September 7, 2022 • 42 mins
On the NFL's Official Hard Knocks Podcast, Dan Hanzus and Colleen Wolfe recap the season finale of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Detroit Lions. Dan and Colleen start by discussing cut-down day as a number of players were let go by the Lions. Then, the hosts react to Eminem's appearance at Lions training camp (11:04). After the break, the hosts share the Liev Schreiber Quote of the Week (19:05). Finally, Dan and Colleen place their top three votes for Episode 5 MVP (22:27) to declare the season's MVP winners. We wrap up the series with a surprise imported from the city of Detroit (40:32).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Training camps. It's kind of like, it's kind of a
tough question. Training camp is hard work, Training camp is tough.
Training camp gives the young guys an idea of west
to come for their career. But training COUMP training camp
(00:26):
is a blessing. It's the season finale of the Hard
Knocks Podcast. Present to buy around the NFL, the Detroit Lions,
another season in the books, Dan Hands is here the
(00:48):
tiny box to my tug boat. Tug box, tug Box Tuesday,
tug Box Tuesday, Clear the Road. Yes, that was the
voice of Khalil Pimpleton. One of many compelling stories that
we followed along over the five episodes. And what I
(01:08):
thought was one of the better Hard Knocks seasons we've had.
Um in uh for NFL Films and HBO, so great
job by the whole production and and I think this
is the episode and this is a in the tradition
of Hard Knocks, Connie, Episode five is the payoff, and
(01:28):
it's especially the payoff for all of these young players,
these underdogs. Do they make the team. If they don't
make the team, what happens next? And you hear that,
like Khleil Pempleton, perfect example wide receiver. We talked about
him on last week's show, the big drop in the
preseason game and the die had been cast um and
yet he catches on with the Giants on their practice squad,
(01:52):
David Blow the quarterback. He gets cut in a surprise move,
he catches on with the Vikings, who claim him on waivers.
It to Mellen, like the like when you're in high
school and you have your group of friends and this
is really a credit to the show because you get
close and you feel like you're part of the team
in a way. When your friends go off to college
(02:12):
and you're not all the pirates anymore. Now you're you're
all these different other your gators, and you're you know, seminoles,
and you're this and you're that, and you just be like,
I wish we were all still together. But that's not
I know, honestly, Hard Knocks. It's like we're dreams are
realized and then also broken and crushed. And you know,
you see that throughout the whole episode and throughout the
(02:35):
whole series. And Dan, you're like a Hard Knocks historian,
so you know the rhythms of and it's so proud
of you at this point. But I think with this
season specifically, there are I always fall in love with
a few of the players because that's what Hard Knocks
traditionally does. But I also have fallen so in love
(02:56):
with the coaching staff, and it's been a theme and
we talk about it every single week. UM. So I
think that this episode, the cuts episode, it cuts different
because you're seeing the coaches emotional about It's just a
montage to start of breakups with the cuts at the
top of the show, and you can see I think
you can really tell a lot about people in general,
(03:19):
but especially with the players, and I think for the coaches,
this is important to see how the players react to
being cut and some of the guys, I'm sure they're
all heartbroken about it, but you can see, for instance,
Dan Skipper, I didn't even know he was on the team,
hardly knew you Dan want to talk about Skipper? Yeah,
And he was so upset and he looked at them
(03:39):
and he said, you know, is there anything else I
could have done? And my heart just broke into a
zillion pieces watching that. I want to I want to
say about about that in particular, and some of this
is kind of a conjecture because we don't know for sure,
but Dan Skipper is not someone that we followed closely
on this show. Might have been the first time he
showed up on the show as far as I know
in terms of getting the type of real camera time.
(04:01):
He's an offensive tackle. And this came during a sequence
where we're getting little bits and pieces of the conversations
between the g M Brad Holmes coach Dan Campbell and
the players that were being let go Tim Boyle, Devin
Funch's skipper, Bruce Hector, defensive end Jared Davis Um. And Yes,
(04:22):
that definitely resonated with me, the players and the things
that they said, um, And it didn't feel like it
was coming from a place like they needed to say it.
It was more like, I really like what you guys
are building here. You you have respect, I think, being
as they said, you're building a culture where men can
be themselves. That's all real. I got that vibe, and
I thought the Skipper situation made me think about Hard
(04:44):
Knocks and if you, if you follow the show long enough,
there have been times in the past where Hard Knocks
got some criticism for almost the voyeuristic look into this.
These cutdowns and brutality to it. I am member who
was the cornerback of the Dolphins years ago, the two
thousand twelve season. I think it was when he got
(05:08):
he learned he was being traded, I believe, and he says, oh,
I need to call my grandma. And the GM I
think it was Jeff Ireland at the time. It was
just kind of like a deeply personal moment, and you
really felt for it. We felt you felt for the
player um and Dan Skipper looked like his lip was
quivering when they first cut to him. Then they come
(05:29):
back and all you get is him saying, anything I
can do. And it made me think that this is
like NFL films, purposely a softer touch here. And I
respected it because I don't think I don't know, maybe
ten years ago, you get Dan Skipper and in that
moment crying to the coach and the GM, and I
think they made a concerted effort to kind of protect
that guy and what was a really vulnerable moment. It
(05:51):
completely pulled at my heart strings. And I was also
thinking to myself, if you are Dan Campbell, if you
are Brad Holmes, what do you do when you get
home from work that night or those two. However, many
days that they're having those conversations because you can see
how much it wears on Dan Campbell. Even when the
director of player engagement walked up to him on the
(06:13):
field and asked him, how you doing, and he responded,
you know, if it doesn't hurt, then you got to
get out of this business. And I'm doing better than
yesterday or two days ago. But there's so much emotion involved,
and specifically for a guy like I think Dan Campbell.
I'm sure everybody feels this way, but he really became attached,
I think, and you could see how he would become
(06:34):
so attached to the players that he has to say
goodbye to, So that is it's definitely an emotional roller
coaster football, Dan, you know I did. Yeah, And it
was by the way, Vante Davis, I just want to
get that right. When Joe Philbin told him he was traded,
he said, I want to call my grandma. That it
is so it's so human these moments, and like you're saying,
(06:57):
like Campbell and the staff have you know, the players
trust them, and you could you could see that and
even if they make a decision that they're not going
to be part of the future. Um, they respect that
they got this opportunity. So I thought that was you know,
it's not easy to watch in Campbell. At one point
I wish I knew who the woman's name was. No,
(07:17):
I didn't write it down right away, right that that
is That shows again that this isn't just you know whatever,
you don't even think about it anymore. It's it sticks
with him and it and it hurts. I was also
thinking too, just how difficult it must be to be
a bubble player and a journeyman in general, because watching
Pimpleton take the news, and he took the news so well,
(07:37):
so it made me wonder was he just like burying
his disappointment did he expected? Is he that just his
natural disposition? He was almost like buoyant, he was happy,
and I was like, that was to me, I would
be way closer to where Dan Skipper was or and
you've seen it in past years and again notable. You
did not see it at least in anything. We saw
(07:58):
guys that would be pissed. Yeah, and you could tell
there was some bad blood and bad energy over feeling
like they were not getting UM recognized in the way
they should. Add you don't sense that at all. Even there,
there was no contentious moments when they were having these conversations.
It was kind of a loving, like you said, like
(08:19):
a softer touch, you could you could sense that for sure.
But you know, one of the other things that I
was thinking about, not just with Pimpleton, but also with
David blow when we saw him at the end of
the episode warming up with the Vikings, and it just
looked so lonely because we had seen him mixing it
up with all the other players in Detroit, and he's
(08:39):
been there for a minute and he's had some moments,
and then all of a sudden, he was like a
total stranger on the field to all of these new teammates.
And imagine then just starting over, trying to fit in,
trying to prove yourself when you're a guy that is
on the bubble like that has to take so much
confidence and so much perseverance to just continue forward. Nate
Sudfeld and they show him sitting in that after the
(09:01):
surprise cut and Blowhard nation, we're all together in this
and and the best of luck to him. He made
I think, what was a wise decision for a fresh
start and being behind Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. Um, but
you see him, you see Sudfeld and he doesn't even
have the license gear right, and then you think, like, men,
these guys have gotten clearly so close through spring through
(09:24):
training camp. Uh and Sudfields like playing from behind in
terms of like being a part of the team. But
hopefully you know, it's a long season. We we never
played the game. We don't know what it's like in
the locker room during the regular season, but I feel
like any other places, you're like, who's the new guy,
what's this guy? Exactly exactly? So yeah, that was that
(09:45):
to me, is what this episode was about, kind of
this full circle of what we've been tracking all season long, um,
which is this is a close team that has a
lot of respect for the coaching staff. And I'm gonna
save some some of the that conversation for our m
v P voting, which, by the way, let's not forget
(10:06):
what's going on today, Grave Digger behind the glass justin Graver,
the vector voting system. It's all been building to this.
I'm so nervous. So we're gonna cast our episode five
m v P votes first, second, and third place votes
and then we're going to find out definitively the Hard
Knocks m v P. Give me a little horn there,
(10:29):
Ah was it? Let's get the lady scream. It's good.
It's really it's good. It feels good. I like it
a lot. What else did we like? Should we talk
about Eminem? Is it time to talk about Eminem? I
(10:51):
mean I never thought I never really knew that this
was going to come up. I kept waiting and waiting
and waiting for the at the Eminem episode, and here
we are, so I guess we have to talk about it.
Let me start by I'm gonna take an l on
this because we can't like pump Dana pump up Zuser
is the historian hard knocks when we haven't been kind
(11:11):
of banging the drum about what we haven't seen yet.
It's become like a tradition to have some type of
celebrity show up at camp. Kendrick Lamar famously, I think,
showed up at Rams camp a couple of years ago,
not the first time either, And so now Marshall Mathers,
he of eight Mile Road. And you know, like it's
(11:36):
crazy because I'm a little older than you, Colleen, but
I when Eminem came out like in the late nineties.
That was it, Like he was he was a force,
was like a ton of credit to just like street credit. Yeah,
he was at the center of the universe, not just
in hip hop, but like in the world, Like he
(11:57):
was like the biggest star in the world. And then
I was wonder if some of these guys, like the
younger guys. I guess he's more just he's kind of
a legend, hip hop legend. And I know the super
Bowl probably went a long way in terms of exposing
him the super Bowl halftime show to an audience and
a younger audience. Um, But to see him on the field,
it was just kind of surreal because we you know
(12:19):
where and Colin, you're a big hip hop fan. I
don't know where you stand on Eminem. Maybe that will
be I've loved him when I was younger, and then
I kind of started to face. The first two albums
were yeah, pretty special, and then I was kind of out. Um,
but to see him, like talking to Dan Campbell was weird.
How about that? Jared Goff Jared Jared Goff our friend
(12:41):
the man with the clothing line Now in a conversation
with Eminem, let's listen in. You're not taller than I
thought you'd beat. I got that quite a bite. You
can make it out here. It's fun to see you
absolutely appreciate it. Absolutely Likewise, I get that quite a bit.
Oh that's rough. People think he's a lot smaller than
(13:04):
he is. Jared Goff, that electric golf charisma. I have
to say, like, is this the last time? You know,
as we're closing the door on another season and on
the first season of the Hard Knocks podcast, will NFL
Films get another crack at Jared Goff? I mean the
fourth time? Was it the charm? Or are we going
for five? I wouldn't I wouldn't doubt it. At this point,
(13:27):
we've got way more golf than I ever thought we
would have. So one of my favorite moments with Eminem
was when Aubrey Pleasant, who is the DV coach for
the Lions, walked over shook his hand. It's like I'm
from Flint, Michigan. The handshake hardcore Dappa. We had to
rewind and count a twelve second hand shank. All right,
(13:48):
let's let's count it out. Coachs coordinator man, where thank
you for being shake ever and it was like also
(14:10):
just kind of a strange, strange handshake too, to be
that long. It was going up and down. It was.
It was a weird thing. But you know, I thought
it was cool because Marshall Mathers is and Eminem that's
that's a big star. And I think it was a
nice little thing probably for the players to see somebody. Yeah,
I loved it. They were geeking out. I think even
Golf said he was like, he's like one of those guys.
(14:33):
He might be on my list of likely ship. Who's
on your list of holy ship. There's a lot of people.
There's somebody that stands out. Brett Goldstein from he plays
Roy Kent on Ted Lasso. That's I mean, you just
anybody in the world. He's on the list. Goldstein is on.
(14:58):
I love him. I love him. Yeah. John knows all
about it. I mean, I'm not overly familiar with the show,
but I was not. I was not. Um you asked,
delivered interesting? Alright, Brett Goldsteins, Um, alright, So Eminem he
makes his appearance. Uh. And you know one thing another
(15:18):
thing that we talked about. We were waiting. We're waiting
for the segment when the players go to visit Detroit,
and you know what are we what were we asking for?
All season? I haven't written down a visit downtown that
pays homage to the Detroit music scene soul, blues, hip hop, garage, rock,
and then here in big caps because it was a
(15:39):
big deal to you. Cars need cars, I needed more cars.
Didn't get any. I got a couple of guys like
throwing tires around. That's it. But we got we got
a trip to the Art Museum for um U mon
st Brown. We also got this was wild uh Rodrigo,
who by the way, is going to be the starting
linebacker for the lines. I believe he is at a
(16:02):
cowboys store. Um, I don't know what. I didn't know
Detroit has Cowboys stores. I guess they're everywhere. They called
the Cowboys Store, Western shop called the Cowboys Store. I
have no idea. I am from New York. Um. But anyway,
his quads in those jeans um and the hat and
the boots, it looked like he was wearing a Halloween costume.
(16:24):
It was really really funny that entire scene. Also the
fact that Rodrigo is the second most requested jersey is
that what we heard talk about that again. The when
we try to figure out how the lines are gonna
do this season, and whenever you watch Hard Knocks you're
trying to you always get talked into that team being
way better when you hear something like that, and and
(16:46):
I loved it. I even liked the trip to the
Cowboys store because I thought it was a nice button
on the Rodrigo story. I learned about boots, Ostrich boots,
no idea like that was Ostrich boots. Do you know
you don't I have Ostrich boots I bought my freshman
year of college at the University of Texasy. Do you
have multiple pairs of boots? I have two pairs of boots,
(17:08):
but the other one just regularly. You don't want to
know about the other leather. I don't know regular. Yeah,
the Cowboys stores in Texas, got it. You don't have
to tell me that there's Cowboys stores in Texas. Nashville.
One of the biggest ones is called Justin's Boot Company.
So well, you know, you're bringing everything back to the
Justin Cowboy things. But up in Detroit didn't know that
(17:34):
that was gonna be the way. But no, what my
point being that Rodrigo having the number two selling jersey. One.
I love it. I love it's such a great um
tribute to Lions fans. You're a way into hard knocks
and I hope you guys are listening to the show.
That'd be a nice little connection. And two that you
know the line stf a long way to go up.
Rodrigo has the number two selling jersey. Well, he's very
(17:54):
popular right now, and he's like the franchise as we
hit on though, he has this like great genial like
he's easy to root. They always say, it's like you
have an open face like you you are someone who
looks like a good person, endearing, charming like and he
has this like lightness, this brightness about him. Yes, so um,
(18:18):
you know someone that goes you know, we'll go nameless.
That was watching the show with us today. It wasn't me,
it was not you. You're a married woman, but was
charmed by the man on a different level. And I said, listen,
that's not about me. That's a professional environment. It's a
professional environment. Okay, it doesn't unless it involves Mike McCarthy,
z addie, I don't talk about that stuff. All right,
(18:41):
Let's take a break and when we come back. We
are going to hear the leaf Schreber quote in the week. Yes, uh,
that's not from Leave Schreiber. We're going to do our
episode m VP voting. We are going to get our
final m v P results for who is the Hard
Knocks m v P and then maybe a little surprise
is at the end. We'll be right back. All right,
(19:03):
welcome back. We are in the home stretch now the
Hard Knocks Podcast, and what a ride it's been, Connie.
One of our favorite aspects of the show has been
the Leev Schreiber, the narrator of course of Hard Knocks
Quote of the Week. And we don't have access to
Leev Schreiber's vocals, he's busy. But what do we do
(19:24):
have access to is Jason Zumwalt, new voice of the
Around the NFL podcast. Uh. Long time close friend of mine,
one time roommate in the Hollywood Hills. There's a lot
of stories, man Zumwalt. Uh, but he has done great
work all season. We thank j for it. Now we
gave him. We're going out with a real challenge with
(19:45):
the Schreiber quote in the week, because the one that
we're giving him this week includes um Uh, I don't
know how to put this automnopia atamnopeia, thank you that
you do not typically here in the history of Hard
Knocks from sh Eira. So again, Jason isn't hearing this
and then doing an impersonation. He's just getting the text.
(20:05):
So I told him to work shopping, feel the room,
feel out the vibe. And here's what he came back with. Today,
Eminem is going for. He's providing lunch for the lions. Today.
Eminem is going for He's providing lunch for the lions. Today.
(20:35):
Eminem is going for He's providing lunch for the lions.
Then I said, I said, Jay, you know he said
the first batch, And I said, Jay, I want you
to really explore the space, and um, don't this is
a trust tree. You just like let it all out,
(20:55):
whatever is left, whatever, whatever autom epi autamanopee has left
inside your body, release it. On this last episode, the
finale of the Hard Knocks podcast, let's listen in. Today,
Eminem is going for. God no, he's providing lunch for
(21:16):
the lions. It's definitely not about food. Today. Eminem is
going for. He's providing lunch for the lions today, eminem
is going for he's providing lunch for the Lions. Oh
(21:43):
my god, I hold on a second. The last two
it was like a dragon. Okay, um, wow, he is
an incredible voice talent. You know what's gonna happen next year?
We're doing this podcast next year, and I hope we are.
It's gonna be j that's on HBO's Hard Knocks, and
we're gonna have Live Shriver or doing the voice here
(22:04):
right at this rate, we know people are listening. Wow.
I love that he really like he went in pretty
hard on the but then like really just brought it
right back light And I don't even want it. I
don't think I can say it anymore. I think that
we just killed it for me forever. So anyway, all right,
(22:26):
let's get to it. Let's do it, Okay, anything else
that we wanted to get in there before we get
to the m v P voting for episode five. The
only thing is I thought the Van Go room was
really cool. I know you mentioned it with the AmAm
ross At Brown and his family and his mom is German,
so she was, yeah, let's listen to some German that's language.
(22:50):
Is wild boy from Boston, Come on Translate the good,
great job man. He thinks on his feet. He's an
(23:12):
improv man. Um. Yes, German is um not necessarily one
of the love languages. I would say it's a little
bit more abrasive to a little Yeah, like any time
I've been in a German airport, if I'm like flying
through like the German, the German police always like frightened me. Yeah, okay,
(23:37):
I guess all right. Now I want to get out Craig.
Craig Reynolds, by the way, making the team. Is he
in your Okay? Good? So I want to talk about
Craig Reynolds. What a great story Reynolds. We we talked
about it. His older brother in prison has never seen
him play. He makes the team as the final running back,
and I thought that was really cool, and I thought that,
(24:00):
you know, he's a dude that you could tell that's
not an act. With Dan Campbell, they're looking for a
certain type of player because when they're doing the final
evaluation and they're trying to decide between him and the
other running back, and they're they're looking for a certain
type of player. And I thought that was just interesting.
(24:21):
So good for Craig Reynolds making the team. Um Chase
Lucas the other one, rookie seventh rounder out of a
s U. He famously, at least in our world here
dropped an interception in the preseason opener, and I just
got speaking of like hip hop giants. I kept on
getting a vibe of like the young college dropout Kanye,
(24:41):
where he's young, but he's sprashed in competent but also
doubts himself a lot, keeps on going up to the
coach and asking do you think you do? How do
you think I'm doing? And then they they'll come up
to the coach later in the day and says, hey,
I think I'm gonna be great. Like that's very like
he's trying very hard, and maybe he can say less
and that would probably help him a little bit. But
(25:03):
I did find it, like so endearing when they showed
the shots of him sitting on the field reflecting after
their scrimmage, and you could see him kind of taking
it all in and really just like he was crying
at one point just because he was so happy to
be there. And that's when you can see just how
how much this means. These opportunities mean. Two players like
Chase Lucas. Very cool, very cool. All right, let's now
(25:25):
get into our episode MVP voting. Uh do you want
to get going this time? So third place? We've already
talked about him. UM can an honorable mention first? Yeah,
and again this is the vector voting system, so it's
a weighted system, and the votes today for this episode
could determine who is. And there's no first second in
(25:47):
place for Hard Knocks MVP. It's just one. It's just
the one. But I do want to give a shout out,
great job always NFL Films with the music that they
choose for this show, and they did an excellent job
with some of the Motown classics, and you definitely got
that vibe of the city through the music. And you
and I were vibing out hard to someday we'll be together.
(26:07):
Ross and the Supremes listening to in the studio before
we start, it starts like that's If by Janet Jackson
the sample, So we're music, We're into the music. Honorable
mention NFL Films Music Department. Yeah, I mean really, they
are the true m v p s and NFL Films
is the m v P of all of this. UM
(26:28):
but my third place vote goes to Khalil Pimpleton, and
you know what, like it kind of tracks because so
many of my votes are for people that are no
longer with the or never have been with the Lions.
Are you tabulating back there? Justin I hope he is
so Pempleton just following him, uh, you know, he gets
(26:50):
cut and then he goes to the Giants and he
talks about he kind of showed a little bit more
emotion and realness when he was doing his workout with
the with the Giants, and you could tell like he
he really really knew that that could be the end,
and so it was like a little bit of a
different side of him. I felt like I got pimp
to the place vote. You know, he kind of won
me over when we first met him, and he was
(27:12):
just the juggler and he was and his his personality
didn't quite connect with me right away. But the more
we learned about him, especially the way he carried himself
after he got cut, um really just you know, just
a guy that was still upbeat despite this, you know,
terrible setback in his career. And then by the time
(27:34):
they show him at the Giants training camp, which I
love that it takes us there as well, training camp
and a private workout, and he drops the first couple
of balls and it's like, come on, dude, we're rooting
for you. So then when he turns it on and
then gets the contract to be on the practice squad,
you know him reaching out and calling his family and
you see that, um uh, just nice. It was nice.
(27:54):
It was happy for him, It really was. He clearly
has a strong support group and that's what these bubble
players really neat when he calls his family, calls his
former coaches and you can hear yeah, and like you,
it kind of backs up what you think about him.
Like you, you think that you kind of have this
guy figured out, like his character, and then when you
see the people that are there for him in his
(28:16):
low moments, then you kind of know that he is
a good person. That's also, um something in Hard Knocks
that wasn't really a part of the show ten years
ago that now is a big part of the show.
Face timing, Yeah, and you get to see not just you.
You don't hear the mother, the loved one on the
other end of the line. You actually see them, and
it's just cool. It's like a nice little personal touch.
(28:37):
It feels real because it is alright, second place, your
second place, m v P episode five, second place, going
to forty four starting linebacker. Now we got rodfre you go.
I mean, I am. I will say I'm a little
worried about him walking into the stadium with those genes
and his squads, like he might not make it. I
(28:58):
hope there's like a good amount of spandex in there.
But he definitely won me over, and I feel like
he is just such a fun, positive storyline and vibe
in this whole season. He was deserving to get the
leaves the facility and go somewhere fun and does to
the Cowboys. Goes to the Cowboys Store, which is in Detroit,
(29:18):
because there are a ton of cowboys there probably are,
and there's a lot of rural areas in Michigan. I'm
sure cowboys are rampant there. So we're just gonna back off.
Let us know, don't how about this. We already took
the l I'm sure there are a ton of cowboys
in Michigan. Okay, Honestly, everyone's like, how do we? God?
(29:46):
I really like him and I loved your comment about
him having an open face and and uh, good dude,
not my vote though, I want to get my second
place vote to Aaron Glenn. Aaron Glenn, the defensive coordinator
is going to be a head coach in our league.
I am certain of it. In fact, last time I
(30:09):
felt this way. It seems crazy now, but it was
the Marvin Lewis Um Bengals and their coordinator was a
man uh that later you know, didn't have such great
luck Hugh Jackson with the Cleveland Browns, But I remember
in that season being like, Wow, he connects with the players,
(30:31):
the way he carries himself. It just seems I could
do that that that's in his plans. And maybe in
Hugh Jackson's case, maybe he had already been with the Raiders.
I can't. I can't remember for sure. But here we
are now, and I think Glenn is one big step
up from this defense away from getting interviews in January,
and I thought it was interesting when he's the d
(30:51):
C right and that moment when Dan Campbell is trying
to figure out what to do with the last running
back spot, he confers we Glenn and they talk and
it's a collaborative effort between the two, and Glenn says
that I'm a Reynolds fan, Craig Reynolds. Craig Reynolds makes
the team. So it's like kind of like a JFK
(31:11):
and RFK talking at the Oval office type. And Glenn,
I think, just the way he's carried himself, he just
seems like a guy that you want as the leader
of men and a great coach. I thought it was
really fascinating to watch the coaches try and figure out
how they were going to cut down their own personal
lists to kind of present to Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes,
(31:32):
because we've got a couple we got a couple of
little glimpses of that of the coaches alone without like
the big guns in there, and the guys telling Deuce like,
come on, you're in front of Dan and Brad, what
are you gonna do? Like So that that I thought
was interesting. But Aaron Glenn, just in general, you can
tell that he's not trying too hard. He's not putting
on any type of act like that is just exactly
(31:54):
who he is and his players love him. And you know,
the NFL does not have a great record with hiring
black head coaches. Aaron Glenn is a guy that absolutely
feels like he should be taken seriously when those interview
processes begin. But they first have to deliver that season
that we hope they're going to have, which is improvement
(32:15):
and the defense getting better. Uh, And then I think
Glenn definitely deserves consideration for the big chair your first
place vote. And now now it's getting down to the
nitty gritty. This carries a lot of weight. It does,
And that's why I actually switched my my votes around
a little bit right before this, because this is the
final one and it could really just like over the edge,
(32:35):
just like when it says, all right, who's who from
your position group is getting cut? You can't do this
willy nilly. There are people's lives on the line right now.
Who is the most valuable person in this entire series?
Who could this series? Who would sink this series if
they weren't on it? Jared Goff, I thought you said
(32:59):
who sinks the series on it? Well, yeah, that could
work too. This series does not work nearly as well.
I know where you're going with this. Go ahead without
this one man. I like it his man, his name
not his Man. Third podcast together Today, My God, oh
(33:20):
you were. You were building up so well, it's not
too late. I was ahead. Okay, here we go, and
this man, this all stays in the show. His name
is Dan name, and let me tell you why, because
he really, really, really he got me with the final
(33:41):
line of the episode. And I'm scribbling right now because
I had Colleen wolf his first place. Yeah, you gotta
take that out now, the last line in the entire episode.
This is one of my favorite Hard Knocks moments ever.
And before we play it, I want everyone to know
I asked just into leave everything in because just the
(34:06):
emotion on this man's face. And I know this is
an audio medium, but you need to understand. He gets
asked the pretty simple what you expect a documentary filmmaker
to ask at the end of a training camp, and
instead of just saying the first thing comes to his mind,
you could see the world, like the universe flashed before
his face and he gets emotional. Let's listen and the
(34:31):
last one Detroit Lions will um and they do a
great job here. They get tight on his face and
you could see he's searching for the world. Oh deep size.
(34:54):
This man cares and he looks like he's getting choked
up while he's sitting there because I think he's thinking
of the options and maybe he doesn't like any of them.
It's all overwhelming, but he still hasn't answered. But yet,
this is all how it happened. Danny, you're there. I
(35:14):
think he's breathing. Still. Oh that's good, but still nothing.
This is where I would kick his chair, like, hey, um,
we gotta get out of here. We have a heart
out with that. Okay, all right, so now, okay, there's
more Detroit lines. Will be the team that can? And
(35:37):
will the team that can? And you could say, after
getting a sixty second window to think of what to say,
that you may say that's underwhelming, But no, that's real
because he believes it. And that's why he's also my
first place vote for this episode. Yes, and I think
(36:00):
that might take some of the drama out, because god,
what would we be doing wrong? But let's see where
the vector voting comes down? Third, second, first place? Where
did we come down? It is time to announce the
hard Knocks m v P for justin you've done the tabulations,
(36:21):
it is time. There was also a medieval jousting in Detroit.
It's still going on. That's really true, alright. In third
place with thirty points in the vector voting, Deuce Staley
(36:46):
what deserves it. I mean, he backed it up. He
was so good and so many of these episodes. I'm
very happy he placed. He's on the metal stand because
another guy. If I'm gonna throw roses a the feet
of Aaron Glenn do Staley also opened some eyes, I
hope in the league because he's another guy that has passion,
(37:07):
He's fun to be around, and he knows how to
coach ball and connect with people. So second place with
thirty seven points, Rodrigo look at him and again, you know,
I think Rodrigo absolutely the cornerstone of this show, this
(37:33):
very special series Hard Knocks going back to two thousand one,
is the stories of these underdogs, and Rodrigo is absolutely
one of them. And we've learned so much about him
and his family and his journey and how great he played.
Uh yeah, So the trips to the Cowboys Store, I
feel like was in a way earned. And I'm not
(37:57):
saying it's as high in honor as being second place
in the hard MPP voting, but it's a pretty nice
one too. Yeah. I think that he endeared himself to
not only his teammates, but too clearly all of the
fans who won his jersey. And I just remember that episode.
Where was it Kelvin Shepherd, who's the linebackers coach? I
think so who was kind of laying into all of
(38:20):
the other linebackers and being like, this guy is beating you.
Who even is this guy? And it was like, oh
my god, lay all Frederigo. He's he's a he's an
urban cowboy, and he's the starting linebacker for the Detroit
Lions and he is our second place m v P.
That is awesome, alright, So that leaves us with just
(38:41):
one more name. Well, I think we did it. I
think we did it. Is now time, ladies and gentlemen.
The two thousand Hard Knocks m v P and a
runaway landslide is Dan Campbell with three points. It was
(39:02):
actually mathematically impossible for Dan Campbell to not win going
into this. Absolutely that again, we nailed this. And I
think it's a credit to the vector voting system that
this all played out. I think the way it should
have played out. I'm happy with it. Obviously, Campbell was
the star, is one of the great stars in the
history of this show well earned. And I think even
(39:23):
though this is the first year of the vector voting system,
ninety three points is gonna be it's gonna be like Wilt.
I think it's gonna be very difficult for anyone to
be that biggest star um the way he was in
this show. I don't know how anyone could even touch that.
You can't, no one will even come close. Dan Campbell
is a character. He is like just a fountain of
(39:46):
youth in terms of quotes. They just like keep coming
and I love it. I love all of it. I'm
buying everything that Dan Campbell is selling. And a special
thank you to Graver who tracked this and probably did
the math right. We're not gonna double check. I just zoom.
You nailed it. So thanks. Appreciate your help, not just uh,
not just today, but the entire run of the Hard
(40:07):
Knocks podcast, because I think we're coming to the end though.
I think any final thoughts you want to share, you know,
I would like a grit hat um because we got
the Hard Knocks shirts and those are lovely shirts, thank you,
But I think there was one other thing. Sure, we
got the merch, we got the tabulations, but there was
one more thing. I can't was it? It was something?
(40:31):
It wasn't a car, was it? Wait a second, Sean Kelly,
our producer, walking Yeah, pizza. Oh my god, look at
that beautiful. Get a shot of that pizza and we
got we got the There you go, you got that.
We look at this looks delightful, believable. I've never had
(40:54):
Detroit style pizza. What I'm a pizza snob, I I
don't know. But it looks good. It's not like deep
it's not quite deep dish, but it looks like it's
got some sauce um on top of the cheese, which
is different. It's got it. It's got. It's a little thicker,
but it's not casserole Chicago deep dis style. Alright, so
we're gonna enjoy Colleen myself, Sean Kelly, Justin Graver, our producer.
(41:18):
Thank you again to everyone for following along with this
um show and this podcast. And remember if you like
Colleen and I doing podcast together, there's more. There's more.
The Power Rankings podcast is going all season. Uh wherever
you get your podcasts, please subscribe, star leave comments. Shout
(41:40):
out to Buddy's Pizza in Detroit. Detroit is shipped from Detroit. What,
oh my god, heat it up in the cafe here upstairs.
John Kelly's about to drop it on the floor. All
right again, We're going to now eat Detroit style pizza.
Thank you to the Droit by an m v P.
(42:01):
Dan Campbell for a memorable season. Can't wait for next
summer and another season of the greatest sports documentary that
has ever existed. Until then, we love the NFL films.
It doesn't matter if you have one butt, cheek and
three toes. We're with you. We'll take you later. Give
(42:23):
me this all the pizza.
Training camps. It's kind of like, it's kind of a
tough question. Training camp is hard work, Training camp is tough.
Training camp gives the young guys an idea of west
to come for their career. But training COUMP training camp
(00:26):
is a blessing. It's the season finale of the Hard
Knocks Podcast. Present to buy around the NFL, the Detroit Lions,
another season in the books, Dan Hands is here the
(00:48):
tiny box to my tug boat. Tug box, tug Box Tuesday,
tug Box Tuesday, Clear the Road. Yes, that was the
voice of Khalil Pimpleton. One of many compelling stories that
we followed along over the five episodes. And what I
(01:08):
thought was one of the better Hard Knocks seasons we've had.
Um in uh for NFL Films and HBO, so great
job by the whole production and and I think this
is the episode and this is a in the tradition
of Hard Knocks, Connie, Episode five is the payoff, and
(01:28):
it's especially the payoff for all of these young players,
these underdogs. Do they make the team. If they don't
make the team, what happens next? And you hear that,
like Khleil Pempleton, perfect example wide receiver. We talked about
him on last week's show, the big drop in the
preseason game and the die had been cast um and
yet he catches on with the Giants on their practice squad,
(01:52):
David Blow the quarterback. He gets cut in a surprise move,
he catches on with the Vikings, who claim him on waivers.
It to Mellen, like the like when you're in high
school and you have your group of friends and this
is really a credit to the show because you get
close and you feel like you're part of the team
in a way. When your friends go off to college
(02:12):
and you're not all the pirates anymore. Now you're you're
all these different other your gators, and you're you know, seminoles,
and you're this and you're that, and you just be like,
I wish we were all still together. But that's not
I know, honestly, Hard Knocks. It's like we're dreams are
realized and then also broken and crushed. And you know,
you see that throughout the whole episode and throughout the
(02:35):
whole series. And Dan, you're like a Hard Knocks historian,
so you know the rhythms of and it's so proud
of you at this point. But I think with this
season specifically, there are I always fall in love with
a few of the players because that's what Hard Knocks
traditionally does. But I also have fallen so in love
(02:56):
with the coaching staff, and it's been a theme and
we talk about it every single week. UM. So I
think that this episode, the cuts episode, it cuts different
because you're seeing the coaches emotional about It's just a
montage to start of breakups with the cuts at the
top of the show, and you can see I think
you can really tell a lot about people in general,
(03:19):
but especially with the players, and I think for the coaches,
this is important to see how the players react to
being cut and some of the guys, I'm sure they're
all heartbroken about it, but you can see, for instance,
Dan Skipper, I didn't even know he was on the team,
hardly knew you Dan want to talk about Skipper? Yeah,
And he was so upset and he looked at them
(03:39):
and he said, you know, is there anything else I
could have done? And my heart just broke into a
zillion pieces watching that. I want to I want to
say about about that in particular, and some of this
is kind of a conjecture because we don't know for sure,
but Dan Skipper is not someone that we followed closely
on this show. Might have been the first time he
showed up on the show as far as I know
in terms of getting the type of real camera time.
(04:01):
He's an offensive tackle. And this came during a sequence
where we're getting little bits and pieces of the conversations
between the g M Brad Holmes coach Dan Campbell and
the players that were being let go Tim Boyle, Devin
Funch's skipper, Bruce Hector, defensive end Jared Davis Um. And Yes,
(04:22):
that definitely resonated with me, the players and the things
that they said, um, And it didn't feel like it
was coming from a place like they needed to say it.
It was more like, I really like what you guys
are building here. You you have respect, I think, being
as they said, you're building a culture where men can
be themselves. That's all real. I got that vibe, and
I thought the Skipper situation made me think about Hard
(04:44):
Knocks and if you, if you follow the show long enough,
there have been times in the past where Hard Knocks
got some criticism for almost the voyeuristic look into this.
These cutdowns and brutality to it. I am member who
was the cornerback of the Dolphins years ago, the two
thousand twelve season. I think it was when he got
(05:08):
he learned he was being traded, I believe, and he says, oh,
I need to call my grandma. And the GM I
think it was Jeff Ireland at the time. It was
just kind of like a deeply personal moment, and you
really felt for it. We felt you felt for the
player um and Dan Skipper looked like his lip was
quivering when they first cut to him. Then they come
(05:29):
back and all you get is him saying, anything I
can do. And it made me think that this is
like NFL films, purposely a softer touch here. And I
respected it because I don't think I don't know, maybe
ten years ago, you get Dan Skipper and in that
moment crying to the coach and the GM, and I
think they made a concerted effort to kind of protect
that guy and what was a really vulnerable moment. It
(05:51):
completely pulled at my heart strings. And I was also
thinking to myself, if you are Dan Campbell, if you
are Brad Holmes, what do you do when you get
home from work that night or those two. However, many
days that they're having those conversations because you can see
how much it wears on Dan Campbell. Even when the
director of player engagement walked up to him on the
(06:13):
field and asked him, how you doing, and he responded,
you know, if it doesn't hurt, then you got to
get out of this business. And I'm doing better than
yesterday or two days ago. But there's so much emotion involved,
and specifically for a guy like I think Dan Campbell.
I'm sure everybody feels this way, but he really became attached,
I think, and you could see how he would become
(06:34):
so attached to the players that he has to say
goodbye to, So that is it's definitely an emotional roller
coaster football, Dan, you know I did. Yeah, And it
was by the way, Vante Davis, I just want to
get that right. When Joe Philbin told him he was traded,
he said, I want to call my grandma. That it
is so it's so human these moments, and like you're saying,
(06:57):
like Campbell and the staff have you know, the players
trust them, and you could you could see that and
even if they make a decision that they're not going
to be part of the future. Um, they respect that
they got this opportunity. So I thought that was you know,
it's not easy to watch in Campbell. At one point
I wish I knew who the woman's name was. No,
(07:17):
I didn't write it down right away, right that that
is That shows again that this isn't just you know whatever,
you don't even think about it anymore. It's it sticks
with him and it and it hurts. I was also
thinking too, just how difficult it must be to be
a bubble player and a journeyman in general, because watching
Pimpleton take the news, and he took the news so well,
(07:37):
so it made me wonder was he just like burying
his disappointment did he expected? Is he that just his
natural disposition? He was almost like buoyant, he was happy,
and I was like, that was to me, I would
be way closer to where Dan Skipper was or and
you've seen it in past years and again notable. You
did not see it at least in anything. We saw
(07:58):
guys that would be pissed. Yeah, and you could tell
there was some bad blood and bad energy over feeling
like they were not getting UM recognized in the way
they should. Add you don't sense that at all. Even there,
there was no contentious moments when they were having these conversations.
It was kind of a loving, like you said, like
(08:19):
a softer touch, you could you could sense that for sure.
But you know, one of the other things that I
was thinking about, not just with Pimpleton, but also with
David blow when we saw him at the end of
the episode warming up with the Vikings, and it just
looked so lonely because we had seen him mixing it
up with all the other players in Detroit, and he's
(08:39):
been there for a minute and he's had some moments,
and then all of a sudden, he was like a
total stranger on the field to all of these new teammates.
And imagine then just starting over, trying to fit in,
trying to prove yourself when you're a guy that is
on the bubble like that has to take so much
confidence and so much perseverance to just continue forward. Nate
Sudfeld and they show him sitting in that after the
(09:01):
surprise cut and Blowhard nation, we're all together in this
and and the best of luck to him. He made
I think, what was a wise decision for a fresh
start and being behind Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. Um, but
you see him, you see Sudfeld and he doesn't even
have the license gear right, and then you think, like, men,
these guys have gotten clearly so close through spring through
(09:24):
training camp. Uh and Sudfields like playing from behind in
terms of like being a part of the team. But
hopefully you know, it's a long season. We we never
played the game. We don't know what it's like in
the locker room during the regular season, but I feel
like any other places, you're like, who's the new guy,
what's this guy? Exactly exactly? So yeah, that was that
(09:45):
to me, is what this episode was about, kind of
this full circle of what we've been tracking all season long, um,
which is this is a close team that has a
lot of respect for the coaching staff. And I'm gonna
save some some of the that conversation for our m
v P voting, which, by the way, let's not forget
(10:06):
what's going on today, Grave Digger behind the glass justin Graver,
the vector voting system. It's all been building to this.
I'm so nervous. So we're gonna cast our episode five
m v P votes first, second, and third place votes
and then we're going to find out definitively the Hard
Knocks m v P. Give me a little horn there,
(10:29):
Ah was it? Let's get the lady scream. It's good.
It's really it's good. It feels good. I like it
a lot. What else did we like? Should we talk
about Eminem? Is it time to talk about Eminem? I
(10:51):
mean I never thought I never really knew that this
was going to come up. I kept waiting and waiting
and waiting for the at the Eminem episode, and here
we are, so I guess we have to talk about it.
Let me start by I'm gonna take an l on
this because we can't like pump Dana pump up Zuser
is the historian hard knocks when we haven't been kind
(11:11):
of banging the drum about what we haven't seen yet.
It's become like a tradition to have some type of
celebrity show up at camp. Kendrick Lamar famously, I think,
showed up at Rams camp a couple of years ago,
not the first time either, And so now Marshall Mathers,
he of eight Mile Road. And you know, like it's
(11:36):
crazy because I'm a little older than you, Colleen, but
I when Eminem came out like in the late nineties.
That was it, Like he was he was a force,
was like a ton of credit to just like street credit. Yeah,
he was at the center of the universe, not just
in hip hop, but like in the world, Like he
(11:57):
was like the biggest star in the world. And then
I was wonder if some of these guys, like the
younger guys. I guess he's more just he's kind of
a legend, hip hop legend. And I know the super
Bowl probably went a long way in terms of exposing
him the super Bowl halftime show to an audience and
a younger audience. Um, But to see him on the field,
it was just kind of surreal because we you know
(12:19):
where and Colin, you're a big hip hop fan. I
don't know where you stand on Eminem. Maybe that will
be I've loved him when I was younger, and then
I kind of started to face. The first two albums
were yeah, pretty special, and then I was kind of out. Um,
but to see him, like talking to Dan Campbell was weird.
How about that? Jared Goff Jared Jared Goff our friend
(12:41):
the man with the clothing line Now in a conversation
with Eminem, let's listen in. You're not taller than I
thought you'd beat. I got that quite a bite. You
can make it out here. It's fun to see you
absolutely appreciate it. Absolutely Likewise, I get that quite a bit.
Oh that's rough. People think he's a lot smaller than
(13:04):
he is. Jared Goff, that electric golf charisma. I have
to say, like, is this the last time? You know,
as we're closing the door on another season and on
the first season of the Hard Knocks podcast, will NFL
Films get another crack at Jared Goff? I mean the
fourth time? Was it the charm? Or are we going
for five? I wouldn't I wouldn't doubt it. At this point,
(13:27):
we've got way more golf than I ever thought we
would have. So one of my favorite moments with Eminem
was when Aubrey Pleasant, who is the DV coach for
the Lions, walked over shook his hand. It's like I'm
from Flint, Michigan. The handshake hardcore Dappa. We had to
rewind and count a twelve second hand shank. All right,
(13:48):
let's let's count it out. Coachs coordinator man, where thank
you for being shake ever and it was like also
(14:10):
just kind of a strange, strange handshake too, to be
that long. It was going up and down. It was.
It was a weird thing. But you know, I thought
it was cool because Marshall Mathers is and Eminem that's
that's a big star. And I think it was a
nice little thing probably for the players to see somebody. Yeah,
I loved it. They were geeking out. I think even
Golf said he was like, he's like one of those guys.
(14:33):
He might be on my list of likely ship. Who's
on your list of holy ship. There's a lot of people.
There's somebody that stands out. Brett Goldstein from he plays
Roy Kent on Ted Lasso. That's I mean, you just
anybody in the world. He's on the list. Goldstein is on.
(14:58):
I love him. I love him. Yeah. John knows all
about it. I mean, I'm not overly familiar with the show,
but I was not. I was not. Um you asked,
delivered interesting? Alright, Brett Goldsteins, Um, alright, So Eminem he
makes his appearance. Uh. And you know one thing another
(15:18):
thing that we talked about. We were waiting. We're waiting
for the segment when the players go to visit Detroit,
and you know what are we what were we asking for?
All season? I haven't written down a visit downtown that
pays homage to the Detroit music scene soul, blues, hip hop, garage, rock,
and then here in big caps because it was a
(15:39):
big deal to you. Cars need cars, I needed more cars.
Didn't get any. I got a couple of guys like
throwing tires around. That's it. But we got we got
a trip to the Art Museum for um U mon
st Brown. We also got this was wild uh Rodrigo,
who by the way, is going to be the starting
linebacker for the lines. I believe he is at a
(16:02):
cowboys store. Um, I don't know what. I didn't know
Detroit has Cowboys stores. I guess they're everywhere. They called
the Cowboys Store, Western shop called the Cowboys Store. I
have no idea. I am from New York. Um. But anyway,
his quads in those jeans um and the hat and
the boots, it looked like he was wearing a Halloween costume.
(16:24):
It was really really funny that entire scene. Also the
fact that Rodrigo is the second most requested jersey is
that what we heard talk about that again. The when
we try to figure out how the lines are gonna
do this season, and whenever you watch Hard Knocks you're
trying to you always get talked into that team being
way better when you hear something like that, and and
(16:46):
I loved it. I even liked the trip to the
Cowboys store because I thought it was a nice button
on the Rodrigo story. I learned about boots, Ostrich boots,
no idea like that was Ostrich boots. Do you know
you don't I have Ostrich boots I bought my freshman
year of college at the University of Texasy. Do you
have multiple pairs of boots? I have two pairs of boots,
(17:08):
but the other one just regularly. You don't want to
know about the other leather. I don't know regular. Yeah,
the Cowboys stores in Texas, got it. You don't have
to tell me that there's Cowboys stores in Texas. Nashville.
One of the biggest ones is called Justin's Boot Company.
So well, you know, you're bringing everything back to the
Justin Cowboy things. But up in Detroit didn't know that
(17:34):
that was gonna be the way. But no, what my
point being that Rodrigo having the number two selling jersey. One.
I love it. I love it's such a great um
tribute to Lions fans. You're a way into hard knocks
and I hope you guys are listening to the show.
That'd be a nice little connection. And two that you
know the line stf a long way to go up.
Rodrigo has the number two selling jersey. Well, he's very
(17:54):
popular right now, and he's like the franchise as we
hit on though, he has this like great genial like
he's easy to root. They always say, it's like you
have an open face like you you are someone who
looks like a good person, endearing, charming like and he
has this like lightness, this brightness about him. Yes, so um,
(18:18):
you know someone that goes you know, we'll go nameless.
That was watching the show with us today. It wasn't me,
it was not you. You're a married woman, but was
charmed by the man on a different level. And I said, listen,
that's not about me. That's a professional environment. It's a
professional environment. Okay, it doesn't unless it involves Mike McCarthy,
z addie, I don't talk about that stuff. All right,
(18:41):
Let's take a break and when we come back. We
are going to hear the leaf Schreber quote in the week. Yes, uh,
that's not from Leave Schreiber. We're going to do our
episode m VP voting. We are going to get our
final m v P results for who is the Hard
Knocks m v P and then maybe a little surprise
is at the end. We'll be right back. All right,
(19:03):
welcome back. We are in the home stretch now the
Hard Knocks Podcast, and what a ride it's been, Connie.
One of our favorite aspects of the show has been
the Leev Schreiber, the narrator of course of Hard Knocks
Quote of the Week. And we don't have access to
Leev Schreiber's vocals, he's busy. But what do we do
(19:24):
have access to is Jason Zumwalt, new voice of the
Around the NFL podcast. Uh. Long time close friend of mine,
one time roommate in the Hollywood Hills. There's a lot
of stories, man Zumwalt. Uh, but he has done great
work all season. We thank j for it. Now we
gave him. We're going out with a real challenge with
(19:45):
the Schreiber quote in the week, because the one that
we're giving him this week includes um Uh, I don't
know how to put this automnopia atamnopeia, thank you that
you do not typically here in the history of Hard
Knocks from sh Eira. So again, Jason isn't hearing this
and then doing an impersonation. He's just getting the text.
(20:05):
So I told him to work shopping, feel the room,
feel out the vibe. And here's what he came back with. Today,
Eminem is going for. He's providing lunch for the lions. Today.
Eminem is going for He's providing lunch for the lions. Today.
(20:35):
Eminem is going for He's providing lunch for the lions.
Then I said, I said, Jay, you know he said
the first batch, And I said, Jay, I want you
to really explore the space, and um, don't this is
a trust tree. You just like let it all out,
(20:55):
whatever is left, whatever, whatever autom epi autamanopee has left
inside your body, release it. On this last episode, the
finale of the Hard Knocks podcast, let's listen in. Today,
Eminem is going for. God no, he's providing lunch for
(21:16):
the lions. It's definitely not about food. Today. Eminem is
going for. He's providing lunch for the lions today, eminem
is going for he's providing lunch for the Lions. Oh
(21:43):
my god, I hold on a second. The last two
it was like a dragon. Okay, um, wow, he is
an incredible voice talent. You know what's gonna happen next year?
We're doing this podcast next year, and I hope we are.
It's gonna be j that's on HBO's Hard Knocks, and
we're gonna have Live Shriver or doing the voice here
(22:04):
right at this rate, we know people are listening. Wow.
I love that he really like he went in pretty
hard on the but then like really just brought it
right back light And I don't even want it. I
don't think I can say it anymore. I think that
we just killed it for me forever. So anyway, all right,
(22:26):
let's get to it. Let's do it, Okay, anything else
that we wanted to get in there before we get
to the m v P voting for episode five. The
only thing is I thought the Van Go room was
really cool. I know you mentioned it with the AmAm
ross At Brown and his family and his mom is German,
so she was, yeah, let's listen to some German that's language.
(22:50):
Is wild boy from Boston, Come on Translate the good,
great job man. He thinks on his feet. He's an
(23:12):
improv man. Um. Yes, German is um not necessarily one
of the love languages. I would say it's a little
bit more abrasive to a little Yeah, like any time
I've been in a German airport, if I'm like flying
through like the German, the German police always like frightened me. Yeah, okay,
(23:37):
I guess all right. Now I want to get out Craig.
Craig Reynolds, by the way, making the team. Is he
in your Okay? Good? So I want to talk about
Craig Reynolds. What a great story Reynolds. We we talked
about it. His older brother in prison has never seen
him play. He makes the team as the final running back,
and I thought that was really cool, and I thought that,
(24:00):
you know, he's a dude that you could tell that's
not an act. With Dan Campbell, they're looking for a
certain type of player because when they're doing the final
evaluation and they're trying to decide between him and the
other running back, and they're they're looking for a certain
type of player. And I thought that was just interesting.
(24:21):
So good for Craig Reynolds making the team. Um Chase
Lucas the other one, rookie seventh rounder out of a
s U. He famously, at least in our world here
dropped an interception in the preseason opener, and I just
got speaking of like hip hop giants. I kept on
getting a vibe of like the young college dropout Kanye,
(24:41):
where he's young, but he's sprashed in competent but also
doubts himself a lot, keeps on going up to the
coach and asking do you think you do? How do
you think I'm doing? And then they they'll come up
to the coach later in the day and says, hey,
I think I'm gonna be great. Like that's very like
he's trying very hard, and maybe he can say less
and that would probably help him a little bit. But
(25:03):
I did find it, like so endearing when they showed
the shots of him sitting on the field reflecting after
their scrimmage, and you could see him kind of taking
it all in and really just like he was crying
at one point just because he was so happy to
be there. And that's when you can see just how
how much this means. These opportunities mean. Two players like
Chase Lucas. Very cool, very cool. All right, let's now
(25:25):
get into our episode MVP voting. Uh do you want
to get going this time? So third place? We've already
talked about him. UM can an honorable mention first? Yeah,
and again this is the vector voting system, so it's
a weighted system, and the votes today for this episode
could determine who is. And there's no first second in
(25:47):
place for Hard Knocks MVP. It's just one. It's just
the one. But I do want to give a shout out,
great job always NFL Films with the music that they
choose for this show, and they did an excellent job
with some of the Motown classics, and you definitely got
that vibe of the city through the music. And you
and I were vibing out hard to someday we'll be together.
(26:07):
Ross and the Supremes listening to in the studio before
we start, it starts like that's If by Janet Jackson
the sample, So we're music, We're into the music. Honorable
mention NFL Films Music Department. Yeah, I mean really, they
are the true m v p s and NFL Films
is the m v P of all of this. UM
(26:28):
but my third place vote goes to Khalil Pimpleton, and
you know what, like it kind of tracks because so
many of my votes are for people that are no
longer with the or never have been with the Lions.
Are you tabulating back there? Justin I hope he is
so Pempleton just following him, uh, you know, he gets
(26:50):
cut and then he goes to the Giants and he
talks about he kind of showed a little bit more
emotion and realness when he was doing his workout with
the with the Giants, and you could tell like he
he really really knew that that could be the end,
and so it was like a little bit of a
different side of him. I felt like I got pimp
to the place vote. You know, he kind of won
me over when we first met him, and he was
(27:12):
just the juggler and he was and his his personality
didn't quite connect with me right away. But the more
we learned about him, especially the way he carried himself
after he got cut, um really just you know, just
a guy that was still upbeat despite this, you know,
terrible setback in his career. And then by the time
(27:34):
they show him at the Giants training camp, which I
love that it takes us there as well, training camp
and a private workout, and he drops the first couple
of balls and it's like, come on, dude, we're rooting
for you. So then when he turns it on and
then gets the contract to be on the practice squad,
you know him reaching out and calling his family and
you see that, um uh, just nice. It was nice.
(27:54):
It was happy for him, It really was. He clearly
has a strong support group and that's what these bubble
players really neat when he calls his family, calls his
former coaches and you can hear yeah, and like you,
it kind of backs up what you think about him.
Like you, you think that you kind of have this
guy figured out, like his character, and then when you
see the people that are there for him in his
(28:16):
low moments, then you kind of know that he is
a good person. That's also, um something in Hard Knocks
that wasn't really a part of the show ten years
ago that now is a big part of the show.
Face timing, Yeah, and you get to see not just you.
You don't hear the mother, the loved one on the
other end of the line. You actually see them, and
it's just cool. It's like a nice little personal touch.
(28:37):
It feels real because it is alright, second place, your
second place, m v P episode five, second place, going
to forty four starting linebacker. Now we got rodfre you go.
I mean, I am. I will say I'm a little
worried about him walking into the stadium with those genes
and his squads, like he might not make it. I
(28:58):
hope there's like a good amount of spandex in there.
But he definitely won me over, and I feel like
he is just such a fun, positive storyline and vibe
in this whole season. He was deserving to get the
leaves the facility and go somewhere fun and does to
the Cowboys. Goes to the Cowboys Store, which is in Detroit,
(29:18):
because there are a ton of cowboys there probably are,
and there's a lot of rural areas in Michigan. I'm
sure cowboys are rampant there. So we're just gonna back off.
Let us know, don't how about this. We already took
the l I'm sure there are a ton of cowboys
in Michigan. Okay, Honestly, everyone's like, how do we? God?
(29:46):
I really like him and I loved your comment about
him having an open face and and uh, good dude,
not my vote though, I want to get my second
place vote to Aaron Glenn. Aaron Glenn, the defensive coordinator
is going to be a head coach in our league.
I am certain of it. In fact, last time I
(30:09):
felt this way. It seems crazy now, but it was
the Marvin Lewis Um Bengals and their coordinator was a
man uh that later you know, didn't have such great
luck Hugh Jackson with the Cleveland Browns, But I remember
in that season being like, Wow, he connects with the players,
(30:31):
the way he carries himself. It just seems I could
do that that that's in his plans. And maybe in
Hugh Jackson's case, maybe he had already been with the Raiders.
I can't. I can't remember for sure. But here we
are now, and I think Glenn is one big step
up from this defense away from getting interviews in January,
and I thought it was interesting when he's the d
(30:51):
C right and that moment when Dan Campbell is trying
to figure out what to do with the last running
back spot, he confers we Glenn and they talk and
it's a collaborative effort between the two, and Glenn says
that I'm a Reynolds fan, Craig Reynolds. Craig Reynolds makes
the team. So it's like kind of like a JFK
(31:11):
and RFK talking at the Oval office type. And Glenn,
I think, just the way he's carried himself, he just
seems like a guy that you want as the leader
of men and a great coach. I thought it was
really fascinating to watch the coaches try and figure out
how they were going to cut down their own personal
lists to kind of present to Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes,
(31:32):
because we've got a couple we got a couple of
little glimpses of that of the coaches alone without like
the big guns in there, and the guys telling Deuce like,
come on, you're in front of Dan and Brad, what
are you gonna do? Like So that that I thought
was interesting. But Aaron Glenn, just in general, you can
tell that he's not trying too hard. He's not putting
on any type of act like that is just exactly
(31:54):
who he is and his players love him. And you know,
the NFL does not have a great record with hiring
black head coaches. Aaron Glenn is a guy that absolutely
feels like he should be taken seriously when those interview
processes begin. But they first have to deliver that season
that we hope they're going to have, which is improvement
(32:15):
and the defense getting better. Uh, And then I think
Glenn definitely deserves consideration for the big chair your first
place vote. And now now it's getting down to the
nitty gritty. This carries a lot of weight. It does,
And that's why I actually switched my my votes around
a little bit right before this, because this is the
final one and it could really just like over the edge,
(32:35):
just like when it says, all right, who's who from
your position group is getting cut? You can't do this
willy nilly. There are people's lives on the line right now.
Who is the most valuable person in this entire series?
Who could this series? Who would sink this series if
they weren't on it? Jared Goff, I thought you said
(32:59):
who sinks the series on it? Well, yeah, that could
work too. This series does not work nearly as well.
I know where you're going with this. Go ahead without
this one man. I like it his man, his name
not his Man. Third podcast together Today, My God, oh
(33:20):
you were. You were building up so well, it's not
too late. I was ahead. Okay, here we go, and
this man, this all stays in the show. His name
is Dan name, and let me tell you why, because
he really, really, really he got me with the final
(33:41):
line of the episode. And I'm scribbling right now because
I had Colleen wolf his first place. Yeah, you gotta
take that out now, the last line in the entire episode.
This is one of my favorite Hard Knocks moments ever.
And before we play it, I want everyone to know
I asked just into leave everything in because just the
(34:06):
emotion on this man's face. And I know this is
an audio medium, but you need to understand. He gets
asked the pretty simple what you expect a documentary filmmaker
to ask at the end of a training camp, and
instead of just saying the first thing comes to his mind,
you could see the world, like the universe flashed before
his face and he gets emotional. Let's listen and the
(34:31):
last one Detroit Lions will um and they do a
great job here. They get tight on his face and
you could see he's searching for the world. Oh deep size.
(34:54):
This man cares and he looks like he's getting choked
up while he's sitting there because I think he's thinking
of the options and maybe he doesn't like any of them.
It's all overwhelming, but he still hasn't answered. But yet,
this is all how it happened. Danny, you're there. I
(35:14):
think he's breathing. Still. Oh that's good, but still nothing.
This is where I would kick his chair, like, hey, um,
we gotta get out of here. We have a heart
out with that. Okay, all right, so now, okay, there's
more Detroit lines. Will be the team that can? And
(35:37):
will the team that can? And you could say, after
getting a sixty second window to think of what to say,
that you may say that's underwhelming, But no, that's real
because he believes it. And that's why he's also my
first place vote for this episode. Yes, and I think
(36:00):
that might take some of the drama out, because god,
what would we be doing wrong? But let's see where
the vector voting comes down? Third, second, first place? Where
did we come down? It is time to announce the
hard Knocks m v P for justin you've done the tabulations,
(36:21):
it is time. There was also a medieval jousting in Detroit.
It's still going on. That's really true, alright. In third
place with thirty points in the vector voting, Deuce Staley
(36:46):
what deserves it. I mean, he backed it up. He
was so good and so many of these episodes. I'm
very happy he placed. He's on the metal stand because
another guy. If I'm gonna throw roses a the feet
of Aaron Glenn do Staley also opened some eyes, I
hope in the league because he's another guy that has passion,
(37:07):
He's fun to be around, and he knows how to
coach ball and connect with people. So second place with
thirty seven points, Rodrigo look at him and again, you know,
I think Rodrigo absolutely the cornerstone of this show, this
(37:33):
very special series Hard Knocks going back to two thousand one,
is the stories of these underdogs, and Rodrigo is absolutely
one of them. And we've learned so much about him
and his family and his journey and how great he played.
Uh yeah, So the trips to the Cowboys Store, I
feel like was in a way earned. And I'm not
(37:57):
saying it's as high in honor as being second place
in the hard MPP voting, but it's a pretty nice
one too. Yeah. I think that he endeared himself to
not only his teammates, but too clearly all of the
fans who won his jersey. And I just remember that episode.
Where was it Kelvin Shepherd, who's the linebackers coach? I
think so who was kind of laying into all of
(38:20):
the other linebackers and being like, this guy is beating you.
Who even is this guy? And it was like, oh
my god, lay all Frederigo. He's he's a he's an
urban cowboy, and he's the starting linebacker for the Detroit
Lions and he is our second place m v P.
That is awesome, alright, So that leaves us with just
(38:41):
one more name. Well, I think we did it. I
think we did it. Is now time, ladies and gentlemen.
The two thousand Hard Knocks m v P and a
runaway landslide is Dan Campbell with three points. It was
(39:02):
actually mathematically impossible for Dan Campbell to not win going
into this. Absolutely that again, we nailed this. And I
think it's a credit to the vector voting system that
this all played out. I think the way it should
have played out. I'm happy with it. Obviously, Campbell was
the star, is one of the great stars in the
history of this show well earned. And I think even
(39:23):
though this is the first year of the vector voting system,
ninety three points is gonna be it's gonna be like Wilt.
I think it's gonna be very difficult for anyone to
be that biggest star um the way he was in
this show. I don't know how anyone could even touch that.
You can't, no one will even come close. Dan Campbell
is a character. He is like just a fountain of
(39:46):
youth in terms of quotes. They just like keep coming
and I love it. I love all of it. I'm
buying everything that Dan Campbell is selling. And a special
thank you to Graver who tracked this and probably did
the math right. We're not gonna double check. I just zoom.
You nailed it. So thanks. Appreciate your help, not just uh,
not just today, but the entire run of the Hard
(40:07):
Knocks podcast, because I think we're coming to the end though.
I think any final thoughts you want to share, you know,
I would like a grit hat um because we got
the Hard Knocks shirts and those are lovely shirts, thank you,
But I think there was one other thing. Sure, we
got the merch, we got the tabulations, but there was
one more thing. I can't was it? It was something?
(40:31):
It wasn't a car, was it? Wait a second, Sean Kelly,
our producer, walking Yeah, pizza. Oh my god, look at
that beautiful. Get a shot of that pizza and we
got we got the There you go, you got that.
We look at this looks delightful, believable. I've never had
(40:54):
Detroit style pizza. What I'm a pizza snob, I I
don't know. But it looks good. It's not like deep
it's not quite deep dish, but it looks like it's
got some sauce um on top of the cheese, which
is different. It's got it. It's got. It's a little thicker,
but it's not casserole Chicago deep dis style. Alright, so
we're gonna enjoy Colleen myself, Sean Kelly, Justin Graver, our producer.
(41:18):
Thank you again to everyone for following along with this
um show and this podcast. And remember if you like
Colleen and I doing podcast together, there's more. There's more.
The Power Rankings podcast is going all season. Uh wherever
you get your podcasts, please subscribe, star leave comments. Shout
(41:40):
out to Buddy's Pizza in Detroit. Detroit is shipped from Detroit. What,
oh my god, heat it up in the cafe here upstairs.
John Kelly's about to drop it on the floor. All
right again, We're going to now eat Detroit style pizza.
Thank you to the Droit by an m v P.
(42:01):
Dan Campbell for a memorable season. Can't wait for next
summer and another season of the greatest sports documentary that
has ever existed. Until then, we love the NFL films.
It doesn't matter if you have one butt, cheek and
three toes. We're with you. We'll take you later. Give
(42:23):
me this all the pizza.
Host
Gregg Rosenthal
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