08-26-26 Hour 2 of Broncos Country Tonight

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Broncos Country Tonight, post-Rockies edition. Benjamin Albright,
Nick Ferguson here with you. And Nick, a surprise to
some today as Taylor Rapp was waived. And Sean Payne
addressed that, I guess, a little bit after the day,
since he got asked about it, saying that it was

(00:20):
a personal issue with Taylor Rapp and it didn't have
to do with injury. We only saw Taylor Rapp out
there on Monday. It was the only day we saw
him out there at practice. what did you think about
Taylor Rapp getting weaved today?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
That was quite interesting. And I have to say, in
all my years as a coach and player, I've never
seen anything of the magnitude. I know always, you know,
anything can happen at any time. But, you know, Coach
Payton wrapped it up, and no pun intended, in this way.
He said he needs a little time at home and
completely get what he needs. I don't know exactly what

(00:55):
that means. I could try to read into to that.
What it sounds like that maybe Taylor Rapp had a
situation maybe at home that he needed to attend to
so the team released.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Him, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
And I know Coach Payton was asked and he answered
with the fact of is there a possibility of signing
Taylor Rapp back at some point? And he said, well,
there's a good chance. There's a better chance that he resigns.
All I know is I know that the Broncos secondary
needs assistance. And not as far as the starting units,

(01:33):
and the starting unit is just a little communication that
they need to fix. But matching someone with Devin Key
and having maybe a fifth safety, from my view of
what I've seen, and I know Coach Joseph said that J.L.
Skinner is having a great camp. I'm not liking the

(01:54):
safety depth. And I think it can be much better.
I mean, the players are currently competing for the starting jobs.
I mean, meaning starting jobs, meaning starting backup jobs. To me,
I want to see a little more of these guys
on Friday because I haven't really seen anything worth noting
in the live game situation. Obviously, practice is practice, and

(02:16):
you expect guys to play well in practice. But what
you also expect, Ben, is to see kind of a
transition from a transfer, whatever you're seeing in practice, showcase
in the games themselves. Now, someone can say, well, hey,
there's a lot of guys who are not getting a
lot of reps. Yeah, we're talking about Michael Bandy, yeah. Okay,

(02:37):
we have a conversation. But some of the other guys
who've had an opportunity to play in the secondary, you're
not really showing me anything, and that's what preseason's about.
Not resting on your laurels, going out there and proving
that you earned the right to be on this team.
Not winning it by default, but you've earned the right
to be on the team by what it is that
you're doing when it counts the most, and that's game time.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, there are some question marks, I think, about that.
You obviously brought Taylor Rapp in for a reason, but
certainly weaving him after less than a week on the
squad where you got one day of practice out of it.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Not even a week!

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, and there is more to it, but that's a
conversation for another day. That said, the room now looks
like one of the guys, and J.L. Skinner got singled
out specifically yesterday, you had to figure it'd be him,
makes this roster that previously wasn't in line to make
it before. Whether that's Tyson Anderson, Miles Scott or JL Skinner. Now,
like I said, Skinner's got singled out by Vance Joseph

(03:36):
yesterday is having a great camp so far. You and I,
I think, disagree with that a little bit. But on
the coach speak indicator, we also know that's what you
got to say if you're Vance Joseph. That said, I mean,
they brought in an offensive tackle who played a little
bit for the Chargers last year, but. This was a
guy who was on the commander's roster. The commanders are
desperate for offensive tackles right now, and they.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Cut him.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yesterday.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
So we picked up a guy.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
The commanders are like, yeah, we desperately need offensive tackle help.
But no, thank you. We picked that guy up.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, OK, so I understand the idea of why the
Broncos is doing it, because. There has been this carousel
of guys when it comes to the center position. Guys
have gotten injured, guys have gotten banged up. So they
had to rotate other guys who play guard into the
center position. So you bring in another guy just to

(04:27):
make sure that you have enough bodies to get through
the game just in case something happens in the Minnesota game.
And anytime you're coming in this late, and that was
kind of the conversation you and I had about Taylor Rapp,
Will he actually make this team? Meaning, though, yeah, he
has a lot of experience. 12 interceptions, he's bringing in
the Broncos. He's coming off knee injury. But how quickly

(04:49):
could he get a grasp of this defense? And I
knew it was going to be very difficult for any player.
It was tough for a veteran like Drake Greenlaw to
come in, and he was standing on the sideline. So
it was going to be difficult for Taylor Rapp. So
these players that are coming in now... They're only coming
in for a short period of time, as they would
say in our sport, just for a cup of coffee.

(05:09):
And it's tough for these guys because they had to
know that the deck was stacked against them. Coming in
here on short notice, trying to make a team, and notice, oh,
you're just filling a void for just a second, for
just a week and a half, or maybe a week
until the team makes the move. And now... If you
are Miles Scott, if you are Tyson Anderson, if you

(05:32):
are J.O. Skinner, and you make this team known as though,
Coach Payton said, there's a better than good chance that
Taylor Rapp is coming back, that means you're still on
the snap count anyway.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Right. And, you know, we'll see if Rapp does actually
come back or not. It won't be week one. It'll
be after that, any which way you slice it, because
he's a veteran and they don't want to invest in money. But,
you know, this is one of those things where... We'll see.
We'll see down the line, and we'll see what he
chooses to reveal about that and go from there. A
lot of stuff going on around the league. Broncos also
signed a defensive tackle, a guy who hasn't played in

(06:06):
the league. Honestly, when undrafted out of CU, or out
of Oklahoma State, previously at CU, he was undrafted. He
got a training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then
he's played either in the CFL or Arena League since then.
He has not had any NFL experience since then. So

(06:28):
they went and got two guys that don't feel like
they're guys that are positioned to make this team. The
tackle they added and the defensive tackle that they added.
It seems weird to me. I mean, maybe you're just
looking for bodies for a third preseason game.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
That's basically what it is, Ben. You can't at this
stage say, well, oh, wow, we're bringing the guy in
because we feel as though they can make the team
because if they do, and yesterday you and I did
this kind of on again, off again, who makes the
squad and who doesn't. That would mean as though if
either of these players on the offensive side of the
ball or the defensive side of the ball make this team,

(07:05):
then that means that there's going to be a guy
that we didn't anticipate. who would probably be released from
the team. And I would like to think that, I'm
not sure on this, but I would like to think
that you would be more apt to give a guy
who's been here since, dare I say, OTAs, an opportunity
to make the team, even if that player did not

(07:26):
receive a lot of reps. And we know from a
defensive line standpoint that the Broncos are kind of stacked.
So we know that's going to be one hell of
a competition as they try to figure out who's going
to be their starting 53. To add another guy to
that mix makes it difficult for him. And if you're
that player, you're like, yes. Hey, listen, I want to
make sure that I'm signed by a team. It may

(07:48):
show someone else that, hey, even though I hadn't played
in a while and I wasn't on the team, the
Broncos decided to add me to the roster, even though
it was in the 25th hour. Still, they saw enough
in me to add me to a roster that once
you were cut, another team would be willing to pick
you up. And you hope, Ben, and you hope, and
I say it twice, that you get a couple of plays.

(08:10):
Let's just say 10 plays. Hmm. Your agent could work
with those 10 plays. See, my guy came in on
a short week, didn't really know the defensive offense, and
look what he was able to do. So I wish
these guys the best, but I know what the true
story is.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, and that's one of those things. I mean, at
least they get their name out there and get a
chance to, you know, if they get out there, put
some tape out there for somebody else that's, you know,
down the line, but who knows. A lot of stuff
went on today. The Pro Bowl is no more. The
Pro Bowl game will no longer be played, either on
a flag or regular football incarnation. They still will have
Pro Bowl weekend. They still will have Pro Bowl voting

(08:48):
and balloting and all that kind of stuff. But there
will no longer be any alternates. You're not going to
have a case where Trevor Simeon makes it as the
seventh alternate or Shador Sanders makes it as the ninth
alternate or whatever. You're not going to have any of
that anymore.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
It will be.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
44 players from each conference, 22 offense, 22 defense, and
then the special teamers. And the game itself is over. Now,
they're still going to have some events. They're still going
to have some gathering and a concert and a party
and all that kind of stuff. And then some events...
geared toward each individual position group. Like I heard there

(09:22):
might be like a strongest man for the offensive line,
a fastest man for the receiver, something like that. They
haven't exactly nailed all that down yet. But the Pro
Bowl as a game is no more.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
You know, man, that's sad. Uh, I grew up as
a kid in inner city, watching the Pro Bowl, idolizing
so many of those guys. I remember the fastest man
in Hawaii watching Derrick Green and Rod Wilson race. I
remember watching the quarterback challenge that was right there on
the beach. You had, guys like Boomer Esiason, John Elway,

(09:56):
and Dan Marino throwing the ball. You know, Everett, who
used to be the quarterback for the Rams back in
the day. All of that was kind of about celebrating
a season that was and marking or validating the players
who had played well, had high marks, and giving them

(10:17):
this opportunity. I know the league wanted to move it around,
and that seemed to be popular at one point. But
then it just kind of lost its luster. And I
hated to see that happen because a lot of players,
especially we knew, coming into that third or fourth quarter,
guys knew there was money on the line. They started
really playing. But over the past couple of years, man,

(10:37):
it just turned into one big fumble. And when I
mean fumble, I mean the guys were not really playing.
And it turned into flag football. So the league said, well,
if they're turning into flag football– Let us turn it
into flag football. And it wasn't as entertaining. And I
have to say, of all the All-Star games, the only All-Star,

(10:58):
I mean, I guess All-Star game I was willing to
watch with a lot of anticipation was NBA All-Star.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
Right.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
And that's because of the skills challenge. Yeah. Because after
Kobe died. The whole thing changed with LeBron kind of
leading the association and it turns into what we see
for the NFL. So I don't know what the league
is going to do from here, man. But I'm just
sad that the Pro Bowl that I grew up with
and I loved and I wanted to reach that pinnacle

(11:28):
in my career, that's now gone. It's gone. How are
you going to fill the void now?

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Part of the thing is the players suggested, because they
surveyed the players on this, and the players suggested that
making the Pro Bowl didn't mean as much anymore because
of being alternates and all that kind of stuff and
people not showing and that it wasn't even a real
honor anymore like it used to be.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
The reason the Pro Bowl became somewhat of a thing
that players didn't like because the aspect of voting for
certain players, that was the problem. I mean, you had
the fans voting, and the voting process was a little
flawed because offensively, you put the offensive player's stats. So

(12:14):
you look at them, and you can just look and
kind of measure them up. Defensively, they just had names.
They didn't even put your stats. So it makes it
real difficult. And if it sounds like I'm a little bitter,
you damn right.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
There was a certain season where a certain Nick Ferguson.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
And I got screwed because of that same... Bull chips.
Bull chips.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, that was the player said that the luster had
fallen off. So the idea is to turn it back
into a reward that means something because you don't have
to show up. There are no alternates because there's no
game being played. You know, and that kind of thing.
So the idea is, is that it sort of preserves
the integrity.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
But I mean, I don't know. Does it does that
preserve the integrity?

Speaker 2 (12:54):
No, I don't think that it does. Like instead of
being reactive, it's I would like to have seen them
be proactive. And it happens a lot, a lot of
times in the league because a lot of players have
incentives in their contract. Right. Right. And one of those incentives,
it's all pro and it's Pro Bowl. So if, let's

(13:16):
just say, Joe Burrow decides he didn't want to go
because he's already been five times and he may have
a little shoulder irritation, guess what? He's not going to
show up for the Pro Bowl.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
So that may give a guy like Danny Dimes... Right.
Daniel Jones, an opportunity who had a fantastic year to
make the Pro Bowl.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Right.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
And he may have it in his contract. If I
make said Pro Bowl, that's another, I don't know, one
point five million dollars for him. So I understand that
aspect of it. But how do you come up with
an ideal rating system? Because that's exactly what we're talking about.
There's some guys that you see it, you know it,
pro bowler, right? John Robinson, pro bowler. And there's some

(13:58):
other guys, the field is really crowded. So how do
you break down the numbers as far as who gets
in in that regard? For me, I would like for
them to come up with a better system.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Well, it's basically a two deep for each conference is
what it is now. because it's 44 players, 22 on offense,
22 on defense. So it's 11, 11, 11. It's basically
a two-deep for each conference.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
But what happens to the guy who had a fantastic season,
who was in the top five statistically?

Speaker 1 (14:25):
He gets Nick Ferguson'd.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
See, that's the real shit, man. He gets Roy Munson.
He gets Nick Ferguson. Because you don't get the alternate. Yeah.
You've earned that based on your level of play.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Right.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
But you still don't get that recognition. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
I'm 100% with you on that. That's the thing. it's
like the old pro team, I guess, is more or
less what it is now. And they're trying to bring
it back. And I don't know. It's interesting because contract
incentives that have that in that now really mean something,
it looks like, versus the way that it used to
be done before, or that could be added back as
an incentive in a lot of cases or escalator. I

(15:02):
wonder if that takes it from likely to be earned
to unlikely to be earned in certain categories and changes
the way some contracts are. So that's something that then
we're going to have to keep our eye on it.
And then the idea that maybe they'll start doing drills
that pertain to each position group, are you going to
tune in for NFL's strongest lineman or fastest receiver or
any of that kind of stuff? Is Nick Ferguson watching that?

Speaker 2 (15:22):
You know what? If they build it up like it
was back on, I think it was NBC Sports at
the time, right? If they do that, then I'll tune in.
And I know a lot of things change when Patriots,
you know, running back Robert Edwards was actually hurt at
an NFL-sanctioned event. I think they were doing flag football
on the beach. He hurt his knee, and then that

(15:44):
kind of ruined everything. So I understand the players' part
because they don't want to get injured, but make it fun.
You know what? How about having them play basketball?

Speaker 1 (15:54):
Well, but then you got guys that get injured doing that.
I mean, shoot, Deshaun Hamilton got injured. He lost his
career playing basketball in the offseason, got hurt here in Denver,
and that was it.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
Okay, well, how about this? How about they have a
pickleball tournament?

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Pickleball? I mean, maybe. I don't know. Can any of
these guys even play pickleball?

Speaker 2 (16:10):
I don't know. Give me Madden Tournament. Give me something
that's competitive.

Speaker 1 (16:15):
Okay. I was just wondering, are you going to tune
in for anything? Like if they do a race to
see who's the fastest receiver or any of that kind
of stuff?

Speaker 2 (16:21):
Fastest receiver? I'll tune in for that. Okay.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
I'll just get our fastest corner.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
You know, whatever.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
Just something. Those kinds of things.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
How about a relay race?

Speaker 1 (16:28):
Something like that.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
You can do that. I'm just throwing it out there.
There are ways, I think, to make it certainly fun.
But the Pro Bowl is a game... is no more.
And that was certainly some news that slid in under
the wire there today. I got some other stuff to
get to. I want to get to this new penalty stuff.
This is fascinating, the new penalty rules. We got a
couple of things, some new safety rules, some new clinician rules.

(16:49):
I got a whole bunch of stuff. So a whole
bunch of stuff to get to here on Broncos Country.
And I will be back after this. Welcome back to
Broncos Country Tonight, post-Rockies edition. Benjamin Albright, Nick Ferguson here
with you. And I was talking before we hit the
break about some of the changes around the NFL today.

(17:12):
It was kind of almost a dump in terms of
a lot of the things that they put out there today.
We talked about the Pro Bowl and how that game
is no more. The NFL is now expanding mental health
resources available to players and their families. Beginning September 1st,
players and any family members on their insurance plan are
now going to gain access to a network of vetted clinicians.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
In every NFL city.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
Players can use these resources in addition to in-house clinicians
without visit limits or co-insurance requirements. That was put out
by the NFL VP of Wellness and Clinical Services today.
That's Dr. Nyaka Nilampati. The network launch comes in the
wake of a spring announcement by the league to increase
mental health resources in three tiers following the death by

(17:53):
suicide of Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Neyland and Minnesota Vikings
wide receiver Rondell Moore last November and February, respectively. There's
a lot that goes into this, but you got in-house guys,
but now you can avail yourself and you get the
NFL PA previously given players a clinical directory. But this

(18:14):
collectively bargained network will create a support system for scheduling
visits that are covered 100 percent. League and the union
worked to get all this. And, you know, it was
something that Dan Quinn was talking about announced today. Players
will receive mail and email blasts to alert them of
the behavioral network. Clubs are required to complete mental health

(18:34):
education sessions. So what do you think about the NFL
rolling this out? Is it a big deal? Is it
a nothing burger?

Speaker 2 (18:42):
You know what? It is a big deal because we
know there are a lot of people who struggle with issues.
And once you leave the game, it just seems as
though that pressure mounts. Here's what's wild, Ben. Of all
the professional sports, you have to ask yourself, why is
it the NFL players are the ones that tend to

(19:04):
suffer the most when they retire? You don't really hear
this from other major sports. You don't. It's kind of
a big nfl issue yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
Um and and i would say it's because of the
the violence the hitting the things like that but you
don't hear about it from boxers or hockey players either
or not at the rate you hear from the nfl
um baseball and basketball are softer on the body i
mean they're hard on the body in different ways but
softer on the body than than football sure um hockey
you know takes a takes its toll on the body
uh boxing fighting those things take their toll on the

(19:35):
body in the in the in the brain but in
the head but i i it's it's weird you're right
the the nfl on a per capita basis seems to
have a far bigger problem with CTE than other sports.

Speaker 2 (19:45):
Right. And the league, you know, to their credit, they've
done a couple of things that can actually help. And,
you know, with them saying that the rollout of this program,
that's their way of saying, okay, well, here's what we're
trying to do. Now, we've seen things change over the
years where it went from how many fingers I'm holding

(20:06):
up to, hey, let's go to the blue tent. Right.
We saw what happened to Brian Dable. when he was
trying to rush Jackson Dart out of the tent because
he didn't want to put Russell Wilson back in the game.
So there were some issues and fines or whatever that
the Giants had to deal with and so would Dabo.
Dabo had to deal with, Brian Dabo had to deal with.
But I feel this way, Ben. There's still more that

(20:29):
can be done. And when you think about what's the
difference between the NFL and other leagues, you start to
look at their benefit program, right? And a lot of
those leagues, they have very few players, less players in
the NFL, but they have a substantial amount of money
to go around. And then you look at pensions and
all those things that are in place to help players

(20:50):
in the other leagues, so it makes life that much
more manageable. And we all know money makes the world
go round. And if you can decrease the amount of
pressure you have from outside insurance, medical-type issues, that makes
your life so much better.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
And it's not just the players. Families, immediate families covered
under this as well. So the league going the extra
mile on that one, working this one out.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
They can go even more. Like you said, extra mile.
Let's put some miles on it. Okay.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
You want the extra miles.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
Miles. Let's put some miles on it because there's more
that can be done. Because when a player is going
through difficult times, obviously his family is going through those
times as well. And I have to say this, man, publicly.
I'm not a fan of tossing medication at a particular situation.
I think there is a better way. There's other opportunities,

(21:46):
giving players more leeway, more of a runway to go
out and seek some of those options. I'm not talking
about psychedelics and psychotropes. I'm not talking about that. But
there's other... natural, homeopathic ways to help players through these situations.
So I would love to see the league, I mean,
continue to expand and grow where you're offering that to

(22:09):
the family because the families deal with that too, especially
when the players are going through, but allow the players
to explore other avenues by which that they can help themselves.

Speaker 1 (22:18):
Yeah, and that's, I think, anyway, I like this. It's
a good starting point, and I think that you're right.
I think the league can do even more, so we're
looking forward to seeing that. The big news of the day,
at least for me, was that the NFL and the
NFLPA announced that they had reached an agreement on a
new system of fines and suspensions for penalties that violate
the health and safety rules. Releasing a joint statement, they

(22:41):
said they worked over the years on ways to make
the game safer by focusing on discipline, on techniques more
likely to result in player injury rather than on players
who make mistakes during competition. As such, they are placing
greater sanctions on five player health and safety rule violations.
The five categories are the hip drop tackle, the horse
collar tackle, launching, hit on a defenseless player, and blindside block.

(23:03):
And as it sits now, as it's going to be introduced,
and it will be in effect this year, one or
two violations of these rules will result in in-game penalties
and or post-game fines. If a single player commits three
total infractions from any of the categories, they will receive
a one-game suspension. This could be three hip drops or
one hip drop, one horse collar, one blindside, whatever. If

(23:25):
a player commits only one total violation from these five categories,
they'll get 50% of their initial fine back at the
end of the season. The joint spate noticed that the
players will start the 2026 season with a completely clean slate. However,
violations in these categories will carry forward into subsequent seasons.
So if you get three of those penalties over your career,
you get the suspension. This isn't over one season.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
Whoa, whoa, okay. We can't do that. All right. Now,
if you want to say in one fiscal season, okay,
I get it, right? And I understand. Once again, think
about the topic we just finished talking about and how
it relates to this, right? And this is the league saying, hey,
here's what we're doing to make sure that We have
no issues in the show, everyone, that we're trying to

(24:09):
promote player safety. But to say, if you're reading this,
that if I have won in 2026, 2027, and 2028,
then now you're suspending me for one game. Yes. And
then think about some of the things they're talking about.
Like the hip drop tackle. Man, that's been really controversial because...

(24:32):
You're putting the referees in a very tough situation because
a lot of those plays are bang, bang.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
Only two of those were called last year, by the way.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Right. And we've seen some guys, when they go to
grab a guy, they start to fall down. Right. So
you're not falling where you're kind of putting your knees
on the back of the knees of the guy that
you're bringing down.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
Right.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
You're just falling to the ground. Right. So what happens
if that official states that that's a hip drop tackle?
You get penalized for it. It goes to the league office.
Now you've got to go through the process of sitting
down to appeal, and they're going like, well, you know what?
We're trying to make sure we crack down on this,
and we're trying to make sure we promote player safety.
So I know you're saying that you didn't do that,

(25:12):
and it wasn't intentional. We still had to fine you.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
What? Yeah, but that is the way that it is.
I mean, it is going to be that way. A
hip drop tackle this season, but nothing else, would result
in you getting half of your fine back at the
end of the year, but a launching penalty next year,
a hip drop tackle in 2028, and you're getting a
one-game suspension in 2028. Further, players who are approaching the

(25:36):
suspension threshold, meaning you've gotten two violations total, and their
coaches will be required to attend meetings with the NFL.
Further than that, clubs that have excessive health and safety
rule violations as a team will face financial penalties. The
new system is supposedly the result of continued efforts to
make the game safer. Um, it can be tweaked moving forward,

(25:58):
but this is applicable starting this season. Uh, so now
if you get two of these penalties over the course
of the season, your team has to go out of
their way to sit down and go to meetings. Your
coaches do as well as you.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
Um, yeah, all this feels like you're sending me to
the darn principal's office.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
I mean, they are for these five things.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
They really are.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
Uh, and then the, and the, the, thing is cumulative
over the course of your career like you get three
of these penalties of course you get suspended get four
you get suspended again you could be you know you
could be kicked out of the league um after after
long enough i i think they're going to come back
and wind up tweaking this because this feels a little
ridiculous um i get i get where you're coming from
but this feels a little over the top and you're

(26:38):
going to have to have an appeals process here for
incidental type stuff um It's simply because this can mess
with guys' careers as this falls.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Okay, so let's think about this. Now, you're moving over
to college football. Right. And college football, when you watch it, targeting, right?
So I look at launching and targeting college football as
being the same. So how do you determine if you're official?
If you see a guy coming across the middle and
we see a safety lead with his shoulder, but guess
what's the test in his head, Ben? I mean— His neck, rather.

(27:08):
His head? His head. Okay.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
I was like, this was Tasha's head? His body? Yeah,
you know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
He leads with his shoulder, but his head is right there.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
Right.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
So his head makes contact. If the ref says that
he's launching, once again... How can you as a player
definitively say, look, here's what my level of attention, you
see me make contact with my shoulder. They say, oh,
by the way, you did make contact with your helmet.
Remember a couple of years ago when the Raiders came
here and Justin Simmons was playing and Jimmy Garoppolo was

(27:41):
sliding and he came across him and they were just like, no,
he launched that and he was like, no, he didn't.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
It was just, you know, bang, bang, play.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
It was a bang, bang. It was more violent than
it actually was. So here's what you do. You now
make that the point of emphasis. You're going to slow
down the game because the refs have to try to
look at that. And we've seen refs come together trying
to talk about what happened. Was he in? Was he out?
Was it a hit? Was it a launch? You're slowing
the game down. And that's what the league wanted. They
wanted the games to speed up, and they didn't want

(28:11):
to slow down. Doing this, it's going to have a
number of negative consequences impacts on the game itself.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Well i will say this on the one hand the
league says it wants the game sped up on the
other hand they love the fact that they get to
squeeze extra commercial breaks in there for the people brian
their broadcast right.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
Not just that where they can charge more they can
squeeze more money out.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
Of you that's what exactly all that comes downhill it
ends up coming out money coming out the player uh
customers who are buying these things have to pay more
because the broadcast rights cost more um there's a lot
there's a lot to it with But I thought that
was fascinating because I look at that today, that came
kind of out of left field. And I'm like, man,
this is cumulative. I wonder if this affects a player

(28:52):
of free agency. Say you've got a player of free
agency who's got two of these penalties. Are you going
to sign him or not sign him or give him
less money because he's got two strikes on him already?
He might be facing a suspension. This might be somebody
that I can't rely on if he gets another one
of these.

Speaker 2 (29:04):
That's an interesting point that you bring up because we
know that teams are really peculiar when they look at
a guy's health. Look at his age, right? You're looking
at his history. So if you have a guy who
dare you think that he is a habitual line stepper
and he already has two of these offense, you know,
one more, you're going to lose him potentially.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
Right.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah. Like, like if a Kareem.

Speaker 1 (29:28):
Jackson might cost our team a fine, if you, you know,
cause it's your second one, then teams get fined for
the third. So it might cost us a big fine.
It might cost us a game of not having you.
Am I gonna take a chance on that guy or
just let somebody else.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
Do it see see that's going to go back into
a tough evaluation process that's already difficult so you you
add that into it as well okay well let's look
at see how many uh infractions that ben had oh
wow he's he's got two he he's he's striving that
line yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
We don't want to do this where we got to
like you know we might have to pay a million
dollar fine plus we might have a good player coach
but it might cost us an additional million here like
is it going to be offsets and contracts on that
kind of stuff like how like I'm just thinking forward
on this and I'm wondering if players with strikes on
them are going to be downgraded in free agency or
downgraded in trades because they got a couple strikes on.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
I'm going to say yes because could you imagine having
a conversation with the player's agent hey listen we love
this player I mean he plays hard he can do
everything He can play both safety positions. He's great on
special teams. He's a four-court guy. But you know what?
Our only holdup is that, you know, he's got these
two infractions. He had two hip drop tackles. Another hip
drop tackle, then that means he's going to be done.

(30:41):
And we don't want to, we like him, but we
don't want to bring him in and then we are
in a tight situation. where it's the playoffs, and he
had an infraction in week 16, and then now the
league decides to suspend him. How does that look? Oh,
better yet, a player's out of the Super Bowl that
you depend on. There you go.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
You might miss a playoff game. You might miss there's
all kinds of angles.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
You're messing with my money. Right.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
I think there are all kinds. So this is going
to have to probably be tweaked going forward, at least
in its current framework. But I was surprised because as
I started reading this when it first got sent to me,
I'm reading this and I'm like, wait a minute, this
is cumulative over your career? This isn't like a season thing.
This is a cumulative over your career and it follows you.
And so then I started thinking about, well, you know,

(31:25):
what players are going to start? And Namaka Su used
to get all kinds of contracts. If this had been
around when he was around, I mean, that dude would
have missed half a season every year. And oh, by
the way, would have run up the fines, not just
for himself, but for his team.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah, that's... Vontaze Perfect?

Speaker 1 (31:43):
Nobody's signing that guy at that point.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
No, no. Wait, wait, wait. That's a little different, though.
I mean, what Vontaze Perfect was doing was entirely different
than what we're talking about. Well, one of the topics
that is on this list, launching. Now, Vontaze Perfect, yes,
he was a habitual line stepper as far as that regards,
but not every single player that's playing the game now

(32:09):
We're not seeing like that. We're not seeing like a
Vontaze Burfik. We're not seeing like an Albert Hainsworth. We're
not seeing like an Adam McKenzie. We're not seeing that.
So it's like, once again, I think the league has
to look at this with a very delicate eye. It's
not like college football where guys are launching every single time.

(32:29):
and then to have the coaches on the call, now
you're reprimanding them, and then eventually, are we going to
get to a point where we're going to start finding
the coaches? Also.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Well, that's part of the coaches... After your second one,
your coaches got to go to meetings with the league.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
Wait, wait, wait. Like... It's like AA meetings?

Speaker 1 (32:46):
Your player and the coach has to go to meetings
with the league.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
My name is Nick Ferguson.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
That doesn't specify which coach. It sort of implies head coach.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
It's not going to be the head coach.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
It implies head coach. It's not going to be the
head coach. Can you imagine seeing Sean Payton in one
of those meetings?

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Mike Shanahan in one of those?

Speaker 1 (33:01):
Bill Parcells in one of those meetings?

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Parcells would have told him to shove it while the
sun doesn't shine. But I can't see Sean Payton being
in one of these meetings. And if he... were to
end up in one of these meetings, guess what? It
would only be one. It will not happen again because
he's going to send the defensive position coach. You're going
to be there and I'm going to ream you for it.

Speaker 1 (33:23):
You're the one supposed to be coaching him up on
this stuff, right? Oh, that's, you know, yeah, that's, that's,
I just, I don't know. There's so much rolled into
this that I, I just, I look at this and
I'm like, okay, there's going to have to be some
tightening up on this. This untenable, uh, real quick here.
I guess we've got about, uh, about a minute left here. Um,
All the leagues, it looks like, Big 12, Big 10,
SEC came out with statements today about people who played

(33:46):
in professional leagues not being eligible to play in their leagues.

Speaker 2 (33:50):
Well, I mean, good on them. Listen, I like the
idea of players getting paid, but I like the idea
of a guy who had an NFL experience coming back,
taking the opportunity away from a college career. And I
know Lane Kiffin is on a miss a lot amount
of pressure to try to win at LSU. So he
wants a vet as many players as he can. Thinking

(34:12):
about what Cignetti was able to do in Indiana. So
I totally get it. But you have to balance the scales.
And I'm glad to see the Big Ten stepped out
there first, the SEC followed, and the NFL was like,
we definitely have to say something because our league and
our reputation will be in jeopardy. Because I said to you,
if a player is able to come back, how do
you reevaluate his evaluation now that he spent time in

(34:34):
the NFL camp and he went back to college to dominate?
How do you reevaluate that? Right. So I'm glad that
everyone has decided to stand ten toes down on this
and say, we are all on one accord and we
don't want this to happen.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, and that's the good thing. So we got to
hit a break. Broncos country tonight.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
Back after this.