July 22, 2025 • 9 mins
Given Dan Campbell's recent praise for Hendon Hooker, Shep wonders whether or not he can be trusted as the Lions' backup quarterback to Jared Goff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
But Hooker knows the deal man, this is no different.
You're right here to compete. We gave him some things
to do while he was home, talking about working on
a little bit of the urgency, the footwork, you know,
certainly continued training and look, it's only one day, but man,
I liked what I saw out here yesterday. Man, there's
an urgency. I thought his footwork was on. I thought
he was spitting the plays out. But there again, that's
day one. But he knows what it is. You know,
(00:21):
he knows it's time to take the next step. I
think he's wired right. They mean something to him, and
so here we go. Man, it's open camp really.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good sound bite from Dan Campbell. Loved that, really do.
I mean, just it's so pure and so raw, but
so true.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Oftentimes when you hear his sound bites, it's not made
for television or radio, you know. I mean, Trent works
hard at grabbing these, but while he's putting those in,
you know, Dann Well, he's going exactly like you feel
it with Dan Campbell. It's not scripted. That's what I
love about it. But this isn't about Dan Campbell. Welcome
back and tell me more. Tuesday this is about Hendon Hooker.
(01:03):
If I said to you, which position battles are you
looking forward to most, where does Hendon Hooker and Kyle
Allen rank?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
It's definitely under the radar for sure. Are you even
thinking about it? No?
Speaker 4 (01:23):
And it should be higher on the list, like you said,
or like you're alluding to.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I think, well should it be?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I think you have to have confidence in your backup quarterback.
If Jared Goff's to go down for one or two games,
you have to have trust in someone to step in
with these offensive weapons and deliver a win for you.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I agree. I do agree with that.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
You and I coaches being around them as often as
they are, knowing them for as well as they do,
they probably feel the same way, right, Okay, Kyle Allen.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Go to school, couldn't tell you? Do you know anything
about him?
Speaker 4 (02:07):
I know he played in Washington a little bit under
Ron Rivera. That's about it.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Yeah, So he's a guy who he's played in Carolina, Washington, Buffalo, Pittsburgh,
went to Texas, A and M By the way, not
that that matters that much.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
You watch a lot of college football, do you remember?
I don't.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I'm sorry if Hendon Hooker or Kyle Allen, whoever wins
the backup spot. If they have to start more than
a few games, this team's done. You're you're not winning
anything with those guys. And that's with all due respect.
Those guys throw a better ball than I ever have,
all I can do, all the precursor stuff on their ability.
(02:50):
I'm not disregarding their ability to throw a football at
the National Football League level, understand plays anything like that.
I have too much respect for all those athletes to
even think about that. But I also know in the NFL,
when you're a journeyman, if you're not sticking with some
(03:13):
of these teams that Kyle Allen has been with, and
if Hendon Hooker can't beat up Teddy Bridgewater last year,
it's a problem. Perhaps it shows you just how challenging
the position is. This magnifies it. If you didn't know already,
and I think most of you did, But if you
didn't know already, Hendon Hooker, who was a pretty good
player at Tennessee, has had a really hard time, not
(03:39):
just because of Jared Goff seeing the field at all,
so much so that they've brought in Kyle Allen and said, look,
we're not convinced our guy that we drafted is indeed
the guy to back up the main guy. That's a problem.
(03:59):
I don't know how much we should truly be focused
on the backup quarterback, even though I think Trent put
it well. I mean, it is a position, it's really important.
It's a play away, that's all.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
It is.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
One snap, one hit, one play away from having to
go to these guys.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Here's my issue.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
And I hate acting like this because my mind I
need to I need to turn it off. I don't
know why I do this, but I immediately look for
some possible opposites when I read certain things. Hooker said
to the media the other day. I'm a very competitive guy. Okay,
(04:45):
no kidding.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
You're not playing at that level on unless you're competitive.
Yeah that's nice to him. Yeah, it's not utique to anybody.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Most of those guys want to win at everything they do.
You want to have some good arguments, some good emotion.
Watch a card game on a plane between these guys.
Go into a baseball clubhouse and watch them play ping pong.
It's a debate, it's a battle. There used to be
in the Tigers clubhouse before they redid it a mini
(05:18):
basketball hoop.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Like the kind you and I play when we were
kids in our bedrooms? Maybe not you me. I've got
one up here on one of the closet doors. You're shooting, right.
That's what a lot of people do. That's competitiveness. All
of them are.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Competitiveness or competitors. They're playing video games, they're competing. So
him saying, I'm a very competitive guy, you know, Bob Seger,
No blank, I've known that for ten years. Okay, he says,
my love for the game, I'll do anything to make
sure that I'm playing at my highest and at my best.
(06:00):
I should just be able to read that quote, Trent
and say, okay, great, I don't. I hate that my
brain works this way. If indeed, you'll do anything to
make sure you're playing at your highest and your best,
where have you been for two years?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I don't know why I think that. Well, it's a
good question. No, it's you're being a jackass by saying that.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
No, I don't think you are a chef. Because they
you and I have talked about this. They didn't trust
him enough to be the backup on the depth chart
in a playoff game. So what did they do. They
went out and got Teddy Bridgewater out of retirement for
crying out loud. That says more about Hennon Hooker than
it does anyone else.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
But he was working out with his high school team,
so let's give him some credit.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
There, crying out loud. Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
In the past, the backup quarterback, it was a big deal.
It was a big deal back in the days of
Eric Hipple. It was back when Eric Kramer. I mean
there was a huge debate Rodney Pete or Eric Kramer,
both of them a six and two in the early nineties,
led their teams to a twelve win season, and it
was Kramer who led them past Dallas. Okay, the backup
(07:17):
quarterback outside of dan Orlowski will all due respect, Maybe
some people like Mike McMahon.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Maybe, Okay, I love his athleticism.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Good for you. Let him go back to Rutgers. Anyway,
it used to be a really big debate in Detroit.
The last two quarterbacks have settled that. Maybe early on
in Stafford's career. I mean, when Dante Culpepper was here,
people wanted some people may have wanted Dante Culpepper. I
(07:48):
had numerous battles on the air with God rest his soul.
Drew Sharp a friend of mine who passed way too soon.
He's a good man, really was. Even though he put
up a lot of negative things on his columns and
people thought it was just clickbait and stuff like that,
he truly felt that way. But I really enjoyed working
with him. He was a friend of mine. But he
(08:10):
and I I'll never forget. We're at Lions training camp,
Matthew Stafford's rookie year. He and Dante Culpeper are taking
snaps and they're throwing the football and I'm like, you know,
I had never seen Stafford throw. Always saw him on TV,
saw him at Georgia right in a game, but have
(08:31):
you ever seen him up close and personal. You're watching
practice on the sidelines and we were allowed to roam
the sidelines back then as members of the media, and
I'm like, this, dude, this dude is it. I said
to Drew, I said, you got to start. This Guy's like, no,
you got to start Culpeper. Why, because I mean, you
(08:52):
got to ease the young guy into it.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Why.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
I mean, if the guy's the better player and everybody
knows he's the better player, everybody knows.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Remember when Jim Leland took.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Justin Verlander North in two thousand and six, he said,
if I didn't take him, I would have lost the team.
If I didn't take Joel Zemaya, I would have lost
the team. Even though they were young, I had to
take them. They were that good. It's the same thing
with Stafford at the time. Nobody says that about Hendon Hooker,
and I know it's the backup. I know he wasn't
drafted first first round. I get all that first overall,
(09:24):
but no one's saying that about Hendon Hooker. You know
what they're saying. They're saying, holy crap, If Jared Goff
gets hurt, were done, that's a problem. I don't know
how much I truly care about the backup quarterback position
because I've resigned myself to the thought, if it happens,
(09:44):
we're dead. Anyway. Never used to be that way. At
Lion's training camp shows you how different it is now.
But Hooker knows the deal man, this is no different.
You're right here to compete. We gave him some things
to do while he was home, talking about working on
a little bit of the urgency, the footwork, you know,
certainly continued training and look, it's only one day, but man,
I liked what I saw out here yesterday. Man, there's
an urgency. I thought his footwork was on. I thought
he was spitting the plays out. But there again, that's
day one. But he knows what it is. You know,
(00:21):
he knows it's time to take the next step. I
think he's wired right. They mean something to him, and
so here we go. Man, it's open camp really.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good sound bite from Dan Campbell. Loved that, really do.
I mean, just it's so pure and so raw, but
so true.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Oftentimes when you hear his sound bites, it's not made
for television or radio, you know. I mean, Trent works
hard at grabbing these, but while he's putting those in,
you know, Dann Well, he's going exactly like you feel
it with Dan Campbell. It's not scripted. That's what I
love about it. But this isn't about Dan Campbell. Welcome
back and tell me more. Tuesday this is about Hendon Hooker.
(01:03):
If I said to you, which position battles are you
looking forward to most, where does Hendon Hooker and Kyle
Allen rank?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
It's definitely under the radar for sure. Are you even
thinking about it? No?
Speaker 4 (01:23):
And it should be higher on the list, like you said,
or like you're alluding to.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I think, well should it be?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I think you have to have confidence in your backup quarterback.
If Jared Goff's to go down for one or two games,
you have to have trust in someone to step in
with these offensive weapons and deliver a win for you.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I agree. I do agree with that.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
You and I coaches being around them as often as
they are, knowing them for as well as they do,
they probably feel the same way, right, Okay, Kyle Allen.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Go to school, couldn't tell you? Do you know anything
about him?
Speaker 4 (02:07):
I know he played in Washington a little bit under
Ron Rivera. That's about it.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Yeah, So he's a guy who he's played in Carolina, Washington, Buffalo, Pittsburgh,
went to Texas, A and M By the way, not
that that matters that much.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
You watch a lot of college football, do you remember?
I don't.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I'm sorry if Hendon Hooker or Kyle Allen, whoever wins
the backup spot. If they have to start more than
a few games, this team's done. You're you're not winning
anything with those guys. And that's with all due respect.
Those guys throw a better ball than I ever have,
all I can do, all the precursor stuff on their ability.
(02:50):
I'm not disregarding their ability to throw a football at
the National Football League level, understand plays anything like that.
I have too much respect for all those athletes to
even think about that. But I also know in the NFL,
when you're a journeyman, if you're not sticking with some
(03:13):
of these teams that Kyle Allen has been with, and
if Hendon Hooker can't beat up Teddy Bridgewater last year,
it's a problem. Perhaps it shows you just how challenging
the position is. This magnifies it. If you didn't know already,
and I think most of you did, But if you
didn't know already, Hendon Hooker, who was a pretty good
player at Tennessee, has had a really hard time, not
(03:39):
just because of Jared Goff seeing the field at all,
so much so that they've brought in Kyle Allen and said, look,
we're not convinced our guy that we drafted is indeed
the guy to back up the main guy. That's a problem.
(03:59):
I don't know how much we should truly be focused
on the backup quarterback, even though I think Trent put
it well. I mean, it is a position, it's really important.
It's a play away, that's all.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
It is.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
One snap, one hit, one play away from having to
go to these guys.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Here's my issue.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
And I hate acting like this because my mind I
need to I need to turn it off. I don't
know why I do this, but I immediately look for
some possible opposites when I read certain things. Hooker said
to the media the other day. I'm a very competitive guy. Okay,
(04:45):
no kidding.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
You're not playing at that level on unless you're competitive.
Yeah that's nice to him. Yeah, it's not utique to anybody.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Most of those guys want to win at everything they do.
You want to have some good arguments, some good emotion.
Watch a card game on a plane between these guys.
Go into a baseball clubhouse and watch them play ping pong.
It's a debate, it's a battle. There used to be
in the Tigers clubhouse before they redid it a mini
(05:18):
basketball hoop.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Like the kind you and I play when we were
kids in our bedrooms? Maybe not you me. I've got
one up here on one of the closet doors. You're shooting, right.
That's what a lot of people do. That's competitiveness. All
of them are.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Competitiveness or competitors. They're playing video games, they're competing. So
him saying, I'm a very competitive guy, you know, Bob Seger,
No blank, I've known that for ten years. Okay, he says,
my love for the game, I'll do anything to make
sure that I'm playing at my highest and at my best.
(06:00):
I should just be able to read that quote, Trent
and say, okay, great, I don't. I hate that my
brain works this way. If indeed, you'll do anything to
make sure you're playing at your highest and your best,
where have you been for two years?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I don't know why I think that. Well, it's a
good question. No, it's you're being a jackass by saying that.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
No, I don't think you are a chef. Because they
you and I have talked about this. They didn't trust
him enough to be the backup on the depth chart
in a playoff game. So what did they do. They
went out and got Teddy Bridgewater out of retirement for
crying out loud. That says more about Hennon Hooker than
it does anyone else.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
But he was working out with his high school team,
so let's give him some credit.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
There, crying out loud. Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
In the past, the backup quarterback, it was a big deal.
It was a big deal back in the days of
Eric Hipple. It was back when Eric Kramer. I mean
there was a huge debate Rodney Pete or Eric Kramer,
both of them a six and two in the early nineties,
led their teams to a twelve win season, and it
was Kramer who led them past Dallas. Okay, the backup
(07:17):
quarterback outside of dan Orlowski will all due respect, Maybe
some people like Mike McMahon.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Maybe, Okay, I love his athleticism.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Good for you. Let him go back to Rutgers. Anyway,
it used to be a really big debate in Detroit.
The last two quarterbacks have settled that. Maybe early on
in Stafford's career. I mean, when Dante Culpepper was here,
people wanted some people may have wanted Dante Culpepper. I
(07:48):
had numerous battles on the air with God rest his soul.
Drew Sharp a friend of mine who passed way too soon.
He's a good man, really was. Even though he put
up a lot of negative things on his columns and
people thought it was just clickbait and stuff like that,
he truly felt that way. But I really enjoyed working
with him. He was a friend of mine. But he
(08:10):
and I I'll never forget. We're at Lions training camp,
Matthew Stafford's rookie year. He and Dante Culpeper are taking
snaps and they're throwing the football and I'm like, you know,
I had never seen Stafford throw. Always saw him on TV,
saw him at Georgia right in a game, but have
(08:31):
you ever seen him up close and personal. You're watching
practice on the sidelines and we were allowed to roam
the sidelines back then as members of the media, and
I'm like, this, dude, this dude is it. I said
to Drew, I said, you got to start. This Guy's like, no,
you got to start Culpeper. Why, because I mean, you
(08:52):
got to ease the young guy into it.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Why.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
I mean, if the guy's the better player and everybody
knows he's the better player, everybody knows.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Remember when Jim Leland took.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Justin Verlander North in two thousand and six, he said,
if I didn't take him, I would have lost the team.
If I didn't take Joel Zemaya, I would have lost
the team. Even though they were young, I had to
take them. They were that good. It's the same thing
with Stafford at the time. Nobody says that about Hendon Hooker,
and I know it's the backup. I know he wasn't
drafted first first round. I get all that first overall,
(09:24):
but no one's saying that about Hendon Hooker. You know
what they're saying. They're saying, holy crap, If Jared Goff
gets hurt, were done, that's a problem. I don't know
how much I truly care about the backup quarterback position
because I've resigned myself to the thought, if it happens,
(09:44):
we're dead. Anyway. Never used to be that way. At
Lion's training camp shows you how different it is now.
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