March 29, 2016 • 34 mins
Michael Robinson and Nate Burleson are joined by NFL Network's Dan Hellie to recap free agency and discuss RGIII's future with the Cleveland Browns. The guys then have a candid conversation about allowing their kids to play football. Join the conversation with #NFLRNB!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
What's Up? Everybody? DJ here from Move the Sticks along
with Bucky Brooks our podcast. We look at the NFL
through a player personnel perspective, looking at teams, looking at matchup,
looking at the NFL Draft. You can catch us on
Move the Sticks, NFL dot Com, Slash Podcast as well
as iTunes. What's Up? This is the R and B Podcast.
(00:23):
I'm Nke Burlison, I'm real Mike Rob. Drop that beat. Yeah,
oh no, no, yeah, Well I had a long day.
Now I'm really trying to go. My lady dranks down
(00:45):
floor and made on down that ain't going down. See now, baby,
I got some staffs, boy, and all some real players.
You can specs some fast for you teach at this game.
Go down. As they analyze the winners, they might show
my name out because you bad mommy making jump so
into a season. Who it never gets old, Nate, it
(01:13):
never gets Oh. Welcome to the R and B Podcast.
We got Nate on Nate cam out in Arizona. He's
on Skype. I'm real Mike Rob and we're joined by
Mr NFL Network himself, Dan Halle. Hey Dan, Yes, sir,
why were you so late? Wasn't let I've been waiting
for Nate to get his spark vest On in his
(01:36):
Skype board. But Dan, thank you for coming on next time.
Today we're gonna be talking NFL free agency, r G
three to the Browns, hard knocks, our favorite draft prospects,
and um, we're gonna get into it, Nate. You know
what I'm saying, We're gonna get in to it. Before
we get in all that, TD tell everybody how they
(01:56):
can get involved. Definitely, you can get involved by subscriber
to the show on iTunes or subscribing to a YouTube
pay lest dropping comments Twitter, all of the people know,
spreading the word because we need the word to be spread. Yeah, yeah,
we need it. Man, this is a movement. Nate. Come on,
Nate and look, you gotta you gotta spark vest On
and make people think you working out all the time. Though,
(02:18):
if if my internet holds up, I'm gonna give you
guys a tour and a crib to let you know
that I didn't just put this on for the show.
So I'm take you outside and I'm gonna show you
the type of workout put in when I'm not working.
How many how many shirts does he need to wear?
I mean seriously, he's doing that to make him look
a little bit more buff. You know what I mean.
(02:39):
That's what small guys do there. Hey, let's get over
with the show. Yeah, let's get it into it. Man,
you gotta beat to something TV. Let's get into it
a little bit. Man. Mm hmmm. Nice and chill, man,
nice and chill. Oh it as chill as you thought.
(02:59):
So we coach beat right here. It's like a car
wash like back in the day. We just go through
the car washers and the weather. I feel like I
need to like spit a rhyme or something. Show started.
Oh have you been working? Oh you got some rich
Hold on a minute, they got some down. What can
we go? I'm here with my man nape Be, one
(03:19):
of the best wide receivers in not really. Also Mike
Robs in the house, always wearing those beats when he
flies all the way out from Richmond. He's on fleek.
And for the geeks out there, fullback with some serious feet. Okay,
you just gotta stay on beat a little bit. Was
that not good? But I was it was decent. I tried,
(03:41):
it was tried. I don't have beat, I don't have rhythm.
Yes you do. You just gotta jump rope. I just
go jump rope and listen to a lot. Thanks name,
thanks name. Jumping up gives me more rhythm, it does, right,
I've jumped, and try to just stay on a rhythm
with it. Try hey, forget about jumping rope? Right, all right,
(04:03):
all right, all right, Nate. Here's the thing, Mike. You know,
we we do a lot of talking. We do a
lot of debate, and I'm glad we got I'm gonna
jump in her real quick because Mike dropping knowledge here.
How did you get rid of them? I'm telling you,
thank you, thank you, thank you. No no, no, either
have it or you don't. That's true, but you can
work on it. Bro. Okay, you have to jump jump
(04:23):
rope with some some of your black friends. Man, this
is I'm telling you, this is one of the biggest
stories in life for me. Stay on the rhythm. Listen
to some hip hop while you jump roping and try
to stay on the beat. There's a rhythm to it.
What did I What did I miss? Mike? You said,
jumping rope. I'm telling you. Trust me, Bro, and listen
to hip hop as you're doing it. Listen to me, Bro,
(04:44):
Listen it's like speed, dude, you're born with it or
you're not there. There, there's something too, but you can
work on it. Dan, Okay, alright, you can work. Hey, Mike,
you are so country you're tripping. Man, that's the truth.
I've never heard that. I haven't even all right, look, man,
(05:04):
let's get into it man. NFL free agency, um, Dan,
let's go to you first year to get your guests. Man,
talk about some free agency moves, free agency moves, some
things that intrigued you the most about this free NFL. Well,
one of the biggest moves in free agency for me
was clearly brock Ostwalder to the Texas And then you
throw in the fact that they also signed Lamar Miller,
So they get some help at the running back position.
(05:25):
If that offense can get up and going. With the
way that defense played last year second half of last season,
I thought they were one of the top two or
three defenses in the NFL. Um So, now, if you
can get that offense rolling, you get Billy O'Brien a
chance to work with the quarterback who obviously has some
talent in Oswalder. They paid him a lot of money,
but that's what you do. Now if you want a
franchise quarterback. So I like, I like the moves they made,
(05:45):
but we don't know if my thing is we don't
know if it's a franchise quarterback. And I agree with you, Um, Nate,
I'm gonna get your opinion in a second. I agree
with you on Houston. Um, but how do you sign
a quarterback right and your head coach, who was the
quarterback gur Guru, doesn't even have a meeting with him
before you sign him. How's that possible? What's going on
(06:05):
between the general manager and the head coach? Like, I
just don't understand that. How do you not meet with
the guy that you're gonna give what thirty seven million
dollars and guaranteed money to and lead your team and
basically your job is tied to now I mean people's
jobs online. How's that possible? Nate? Well, my, you know
one thing you have to consider is, um the timing
(06:27):
was of the essence. When brock Oswider got signed, we
were working, we had a show to do, we were
covering free agency, and it shook up the whole football world.
And at the time of the announcement that ran Getling
let us know nobody had any idea, so I believe
it was more of them trying to get it done
before Denver could come in and convince him to stay
(06:49):
with the broncos Um. You know, I didn't make the
type of money that Brock made, obviously, but my my
third contract with Detroit, I got five years for million
and Scott Lenahan flew to Seattle and he was there
at midnight at the night of or the morning of creatency.
I didn't met with the head coach. I didn't meet
with my receiver's coach. I didn't even know half the
(07:11):
guns on the team, so I was one of the
first guys off the board. So I really think that
was more of the mindset. Everybody was on board with
the decision, but they wanted to get it done as
quick as possible because Mike, you know, just like I know,
you can be convinced within a matter of minutes. You
can make millions in a matter of minutes, but you
can keep be convinced to stay with a team or
(07:32):
go with another team in a matter of minutes. So
I think time was of the essence and they had
to jump on that. I agree with that, Nate, But
and no disrespect man, But you're wild out right. We're
talking about a franchise. You're nobody's. Your head coach's job
wouldn't have been tied to whether they signed you or not.
You talk about jobs that are tied to franchise quarterbacks
(07:52):
that you talk about a sample size of seven games. Now,
I like the Lamar Miller's signing. I like I like
the direction of getting a franchise quarterback to compliment that defense.
But I just don't know how can you sign a
guy without your biggest Your biggest asset is the fact
that you can your head coach can coach or quarterback.
But here, here's what you have to look at. What
(08:14):
was what was their other option? It was Brock or
who It's like when you fire a head coach, that's great.
Who are you bringing in now? So it's not to
me just the seven games that he started. To me,
it's the four years he's had in the league. And
who gives you a better opportunity to win right now?
If you're Bill O'Brien, brock Osweiler, or drafted a young
(08:34):
cat out of college, I think it's brock Osweiler. And
I've talked to a number of guys who have played
the position in the NFL who said I wasn't ready
my first year two. I would go with Brock Osweiler
over over myself. One of one of them was was
David Carr, who was the number one pick of the
Texans way back in the day. He said, I just
wasn't ready to win. I would go with a guy
like Brock who has been in the league for a while.
(08:56):
And when you think about, you know, creating the type
of quarterback you want, are surrounding him with the pieces
Mike you said, you know, it's just a sample size
and they're trying to piece together the proper team. And
with me, the analogy I think of when you guys
mentioned sample sizes food. If you eat, you know, just
a little bit of this, a little bit of that.
(09:17):
By the end of the meal, you might be full.
You might not need the entree. You might not need
the quote unquote franchise quarterback if you have a defense,
if you have an anchor like J. J. Watt, if
you have guys surrounding him, and then you bring in
Lamar Miller, who had more touchdowns last year than the
whole running back group did as effective and then on
top of that, you add in DeAndre Hopkins, who, arguably,
(09:39):
now with Calvin Johnson gone and Antonio holding down the fort,
Julio Jones holding down the fort, he will make an
argument as the number one receiver in the league. So
he has the pieces. Yeah, he might be the sample size,
but when you surround the sample size with a whole
bunch of appetizers and side plates, it becomes a full meal.
(10:00):
Makes sense, dog, makes sense. You convinced me, You'll convinced me. Okay,
I'm just paying devil's advocate. But honestly, before we even started,
I like what Houston Texas are doing. I like Billy O'Brien. Um,
I just it was just weird to me. How you
don't I don't know, that's all. And here here's the
other thing, guys, I'm sure Bill O'Brien had some interaction
with brock Oswiler in the past. I don't think he
(10:22):
went into this blind. He obviously knew what type of
person he was, in addition to what type of quarterback
he was. It doesn't bother me that he didn't meet
with him on the day of free agency, because obviously
this this deal happened pretty quickly. Right now, let's let's
jump into the next topic, because, like I said, I'm
glad we got Dan here. And obviously, Mike, we have
(10:43):
debated this topic. This guy, this individual, I don't know,
he's Dan guy. This is Dan's guy. Let's just keep you, hey, Mike,
believe it or not, this is everybody's guy, because at
one point, what's crazy is everybody like r G three.
You might not like his personality, but everybody appreciated what
he did in the field. Now he signs with Cleveland
(11:05):
right a two year deal where it was a fifteen
million Okay. So Mike, we debated this. You said, he's
a year out before he starts again. He's not gonna
be in a situation where he touches the field as
the number one quarterback. I was on the opposite end
of that. I said, Mike, next year he will start.
He started off too hot, he captured the masses, and
(11:27):
he didn't do what he did to wash it away.
That was the foundation of something he still can do.
So Mike, I ask you again, and we're gonna let
Dan wrap this all together in a pretty bow because
then seen it in the beginning and fall apart and
obviously being the host of one of the best shows
in TV Total Access, He's seen it come back together
in Cleveland. So I'll start with you, Mike, how do
(11:47):
you feel about r G thing he signed with the
Browns and what are his chances now to be a
starter in this league? Again? Well, to be honest with you,
they I remember us debating on debating that, and I
did feel that he would not start this upcoming season.
But when you put him with a guy like Hugh Jackson,
to me, Hugh Jackson is the key, Okay, Hugh Jackson
is the key to be able to um get r
(12:09):
G three comfortable again, UM be able to talk to
him so that he's understanding offense, so that we can
see that flash and dash, we can see his abilities
come out. And I think Hugh is creative enough offensively
um as um as Mike Shanahan was back in twelve.
I think he was creative enough offensively to to use
(12:31):
r G three in the in the right capacity. But
but here's my thing. I say that with a small
caveat like, it's still it's Cleveland though, Nate, Okay, and
I'm just being real with it. It's Cleveland and it's
it's not like they did. They didn't lose two or
three or some of their best players that they've had.
(12:52):
They've all of those guys. It's not like they didn't
lose that. And I don't care how good of a
talent you are, how good of a coach you are,
if the pieces just aren't there, and we haven't seen
him do much in free agency, if the pieces aren't there,
if this is something that's gonna be built for long term,
I don't know if that's the best situation for r
G three. I don't because he's a guy that if
(13:16):
his confidence isn't there, he's not rolling, he's not winning,
things go bad, he gets hurt. I mean, it's it's
it's an avalanche now when things are going good. Yeah,
he's one of the he's exciting, but I just don't
know if the pieces are there to to to kind
of compliment some of the things that he can do.
All right, before I before I respond to that, Dan,
(13:37):
I want you to kind of fill in the listeners
about what it was like seeing him that first year,
because we've talked about it off camera, and I was
captivated by your story of captivation and how he just
grabbed d C. He grabbed the Redskins fans, he grabbed,
he grabbed the I want you to kind of feel
everybody in what that was like, and then how you
(13:58):
saw it fall apart and what you know being an insider,
and and then how it all came back. Sure, so
I'm sure most of the people listening are watching right now.
I don't know my background, but I'm from Washington, d C.
And before I came here to NFL Network, UM, I
worked at the NBC affiliate in Washington. So I was
in New York at the draft when when Robert got drafted,
(14:18):
got a chance to speak with him there a little bit,
went away, uh to cover the Olympics for NBC, and
then came back at the end of training camp at
the end of preseason and saw the excitement level there
because Mike and Kyle Shanahan after they drafted him number
two overall behind Andrew Luck, they handed him the job,
said you're the guy. Let's take it and run with it.
(14:38):
And then obviously they designed an entire offense around his
skill set and what he did well at Baylor, and
he came out of the gates with a quickness. I
think it was against the Saints, and he came out
and there was a photo of him on his butt
holding up his hands like this, and that was the
beginning of r G three. Midway through the season, a
(14:59):
former reds His player named Fred Davis, who was a
pretty good tight end. I asked him and said, what
what do you think about what Robert has done for
this franchise and he's done for this town. He said,
he's the Black Jesus. He said, this guy is amazing
demographic and what d C the nicknamed the Chocolate So
to have a guy like r G three come in
and take the town by storm, you had Alex Ovechkin there,
(15:22):
you had Bryce Harper, arguably two of the best players
in their sport. R G three. If he lined up
for an autograph show that first year with those guys,
he would have ten times as many people in line
to get his autograph compared to Bryce Harper and Alex Govetchan.
That's DC. It's a Redskins town. So then the way
the season ended with him tearing his a c L
(15:42):
in the playoff game, when everybody was questioning Mike Shanahan
leaving him in there, people were devastated, but he was
rehab and he was getting back on track. He had
a TV show, a Gatorade sponsored TV show, and he
was the quote was all in for week one. Well,
that's when things started unraveling and going south with the
coaching staff, and Robert decided that he didn't want to
(16:04):
be a running quarterback anymore. And the thing that really
took me back was when his father would speak out
publicly and say they're gonna have to change some things
if they want Robert to be successful. And I just
I just thought to myself, what I want my father
speaking on my behalf about my profession to to anybody.
I just didn't think that was a really good look.
(16:24):
So that things came unraveled. Um, the Shanahan's didn't believe
that he was ready to be a pocket passer. Robert did.
He wasn't the same athlete that he was before the injury.
So to me, that's the biggest question mark moving forward
in Cleveland. Did he get some of that athletic ability back.
Will he be able to run and be as effective
(16:44):
as he was that rookie year because he wasn't when
he came back. Has he developed the mental the mental
skills of a pocket passer, where you're feeling certain things,
where you're directing traffic some of the top tier quarters
was some of the things some of the top two
quarterbacks do and he wasn't able to do that in
Shanahan's offense when they changed that. He wasn't able to
do it Jake Gruden's offense when he changed it. And
(17:05):
to me, though, the thing about Roberts your point, it's
as much about pocket awareness, and I didn't feel like
he had it. Nobody was sacked more outside of Michael
Vick than Robert Griffin the third when when he was
in the game. It's almost self awareness. But but but
but you know what, and I'm glad you say that,
uh Dan before and then before you go. The reason
why quarterbacks like that, and I've been in college, I
was one the reason why quarterbacks like that. These guys
(17:28):
they feel like they don't have the pocket awareness is
because all we hear, all they've heard is you're not
a pocket passer. You have to be able to do
everything out of the pocket, and there takes a certain
responsibility to drop back. Then and you're one of the
fastest people on the field when you hit your factor
when you hit your last step. That takes a certain
mental capacity and responsibility to not take not take off.
(17:52):
And you're hearing all these things all stay in the pocket.
I gotta operate out of the pocket. Yeah, I think
I saw this guy blissed, but I don't know. My
first this thing is the move. But I got this.
It's like this mental block telling me, now I have
to sit here and I have to throw the bar.
I have to take these hits, you know what I mean.
So it's almost like, can he find a coach that
can protect him from himself? Well, this is a multi
(18:13):
layered UH discussion with Robert Griffin the third because what
made him special was his ability to run. It's the
reason Alfred Morris had over yards. It's the reason he
had one of the most special rookie seasons for a
quarterback in NFL history. I mean, if if if you're
coaching Steph Curry, can you say, hey, Steph, don't take
threes this week? Oh you got That's that's what his
(18:34):
game is predicated upon. But step shooting threes in bad health,
now that's a good point. That's a good point. Well,
that's the other thing. And when I talk about multi
layered Nate. My biggest concern if I'm a Browns fan
right now, is just Robert staying healthy because he can't.
I don't. I've never seen a guy who's so gifted
(18:55):
have the inability to get down and slide like Robert
Griffin the Third has. Every time he runs, it's like
a car crash. Just slide. That's if I'm Hugh Jackson,
I'm taking him to the Cleveland Adians and I'm saying,
take this man how to slide? Yeah that, you know,
I don't want to, you know, make any comparisons that
(19:18):
are too far off. But I remember in the nineties, uh,
you know, being familiar with Grant Hill, watching him play
and then him just having injury after injury, and everybody's saying, well, Grant,
he had a great career. He would have been really
special if he just could have stayed healthy. Now, I
just feel like the way Robert Griffin the Third started off,
(19:40):
I think that's where we're headed. If he can't stay healthy,
you can't knock what he did. You can't knock what
he did in college or what he did his wookie year.
But you'll start to repeat that in your head. Well,
you know he had two many injuries. You know he
was good, but he couldn't stay healthy, so that obviously
is issue. I agree with Dan on this. I don't
feel like he does he needs to necessarily be a
(20:03):
more cerebral quarterback. He I don't think he needs to
necessarily increases football like you. Yeah, I get smarter as
a player, have more of an understanding as a player,
more more of a field like you said, Mike of
the game. I just feel like what you said, Mike,
he needs the pieces, and if you can give him
the pieces, he'll feel comfortable and he won't make as
many mistakes. I feel like there's a lot of luxury
(20:25):
that a lot of quarterbacks have that allow them to
be greater. There's only a few that don't need many pieces.
Tom Brady is one of those guys. He can play
with Edelman and Grant their fantastic players. But if he
didn't have them guys, he still will be one of
the best quarterbacks in the league. Other quarterbacks they need
(20:45):
that comfort blanket of a big time tight end, receiver,
running back. But hold of Nate But but but when
another guy your back up who got drafted in the
same year, comes in with the same and with the
same um you know, got with the same guys that
you're not being able to win with your not being
able to do stuff with and he wins, he puts
(21:08):
up numbers. I mean, well, listen, like my thing is
my thing is you're saying we're going off one season
and I'm not saying he wasn't exciting, but one season,
but it was. It was one season of greatness and
then it was two seasons of disaster. So we haven't
seen the great two twelve. We haven't seen that. Right
(21:30):
that Robert Griffin the third may not exist, Yeah, but
he might. But but but that's also in conjunction with
the coach who utilized who, who who called the game,
who coached to his ability? You see what I'm saying, Mike,
let me let me much. Just give you some names.
And these are the pieces surrounding r G three that
just jump off the pace. You got Hugh Jackson right
(21:53):
of the gate. We know what he stands for, we
know what he's trying to do. We I think we
all ran ran into huge in the super Bowl. He
seems enthusiastic about where he's had it, and we are
too um, hold on for a second. I got somebody
coming into the house, all right, so let's look podcast here.
So we got Hugh Jackson. We got Duke Johnson and
(22:15):
Isaiah Crowwell, right, I believe, two really good young running backs. Fantastic.
We got Andrew Hawkins, who had some injuries last year,
concussion problems as a slot receiver. If he can stay healthy,
that's a good security blaking. He's like a Wes Welker type,
runs great routes, very consistent. He's the guy you want.
(22:36):
You got Barnes who had a great year last year.
So Gary Barners that tied end. And then lastly, here's
the x fac I know where you're going. Now. We
got Josh Gordon possibly being reinstated now with r G
three and the things that he can do. Well, a
guy that can run the ball, tuck and run, reopen
(22:57):
this throwing arm and let the ball go throwing to
see what that can. But more importantly, Josh Gordon is
one of the best ad living wide receivers in the game.
So after he gets there running his curl routers come
back ors did you'll be able to connect eyes. But
check this out. That is enough. That's enough pieces right there,
(23:18):
Mike say three will be okay, this, I say, I know,
but but hold hold up though. First of all, first
of all, okay, okay, okay, none of those names other
than Josh gored and you say scared me or keep
me up at night? Okay, hold up, let me finish. Okay,
that's first of all. Okay. Second of all, none of
those names you said were anybody that's involved in protecting
(23:40):
this man while he's in the pocket the offensive line, okay.
And second of all, for those skill guys to be
able to help him and for him to be able
to utilize them, he must get his football i Q
up so that he knows when to get the ball
out so that he can utilize those athletes. So basically,
you're saying, I'm right, I appreciate that name a t
You gotta beat up what's happening there. That's how he
(24:06):
does it. Nate, he just kind of wraps it up
like that. If he was here, you know, if Nate
was here, he would have he would have battled me
for that one. You know, we have a total access
meeting coming up soon. Yeah, we do, we do. We
just ran out look, I know, you know, what Nate's crazy.
I'm gonna get into this, you know what, I'm gonna
skip a little subject. How do you get that home
cam going? Like? I need to work on that. It's
(24:28):
the cocks cable in Arizona. Man, Yeah, that's good, it's
pretty good. We'll get what do you think they'd give
one of me since I live fifteen minutes away from
the studio. Probably not. No, let's let's gas bikes up
to like five dollars for regular I loved loved attitude.
Though he's out here taking a shot. He can't he
dropped the freestyle that all that. Listen. I'm the whitest
guy in America. I'm just gonna go for it. You
(24:50):
know they're gonna h me on again. But you got
your black card. I appreciates going with some hip hop bro.
That's but look, you know what, I have one in
the car. Wanted to get you guys opinion on this.
Check this out man, you uh you know our guy?
Um who's saying up due? I hope I'm saying his
name right? Uh safety Um he just retired for the Chiefs.
(25:11):
For the Chiefs. Yeah, Um, he's had five concussions in
seven years. Um, and I want to ask both of
y'all and may you're a former NFL player, and then
I'll give you my thoughts. And Dan, uh, you didn't
play an NFL Sorry bro, but but but I but
I didn't get my bell rung a couple of times
in high school. Exactly would you guys allow your allow
(25:32):
your kids to play especially I mean, we've had the NFL.
One of the NFL guys kind of admit that there
is a link between you know, um CT and some
of these some of these cognitive issues in football, right,
would you let your kids play? Yeah? My my my
kids asked me all the time to play. Hav an
eight year old son who's in uh second grade, And
(25:53):
I started playing when I was in fifth grade, so
I've been pretty steadfast. And the fact that if he
wants to play in fifth grade, I'm on for it. UM.
I think that the way that they're teaching the game
now with the heads up football. UM. Before it was
put your head down, put it right on the ball,
face mask and wrap them up. Now it's it's different
the way that they're teaching the tackle, and hopefully that's
(26:15):
going to eliminate some of the risk. I think that
there are risks in everything. My son also plays hockey.
He plays lacrosse, and I'll tell you where they take
some of the hardest hits right now is in lacrosse.
And that's a great sport. Um. But yeah, i'd a
low my son to play. What about you, Nate, Yeah,
you know I started playing when I was nine years old,
(26:38):
and I didn't have my first major injury too high school,
and that was a sprained ankle. I didn't get my
first concussion to my last year of college football, and
then I had a few in the NFL. So for me,
like Dan say that you can get injured doing anything, Um,
that's just the luck of the draw. I would want
my son to play something that he loves and appreciates.
(27:02):
I'm not the father to force his kids to play
a sport because I played it. I do want my
kids to be well rounded. And what I preached to
the youth in high schools and elementaries is try everything.
Like when I was coming up, I tried baseball, was terrible.
I was scared of the ball. I tried football, basketball,
(27:22):
and track. I fell in love with football and basketball.
I hate a track only ran it because my dad
said I'll get faster and I'll jump higher. So I
did that. I also got involved in school plays. I
tried instruments, I wrote poetry. I did everything that was
available off of Shakespeare. I tried. So for me, if parents,
(27:44):
if parents want their kids to be well rounded, then
put them in everything until they don't want to do it,
or until they realized that you realized that might not
be the thing. So I remember one day my dad
was just like, you're not good at baseball. You haven't
got over your fear of hitting. Uh, so you can't
sit in the outfield all day. So we're just gonna
take the sport off the table. How old are you
(28:05):
when that happened, Nate, I was ten years old. I
played it from eight to ten, and I just didn't
have the goods. Now what's crazy is little Nate is
one of the best eleven year olds I've seen it
not just because of my son. He got it. He
got something that I don't have. And I try not
to be that guy, try not to be that father,
that dad that forces the issue. So getting back to football,
(28:30):
I'd rather my son go out there playing sport that
he is fully aware of the consequences. He's seen his
dad Limpaul. He's seen me fresh out the hospital, he's
seen me pop peels for breakfast because I'm covering from surgery.
And he still wants to play the sport and I
won't stop him from doing that. I I agree with
both of you, guys. Man, this game has afforded us
a lot of things. Um, and I agree, And I'm
(28:51):
not gonna repeat everything you guys said. UM, but I played.
I played a very different position than Nate. You know
what I mean? And I can't lie. Every single time
I stepped on the field, it was a helmet to
helmet play, whether it was kickoff, whether it was blocking
somebody on kickoff return, or whether it was lead doing
(29:12):
a lead on somebody in the be gat. You see
what I'm saying. UM. I was an undersized fullback, so
I had to kind of use leverage, and I had
to understand leverage to use certain parts of your helmet,
you know what I mean, to get people up off
from you. UM, I tell you this. My twolve year
old had a concussion the first time he put on
equipment in middle school, right, and I will not let
(29:34):
him play again. It's scared the hell out of me. Um,
all because I know how I feel now, all because
it just from headaches from things that go on, you
know what I mean. And I can't lie. I think
twice when I send my kid out there, as opposed
(29:54):
to if you had asked me this question when I
was in college, I would have been awful. Oh no,
I'm pushing them to play. Um. It just makes me
think twice about it. Guys. I mean honestly, bro, because Mike,
I played a different position. Bro. Now I get that. Mike.
Now we we've talked off Cameron. You know, we've had
these moments where our conversation gets real. You know, we
(30:17):
we work and we debate and we joke a lot.
But I remember us talking about injuries, specifically head injuries,
and some of our major kind of life altering injuries.
Maybe it's mailing our knee, it's gonna cause early arthritists.
Are some torn ligaments or sprains that we have that
we know we're gonna have to deal with at age
fifty seventy. And I remember you saying something that I
(30:40):
always echo in my heart is that, yeah, I'm gonna
have to deal with things at the age that most
men vote. But what I say pride in is that
I sacrifice a part of myself to provide a lifestyle
for my family and people around me. UM that wouldn't
be able to do if I didn't. Now, maybe there's
(31:02):
foolish and that type of honor, but I appreciate that
honor and I'm okay with that honor. Because of what
I was able to do on the field, providing for
the masters and kids, screaming and signing autographs, I love it.
But what I what I was able to do for
my family and possibly setting up generations UM and take
care of my mom and dad and my brothers. I'm
(31:23):
okay with that risk. I'm okay with everything that I've sacrificed, Mike,
and I'm happy. I'm happy with what I've done so far.
So I want my I want my kids to feel
that type of honor even if he doesn't make it
to the NFL. I want my kids to go through
rough times. I want my kids that have to deal
with the issues that football presents. Because there's so many parallels.
(31:45):
People may listen to us and think we were always
the man, But speaking for myself, Mike, there were times
when I was the last go off the bitch when
I was a little league in high school and college,
damn even in the NFL. When I signed in Seattle,
Homegren was like, I like you, I didn't necessarily once
you here, but you know, we're gonna work in a rotation.
In other words, you're gonna sub men for guys when
(32:07):
they get tired. So all these different things I went
through in the sport of football were direct parallels to
help me deal with life. And when life hit me,
I dealt with it because that was easy compared to
the stuff that football had me deal with. So I
feel like because of that, that's another reason why I
want my son to to deal with it. I'm okay
if he comes home limping and I gotta nurse him
(32:28):
back to health, I know in that time that he's
dealing with an injury, I can relate that to something
that's gonna hit him later on in life. And you know,
I believe that football can help do that. Church Church, Well,
you know it's funny here and Nate talk about Obviously
guys played at a much higher level than I did.
But you know, I played three sports through high school, football, basketball,
and baseball, and I don't know that I learned more
(32:49):
life lessons, not just from any sport, but from anything
as much as I did from football. But when you
have that happened to your son at a young age,
and I do believe that certain people are are prone
two things such as cancer or concussions, not not everybody
has the same percentage chance of getting those things. So
if that happens to your son at the young age,
(33:11):
I get it. Yeah, I get it, and you want
to be doing it. I totally understand that. Hey man,
at this point, that's a that's a drop to mics
segment right there. Man, it's a rat for this week's show,
Nate Man, appreciate you, man, Nate, ma'am. Before we get going,
I have to say this out loud because you know,
Dan's our host, right, he's the hosts. We joke with
(33:32):
him and we take shots at him. But you know,
oftentimes till Dan like, man, we need to get you
on different platforms because he's very knowledgeab with the game.
You see it on other networks. I'm not gonna say
their names because that's not what we do here. It's
all about the network. But you see you see their
hosts on different platforms sharing their knowledge of the game. So, Dan,
I'm glad you got to join us, and I hope
(33:52):
you get to come back because people need to see
you as our host. But also appreciate the fact that
you know a lot about what the hell going on.
Thanks for us. Appreciate you, Bro. Let's appreciate it to
my favorite, I'd love to come on again. Let's get
it man, Let's get it man. Hey, look the new
R and B hashtag. We had to change it up
hashtag nfl Are in B? All right? Are in B?
(34:15):
Joined the conversation on twitters and all your questions, leave
comments on iTunes, Stitcher, all of that stuff. Hey, man,
were out of here, Bro, Appreciate your Nate, Dan, get
the torn out looking at watch this internet. Watch that
when you go around the clom. I missed little out
(34:35):
that little Spanish style. Christen
What's Up? Everybody? DJ here from Move the Sticks along
with Bucky Brooks our podcast. We look at the NFL
through a player personnel perspective, looking at teams, looking at matchup,
looking at the NFL Draft. You can catch us on
Move the Sticks, NFL dot Com, Slash Podcast as well
as iTunes. What's Up? This is the R and B Podcast.
(00:23):
I'm Nke Burlison, I'm real Mike Rob. Drop that beat. Yeah,
oh no, no, yeah, Well I had a long day.
Now I'm really trying to go. My lady dranks down
(00:45):
floor and made on down that ain't going down. See now, baby,
I got some staffs, boy, and all some real players.
You can specs some fast for you teach at this game.
Go down. As they analyze the winners, they might show
my name out because you bad mommy making jump so
into a season. Who it never gets old, Nate, it
(01:13):
never gets Oh. Welcome to the R and B Podcast.
We got Nate on Nate cam out in Arizona. He's
on Skype. I'm real Mike Rob and we're joined by
Mr NFL Network himself, Dan Halle. Hey Dan, Yes, sir,
why were you so late? Wasn't let I've been waiting
for Nate to get his spark vest On in his
(01:36):
Skype board. But Dan, thank you for coming on next time.
Today we're gonna be talking NFL free agency, r G
three to the Browns, hard knocks, our favorite draft prospects,
and um, we're gonna get into it, Nate. You know
what I'm saying, We're gonna get in to it. Before
we get in all that, TD tell everybody how they
(01:56):
can get involved. Definitely, you can get involved by subscriber
to the show on iTunes or subscribing to a YouTube
pay lest dropping comments Twitter, all of the people know,
spreading the word because we need the word to be spread. Yeah, yeah,
we need it. Man, this is a movement. Nate. Come on,
Nate and look, you gotta you gotta spark vest On
and make people think you working out all the time. Though,
(02:18):
if if my internet holds up, I'm gonna give you
guys a tour and a crib to let you know
that I didn't just put this on for the show.
So I'm take you outside and I'm gonna show you
the type of workout put in when I'm not working.
How many how many shirts does he need to wear?
I mean seriously, he's doing that to make him look
a little bit more buff. You know what I mean.
(02:39):
That's what small guys do there. Hey, let's get over
with the show. Yeah, let's get it into it. Man,
you gotta beat to something TV. Let's get into it
a little bit. Man. Mm hmmm. Nice and chill, man,
nice and chill. Oh it as chill as you thought.
(02:59):
So we coach beat right here. It's like a car
wash like back in the day. We just go through
the car washers and the weather. I feel like I
need to like spit a rhyme or something. Show started.
Oh have you been working? Oh you got some rich
Hold on a minute, they got some down. What can
we go? I'm here with my man nape Be, one
(03:19):
of the best wide receivers in not really. Also Mike
Robs in the house, always wearing those beats when he
flies all the way out from Richmond. He's on fleek.
And for the geeks out there, fullback with some serious feet. Okay,
you just gotta stay on beat a little bit. Was
that not good? But I was it was decent. I tried,
(03:41):
it was tried. I don't have beat, I don't have rhythm.
Yes you do. You just gotta jump rope. I just
go jump rope and listen to a lot. Thanks name,
thanks name. Jumping up gives me more rhythm, it does, right,
I've jumped, and try to just stay on a rhythm
with it. Try hey, forget about jumping rope? Right, all right,
(04:03):
all right, all right, Nate. Here's the thing, Mike. You know,
we we do a lot of talking. We do a
lot of debate, and I'm glad we got I'm gonna
jump in her real quick because Mike dropping knowledge here.
How did you get rid of them? I'm telling you,
thank you, thank you, thank you. No no, no, either
have it or you don't. That's true, but you can
work on it. Bro. Okay, you have to jump jump
(04:23):
rope with some some of your black friends. Man, this
is I'm telling you, this is one of the biggest
stories in life for me. Stay on the rhythm. Listen
to some hip hop while you jump roping and try
to stay on the beat. There's a rhythm to it.
What did I What did I miss? Mike? You said,
jumping rope. I'm telling you. Trust me, Bro, and listen
to hip hop as you're doing it. Listen to me, Bro,
(04:44):
Listen it's like speed, dude, you're born with it or
you're not there. There, there's something too, but you can
work on it. Dan, Okay, alright, you can work. Hey, Mike,
you are so country you're tripping. Man, that's the truth.
I've never heard that. I haven't even all right, look, man,
(05:04):
let's get into it man. NFL free agency, um, Dan,
let's go to you first year to get your guests. Man,
talk about some free agency moves, free agency moves, some
things that intrigued you the most about this free NFL. Well,
one of the biggest moves in free agency for me
was clearly brock Ostwalder to the Texas And then you
throw in the fact that they also signed Lamar Miller,
So they get some help at the running back position.
(05:25):
If that offense can get up and going. With the
way that defense played last year second half of last season,
I thought they were one of the top two or
three defenses in the NFL. Um So, now, if you
can get that offense rolling, you get Billy O'Brien a
chance to work with the quarterback who obviously has some
talent in Oswalder. They paid him a lot of money,
but that's what you do. Now if you want a
franchise quarterback. So I like, I like the moves they made,
(05:45):
but we don't know if my thing is we don't
know if it's a franchise quarterback. And I agree with you, Um, Nate,
I'm gonna get your opinion in a second. I agree
with you on Houston. Um, but how do you sign
a quarterback right and your head coach, who was the
quarterback gur Guru, doesn't even have a meeting with him
before you sign him. How's that possible? What's going on
(06:05):
between the general manager and the head coach? Like, I
just don't understand that. How do you not meet with
the guy that you're gonna give what thirty seven million
dollars and guaranteed money to and lead your team and
basically your job is tied to now I mean people's
jobs online. How's that possible? Nate? Well, my, you know
one thing you have to consider is, um the timing
(06:27):
was of the essence. When brock Oswider got signed, we
were working, we had a show to do, we were
covering free agency, and it shook up the whole football world.
And at the time of the announcement that ran Getling
let us know nobody had any idea, so I believe
it was more of them trying to get it done
before Denver could come in and convince him to stay
(06:49):
with the broncos Um. You know, I didn't make the
type of money that Brock made, obviously, but my my
third contract with Detroit, I got five years for million
and Scott Lenahan flew to Seattle and he was there
at midnight at the night of or the morning of creatency.
I didn't met with the head coach. I didn't meet
with my receiver's coach. I didn't even know half the
(07:11):
guns on the team, so I was one of the
first guys off the board. So I really think that
was more of the mindset. Everybody was on board with
the decision, but they wanted to get it done as
quick as possible because Mike, you know, just like I know,
you can be convinced within a matter of minutes. You
can make millions in a matter of minutes, but you
can keep be convinced to stay with a team or
(07:32):
go with another team in a matter of minutes. So
I think time was of the essence and they had
to jump on that. I agree with that, Nate, But
and no disrespect man, But you're wild out right. We're
talking about a franchise. You're nobody's. Your head coach's job
wouldn't have been tied to whether they signed you or not.
You talk about jobs that are tied to franchise quarterbacks
(07:52):
that you talk about a sample size of seven games. Now,
I like the Lamar Miller's signing. I like I like
the direction of getting a franchise quarterback to compliment that defense.
But I just don't know how can you sign a
guy without your biggest Your biggest asset is the fact
that you can your head coach can coach or quarterback.
But here, here's what you have to look at. What
(08:14):
was what was their other option? It was Brock or
who It's like when you fire a head coach, that's great.
Who are you bringing in now? So it's not to
me just the seven games that he started. To me,
it's the four years he's had in the league. And
who gives you a better opportunity to win right now?
If you're Bill O'Brien, brock Osweiler, or drafted a young
(08:34):
cat out of college, I think it's brock Osweiler. And
I've talked to a number of guys who have played
the position in the NFL who said I wasn't ready
my first year two. I would go with Brock Osweiler
over over myself. One of one of them was was
David Carr, who was the number one pick of the
Texans way back in the day. He said, I just
wasn't ready to win. I would go with a guy
like Brock who has been in the league for a while.
(08:56):
And when you think about, you know, creating the type
of quarterback you want, are surrounding him with the pieces
Mike you said, you know, it's just a sample size
and they're trying to piece together the proper team. And
with me, the analogy I think of when you guys
mentioned sample sizes food. If you eat, you know, just
a little bit of this, a little bit of that.
(09:17):
By the end of the meal, you might be full.
You might not need the entree. You might not need
the quote unquote franchise quarterback if you have a defense,
if you have an anchor like J. J. Watt, if
you have guys surrounding him, and then you bring in
Lamar Miller, who had more touchdowns last year than the
whole running back group did as effective and then on
top of that, you add in DeAndre Hopkins, who, arguably,
(09:39):
now with Calvin Johnson gone and Antonio holding down the fort,
Julio Jones holding down the fort, he will make an
argument as the number one receiver in the league. So
he has the pieces. Yeah, he might be the sample size,
but when you surround the sample size with a whole
bunch of appetizers and side plates, it becomes a full meal.
(10:00):
Makes sense, dog, makes sense. You convinced me, You'll convinced me. Okay,
I'm just paying devil's advocate. But honestly, before we even started,
I like what Houston Texas are doing. I like Billy O'Brien. Um,
I just it was just weird to me. How you
don't I don't know, that's all. And here here's the
other thing, guys, I'm sure Bill O'Brien had some interaction
with brock Oswiler in the past. I don't think he
(10:22):
went into this blind. He obviously knew what type of
person he was, in addition to what type of quarterback
he was. It doesn't bother me that he didn't meet
with him on the day of free agency, because obviously
this this deal happened pretty quickly. Right now, let's let's
jump into the next topic, because, like I said, I'm
glad we got Dan here. And obviously, Mike, we have
(10:43):
debated this topic. This guy, this individual, I don't know,
he's Dan guy. This is Dan's guy. Let's just keep you, hey, Mike,
believe it or not, this is everybody's guy, because at
one point, what's crazy is everybody like r G three.
You might not like his personality, but everybody appreciated what
he did in the field. Now he signs with Cleveland
(11:05):
right a two year deal where it was a fifteen
million Okay. So Mike, we debated this. You said, he's
a year out before he starts again. He's not gonna
be in a situation where he touches the field as
the number one quarterback. I was on the opposite end
of that. I said, Mike, next year he will start.
He started off too hot, he captured the masses, and
(11:27):
he didn't do what he did to wash it away.
That was the foundation of something he still can do.
So Mike, I ask you again, and we're gonna let
Dan wrap this all together in a pretty bow because
then seen it in the beginning and fall apart and
obviously being the host of one of the best shows
in TV Total Access, He's seen it come back together
in Cleveland. So I'll start with you, Mike, how do
(11:47):
you feel about r G thing he signed with the
Browns and what are his chances now to be a
starter in this league? Again? Well, to be honest with you,
they I remember us debating on debating that, and I
did feel that he would not start this upcoming season.
But when you put him with a guy like Hugh Jackson,
to me, Hugh Jackson is the key, Okay, Hugh Jackson
is the key to be able to um get r
(12:09):
G three comfortable again, UM be able to talk to
him so that he's understanding offense, so that we can
see that flash and dash, we can see his abilities
come out. And I think Hugh is creative enough offensively
um as um as Mike Shanahan was back in twelve.
I think he was creative enough offensively to to use
(12:31):
r G three in the in the right capacity. But
but here's my thing. I say that with a small
caveat like, it's still it's Cleveland though, Nate, Okay, and
I'm just being real with it. It's Cleveland and it's
it's not like they did. They didn't lose two or
three or some of their best players that they've had.
(12:52):
They've all of those guys. It's not like they didn't
lose that. And I don't care how good of a
talent you are, how good of a coach you are,
if the pieces just aren't there, and we haven't seen
him do much in free agency, if the pieces aren't there,
if this is something that's gonna be built for long term,
I don't know if that's the best situation for r
G three. I don't because he's a guy that if
(13:16):
his confidence isn't there, he's not rolling, he's not winning,
things go bad, he gets hurt. I mean, it's it's
it's an avalanche now when things are going good. Yeah,
he's one of the he's exciting, but I just don't
know if the pieces are there to to to kind
of compliment some of the things that he can do.
All right, before I before I respond to that, Dan,
(13:37):
I want you to kind of fill in the listeners
about what it was like seeing him that first year,
because we've talked about it off camera, and I was
captivated by your story of captivation and how he just
grabbed d C. He grabbed the Redskins fans, he grabbed,
he grabbed the I want you to kind of feel
everybody in what that was like, and then how you
(13:58):
saw it fall apart and what you know being an insider,
and and then how it all came back. Sure, so
I'm sure most of the people listening are watching right now.
I don't know my background, but I'm from Washington, d C.
And before I came here to NFL Network, UM, I
worked at the NBC affiliate in Washington. So I was
in New York at the draft when when Robert got drafted,
(14:18):
got a chance to speak with him there a little bit,
went away, uh to cover the Olympics for NBC, and
then came back at the end of training camp at
the end of preseason and saw the excitement level there
because Mike and Kyle Shanahan after they drafted him number
two overall behind Andrew Luck, they handed him the job,
said you're the guy. Let's take it and run with it.
(14:38):
And then obviously they designed an entire offense around his
skill set and what he did well at Baylor, and
he came out of the gates with a quickness. I
think it was against the Saints, and he came out
and there was a photo of him on his butt
holding up his hands like this, and that was the
beginning of r G three. Midway through the season, a
(14:59):
former reds His player named Fred Davis, who was a
pretty good tight end. I asked him and said, what
what do you think about what Robert has done for
this franchise and he's done for this town. He said,
he's the Black Jesus. He said, this guy is amazing
demographic and what d C the nicknamed the Chocolate So
to have a guy like r G three come in
and take the town by storm, you had Alex Ovechkin there,
(15:22):
you had Bryce Harper, arguably two of the best players
in their sport. R G three. If he lined up
for an autograph show that first year with those guys,
he would have ten times as many people in line
to get his autograph compared to Bryce Harper and Alex Govetchan.
That's DC. It's a Redskins town. So then the way
the season ended with him tearing his a c L
(15:42):
in the playoff game, when everybody was questioning Mike Shanahan
leaving him in there, people were devastated, but he was
rehab and he was getting back on track. He had
a TV show, a Gatorade sponsored TV show, and he
was the quote was all in for week one. Well,
that's when things started unraveling and going south with the
coaching staff, and Robert decided that he didn't want to
(16:04):
be a running quarterback anymore. And the thing that really
took me back was when his father would speak out
publicly and say they're gonna have to change some things
if they want Robert to be successful. And I just
I just thought to myself, what I want my father
speaking on my behalf about my profession to to anybody.
I just didn't think that was a really good look.
(16:24):
So that things came unraveled. Um, the Shanahan's didn't believe
that he was ready to be a pocket passer. Robert did.
He wasn't the same athlete that he was before the injury.
So to me, that's the biggest question mark moving forward
in Cleveland. Did he get some of that athletic ability back.
Will he be able to run and be as effective
(16:44):
as he was that rookie year because he wasn't when
he came back. Has he developed the mental the mental
skills of a pocket passer, where you're feeling certain things,
where you're directing traffic some of the top tier quarters
was some of the things some of the top two
quarterbacks do and he wasn't able to do that in
Shanahan's offense when they changed that. He wasn't able to
do it Jake Gruden's offense when he changed it. And
(17:05):
to me, though, the thing about Roberts your point, it's
as much about pocket awareness, and I didn't feel like
he had it. Nobody was sacked more outside of Michael
Vick than Robert Griffin the third when when he was
in the game. It's almost self awareness. But but but
but you know what, and I'm glad you say that,
uh Dan before and then before you go. The reason
why quarterbacks like that, and I've been in college, I
was one the reason why quarterbacks like that. These guys
(17:28):
they feel like they don't have the pocket awareness is
because all we hear, all they've heard is you're not
a pocket passer. You have to be able to do
everything out of the pocket, and there takes a certain
responsibility to drop back. Then and you're one of the
fastest people on the field when you hit your factor
when you hit your last step. That takes a certain
mental capacity and responsibility to not take not take off.
(17:52):
And you're hearing all these things all stay in the pocket.
I gotta operate out of the pocket. Yeah, I think
I saw this guy blissed, but I don't know. My
first this thing is the move. But I got this.
It's like this mental block telling me, now I have
to sit here and I have to throw the bar.
I have to take these hits, you know what I mean.
So it's almost like, can he find a coach that
can protect him from himself? Well, this is a multi
(18:13):
layered UH discussion with Robert Griffin the third because what
made him special was his ability to run. It's the
reason Alfred Morris had over yards. It's the reason he
had one of the most special rookie seasons for a
quarterback in NFL history. I mean, if if if you're
coaching Steph Curry, can you say, hey, Steph, don't take
threes this week? Oh you got That's that's what his
(18:34):
game is predicated upon. But step shooting threes in bad health,
now that's a good point. That's a good point. Well,
that's the other thing. And when I talk about multi
layered Nate. My biggest concern if I'm a Browns fan
right now, is just Robert staying healthy because he can't.
I don't. I've never seen a guy who's so gifted
(18:55):
have the inability to get down and slide like Robert
Griffin the Third has. Every time he runs, it's like
a car crash. Just slide. That's if I'm Hugh Jackson,
I'm taking him to the Cleveland Adians and I'm saying,
take this man how to slide? Yeah that, you know,
I don't want to, you know, make any comparisons that
(19:18):
are too far off. But I remember in the nineties, uh,
you know, being familiar with Grant Hill, watching him play
and then him just having injury after injury, and everybody's saying, well, Grant,
he had a great career. He would have been really
special if he just could have stayed healthy. Now, I
just feel like the way Robert Griffin the Third started off,
(19:40):
I think that's where we're headed. If he can't stay healthy,
you can't knock what he did. You can't knock what
he did in college or what he did his wookie year.
But you'll start to repeat that in your head. Well,
you know he had two many injuries. You know he
was good, but he couldn't stay healthy, so that obviously
is issue. I agree with Dan on this. I don't
feel like he does he needs to necessarily be a
(20:03):
more cerebral quarterback. He I don't think he needs to
necessarily increases football like you. Yeah, I get smarter as
a player, have more of an understanding as a player,
more more of a field like you said, Mike of
the game. I just feel like what you said, Mike,
he needs the pieces, and if you can give him
the pieces, he'll feel comfortable and he won't make as
many mistakes. I feel like there's a lot of luxury
(20:25):
that a lot of quarterbacks have that allow them to
be greater. There's only a few that don't need many pieces.
Tom Brady is one of those guys. He can play
with Edelman and Grant their fantastic players. But if he
didn't have them guys, he still will be one of
the best quarterbacks in the league. Other quarterbacks they need
(20:45):
that comfort blanket of a big time tight end, receiver,
running back. But hold of Nate But but but when
another guy your back up who got drafted in the
same year, comes in with the same and with the
same um you know, got with the same guys that
you're not being able to win with your not being
able to do stuff with and he wins, he puts
(21:08):
up numbers. I mean, well, listen, like my thing is
my thing is you're saying we're going off one season
and I'm not saying he wasn't exciting, but one season,
but it was. It was one season of greatness and
then it was two seasons of disaster. So we haven't
seen the great two twelve. We haven't seen that. Right
(21:30):
that Robert Griffin the third may not exist, Yeah, but
he might. But but but that's also in conjunction with
the coach who utilized who, who who called the game,
who coached to his ability? You see what I'm saying, Mike,
let me let me much. Just give you some names.
And these are the pieces surrounding r G three that
just jump off the pace. You got Hugh Jackson right
(21:53):
of the gate. We know what he stands for, we
know what he's trying to do. We I think we
all ran ran into huge in the super Bowl. He
seems enthusiastic about where he's had it, and we are
too um, hold on for a second. I got somebody
coming into the house, all right, so let's look podcast here.
So we got Hugh Jackson. We got Duke Johnson and
(22:15):
Isaiah Crowwell, right, I believe, two really good young running backs. Fantastic.
We got Andrew Hawkins, who had some injuries last year,
concussion problems as a slot receiver. If he can stay healthy,
that's a good security blaking. He's like a Wes Welker type,
runs great routes, very consistent. He's the guy you want.
(22:36):
You got Barnes who had a great year last year.
So Gary Barners that tied end. And then lastly, here's
the x fac I know where you're going. Now. We
got Josh Gordon possibly being reinstated now with r G
three and the things that he can do. Well, a
guy that can run the ball, tuck and run, reopen
(22:57):
this throwing arm and let the ball go throwing to
see what that can. But more importantly, Josh Gordon is
one of the best ad living wide receivers in the game.
So after he gets there running his curl routers come
back ors did you'll be able to connect eyes. But
check this out. That is enough. That's enough pieces right there,
(23:18):
Mike say three will be okay, this, I say, I know,
but but hold hold up though. First of all, first
of all, okay, okay, okay, none of those names other
than Josh gored and you say scared me or keep
me up at night? Okay, hold up, let me finish. Okay,
that's first of all. Okay. Second of all, none of
those names you said were anybody that's involved in protecting
(23:40):
this man while he's in the pocket the offensive line, okay.
And second of all, for those skill guys to be
able to help him and for him to be able
to utilize them, he must get his football i Q
up so that he knows when to get the ball
out so that he can utilize those athletes. So basically,
you're saying, I'm right, I appreciate that name a t
You gotta beat up what's happening there. That's how he
(24:06):
does it. Nate, he just kind of wraps it up
like that. If he was here, you know, if Nate
was here, he would have he would have battled me
for that one. You know, we have a total access
meeting coming up soon. Yeah, we do, we do. We
just ran out look, I know, you know, what Nate's crazy.
I'm gonna get into this, you know what, I'm gonna
skip a little subject. How do you get that home
cam going? Like? I need to work on that. It's
(24:28):
the cocks cable in Arizona. Man, Yeah, that's good, it's
pretty good. We'll get what do you think they'd give
one of me since I live fifteen minutes away from
the studio. Probably not. No, let's let's gas bikes up
to like five dollars for regular I loved loved attitude.
Though he's out here taking a shot. He can't he
dropped the freestyle that all that. Listen. I'm the whitest
guy in America. I'm just gonna go for it. You
(24:50):
know they're gonna h me on again. But you got
your black card. I appreciates going with some hip hop bro.
That's but look, you know what, I have one in
the car. Wanted to get you guys opinion on this.
Check this out man, you uh you know our guy?
Um who's saying up due? I hope I'm saying his
name right? Uh safety Um he just retired for the Chiefs.
(25:11):
For the Chiefs. Yeah, Um, he's had five concussions in
seven years. Um, and I want to ask both of
y'all and may you're a former NFL player, and then
I'll give you my thoughts. And Dan, uh, you didn't
play an NFL Sorry bro, but but but I but
I didn't get my bell rung a couple of times
in high school. Exactly would you guys allow your allow
(25:32):
your kids to play especially I mean, we've had the NFL.
One of the NFL guys kind of admit that there
is a link between you know, um CT and some
of these some of these cognitive issues in football, right,
would you let your kids play? Yeah? My my my
kids asked me all the time to play. Hav an
eight year old son who's in uh second grade, And
(25:53):
I started playing when I was in fifth grade, so
I've been pretty steadfast. And the fact that if he
wants to play in fifth grade, I'm on for it. UM.
I think that the way that they're teaching the game
now with the heads up football. UM. Before it was
put your head down, put it right on the ball,
face mask and wrap them up. Now it's it's different
the way that they're teaching the tackle, and hopefully that's
(26:15):
going to eliminate some of the risk. I think that
there are risks in everything. My son also plays hockey.
He plays lacrosse, and I'll tell you where they take
some of the hardest hits right now is in lacrosse.
And that's a great sport. Um. But yeah, i'd a
low my son to play. What about you, Nate, Yeah,
you know I started playing when I was nine years old,
(26:38):
and I didn't have my first major injury too high school,
and that was a sprained ankle. I didn't get my
first concussion to my last year of college football, and
then I had a few in the NFL. So for me,
like Dan say that you can get injured doing anything, Um,
that's just the luck of the draw. I would want
my son to play something that he loves and appreciates.
(27:02):
I'm not the father to force his kids to play
a sport because I played it. I do want my
kids to be well rounded. And what I preached to
the youth in high schools and elementaries is try everything.
Like when I was coming up, I tried baseball, was terrible.
I was scared of the ball. I tried football, basketball,
(27:22):
and track. I fell in love with football and basketball.
I hate a track only ran it because my dad
said I'll get faster and I'll jump higher. So I
did that. I also got involved in school plays. I
tried instruments, I wrote poetry. I did everything that was
available off of Shakespeare. I tried. So for me, if parents,
(27:44):
if parents want their kids to be well rounded, then
put them in everything until they don't want to do it,
or until they realized that you realized that might not
be the thing. So I remember one day my dad
was just like, you're not good at baseball. You haven't
got over your fear of hitting. Uh, so you can't
sit in the outfield all day. So we're just gonna
take the sport off the table. How old are you
(28:05):
when that happened, Nate, I was ten years old. I
played it from eight to ten, and I just didn't
have the goods. Now what's crazy is little Nate is
one of the best eleven year olds I've seen it
not just because of my son. He got it. He
got something that I don't have. And I try not
to be that guy, try not to be that father,
that dad that forces the issue. So getting back to football,
(28:30):
I'd rather my son go out there playing sport that
he is fully aware of the consequences. He's seen his
dad Limpaul. He's seen me fresh out the hospital, he's
seen me pop peels for breakfast because I'm covering from surgery.
And he still wants to play the sport and I
won't stop him from doing that. I I agree with
both of you, guys. Man, this game has afforded us
a lot of things. Um, and I agree, And I'm
(28:51):
not gonna repeat everything you guys said. UM, but I played.
I played a very different position than Nate. You know
what I mean? And I can't lie. Every single time
I stepped on the field, it was a helmet to
helmet play, whether it was kickoff, whether it was blocking
somebody on kickoff return, or whether it was lead doing
(29:12):
a lead on somebody in the be gat. You see
what I'm saying. UM. I was an undersized fullback, so
I had to kind of use leverage, and I had
to understand leverage to use certain parts of your helmet,
you know what I mean, to get people up off
from you. UM, I tell you this. My twolve year
old had a concussion the first time he put on
equipment in middle school, right, and I will not let
(29:34):
him play again. It's scared the hell out of me. Um,
all because I know how I feel now, all because
it just from headaches from things that go on, you
know what I mean. And I can't lie. I think
twice when I send my kid out there, as opposed
(29:54):
to if you had asked me this question when I
was in college, I would have been awful. Oh no,
I'm pushing them to play. Um. It just makes me
think twice about it. Guys. I mean honestly, bro, because Mike,
I played a different position. Bro. Now I get that. Mike.
Now we we've talked off Cameron. You know, we've had
these moments where our conversation gets real. You know, we
(30:17):
we work and we debate and we joke a lot.
But I remember us talking about injuries, specifically head injuries,
and some of our major kind of life altering injuries.
Maybe it's mailing our knee, it's gonna cause early arthritists.
Are some torn ligaments or sprains that we have that
we know we're gonna have to deal with at age
fifty seventy. And I remember you saying something that I
(30:40):
always echo in my heart is that, yeah, I'm gonna
have to deal with things at the age that most
men vote. But what I say pride in is that
I sacrifice a part of myself to provide a lifestyle
for my family and people around me. UM that wouldn't
be able to do if I didn't. Now, maybe there's
(31:02):
foolish and that type of honor, but I appreciate that
honor and I'm okay with that honor. Because of what
I was able to do on the field, providing for
the masters and kids, screaming and signing autographs, I love it.
But what I what I was able to do for
my family and possibly setting up generations UM and take
care of my mom and dad and my brothers. I'm
(31:23):
okay with that risk. I'm okay with everything that I've sacrificed, Mike,
and I'm happy. I'm happy with what I've done so far.
So I want my I want my kids to feel
that type of honor even if he doesn't make it
to the NFL. I want my kids to go through
rough times. I want my kids that have to deal
with the issues that football presents. Because there's so many parallels.
(31:45):
People may listen to us and think we were always
the man, But speaking for myself, Mike, there were times
when I was the last go off the bitch when
I was a little league in high school and college,
damn even in the NFL. When I signed in Seattle,
Homegren was like, I like you, I didn't necessarily once
you here, but you know, we're gonna work in a rotation.
In other words, you're gonna sub men for guys when
(32:07):
they get tired. So all these different things I went
through in the sport of football were direct parallels to
help me deal with life. And when life hit me,
I dealt with it because that was easy compared to
the stuff that football had me deal with. So I
feel like because of that, that's another reason why I
want my son to to deal with it. I'm okay
if he comes home limping and I gotta nurse him
(32:28):
back to health, I know in that time that he's
dealing with an injury, I can relate that to something
that's gonna hit him later on in life. And you know,
I believe that football can help do that. Church Church, Well,
you know it's funny here and Nate talk about Obviously
guys played at a much higher level than I did.
But you know, I played three sports through high school, football, basketball,
and baseball, and I don't know that I learned more
(32:49):
life lessons, not just from any sport, but from anything
as much as I did from football. But when you
have that happened to your son at a young age,
and I do believe that certain people are are prone
two things such as cancer or concussions, not not everybody
has the same percentage chance of getting those things. So
if that happens to your son at the young age,
(33:11):
I get it. Yeah, I get it, and you want
to be doing it. I totally understand that. Hey man,
at this point, that's a that's a drop to mics
segment right there. Man, it's a rat for this week's show,
Nate Man, appreciate you, man, Nate, ma'am. Before we get going,
I have to say this out loud because you know,
Dan's our host, right, he's the hosts. We joke with
(33:32):
him and we take shots at him. But you know,
oftentimes till Dan like, man, we need to get you
on different platforms because he's very knowledgeab with the game.
You see it on other networks. I'm not gonna say
their names because that's not what we do here. It's
all about the network. But you see you see their
hosts on different platforms sharing their knowledge of the game. So, Dan,
I'm glad you got to join us, and I hope
(33:52):
you get to come back because people need to see
you as our host. But also appreciate the fact that
you know a lot about what the hell going on.
Thanks for us. Appreciate you, Bro. Let's appreciate it to
my favorite, I'd love to come on again. Let's get
it man, Let's get it man. Hey, look the new
R and B hashtag. We had to change it up
hashtag nfl Are in B? All right? Are in B?
(34:15):
Joined the conversation on twitters and all your questions, leave
comments on iTunes, Stitcher, all of that stuff. Hey, man,
were out of here, Bro, Appreciate your Nate, Dan, get
the torn out looking at watch this internet. Watch that
when you go around the clom. I missed little out
(34:35):
that little Spanish style. Christen
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