben Johnson is that as far as the attention to detail,
the accountability, he's not afraid to get on you. Everything
that I've read, all the reports out of Bears camp
has been He's been on Caleb Williams about the little things.
(04:23):
This is such a big contrast to what we heard
last year, where it was just all about, Hey, we
got it. He's doing great, he's doing great, he's doing great.
Had Ben Johnson is like, that's not good enough.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Man.
Speaker 6 (04:32):
If you don't perform, I'm going to pull you off
the field. Matter of fact, I'm gonna take all you
off the field if we can't get aligned right. So
I'm really excited about what the season looks like for
the Bears because now you have a head coach that
there were questions going into this year, I can he
command the room? Can he stand in front of players
and say things and they respond? Well, when you're going
(04:52):
out there in seven on seven and you miss aligned
twice and your head coach pulls your whole first team
off the field and says sit on the side, like,
that's the type of stuff that creates winning. That's the
type of stuff that creates an expectation and a standard
that really likes to refer to a lot that they
had at the Steelers that results into winning. So I
like where that accountability is coming from, and no better
(05:14):
person to have it come from than the head coach.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Yeah, I think you should believe the hype and I
want to commend Ryan Poles the GM of the Bears.
As a Bears fan, you should be proud to have
Ryan Poles at the Helm. You've every year addressed the
needs that are prevalent to that team. You gave Justin
Fields a chance, it didn't work out. You bring in
Caleb Williams, You gave coaches a chance that didn't work out.
(05:38):
You bringing Ben Johnson. You didn't like the way that
the offensive line was protecting up front. So what did
you do? You brought in three of some of the
heaviest hitters in the NFL, with Jonah Jackson from LA
Drew Dollman from Atlanta, and then oh yeah, Joe Tooney,
I think a future Hall of Famer at right guard
from the Kansas City Chiefs. On defense with Dennis Allen.
You have guys like Grady Jarrett who I think might
(05:59):
be the most underrated defensive lineman in the NFL. You
have Montes Sweat, who came through last year and made
an immediate impact. And then yeah, you have a guy
who of course I love because I played with him
for years as Tremaine Edmonds at the Helm. Who's gonna
leave that? And then Kevin Byerd. I mean we heard
from him. You can tell this guy is just a
stoic leader. I believe the hype. I want to believe
the hype. I think if you live in that Wendy city,
(06:21):
you should feel pretty prideful about your team right now.
Speaker 7 (06:24):
Yeah, listen, I believe the hype, but proceed with caution.
I feel like every Bears fan has been was here
in twenty eighteen, twenty twenty two, twenty twenty four. The
roster was great, Everything looked promising, name flat nothing. So
I think if you're a Bears fan right now, you
have to be excited that one you have Caleb Williams
going into this second year. You have Ben Johnson, who
(06:45):
you know can do a lot of things, but it's
really their relationship that matters, because it goes as Caleb
Williams goes. There's so much put on this young man's
shoulders to deliver. They have the talent around him. Mitch
talked about the revamped offensive line, but can this relationship
between these two mess to the point where we don't
have to talk about the upside that we're watching high
octane fot like we saw in Detroit when Ben d
(07:06):
when Ben Johnson was running that offense. You know, when
Ben Johnson was off scoring of the Detroit Lions, they
weren't fifth in the league of offense. They were scoring
at a high level. That's what Bears fans want. They've
been in despair for so long that they finally got
a competent quarterback. They have a head coach that they
fall in love with, they have a defense, they have
ballplayers and at a high level talent.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
They just need to flat out win.
Speaker 7 (07:27):
It goes back to what Jalen Johnson, the quarterback for
the Bears, said back in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I remember reading that article.
Speaker 7 (07:33):
He said, Hey, man, hype doesn't win you know games,
you gotta deliver. So it's time for the Bears deliver,
and it's time for them to do it now because
Bears fans have been waiting way too long.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Sounds like Willie's making his case for the bear. Willie,
that was strong.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
If I was still in my judge costume, I mean
I would point to Willie there.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
It was good.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Where's my gavel? They should have let me keep that.
Speaker 7 (07:51):
Let me tell you when I ran out of those
thirty seconds on the first one, I was defeated.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
I could have got rid of the whole segment. I
have practice.
Speaker 7 (07:59):
I was trying to, you know, bring it up and
then land it, and then it was over.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
He was hitting the table show.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
I was pissed off.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And then Mitch just said Mitch just sits back and
watched Mantigo and you go. And then he's like, here's
how I'm gonna play it. So Mitch had the advantage there.
I like, I'm digressing. We're in a different segment here
because Manti is still trying to make arguments. Yeah, second down,
we're going cowboys here.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Something we never talked about on this show.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
A receiver George Pickens showing off excellent hands yesterday at practice.
Here he is effortlesly hauling in the throw with one hand.
We see it again right there.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Sweet also at practice yesterday.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I don't know if you saw this, but Dak Prescott's
celebration during a drill. I mean, everyone's having a great time.
So it's like they just won the Super Bowl. It's
great out there. Vibes seem high in Dallas that you
have to entertain yourself right when you guys are going
through the mundane training camp practices, and they certainly are.
How are you feeling about these vibes coming out of
Cowboys training camp?
Speaker 3 (09:00):
What does this do for you? Manti?
Speaker 6 (09:01):
Well, the only vibes that are higher than that is
the one that Mitchill really have going on right now.
But if I'm looking, I like what I'm seeing despite
the contract disputes that Michael's going through. You see that
play that we just saw George Pickens. That's a route
and that's a route combination that's specifically designed to get
George Pickens open. So it's nice to see where they're
(09:22):
going with this offense. But there was also a clip
that I saw where Ceedee Lamb catches his pass and
he's starting to run and who do you see out
front blocking from George Pickens.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
I like to see that dynamic.
Speaker 6 (09:32):
So if I am a Dallas Cowboy fan, if I
am a coach, I like where this team is going.
And not to mention, I saw Marty Schottenheimer coach Sawanheimer
talk about what they like to do during stretch.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
If you can see the coaches, so coach.
Speaker 6 (09:46):
Shawnheimer has a thing where on offense and defense they
stretched separately, but the offensive coaches go to the defensive
side and dap up everybody on the defensive side to
create more unity. So I like the cohesiveness that they're showing.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
I'm on TV.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
If I was one of those big linemen going through
those bags, I don't think I appreciate my quarterback just
running around a bit like bro get in line and
go to the backs with us. But other than that,
I think it's pretty high and it should be heading
into this year.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Yeah, I think to Manti's point, you know, I don't
like clips from training camp too too much. But what
I do like is seeing a team's cohesiveness, the team's
infectious enthusiasm. You see Schottenheimer's impact immediately. The guy is
bringing a different energy, a different bravado to Dallas that
we haven't seen in quite some time. And to Willie's point,
(10:37):
I mean it's time for the Dallas Cowboys fans to
have a little something to look forward to. As much
as the fans of the country in the world can
sometimes just absolutely dump on them, the Cowboys deserve I
think a little bit of reprieve and a little bit
of a change, and I think they're getting that. And
Manti's point, George Pickens seems to be doing exactly what
(10:59):
he needs to do. And when you have your quarterback
having fun, that's a quarterback driven league, man, and you
need that at the helm to propel this team. When
like train Camp's mundane and you have something like this
going down, it's going to make a huge difference.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Yeah, I'm gonna be honest. The vibes are exhausted. I
don't know what to believe.
Speaker 7 (11:16):
Watch Dak Prestock dance around. We watched this and talk
about the cohesiveness. But then when you read the headlines,
is Jerry Jones calling out Dak Prescott for getting her
and not delivering on the big payday that he received,
or it's Michael Parsons one in my morning and more
money and not fit and loved or celebrated, or everybody
waiting and go around to see, you know, George Pickens
(11:37):
and Will Will the real George Pickings show up or
will he really turn over a new leaf? Or when
the run game is going to show it? For the
Dallas Cowboys, they have this young offensive line and this
new running back. What does Brian Schottenhamber bring to the table. Like,
I'm exhausted, I don't know what to believe. I don't
know what kind of Dallas Cowboy team is going to
show up in twenty twenty five. I know Dak Prescott
is a leader, He's a proven leader. I know Michael
(11:58):
Parks is when he's on, he's one of the best
of the game, if not the best of the game.
So I'm exhausted emotionally, I don't know what to believe.
So the vibes are just flat out just delivered. Show
up and let the tape be your resume and hopefully
it all comes into fruition for the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Let your hate flow.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Here's how the preseason works.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Really.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
You get really hyped on all these teams, and then
the reality starts to set in when the season counts,
and nobody loves getting hyped on random training camp practices.
In the man sitting next to you, Mitch loves training
camp video. He loves he loves training camp stats. Nobody
loves training camp stats as much as Mitch Morts. We're
gonna get a whole stat breakdown later in the show,
(12:38):
but we have to switch gears here to some sad
news out of the world of sports entertainment. Wrestling icon
Hulk Hogan passed away at seventy one, and just curious
your thoughts on.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Hulk Hogan's impact in the sporting world. Mantik.
Speaker 6 (12:51):
Yeah, you know, you can think of wrestling, you think
of two iconic figures. It's that Man on the Rock
and Hulk Hogan really reminded me of my grandfather. And
my grandfather had the same mustache, he wore the same
tank top, and he did a lot of arms and
so I remember when I was little watching.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
WCW or ww F.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
Which it was at that time, and watching this guy
shred his shirt and do all of that, and it
just reminds me of my grandfather a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
So it's it's really nostalgic.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
Rest in peace to Hulk Hogan, But he really reminds
me of my grandfather in those good days when I
was little.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Yeah, I would in the same boat. It kind of
reminds me. It's gonna be strange, but it reminds me
of my grandmother. All right, So bear with me here,
bear with me. Now, give me, give me a chance,
will he? So God rest her soul, beautiful woman. When
I would come over to her house, my parents didn't
like how I would gain fifteen pounds in four days
over there. They would bombard me with food. But what
(13:43):
she would do is she had a hul Cogan action
figure that my parents found out where they would hide.
My grandmother used to hide the candy. And then when
we found out that they found out, my grandmother around
the house would hide the candy, but for me to
know where it was, she would put the whole Cogan
action figure on top of where it was hidden. So
I've always had an affinity for HULLL. Cogan, of course
because you know my relationship my grandmother, but also what
(14:05):
he meant to the sporting world, what he meant to wrestling.
He was a beautiful soul wrestling priest.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
My friend.
Speaker 7 (14:10):
Yeah, I'm an eighties baby, so I grew up loving
Hul Cogan. I had the under rus, I had the
wrestling buddy.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
I had it all.
Speaker 7 (14:17):
I had a brother and we called ourselves the Legion
of Doom, so we were very immersed into the wrestling world.
But there was nothing more intense than the Hule Cogan
and the Ultimate Warrior and that rivalry, that intensity.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
I mean, I did it all for WW.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
I thought I was at one point I was going
to be in the w W because I just love
wrestling that much. But whole Cogan was the face, he
was the franchise. He was somebody that everybody followed in
that wrestling world, and it's unfortunate he's no longer with us.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
This actually hits close to home for me. And when
I say that, I mean literally. I live on Clearwater Beach.
That's where Hul Cogan lives. He lives about a street
away from me, so I would see him regularly driving
his golf cart around.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
We would say hi to him.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
This picture was taken by a friend of mine, Monica Ruth, yesterday.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
This was last night.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
So that yellow and red building you see if you
zoomed in, that's Hull Hogan's Beach Bar, which is about
a mile from his street and where we all live.
And so those are all wrestling visions and there was
a huge rainbow last night over his bar and you
could see there were people starting to gather there.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
So I can say this about Hull Cogan.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
When you would see him around, he was never not
Hull Kogan, Like he wasn't trying to be out incognito with.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
A hat on.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It was always that same bandana. He would sometimes be
in Hull Cogan T shirts, which is wild.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
I remember being in one bar and I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Like, that's not him because he's wearing a Hulkokan T shirt.
Oh no, it is him, because he's wearing a Hulkogan
T shirt. He would walk up and down the beach
and obviously he's so recognizable, right and so fans people
would stop him left and right, and he was always
great with that, right. He just he was Hull Cogan,
and he was Hull Cogan of every second of every day.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
And it seems really strange.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I'm out here in la and obviously this all went
down yesterday on the beach, so it seems very strange
and bizarre and surreal that he's not going to be
driving past the house in the golf car anymore.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
So.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
He is certainly such a well known figure nationally but
locally in our neighborhood. And it's very weird to have
seen this unfold yesterday and that he's no longer with us.
So nice football is officially back here as we move
on to training camp. Thirty two teams reporting to training
camp this week. NFL Network is going to be there
(16:17):
to cover it all. Be sure to tune into Back
Together weekend for twelve hours of live coverage from training
camp all around the league. It gets underway tomorrow at
nine am Eastern. That is only on NFL Network.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Manti going to the Chargers, he loves them, can't stop
talking about him.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Coming up Pete Carroll and the Raiders, sending the message
that things are changing in Vegas. Christian Wilkins receiving that
message loud and clear.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
We're going to talk about that situation when we come back. Manti.
Speaker 6 (16:44):
Plus, I'm going to reveal my top ten linebackers, my
my top ten in NFL today and I have Sarah
on the Guys Blind Rank my top five.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
More to come on GMFB. Let's go. Good morning.
Speaker 8 (17:11):
We went a ton, we win a bunch of games.
Ain't nothing. I can't even imagine anything. I haven't winning
ten games a year for twenty years. Or something. You know,
I man, what are my expectations? Wen't win a bunch
and I don't care you know who hears that. I mean,
it doesn't matter to me. It ain't about what anybody hears.
It's about what we do. And so that's why our
expectations are are really high. The standards need to be
(17:32):
so that the expectations can be met.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
We'll see what happens, guys.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
You know, we were just looking at that video of
Dak Prescott dancing around practice and saying that fires listening
to Pete Carroll say that, and then you see him
dancing around like that would fire me up if I'm
a Raiders fan. Pete Carroll yesterday afternoon on expectations and
standards for the season, he and the organization putting their
money where their mouth is. Later in the day, the
team released defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the wake of
(18:00):
a dispute over whether or not he should undergo surgery
on his injured foot. NFL Network insider Ian Rapaport reporting
that the Raiders are attempting to void more than thirty
five million dollars in remaining guarantees on wilkins contract. Now,
Ian adds a grievance has been filed on Wilkins's behalf
to fight such a void.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
From even taking place.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
The team was releasing the statement saying that they have
decided it is in the best interest of the organization
to move on from him. They've got a commitment to excellence,
they said, on and off the field. The statement also saying,
quote with no clear path or planned for future return
to play from Christian, this transaction is necessary for the
entire organization to move forward and prepare for.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
The new season.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
So more contacts from that Ian is reporting that the
team wanted Wilkins to get surgery on his foot that
he fractured last season, but Wilkins declined after receiving several opinions.
The defensive tackle signed a four year, one hundred and
ten million dollar deal with the Raiders just a year ago.
It looks like Pete Carroll's not messing around. He is
ready to turn things around in Vegas. They are cutting
(19:09):
ties with players that they feel like they need to
cut ties from Willis. It's certainly an unusual situation when
you see the statement that they put out, and I'm
just curious your thoughts on sort of how this has
all unfolded.
Speaker 7 (19:22):
Well, yeah, so he suffered a Jones fracture, which is
pretty tough. I think there's a speculation going out going
around that he didn't get surgery, and that's false. He
did get surgery on the left foot. However, they wanted
him to get another surgery, kind of a quick fix,
and he denied that.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
He even went around to a couple other.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
Docs is asking for the expert, their expertise in their opinion,
and they say, you don't need the second surgery.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
So he didn't get it.
Speaker 7 (19:46):
As ballplayers, we understand, man, anytime you go underneath the knife,
you really developed more arthritis in the area that they
operated on.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
So this is a big blow to the defense man.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
Christian Wilkins was supposed to be a cornerstone right next
to MaTx Crosby and Malcolm Kudes.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Max Crosby is on and we talked.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
About him yesterday talking about playing delusion really how willing
yourself to realize that they can win, and he needed help,
and Christian Wilkins was supposed to be that guy right
beside him, really leading this defensive charge. So this is
a major blow to the Las Vegas Raiders. And his defense.
We talked about their woes and what they lacked. This
is going to be tough to recover because this guy
(20:25):
was an impact player.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
Yeah, this is somewhat confusing to me the whole situation
thinking about him just as a player I played within
the same division when he was in Miami, I was
in Buffalo, a tremendous player, earned every penny of that
one hundred and ten million dollars deal from the Raiders.
Your body, Yeah, you inherently you're going to get hurt
(20:46):
in this game. Inherently there's going to be parts and
times where you're asked to step on the field injured.
The severity of those injuries vary, and how you feel
as a player varies. There's certain injuries you can go
out there and feel like, yeah, I can still put
my best foot forward, no pun intended. The Jones fracture
is no joke. And knowing that he had gun under
the knife and he had gotten these second opinions and
(21:07):
they said he didn't technically need it, I'd be remiss
to think that there isn't something going on behind the
scenes in regards to maybe I don't want to even
speculate because that's not fair to the player who hasn't
been able to have a conversation with the media or
with the public. But there's something underlying that we're not seeing,
whether it's behind the scenes in the locker and with management.
(21:28):
I don't want to speculate, but they made this move
for a reason, and I'm really interested to see how
this information comes out over the ensuing days and weeks.
Speaker 6 (21:37):
Yeah, Mitch, my comments kind of they feed off of yours,
where we need to hear what Christian Wilkins has to say.
There's a lot of information. There's a whole other side
to the story that we don't know yet. So I
don't want to speculate. I don't want to put things
out there that create this narrative that is totally false.
But the reality of this is as a player, you
have to understand who works for who, like the team,
(21:58):
doctor works for the team, and oftentimes players go to
their people or go to outside just to get second
opinion so that they could have an opinion that isn't
related to their work or isn't related to their team.
So I based on what Willy has told us, and
I'm so grateful that Wally kind of updated us because
we didn't see any of that in the reports. And
that's the thing about where we're at is we're kind
(22:19):
of going off with what everybody says. So I'm grateful
that Willy had that inside facts and presented it to
us today because the fact of the matter is, we
know how they feel when I say, hey, I mean
the Las Vegas Raiders, but we don't know how Christian
Wilkins feels. We don't know what actually transpired to lead
to this, and it's just a difficult situation. As a player,
you don't want to put yourself in this situation where
(22:40):
a team can use something against you, and there's a
fine line you have to walk often.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
But I just wish.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Christian Wilkins nothing but the best wherever that wherever that
may lead him, because he's a really good football player
and the big the Las Vegas Raiders are really going
to miss him because they had a tough task ahead
of them heading into this year, it just got a
lot tougher.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
And just to kind of piggyback off of second opinions
that you're talking about anti for the general public who
don't know it's players' rights to go get these second
opinions for people who don't know. It's not just what
the doctors who inherently I think some I don't want
to speculate because I've been around some amazing team doctors.
Let me get that straight, people that I implicitly trust
(23:22):
and then I still trust to this day. But it
doesn't mean I still didn't get second opinions from other
people that trusted outside of the building. It is a
business through and through so and I got nothing else
to say. It's just it's a real bummer in my opinion,
because what Willie said, You're missing a guy on that
field who I think would have complimented Max Crosby perfectly
and hoping lands on his feet somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I think it's also interesting, you know, we hear from
Pete Carroll and this is a guy that is so
used to winning, right, I mean, he talks about double
digit wins and he is in a division that it
is top. Andy Reaves talked about, Hey, the guys in
the division, the other teams, they're only getting better. So
it'll be interesting to see how fast Pete Carroll can
get those Raiders up to speed and make an impact there.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Welcome back to GMFB.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
The Bills are turning back the clock as they have
officially announced the return of their red helmets for the
twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
They are going to wear the helmet for their Week eighteen.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Game against the Jets to celebrate the final regular season
game at high Mark Stadium. The team wore the iconic
red helmets from eighty seven to two thousand and one.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Well.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
In his nineteen ninety three Pro Football Hall of Fame
induction speech, Walter Payton recognized the impact we all can
have on each other's lives, and the legacy of the
nineteen seventy seven NFL Man of the Year lives on
through the actions and service of all the winners of
that award, which now bears his name, including Derek Brooks,
Kurt Warner, Marty Lyons, Troy Vincent and work done.
Speaker 9 (24:49):
If you put forth the effort and you take a
little time, they would stand up here and they would
tell you that everything that they had on paper and
everything that they had in their hearts did not come
from them solely alone, but it came from the number
of people that have helped them and their met along
the way, such as.
Speaker 10 (25:06):
I The Walter Payton Man of the Year award is
the Nobel Peace Price of the National Football League. It
is what represents community service, empathy, passion.
Speaker 11 (25:19):
It's about making this world a better place.
Speaker 12 (25:22):
To make a difference, all you have to do is care.
Speaker 13 (25:25):
That trophy has incredible significance because it's a reminder of
how I want to live life.
Speaker 14 (25:31):
Doing good does not have a shelf life your career does.
Let's go change the world. I hate the dumb jock stereotype.
Still irritates me to today. I believe God gave me this
platform of the NFL to feed this mission bigger than football.
(25:51):
That has led me to be involved with education and
doing charitable work and show kids that we believe in them.
So I started a high school. You can affect more
than just fifty kids at a time. We're talking hundreds.
If you show kids that you believe in them, they'll respond.
They were wanted to go share the journey with others
behind them.
Speaker 10 (26:14):
I'm a representative of the best of the best of
the National Football League, but our legacy is not on
the football field. Growing up Entrant, New Jersey, it protected me,
it molded me. But in the seventies and the eighties,
the city was hit hard through crime drugs, so I
knew early on, if I ever had the platform, I
(26:37):
will give back to the city of Trenton. When we started,
we put all of our attention into education. Some places
we show up the school systems. They just need mentorship.
We want kids to be to compete. We all can
be role models in our own right with our families
and our children and our communities.
Speaker 11 (26:59):
I think I was one of the best running backs
in the league, but I learned it's not just about football.
It's about impacting people off the field. My mom was
a bedros cited police officer, but one night, my mom
life was taken. Being the otis of six, the responsibility
(27:19):
all falls on me, so I had to step up.
My mom always wanted to become a homeowner. Homes for
the Holidays is a program that I started back in
nineteen ninety seven, and my mom.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
That's what she would have wanted.
Speaker 13 (27:35):
My career, my life is very much surrounding the idea
of being an underdogar whether it was sitting on the
bench for four years in college, or getting cut by
my first NFL team, or working in a grocery store,
it was never going to be a situation where somebody
just gave me a handout. It was going to have
to be earned. And I also realized that I couldn't
do it all on my own.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
But it's somebody that.
Speaker 13 (27:57):
Give me that opportunity to showcase the work, the skill,
the talents that I had, the work that we've done
in the community, trying to do those same things. I
want to keep my head on a swivel looking for
other people that need that opportunity so they can chase
their dream and they can live the life that they
want to live.
Speaker 12 (28:16):
Nineteen eighty two, in the month of March really changed
my life. When I played with the Jets, we had
a great association with the Long Island Leukemia Society. The
child that I bonded with was a little boy named Keith.
And then all suddenly, out of nowhere, my father, who
was fifty eight, died of a massive heart attack. Two
days after my dad, Teith passed away, I needed a
(28:38):
vehicle that would allow me to move on, and I
started the Marty Lions Foundation. We raised money for terminally
ill children. They always say God gives everybody a gift.
He gave me two the ability to play football and
the ability to.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Help people.
Speaker 14 (28:56):
Service at the highest level, and when you do that,
you become a champion above the game of football.
Speaker 12 (29:03):
You don't have to be rich, you don't have to
be an NFL player. Are we all in this world
to make one another better? It's just who wants to deal.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
With That's what keeps me going.
Speaker 11 (29:14):
How we impact the next generation if we show them
anything as possible.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
But you have to do your regard.
Speaker 13 (29:20):
Whoever you are, wherever you are, you have an opportunity
to impact the lives of other people. Don't miss your opportunity.
Speaker 10 (29:29):
This is your true legacy. Not the touchdowns, not the interceptions.
This is about making a difference. Let's get to work.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
Incredible work, inspiring work.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
You can head over to the NFL Fast Channel for
a special today as we lead up to a celebration
of Walter Payton's birthday. We're going to air Legacy of Legends,
Impact the Service that is exclusively on the NFL Fast Channel.
We've got more gmfbe coming up after this.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
What's up, everybody? Welcome back to GMFB.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
I had the chance to rank my top ten linebackers
currently playing today. You could check it out at the
NFL dot Com slash tell O te Oh, no.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
Apostrophe, just Teo.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
But I have a little game that I want to
play with my co hosts. What I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna show number ten through number six, and then
we're gonna blind rank my one through five.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
But first let's see the ten through six. First, I'm
gonna explain a.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Little bit why these guys are on my list.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
So here's ten through six.
Speaker 6 (30:43):
Ten Frankie Louvu nine, Denzel Paraman eight, Nick Bolton seven,
Zach Bond six, Alex Anzeloni Frankie Louvu. I think having
Bobby Wagner and Bobby Wagner next to him has been
a great upgrade for him. He played as best ball
last year. Denzel Peraman my little brother again, guys, this
is my top ten. I've never seen somebody play the
(31:03):
linebacker position like Denzel Perriman. For you young kids, just
typing Denzel Pairman on.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
YouTube and watch his hits.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
Nick Bolton, there's the reason why that defense for Spags
is what it is, and it starts in the middle
with Nick Bolton, Zach Vond talk about an underdog story,
talk about a perfect fit for the Philadelphia Eagles. He
was that guy in the middle. It's somebody that I
love watching in Zach vond Now number six, Alex san Zelney,
my little brother. We drafted him out of Florida to
(31:29):
New Orleans. I have never seen a more athletic linebacker,
somebody that can move laterally as fast as he can.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
We saw his.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
Impact when he came back into after injury last year
for the Detroit Lions and what impact that had on
his team.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
So that is my ten through six guys.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
Okay, So now we're gonna blind rank the next five. Okay,
We're gonna start with a linebacker that I love. Okay, guys, ready, Okay,
there's no changing. Okay, there's no change once you put
the name down, there's no changing. First up, Dre Greenlaw.
Guys ranked Dray green Loan one through five. You think
that I have Drake Greenlaw when I watched Drake Greenlaw play.
(32:07):
I've said this on the show many times. Before you
think about the San Francisco forty nine ers, you think
about the dominance of that defense. Obviously Fred Warner has
talked about a lot, But for Drake Greenlaw, he is
the engine of that defense. You saw when he was
in the game. It just looked different. His teammates played different.
They played with violence, Willy and we love violence on
the show, and Drake Greenlaw continues to play with that violence.
(32:30):
And I know it's going to continue over there in Denver.
Everybody got yeah, everybody?
Speaker 4 (32:34):
Good?
Speaker 6 (32:35):
Let me see where do you have them? Four for Sarah,
three for Willie? And where do you got him at
for for drink?
Speaker 4 (32:42):
Okay for for dre Okay, We're we have a pretty
good start.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Oh we're revealing right now.
Speaker 6 (32:47):
Not yet, not yet. I got I got four more
second guy guys, Roquan Smith, where do you have Where
do you think I put Rokwan Smith on my top
five linebackers now?
Speaker 4 (32:58):
Qan. I played with Roquan when he was.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
A Chicago Bears my last year in the NFL, and
let me tell you, the guy was one of the
smartest linebackers and natural leader.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
He studied more film than anybody.
Speaker 6 (33:09):
He got everybody lined up, and he's a guy that
I think going to Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
That's hard to fill the shoes of.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
The middle linebacker when you have somebody like ray Lewis
that has played with them forever. But number zero for
the Baltimore Ravens continues to be that guy for them.
So where do you guys have Rokwan Smith? Oh, number two? Okay, okay, Willie,
you got him at number two as well. You have
him at number three?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Okay, strong start guy, strong starts.
Speaker 6 (33:37):
So number three, next guy, Bobby Wagner the OG, A
guy that I've watched.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
Throughout my career.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
There's very rarely do I see other linebackers that I
try to exemplify what they do.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
He was one of.
Speaker 6 (33:50):
Those guys that I watched play time ever since you
went to Seattle, watched his game and try to duplicate
the things that he did. Now we all talk about
the Washington Commanders. We talked about Jaden Daniels, we talk
about the resurgence with dan Quinn. We don't talk a
lot about Bobby Wagner. There's a reason why dan Quinn
Bock brought Bobby Wagner to Washington, and there's the reason
(34:11):
why Frankie Louell has has had his best year, and
a lot of it had to do with number fifty
four in the middle.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
So where do you guys have Bobby Wagner on the list?
Sarah three, three, Okay, okay, where you got Mitch?
Speaker 5 (34:25):
I got I got number one?
Speaker 4 (34:27):
One? How about you, Willie? I got four? Fourth? Got
to bring fourth? Okay, okay, all right, we're almost there. Fourth. Fourth. Guys.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
Fred Warner, Fred Warner, now Fred Warner, to call him
all pro Fred. He's the best linebacker that they've seen
since the war Bowman time, Patrick Willis's time. He's carried
on the excellence at the linebacker position. His ability to
get the ball and take the ball away, his ability.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
To run sideline to sil and you see a little
bit of.
Speaker 6 (34:59):
His safety background when he's out there playing, his ability
to play in space. He's FAST's physic cool, and it
makes a lot of plays on the football. Fred Warner
is considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL
today and has been for the past five to six years,
and he will continue to be that for the San
Francis Reporting nine ers.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
So, guys, where do you have Fred Warner?
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (35:18):
Number one? Sarah got him at number one? Willy, where
you got him at one as well?
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Okay, I got him a number two.
Speaker 6 (35:26):
I'm gonna okay, So, so Sarah you have left Mitch,
where do you have what do you have five left?
I have five left as well, and then Willie, you
have what five?
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Or what do you have? The glare? I just got
the same thing. Everybody got five left? All right? Yeah,
all right, guys.
Speaker 6 (35:42):
Well, last, but not least, I got the veteran Levonte
David for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You talk about consistency,
how many linebackers have played next to him? Yet fifty
four is a constant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One
of the smartest linebackers to play the game of football,
one of the most consistent linebackers that played the game
of football. He plays a weak side linebacker position, which
(36:03):
often times is in space and Levonte David has been
in the NFL for thirteen seasons and thirteen seasons and
has looks like he hasn't lots of step. So going
forward to the NFC South returning Tamps, Levonte David will
continue to hold down the middle for that defense and
I'm looking forward to it behind Vito vel So where
(36:24):
you guys got him? Obviously you guys all got him
at number five.
Speaker 4 (36:27):
How do you guys feel about that? Guys all agreed.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Against We didn't have a choice it was our last,
it was ours.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
I have to commend you. These are five remarkable line.
Thank you, Thank you, Mick, they really are, thank you,
really well done.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
Okay, let's see how my co hosts have done. Guys.
Speaker 6 (36:42):
I'm gonna reveal the top five and see how it
matched up with your guys' list.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
So this is my top five.
Speaker 6 (36:48):
Number one, I got Bobby Wagner, number two, I've got
Fred Warner, three, Dre Greenlaw for Levonte David five, ro
Kwan Smith. There's no way that I couldn't put Bobby
Wagner at number one.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
Guys, it was just.
Speaker 6 (37:04):
Just one of those ogs. Man Like there's Ray Lewis
and then there's Bobby Wagner.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
Put him up, Sarah, there's a list and not bad,
not bad, guys.
Speaker 6 (37:12):
It's the closest. Mitch is pretty close. Bobby Wagner won.
That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 12 (37:18):
Mitch.
Speaker 6 (37:19):
We see it the same way now, guys, Lineman, Mitch
and Willie, how do you guys see this list? Obviously
you guys are gonna you guys were the ones that
had to block these guys. How do you see that
list from a Lineman perspective?
Speaker 5 (37:31):
Yeah, I'll start us off. I mean, Bobby Wagner, like
you alluded to, I think he's just a one in
a million type of linebackers still at his age, put
up some remarkable numbers easy number one. Especially playing him,
It's just he's just a different guy.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
Fred Warner.
Speaker 5 (37:46):
What surprised me when I met Fred was just his
his demeanor, his stature, and then hearing this command of
that whole defense is cool.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Roquan.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
I think you talk about the anf C North, you
have that division. Rokwan Smith and is the pinnacle of
that defense and is right in the conversation for that
whole thing. Drake green Law, I think, like you said,
it's coming off that Achilles is playing really good football.
The Leavonte David thirteen years. He's one of my favorite
players of all time.
Speaker 7 (38:13):
Yeah, the only guys I've actually only played against on
his list is Bobby Wagner, Devonte Davis. Fred Warner, for
me to me, is the best linebacker in the league period.
Roquan Swift obviously everybody knows his resume. Hugh was a
great ball play. Drake gren Law, even coming off injury.
Now that I think he's with the Broncos, right now
I expect him to have an impact coming off any
Bobby Wagner is the OG as we stayed it plenty
(38:36):
of times. But overall, if I have to crown anybody
amongst the linebacker group, it would be Fred Water Mantet.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
I just want to say, I love that you have
Levante in your top five because he is perennially I
think underrated. I think a lot of people think he's
been underrated in his time in Tampa. Entering his fourteenth season,
and this sort of embodies who Levante is. He shows
up to practice yesterday, talks to the media and says, hey,
I'm out here.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
I have to earn my stripes. No you don't. You're
Levonte David, you don't.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
But that's been his mentality and we saw some via
him running. Annie sends a lot of track workouts this offseason.
I mean, this man is on the track, sprinting. It
just leads this team in tackles. He's incredible. He's the
guy that answers the questions when things aren't easy.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
We talked about that yesterday.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
It's so easy when things are great, right, this is
the guy that speaks for this team when there are
tough times down there. So everyone that knows Levante loves him,
and I'm glad you're showing him some love too.
Speaker 6 (39:25):
I got to show we got some love. So again,
that's my top ten list. You can see at NFL
dot com slash t e oh.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
Oh yeah, he's got his own handle.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah, let me check it out. Guys, let me know
what you think.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Bobby Wagner get him.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Wow
Good Morning Football is the production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Good Morning Football. It is Friday, July twenty fifth.
I'm Sarah Walsh, joined here in Los Angeles by man
Tai Tea. We got a pair of former offensive linemen
holding down the fort there in New York City and
Mitch Morse and.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Willie Cologne hanging out there. You guys had a good
week with us.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
Yeah, it's been fun. I mean, hey, Willie's the man
for you guys.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In broadcasting, that's called a leading question, Like I really
didn't give you a choice that you've.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Had fun, right, right, guys, Like.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
I shouldn't what we're supposed to say.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, I know, I know, Willie.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Well maybe it was leading for a reason. No, we've
had a great time. We're so happy to have you guys,
and we got another hour to go.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So let's get this thing started on a Friday.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Let's really good.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
It is Friday. We know it's Friday.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
You know why because the producer Gina in our ears,
she's so excited she can taste the weekend coming. Everyone's
so happy on a Friday. Here Sarah, along with Mantai
and then the dynamic duo that is just taking the
sports broadcasting world by storm, Willy and Mitch, who are
going to open an ice cream shop. Will he told
us in the last hour. Willi and Mitch's out there. Look,
I mean, look.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
At this just on the front.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Although Mitch looks like he's pondering the questions of life there,
Willi's just happy that you're coming into the ice cream shop.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Mitch, what are we thinking?
Speaker 5 (01:41):
Maybe there's more flavors than vanilla? And why does everyone
keep walking out of our ice cream shop?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Immediately when they walk.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
They're like, this guy's got questions for me and Willy
and Willie's like, come on in. Mitch is like going
to toss out questions about, you know, existential stature.
Speaker 6 (02:02):
And that's that's the That's a that's a look that
you have when you go to the ice cream shop
and you ask him can I sample the ice cream?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And like, now we don't do a sample samples? What
do you want to sample? Vanilla offers Vanilla.
Speaker 6 (02:14):
Yeah, that's a that's a face that Mitch makes when
somebody asks that.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
All right, well, Mett, let's see what kind of face
you have to make about the Bears, because this is
where we're kicking things off now for three and out,
We've got better safety.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Kevin Bayer this is first down.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Impressed with the way his head coach Ben Johnson carries
himself and leads the team.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Take a listen, you.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Know the young guys kind of call it aora. Just
he just no no for really like he breathes competition.
You could just tell just the intensity. I think he
just he just wants the best for everybody, and I
think that type of energy raises the level of everybody
in the team. You know, you're only as strong as
your weekest link. So that's what we're trying toppreciate every
single person in the building. We're just trying to get
one percent better every day. And it doesn't look you know,
(02:57):
everybody knows success.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Isn't like this. It's kind of like this ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
But we're just trying to eliminate those dips and make
the dips smaller.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
As we can tell you the clown, we're trying to
win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
You know, I think Bridge said it in an interview
when he was doing this training camp, but it was true.
Ben Johnson wants to build a dynasty, and we want
to be that dynasty. We want to be the guys
that kind of get this thing started.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Myself another preseason, a lot of hypes surrounding the Bears.
It feels like mantaid, We've been here season after season
after season, like.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
This is it.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
We've got Caleb now, this is it. Now we got
Ben Johnson, this is it. So we've seen this story
played out at this time of year before.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Are you guys buying in?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Is this the year that the hype matches what these
Bears are going to do at Manti?
Speaker 6 (03:38):
Well, I think there's hype around every team in the
NFL right now. I think, more accurately, there's a lot
of excitement around the Bears franchise. Now that you have
a coach like Ben Johnson that you know because he's
been in your division for so long, you know what
he's going to bring to the table. But what I
do like and what I am excited about is the
fact that when I look at the clippings of Charge
not Chargers camp, bro, I'm still on to make the
(03:59):
case of Bears Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson actually pulled the
first team in seven on seven because they couldn't get
aligned right twice. Like that just goes to show where
Ben Johnson is that as far as the attention to detail,
the accountability, he's not afraid to get on you. Everything
that I've read, all the reports out of Bears camp
has been He's been on Caleb Williams about the little things.
(04:23):
This is such a big contrast to what we heard
last year, where it was just all about, Hey, we
got it. He's doing great, he's doing great, he's doing great.
Had Ben Johnson is like, that's not good enough.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Man.
Speaker 6 (04:32):
If you don't perform, I'm going to pull you off
the field. Matter of fact, I'm gonna take all you
off the field if we can't get aligned right. So
I'm really excited about what the season looks like for
the Bears because now you have a head coach that
there were questions going into this year, I can he
command the room? Can he stand in front of players
and say things and they respond? Well, when you're going
(04:52):
out there in seven on seven and you miss aligned
twice and your head coach pulls your whole first team
off the field and says sit on the side, like,
that's the type of stuff that creates winning. That's the
type of stuff that creates an expectation and a standard
that really likes to refer to a lot that they
had at the Steelers that results into winning. So I
like where that accountability is coming from, and no better
(05:14):
person to have it come from than the head coach.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Yeah, I think you should believe the hype and I
want to commend Ryan Poles the GM of the Bears.
As a Bears fan, you should be proud to have
Ryan Poles at the Helm. You've every year addressed the
needs that are prevalent to that team. You gave Justin
Fields a chance, it didn't work out. You bring in
Caleb Williams, You gave coaches a chance that didn't work out.
(05:38):
You bringing Ben Johnson. You didn't like the way that
the offensive line was protecting up front. So what did
you do? You brought in three of some of the
heaviest hitters in the NFL, with Jonah Jackson from LA
Drew Dollman from Atlanta, and then oh yeah, Joe Tooney,
I think a future Hall of Famer at right guard
from the Kansas City Chiefs. On defense with Dennis Allen.
You have guys like Grady Jarrett who I think might
(05:59):
be the most underrated defensive lineman in the NFL. You
have Montes Sweat, who came through last year and made
an immediate impact. And then yeah, you have a guy
who of course I love because I played with him
for years as Tremaine Edmonds at the Helm. Who's gonna
leave that? And then Kevin Byerd. I mean we heard
from him. You can tell this guy is just a
stoic leader. I believe the hype. I want to believe
the hype. I think if you live in that Wendy city,
(06:21):
you should feel pretty prideful about your team right now.
Speaker 7 (06:24):
Yeah, listen, I believe the hype, but proceed with caution.
I feel like every Bears fan has been was here
in twenty eighteen, twenty twenty two, twenty twenty four. The
roster was great, Everything looked promising, name flat nothing. So
I think if you're a Bears fan right now, you
have to be excited that one you have Caleb Williams
going into this second year. You have Ben Johnson, who
(06:45):
you know can do a lot of things, but it's
really their relationship that matters, because it goes as Caleb
Williams goes. There's so much put on this young man's
shoulders to deliver. They have the talent around him. Mitch
talked about the revamped offensive line, but can this relationship
between these two mess to the point where we don't
have to talk about the upside that we're watching high
octane fot like we saw in Detroit when Ben d
(07:06):
when Ben Johnson was running that offense. You know, when
Ben Johnson was off scoring of the Detroit Lions, they
weren't fifth in the league of offense. They were scoring
at a high level. That's what Bears fans want. They've
been in despair for so long that they finally got
a competent quarterback. They have a head coach that they
fall in love with, they have a defense, they have
ballplayers and at a high level talent.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
They just need to flat out win.
Speaker 7 (07:27):
It goes back to what Jalen Johnson, the quarterback for
the Bears, said back in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I remember reading that article.
Speaker 7 (07:33):
He said, Hey, man, hype doesn't win you know games,
you gotta deliver. So it's time for the Bears deliver,
and it's time for them to do it now because
Bears fans have been waiting way too long.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Sounds like Willie's making his case for the bear. Willie,
that was strong.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
If I was still in my judge costume, I mean
I would point to Willie there.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
It was good.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Where's my gavel? They should have let me keep that.
Speaker 7 (07:51):
Let me tell you when I ran out of those
thirty seconds on the first one, I was defeated.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
I could have got rid of the whole segment. I
have practice.
Speaker 7 (07:59):
I was trying to, you know, bring it up and
then land it, and then it was over.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
He was hitting the table show.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
I was pissed off.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And then Mitch just said Mitch just sits back and
watched Mantigo and you go. And then he's like, here's
how I'm gonna play it. So Mitch had the advantage there.
I like, I'm digressing. We're in a different segment here
because Manti is still trying to make arguments. Yeah, second down,
we're going cowboys here.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Something we never talked about on this show.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
A receiver George Pickens showing off excellent hands yesterday at practice.
Here he is effortlesly hauling in the throw with one hand.
We see it again right there.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Sweet also at practice yesterday.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I don't know if you saw this, but Dak Prescott's
celebration during a drill. I mean, everyone's having a great time.
So it's like they just won the Super Bowl. It's
great out there. Vibes seem high in Dallas that you
have to entertain yourself right when you guys are going
through the mundane training camp practices, and they certainly are.
How are you feeling about these vibes coming out of
Cowboys training camp?
Speaker 3 (09:00):
What does this do for you? Manti?
Speaker 6 (09:01):
Well, the only vibes that are higher than that is
the one that Mitchill really have going on right now.
But if I'm looking, I like what I'm seeing despite
the contract disputes that Michael's going through. You see that
play that we just saw George Pickens. That's a route
and that's a route combination that's specifically designed to get
George Pickens open. So it's nice to see where they're
(09:22):
going with this offense. But there was also a clip
that I saw where Ceedee Lamb catches his pass and
he's starting to run and who do you see out
front blocking from George Pickens.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
I like to see that dynamic.
Speaker 6 (09:32):
So if I am a Dallas Cowboy fan, if I
am a coach, I like where this team is going.
And not to mention, I saw Marty Schottenheimer coach Sawanheimer
talk about what they like to do during stretch.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
If you can see the coaches, so coach.
Speaker 6 (09:46):
Shawnheimer has a thing where on offense and defense they
stretched separately, but the offensive coaches go to the defensive
side and dap up everybody on the defensive side to
create more unity. So I like the cohesiveness that they're showing.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
I'm on TV.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
If I was one of those big linemen going through
those bags, I don't think I appreciate my quarterback just
running around a bit like bro get in line and
go to the backs with us. But other than that,
I think it's pretty high and it should be heading
into this year.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Yeah, I think to Manti's point, you know, I don't
like clips from training camp too too much. But what
I do like is seeing a team's cohesiveness, the team's
infectious enthusiasm. You see Schottenheimer's impact immediately. The guy is
bringing a different energy, a different bravado to Dallas that
we haven't seen in quite some time. And to Willie's point,
(10:37):
I mean it's time for the Dallas Cowboys fans to
have a little something to look forward to. As much
as the fans of the country in the world can
sometimes just absolutely dump on them, the Cowboys deserve I
think a little bit of reprieve and a little bit
of a change, and I think they're getting that. And
Manti's point, George Pickens seems to be doing exactly what
(10:59):
he needs to do. And when you have your quarterback
having fun, that's a quarterback driven league, man, and you
need that at the helm to propel this team. When
like train Camp's mundane and you have something like this
going down, it's going to make a huge difference.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Yeah, I'm gonna be honest. The vibes are exhausted. I
don't know what to believe.
Speaker 7 (11:16):
Watch Dak Prestock dance around. We watched this and talk
about the cohesiveness. But then when you read the headlines,
is Jerry Jones calling out Dak Prescott for getting her
and not delivering on the big payday that he received,
or it's Michael Parsons one in my morning and more
money and not fit and loved or celebrated, or everybody
waiting and go around to see, you know, George Pickens
(11:37):
and Will Will the real George Pickings show up or
will he really turn over a new leaf? Or when
the run game is going to show it? For the
Dallas Cowboys, they have this young offensive line and this
new running back. What does Brian Schottenhamber bring to the table. Like,
I'm exhausted, I don't know what to believe. I don't
know what kind of Dallas Cowboy team is going to
show up in twenty twenty five. I know Dak Prescott
is a leader, He's a proven leader. I know Michael
(11:58):
Parks is when he's on, he's one of the best
of the game, if not the best of the game.
So I'm exhausted emotionally, I don't know what to believe.
So the vibes are just flat out just delivered. Show
up and let the tape be your resume and hopefully
it all comes into fruition for the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Let your hate flow.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Here's how the preseason works.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Really.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
You get really hyped on all these teams, and then
the reality starts to set in when the season counts,
and nobody loves getting hyped on random training camp practices.
In the man sitting next to you, Mitch loves training
camp video. He loves he loves training camp stats. Nobody
loves training camp stats as much as Mitch Morts. We're
gonna get a whole stat breakdown later in the show,
(12:38):
but we have to switch gears here to some sad
news out of the world of sports entertainment. Wrestling icon
Hulk Hogan passed away at seventy one, and just curious
your thoughts on.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Hulk Hogan's impact in the sporting world. Mantik.
Speaker 6 (12:51):
Yeah, you know, you can think of wrestling, you think
of two iconic figures. It's that Man on the Rock
and Hulk Hogan really reminded me of my grandfather. And
my grandfather had the same mustache, he wore the same
tank top, and he did a lot of arms and
so I remember when I was little watching.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
WCW or ww F.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
Which it was at that time, and watching this guy
shred his shirt and do all of that, and it
just reminds me of my grandfather a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
So it's it's really nostalgic.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
Rest in peace to Hulk Hogan, But he really reminds
me of my grandfather in those good days when I
was little.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Yeah, I would in the same boat. It kind of
reminds me. It's gonna be strange, but it reminds me
of my grandmother. All right, So bear with me here,
bear with me. Now, give me, give me a chance,
will he? So God rest her soul, beautiful woman. When
I would come over to her house, my parents didn't
like how I would gain fifteen pounds in four days
over there. They would bombard me with food. But what
(13:43):
she would do is she had a hul Cogan action
figure that my parents found out where they would hide.
My grandmother used to hide the candy. And then when
we found out that they found out, my grandmother around
the house would hide the candy, but for me to
know where it was, she would put the whole Cogan
action figure on top of where it was hidden. So
I've always had an affinity for HULLL. Cogan, of course
because you know my relationship my grandmother, but also what
(14:05):
he meant to the sporting world, what he meant to wrestling.
He was a beautiful soul wrestling priest.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
My friend.
Speaker 7 (14:10):
Yeah, I'm an eighties baby, so I grew up loving
Hul Cogan. I had the under rus, I had the
wrestling buddy.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
I had it all.
Speaker 7 (14:17):
I had a brother and we called ourselves the Legion
of Doom, so we were very immersed into the wrestling world.
But there was nothing more intense than the Hule Cogan
and the Ultimate Warrior and that rivalry, that intensity.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
I mean, I did it all for WW.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
I thought I was at one point I was going
to be in the w W because I just love
wrestling that much. But whole Cogan was the face, he
was the franchise. He was somebody that everybody followed in
that wrestling world, and it's unfortunate he's no longer with us.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
This actually hits close to home for me. And when
I say that, I mean literally. I live on Clearwater Beach.
That's where Hul Cogan lives. He lives about a street
away from me, so I would see him regularly driving
his golf cart around.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
We would say hi to him.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
This picture was taken by a friend of mine, Monica Ruth, yesterday.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
This was last night.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
So that yellow and red building you see if you
zoomed in, that's Hull Hogan's Beach Bar, which is about
a mile from his street and where we all live.
And so those are all wrestling visions and there was
a huge rainbow last night over his bar and you
could see there were people starting to gather there.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
So I can say this about Hull Cogan.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
When you would see him around, he was never not
Hull Kogan, Like he wasn't trying to be out incognito with.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
A hat on.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It was always that same bandana. He would sometimes be
in Hull Cogan T shirts, which is wild.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
I remember being in one bar and I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Like, that's not him because he's wearing a Hulkokan T shirt.
Oh no, it is him, because he's wearing a Hulkogan
T shirt. He would walk up and down the beach
and obviously he's so recognizable, right and so fans people
would stop him left and right, and he was always
great with that, right. He just he was Hull Cogan,
and he was Hull Cogan of every second of every day.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
And it seems really strange.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I'm out here in la and obviously this all went
down yesterday on the beach, so it seems very strange
and bizarre and surreal that he's not going to be
driving past the house in the golf car anymore.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
So.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
He is certainly such a well known figure nationally but
locally in our neighborhood. And it's very weird to have
seen this unfold yesterday and that he's no longer with us.
So nice football is officially back here as we move
on to training camp. Thirty two teams reporting to training
camp this week. NFL Network is going to be there
(16:17):
to cover it all. Be sure to tune into Back
Together weekend for twelve hours of live coverage from training
camp all around the league. It gets underway tomorrow at
nine am Eastern. That is only on NFL Network.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Manti going to the Chargers, he loves them, can't stop
talking about him.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Coming up Pete Carroll and the Raiders, sending the message
that things are changing in Vegas. Christian Wilkins receiving that
message loud and clear.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
We're going to talk about that situation when we come back. Manti.
Speaker 6 (16:44):
Plus, I'm going to reveal my top ten linebackers, my
my top ten in NFL today and I have Sarah
on the Guys Blind Rank my top five.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
More to come on GMFB. Let's go. Good morning.
Speaker 8 (17:11):
We went a ton, we win a bunch of games.
Ain't nothing. I can't even imagine anything. I haven't winning
ten games a year for twenty years. Or something. You know,
I man, what are my expectations? Wen't win a bunch
and I don't care you know who hears that. I mean,
it doesn't matter to me. It ain't about what anybody hears.
It's about what we do. And so that's why our
expectations are are really high. The standards need to be
(17:32):
so that the expectations can be met.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
We'll see what happens, guys.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
You know, we were just looking at that video of
Dak Prescott dancing around practice and saying that fires listening
to Pete Carroll say that, and then you see him
dancing around like that would fire me up if I'm
a Raiders fan. Pete Carroll yesterday afternoon on expectations and
standards for the season, he and the organization putting their
money where their mouth is. Later in the day, the
team released defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the wake of
(18:00):
a dispute over whether or not he should undergo surgery
on his injured foot. NFL Network insider Ian Rapaport reporting
that the Raiders are attempting to void more than thirty
five million dollars in remaining guarantees on wilkins contract. Now,
Ian adds a grievance has been filed on Wilkins's behalf
to fight such a void.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
From even taking place.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
The team was releasing the statement saying that they have
decided it is in the best interest of the organization
to move on from him. They've got a commitment to excellence,
they said, on and off the field. The statement also saying,
quote with no clear path or planned for future return
to play from Christian, this transaction is necessary for the
entire organization to move forward and prepare for.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
The new season.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
So more contacts from that Ian is reporting that the
team wanted Wilkins to get surgery on his foot that
he fractured last season, but Wilkins declined after receiving several opinions.
The defensive tackle signed a four year, one hundred and
ten million dollar deal with the Raiders just a year ago.
It looks like Pete Carroll's not messing around. He is
ready to turn things around in Vegas. They are cutting
(19:09):
ties with players that they feel like they need to
cut ties from Willis. It's certainly an unusual situation when
you see the statement that they put out, and I'm
just curious your thoughts on sort of how this has
all unfolded.
Speaker 7 (19:22):
Well, yeah, so he suffered a Jones fracture, which is
pretty tough. I think there's a speculation going out going
around that he didn't get surgery, and that's false. He
did get surgery on the left foot. However, they wanted
him to get another surgery, kind of a quick fix,
and he denied that.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
He even went around to a couple other.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
Docs is asking for the expert, their expertise in their opinion,
and they say, you don't need the second surgery.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
So he didn't get it.
Speaker 7 (19:46):
As ballplayers, we understand, man, anytime you go underneath the knife,
you really developed more arthritis in the area that they
operated on.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
So this is a big blow to the defense man.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
Christian Wilkins was supposed to be a cornerstone right next
to MaTx Crosby and Malcolm Kudes.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Max Crosby is on and we talked.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
About him yesterday talking about playing delusion really how willing
yourself to realize that they can win, and he needed help,
and Christian Wilkins was supposed to be that guy right
beside him, really leading this defensive charge. So this is
a major blow to the Las Vegas Raiders. And his defense.
We talked about their woes and what they lacked. This
is going to be tough to recover because this guy
(20:25):
was an impact player.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
Yeah, this is somewhat confusing to me the whole situation
thinking about him just as a player I played within
the same division when he was in Miami, I was
in Buffalo, a tremendous player, earned every penny of that
one hundred and ten million dollars deal from the Raiders.
Your body, Yeah, you inherently you're going to get hurt
(20:46):
in this game. Inherently there's going to be parts and
times where you're asked to step on the field injured.
The severity of those injuries vary, and how you feel
as a player varies. There's certain injuries you can go
out there and feel like, yeah, I can still put
my best foot forward, no pun intended. The Jones fracture
is no joke. And knowing that he had gun under
the knife and he had gotten these second opinions and
(21:07):
they said he didn't technically need it, I'd be remiss
to think that there isn't something going on behind the
scenes in regards to maybe I don't want to even
speculate because that's not fair to the player who hasn't
been able to have a conversation with the media or
with the public. But there's something underlying that we're not seeing,
whether it's behind the scenes in the locker and with management.
(21:28):
I don't want to speculate, but they made this move
for a reason, and I'm really interested to see how
this information comes out over the ensuing days and weeks.
Speaker 6 (21:37):
Yeah, Mitch, my comments kind of they feed off of yours,
where we need to hear what Christian Wilkins has to say.
There's a lot of information. There's a whole other side
to the story that we don't know yet. So I
don't want to speculate. I don't want to put things
out there that create this narrative that is totally false.
But the reality of this is as a player, you
have to understand who works for who, like the team,
(21:58):
doctor works for the team, and oftentimes players go to
their people or go to outside just to get second
opinion so that they could have an opinion that isn't
related to their work or isn't related to their team.
So I based on what Willy has told us, and
I'm so grateful that Wally kind of updated us because
we didn't see any of that in the reports. And
that's the thing about where we're at is we're kind
(22:19):
of going off with what everybody says. So I'm grateful
that Willy had that inside facts and presented it to
us today because the fact of the matter is, we
know how they feel when I say, hey, I mean
the Las Vegas Raiders, but we don't know how Christian
Wilkins feels. We don't know what actually transpired to lead
to this, and it's just a difficult situation. As a player,
you don't want to put yourself in this situation where
(22:40):
a team can use something against you, and there's a
fine line you have to walk often.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
But I just wish.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Christian Wilkins nothing but the best wherever that wherever that
may lead him, because he's a really good football player
and the big the Las Vegas Raiders are really going
to miss him because they had a tough task ahead
of them heading into this year, it just got a
lot tougher.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
And just to kind of piggyback off of second opinions
that you're talking about anti for the general public who
don't know it's players' rights to go get these second
opinions for people who don't know. It's not just what
the doctors who inherently I think some I don't want
to speculate because I've been around some amazing team doctors.
Let me get that straight, people that I implicitly trust
(23:22):
and then I still trust to this day. But it
doesn't mean I still didn't get second opinions from other
people that trusted outside of the building. It is a
business through and through so and I got nothing else
to say. It's just it's a real bummer in my opinion,
because what Willie said, You're missing a guy on that
field who I think would have complimented Max Crosby perfectly
and hoping lands on his feet somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I think it's also interesting, you know, we hear from
Pete Carroll and this is a guy that is so
used to winning, right, I mean, he talks about double
digit wins and he is in a division that it
is top. Andy Reaves talked about, Hey, the guys in
the division, the other teams, they're only getting better. So
it'll be interesting to see how fast Pete Carroll can
get those Raiders up to speed and make an impact there.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Welcome back to GMFB.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
The Bills are turning back the clock as they have
officially announced the return of their red helmets for the
twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
They are going to wear the helmet for their Week eighteen.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Game against the Jets to celebrate the final regular season
game at high Mark Stadium. The team wore the iconic
red helmets from eighty seven to two thousand and one.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Well.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
In his nineteen ninety three Pro Football Hall of Fame
induction speech, Walter Payton recognized the impact we all can
have on each other's lives, and the legacy of the
nineteen seventy seven NFL Man of the Year lives on
through the actions and service of all the winners of
that award, which now bears his name, including Derek Brooks,
Kurt Warner, Marty Lyons, Troy Vincent and work done.
Speaker 9 (24:49):
If you put forth the effort and you take a
little time, they would stand up here and they would
tell you that everything that they had on paper and
everything that they had in their hearts did not come
from them solely alone, but it came from the number
of people that have helped them and their met along
the way, such as.
Speaker 10 (25:06):
I The Walter Payton Man of the Year award is
the Nobel Peace Price of the National Football League. It
is what represents community service, empathy, passion.
Speaker 11 (25:19):
It's about making this world a better place.
Speaker 12 (25:22):
To make a difference, all you have to do is care.
Speaker 13 (25:25):
That trophy has incredible significance because it's a reminder of
how I want to live life.
Speaker 14 (25:31):
Doing good does not have a shelf life your career does.
Let's go change the world. I hate the dumb jock stereotype.
Still irritates me to today. I believe God gave me this
platform of the NFL to feed this mission bigger than football.
(25:51):
That has led me to be involved with education and
doing charitable work and show kids that we believe in them.
So I started a high school. You can affect more
than just fifty kids at a time. We're talking hundreds.
If you show kids that you believe in them, they'll respond.
They were wanted to go share the journey with others
behind them.
Speaker 10 (26:14):
I'm a representative of the best of the best of
the National Football League, but our legacy is not on
the football field. Growing up Entrant, New Jersey, it protected me,
it molded me. But in the seventies and the eighties,
the city was hit hard through crime drugs, so I
knew early on, if I ever had the platform, I
(26:37):
will give back to the city of Trenton. When we started,
we put all of our attention into education. Some places
we show up the school systems. They just need mentorship.
We want kids to be to compete. We all can
be role models in our own right with our families
and our children and our communities.
Speaker 11 (26:59):
I think I was one of the best running backs
in the league, but I learned it's not just about football.
It's about impacting people off the field. My mom was
a bedros cited police officer, but one night, my mom
life was taken. Being the otis of six, the responsibility
(27:19):
all falls on me, so I had to step up.
My mom always wanted to become a homeowner. Homes for
the Holidays is a program that I started back in
nineteen ninety seven, and my mom.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
That's what she would have wanted.
Speaker 13 (27:35):
My career, my life is very much surrounding the idea
of being an underdogar whether it was sitting on the
bench for four years in college, or getting cut by
my first NFL team, or working in a grocery store,
it was never going to be a situation where somebody
just gave me a handout. It was going to have
to be earned. And I also realized that I couldn't
do it all on my own.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
But it's somebody that.
Speaker 13 (27:57):
Give me that opportunity to showcase the work, the skill,
the talents that I had, the work that we've done
in the community, trying to do those same things. I
want to keep my head on a swivel looking for
other people that need that opportunity so they can chase
their dream and they can live the life that they
want to live.
Speaker 12 (28:16):
Nineteen eighty two, in the month of March really changed
my life. When I played with the Jets, we had
a great association with the Long Island Leukemia Society. The
child that I bonded with was a little boy named Keith.
And then all suddenly, out of nowhere, my father, who
was fifty eight, died of a massive heart attack. Two
days after my dad, Teith passed away, I needed a
(28:38):
vehicle that would allow me to move on, and I
started the Marty Lions Foundation. We raised money for terminally
ill children. They always say God gives everybody a gift.
He gave me two the ability to play football and
the ability to.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Help people.
Speaker 14 (28:56):
Service at the highest level, and when you do that,
you become a champion above the game of football.
Speaker 12 (29:03):
You don't have to be rich, you don't have to
be an NFL player. Are we all in this world
to make one another better? It's just who wants to deal.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
With That's what keeps me going.
Speaker 11 (29:14):
How we impact the next generation if we show them
anything as possible.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
But you have to do your regard.
Speaker 13 (29:20):
Whoever you are, wherever you are, you have an opportunity
to impact the lives of other people. Don't miss your opportunity.
Speaker 10 (29:29):
This is your true legacy. Not the touchdowns, not the interceptions.
This is about making a difference. Let's get to work.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
Incredible work, inspiring work.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
You can head over to the NFL Fast Channel for
a special today as we lead up to a celebration
of Walter Payton's birthday. We're going to air Legacy of Legends,
Impact the Service that is exclusively on the NFL Fast Channel.
We've got more gmfbe coming up after this.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
What's up, everybody? Welcome back to GMFB.
Speaker 6 (30:15):
I had the chance to rank my top ten linebackers
currently playing today. You could check it out at the
NFL dot Com slash tell O te Oh, no.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
Apostrophe, just Teo.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
But I have a little game that I want to
play with my co hosts. What I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna show number ten through number six, and then
we're gonna blind rank my one through five.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
But first let's see the ten through six. First, I'm
gonna explain a.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Little bit why these guys are on my list.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
So here's ten through six.
Speaker 6 (30:43):
Ten Frankie Louvu nine, Denzel Paraman eight, Nick Bolton seven,
Zach Bond six, Alex Anzeloni Frankie Louvu. I think having
Bobby Wagner and Bobby Wagner next to him has been
a great upgrade for him. He played as best ball
last year. Denzel Peraman my little brother again, guys, this
is my top ten. I've never seen somebody play the
(31:03):
linebacker position like Denzel Perriman. For you young kids, just
typing Denzel Pairman on.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
YouTube and watch his hits.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
Nick Bolton, there's the reason why that defense for Spags
is what it is, and it starts in the middle
with Nick Bolton, Zach Vond talk about an underdog story,
talk about a perfect fit for the Philadelphia Eagles. He
was that guy in the middle. It's somebody that I
love watching in Zach vond Now number six, Alex san Zelney,
my little brother. We drafted him out of Florida to
(31:29):
New Orleans. I have never seen a more athletic linebacker,
somebody that can move laterally as fast as he can.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
We saw his.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
Impact when he came back into after injury last year
for the Detroit Lions and what impact that had on
his team.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
So that is my ten through six guys.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
Okay, So now we're gonna blind rank the next five. Okay,
We're gonna start with a linebacker that I love. Okay, guys, ready, Okay,
there's no changing. Okay, there's no change once you put
the name down, there's no changing. First up, Dre Greenlaw.
Guys ranked Dray green Loan one through five. You think
that I have Drake Greenlaw when I watched Drake Greenlaw play.
(32:07):
I've said this on the show many times. Before you
think about the San Francisco forty nine ers, you think
about the dominance of that defense. Obviously Fred Warner has
talked about a lot, But for Drake Greenlaw, he is
the engine of that defense. You saw when he was
in the game. It just looked different. His teammates played different.
They played with violence, Willy and we love violence on
the show, and Drake Greenlaw continues to play with that violence.
(32:30):
And I know it's going to continue over there in Denver.
Everybody got yeah, everybody?
Speaker 4 (32:34):
Good?
Speaker 6 (32:35):
Let me see where do you have them? Four for Sarah,
three for Willie? And where do you got him at
for for drink?
Speaker 4 (32:42):
Okay for for dre Okay, We're we have a pretty
good start.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Oh we're revealing right now.
Speaker 6 (32:47):
Not yet, not yet. I got I got four more
second guy guys, Roquan Smith, where do you have Where
do you think I put Rokwan Smith on my top
five linebackers now?
Speaker 4 (32:58):
Qan. I played with Roquan when he was.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
A Chicago Bears my last year in the NFL, and
let me tell you, the guy was one of the
smartest linebackers and natural leader.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
He studied more film than anybody.
Speaker 6 (33:09):
He got everybody lined up, and he's a guy that
I think going to Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
That's hard to fill the shoes of.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
The middle linebacker when you have somebody like ray Lewis
that has played with them forever. But number zero for
the Baltimore Ravens continues to be that guy for them.
So where do you guys have Rokwan Smith? Oh, number two? Okay, okay, Willie,
you got him at number two as well. You have
him at number three?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Okay, strong start guy, strong starts.
Speaker 6 (33:37):
So number three, next guy, Bobby Wagner the OG, A
guy that I've watched.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
Throughout my career.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
There's very rarely do I see other linebackers that I
try to exemplify what they do.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
He was one of.
Speaker 6 (33:50):
Those guys that I watched play time ever since you
went to Seattle, watched his game and try to duplicate
the things that he did. Now we all talk about
the Washington Commanders. We talked about Jaden Daniels, we talk
about the resurgence with dan Quinn. We don't talk a
lot about Bobby Wagner. There's a reason why dan Quinn
Bock brought Bobby Wagner to Washington, and there's the reason
(34:11):
why Frankie Louell has has had his best year, and
a lot of it had to do with number fifty
four in the middle.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
So where do you guys have Bobby Wagner on the list?
Sarah three, three, Okay, okay, where you got Mitch?
Speaker 5 (34:25):
I got I got number one?
Speaker 4 (34:27):
One? How about you, Willie? I got four? Fourth? Got
to bring fourth? Okay, okay, all right, we're almost there. Fourth. Fourth. Guys.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
Fred Warner, Fred Warner, now Fred Warner, to call him
all pro Fred. He's the best linebacker that they've seen
since the war Bowman time, Patrick Willis's time. He's carried
on the excellence at the linebacker position. His ability to
get the ball and take the ball away, his ability.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
To run sideline to sil and you see a little
bit of.
Speaker 6 (34:59):
His safety background when he's out there playing, his ability
to play in space. He's FAST's physic cool, and it
makes a lot of plays on the football. Fred Warner
is considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL
today and has been for the past five to six years,
and he will continue to be that for the San
Francis Reporting nine ers.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
So, guys, where do you have Fred Warner?
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (35:18):
Number one? Sarah got him at number one? Willy, where
you got him at one as well?
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Okay, I got him a number two.
Speaker 6 (35:26):
I'm gonna okay, So, so Sarah you have left Mitch,
where do you have what do you have five left?
I have five left as well, and then Willie, you
have what five?
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Or what do you have? The glare? I just got
the same thing. Everybody got five left? All right? Yeah,
all right, guys.
Speaker 6 (35:42):
Well, last, but not least, I got the veteran Levonte
David for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You talk about consistency,
how many linebackers have played next to him? Yet fifty
four is a constant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One
of the smartest linebackers to play the game of football,
one of the most consistent linebackers that played the game
of football. He plays a weak side linebacker position, which
(36:03):
often times is in space and Levonte David has been
in the NFL for thirteen seasons and thirteen seasons and
has looks like he hasn't lots of step. So going
forward to the NFC South returning Tamps, Levonte David will
continue to hold down the middle for that defense and
I'm looking forward to it behind Vito vel So where
(36:24):
you guys got him? Obviously you guys all got him
at number five.
Speaker 4 (36:27):
How do you guys feel about that? Guys all agreed.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Against We didn't have a choice it was our last,
it was ours.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
I have to commend you. These are five remarkable line.
Thank you, Thank you, Mick, they really are, thank you,
really well done.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
Okay, let's see how my co hosts have done. Guys.
Speaker 6 (36:42):
I'm gonna reveal the top five and see how it
matched up with your guys' list.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
So this is my top five.
Speaker 6 (36:48):
Number one, I got Bobby Wagner, number two, I've got
Fred Warner, three, Dre Greenlaw for Levonte David five, ro
Kwan Smith. There's no way that I couldn't put Bobby
Wagner at number one.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
Guys, it was just.
Speaker 6 (37:04):
Just one of those ogs. Man Like there's Ray Lewis
and then there's Bobby Wagner.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
Put him up, Sarah, there's a list and not bad,
not bad, guys.
Speaker 6 (37:12):
It's the closest. Mitch is pretty close. Bobby Wagner won.
That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 12 (37:18):
Mitch.
Speaker 6 (37:19):
We see it the same way now, guys, Lineman, Mitch
and Willie, how do you guys see this list? Obviously
you guys are gonna you guys were the ones that
had to block these guys. How do you see that
list from a Lineman perspective?
Speaker 5 (37:31):
Yeah, I'll start us off. I mean, Bobby Wagner, like
you alluded to, I think he's just a one in
a million type of linebackers still at his age, put
up some remarkable numbers easy number one. Especially playing him,
It's just he's just a different guy.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
Fred Warner.
Speaker 5 (37:46):
What surprised me when I met Fred was just his
his demeanor, his stature, and then hearing this command of
that whole defense is cool.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Roquan.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
I think you talk about the anf C North, you
have that division. Rokwan Smith and is the pinnacle of
that defense and is right in the conversation for that
whole thing. Drake green Law, I think, like you said,
it's coming off that Achilles is playing really good football.
The Leavonte David thirteen years. He's one of my favorite
players of all time.
Speaker 7 (38:13):
Yeah, the only guys I've actually only played against on
his list is Bobby Wagner, Devonte Davis. Fred Warner, for
me to me, is the best linebacker in the league period.
Roquan Swift obviously everybody knows his resume. Hugh was a
great ball play. Drake gren Law, even coming off injury.
Now that I think he's with the Broncos, right now
I expect him to have an impact coming off any
Bobby Wagner is the OG as we stayed it plenty
(38:36):
of times. But overall, if I have to crown anybody
amongst the linebacker group, it would be Fred Water Mantet.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
I just want to say, I love that you have
Levante in your top five because he is perennially I
think underrated. I think a lot of people think he's
been underrated in his time in Tampa. Entering his fourteenth season,
and this sort of embodies who Levante is. He shows
up to practice yesterday, talks to the media and says, hey,
I'm out here.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
I have to earn my stripes. No you don't. You're
Levonte David, you don't.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
But that's been his mentality and we saw some via
him running. Annie sends a lot of track workouts this offseason.
I mean, this man is on the track, sprinting. It
just leads this team in tackles. He's incredible. He's the
guy that answers the questions when things aren't easy.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
We talked about that yesterday.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
It's so easy when things are great, right, this is
the guy that speaks for this team when there are
tough times down there. So everyone that knows Levante loves him,
and I'm glad you're showing him some love too.
Speaker 6 (39:25):
I got to show we got some love. So again,
that's my top ten list. You can see at NFL
dot com slash t e oh.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
Oh yeah, he's got his own handle.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah, let me check it out. Guys, let me know
what you think.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Bobby Wagner get him.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Wow
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Kyle Brandt
Peter Schrager
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