05-05-25 KOA Sports Hour 2 with Orlando Franklin

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bringing our NFL network insider Ian Rappaport. He's powered by Chevron.
Chevron the human energy company, committed to our local communities
and safely delivering affordable, reliable, ever cleaner energy.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Good after noon, Ian, thank you so much for the time.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Man.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
How are you?

Speaker 4 (00:13):
I'm good man, how are you?

Speaker 5 (00:15):
We're We're doing good, Ian, always great to talk with you.
And uh, we just we've got the news. Probably I
don't know, twenty thirty minutes ago, but the Ravens released
the releasing justin Tucker.

Speaker 6 (00:27):
No, I guess.

Speaker 5 (00:29):
I guess I would say no surprise there, or was
there a surprise at all for you?

Speaker 4 (00:35):
I would say not much of a surprise, but still
consequential and significant. Like once once a team the way
it kind of works, once the team drafts the kicker
in the sixth or seventh.

Speaker 7 (00:44):
Round or any round. Once the team drafts a kicker, usually.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
That means that whatever veteran on the roster, if there
even is a veteran on the roster, that that guy
is probably not going to be kicking for that team.
So once Tyler Luke got drafted by the Baltimore Ravens
and the sixth it was kind of like, maybe the
tenure of Justin Tucker really is ending. But you know,
one of the greatest kickers of a generation, one of

(01:09):
the greatest ravens ever, multi year pro bowler, All Pro,
owner of the longest kick in NFL history, one of
the biggest clutch performers we've ever seen, all those things,
and you add that together, Add that together with all
of the off the field stuff, which is, you know,
being accused of an appropriate behavior by sixteen Baltimore area

(01:30):
missage therapist, behavior that is sexual in nature, behavior that
he has denied. It is. It is a lot, and
it all leads to him being released, and you really
do wonder is this the last time we ever see
Justin Tucker in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, that was going to be my follow up question.
And you know, what do you think that market looks
like for him? Because when you get released, you know,
other teams get a crack at you. And I'm sure
that there are some teams in need of kicking help
for the twenty twenty five season.

Speaker 4 (02:01):
Yeah, but he is clear, he is currently under investigation
by the NFL for these inappropriate acts. And if you
do this, first of all, you got to be it's
got to be worth it. You got to be willing
to take to be our hit. You got to be
willing to support someone who is involved in, you know,
these really significant situations, accused of not good things by

(02:22):
a lot of people, a fully vetted report in Baltimore,
and you know, you've got to be willing to deal
with all that and know that you're getting a performance
on the field that's worth it. He's coming off the
season where he struggled by his standards, and so you know,
my sense is that while this investigation is going on,

(02:43):
you know, I don't think anyone's gonna sign him, And
even if it gets wrapped up, I'm not sure anyone
signs the mend either.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Chack with ian a rap report, I want to get
your take on its kind of in a big discussion
today on Twitter about Abdul Carter requesting the number of
Lawrence Taylor, and then I guess Phil also was been
part of this conversation, but his family eventually talked him
out of it. So what's your take in general, because
this isn't the first time we've had rookie players coming
into the league asking for retired numbers.

Speaker 4 (03:12):
No, but I mean I would say it actually, I mean,
it doesn't happen that often, and usually what it does
is with the blessing of the player, or you know,
maybe a player kind of comes out there and says it.
When it's a rookie who is very talented, yes, but
hasn't done actually anything yet except for get drafting really highly.
You know, if he's going around asking for numbers of

(03:34):
you know, some great retired members of the organization, I
wonder if that sits very well with the organization or
with some of these greats. Right Like, if you're Lawrence Taylor,
you spent.

Speaker 7 (03:44):
Your whole life building your legacy.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
And you know this. Soone who comes in says maybe
I like your number, It's like, well, you haven't actually
done anything yet. I think same thing with Phil Simms,
you know, And really, you know, these numbers are sort
of they're sort of for your family and the people
who support you and recognize you as one of the greats.

(04:07):
You know, I don't I don't know that's fair to
them either. So you know, I think I do. A
card is going to be to find his own legacy,
and it's probably the right decision.

Speaker 5 (04:14):
So Ian last question for me is as the league
continues to maybe the word expand is not right, but
look at opportunities outside the US playing a number of
games this upcoming season.

Speaker 6 (04:29):
And I remember talking to you.

Speaker 5 (04:31):
It was it was back last year about the possibility
of London maybe be in the first city that would
actually have an NFL franchise located there. What what are
you hearing and is there a timeline on any of
the possibilities of maybe a team outside this country being
housed in another place.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
You know, I think it's something that everybody would like
to happen. I just don't know how logistically possible it is.
I mean, maybe maybe get the situation where the airfare,
you know, the airlines are fast enough where you could
make it work travel wise, and that would help. You
probably have to have an outpost somewhere Atlanta and New York,
somewhere on the coast where you could work out players.

(05:15):
Maybe you could do it virtually. I don't know if
that makes sense. How would you pay them, how would
you square the money if it's different currency? And then
would there be a tax on if you live in London?
Isn't more expensive? You know, It's like there's just a
lot of issues, and I don't know if any of
those issues would be worth it to try to solve.
Maybe it would if the game is global enough. But

(05:37):
you know, I think the NFL has wanted a season
full of games in Europe and overseas, and they're getting
it now. It's just different teams playing it. So that's
a pretty good place to be for the league. We'll
see if it changes or increases or anything like that,
but you know, I'd say to me, the probably the

(05:58):
good enough place now will stay where it is for
the time being.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
And we all watch the Super Bowl every single year
with your time comer in the NFL, I know, you
know it's a copycat league. What we saw Big Fangio's
defense do against Patrick Mahomes is that the new way
to beat Patrick Mahomes where you're just rushing for and
being able to drop seven. And how many teams do

(06:23):
you anticipate trying to implement that this year to get
over you know, a talented Kansas City team that seems
like every year or is in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (06:33):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's a great question. We
actually saw a similar thing with you know, the Giants
and to beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl a
couple of times. It's like, you know, you get straight
in and talk.

Speaker 7 (06:43):
And OC and you let them loose and you go.

Speaker 4 (06:45):
After Tom Brady and sort of like, isn't this the method?
I think it is the method. Just do have those guys.
That's the problem is like the Eagles are so stacked
up front, you know, defensive tackles push the pockets so much.

Speaker 7 (06:58):
Edges are certainly good, and.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
U you know, can you do it with four? And
I think teams would love to. I just don't know
if they can. And you know, I mean we'll see.
I mean I think, you know, defensive tackles who can
rush from the interior a kind of a new currency
chief deal with Chris Joon the same thing. But we'll
see how many teams can effect that we do it

(07:21):
enough to limit you know, the best quarterback in the
game today.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
Well that's what I have for you, Ian, And this
is more just to check in. I think we've been
asking you pretty relatively. It's not about Aaron Rodgers to promise.
This is about Nick Chubb and about JK.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Dobbins.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Do you think that this is something that they signed
maybe early here in the offseason or do you think
these are the kind of players that are going to
maybe wait as we get closer to training camp.

Speaker 4 (07:45):
Yeah, I mean, you know, the longer you wait, the
more likely it is they wait because they haven't signed yet.
There's no reason to sign now, you know, like if
you're the money isn't going up. And sometimes, you know,
you sign the beginning of training camp. During training camp,
maybe a team to the rookie, you expect him to
contribute and goes, Okay, that's not gonna happen and says
we need a veteran. So there are reasons why the

(08:06):
money would increase. But you got to see some more
football first, you know, I think that's that's part of
the problem. You got to see some more football. So
I'm I think, you know, the job as I talks
with the Browns, I could see that accelerating. I just
don't know when. And I you know, I know they
drafted two running backs, but I wouldn't rule out.

Speaker 7 (08:28):
Chub returning there.

Speaker 4 (08:29):
And then you know, I think for Dobbins, you know,
he's Chubb's months older. Dobbins is not that old and
it has been productive when he's been healthy. So the
team also the Chargers put the the UFA tender on him,
which means, you know, he still counts in their compensatory
pick formula, and if they retain him, it's for like
two million dollars, a really low salary. So I say

(08:51):
that increases the rights of them retaining him, but more
likely he signed somewhere else. Just don't know where that
market is have developed just yet.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
Appreciate the time, my friend, and thank you. Okay, than
I see and Rappaport our NFL Network insider. Yeah, that's
sort of an interesting timing thing, Dave very quickly, just
for some of these vet players that aren't required to
do anything right now, and you just sort of let
the market build. You understand why you wait to off
the draft right because teams are going to come come

(09:19):
to you. Hey, we didn't get who we wanted in
the draft. We're to come to you after the draft
see if we can negotiate something. But maybe there's a
mindset of like I don't have to show up for
any of the OTAs, I don't have to be there
for anything. I could just show up at training camp
when one of these teams decided to pay me what
I think I'm more.

Speaker 5 (09:32):
Yeah, I think the mindset though, is not from the players.
I think it's from the teams, because the teams have
draft choices to evaluate in these OTAs point and they'll
see them up close, uh, you know, in in a
little bit of gear, trying to learn the system.

Speaker 6 (09:52):
They see how they move on the field.

Speaker 5 (09:54):
There's a lot of evaluation that goes on for some
of these some of these young dudes. So uh, I
think the guy as we talked about, are eventually going
to sign, but I'm not sure for how much. And
it may very well be after training camp has even
started and somebody gets nicked and all of a sudden,
you know, you got JK.

Speaker 6 (10:13):
Dobbins out here. Well, now the price may be right.

Speaker 5 (10:17):
The team may have an interest in you know, call
and said, hey, would you think about this? So for Dobbins,
Chubbed to me is a little bit different, a little
bit older, and he's coming off that you know, really
serious last year he played but had that serious, serious
knee injury before. I think it'll have to be the
right fit for Nick Chubb, the right offense.

Speaker 6 (10:37):
He's not a great receiver.

Speaker 5 (10:40):
Out of the backfield, and he's a guy that I mean,
you got to know you're going to be running it
between the tackles too.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, the last thing I'll say
on that is just a learning curve for the rookies, right.
It's so wide and if you bring in one of
these veteran guys, you're going to give them reps. So
why not just let the rookies have at it and
develop them day by day?

Speaker 1 (10:59):
Right now, Orlando Franklin and studio with me, Dave off
to a Broncos event. So it's been an interesting topic
today and maybe it's a bit of an off season
topic if you have you seen any of the discussion
about Abdull Carter requesting Lawrence Taylor's number and even Phil
Simms number, but it sounds like he really wanted LTS.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, I saw, I definitely saw it. I thought it
was interesting. I always think it's interesting because at the
end of the day, you just don't know what you're
going to be at this level. You know, I've watched
guys that you know, go go undrafted right and turn
into something right. Chris Harris, all right, the guy that's

(11:43):
sitting there his first training camp, worried if he's going
to make the team, balling every single day, opening coaches eyes,
but still stressed out if he's going to make the
team me as well. When I played, I played seven
years in the league. Ryan, every single year I thought
I was gonna get But every single year I knew
that there was always somebody younger than me that would

(12:03):
take less money than I was taken to do my job.
So there was always that fear when you and I
had success. So you look at a guy that comes
in and it's like, you want that number, like like
that Hall of Famer's number, that guy that went out
there and made this organization to what it is. And
when people think about the New York Giants, they think

(12:25):
about these names like Lawrence Taylor chains the NFL for
the good because I'm an offensive lineman, but he's the
one that got left tackles paid right. You got to
have a great left tackle to protect a quarterback's blindside.
So to see some of these young cats come in
and kind of start demanding or saying, hey, I want
a number that you know is retired, I think it's

(12:45):
a little foolish on these younger guys.

Speaker 6 (12:48):
And this is kind of.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
The realm we're in right now with nil, and how
we see college football where oh, if coach yells at
you too much, you could just transfer and go play
right away.

Speaker 6 (12:59):
You don't really have to work for some of these.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
Things where I think guys are coming in and there
is a little bit of sense of entitlement with some
of these younger guys.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
You know, it could be entitlement, and I don't know
his motives necessarily. It certainly has rubbed some people the
wrong way. I've seen a lot of that. I mean
not to assume one way or the other, because I
don't Could it be that he's trying to honor the
Giants legacy by wearing LT's number. It could it be
the other side of his like understanding what he meant

(13:29):
to the organization, and Abdul Carter thinks he could also
be that kind of player. Once again, you said it perfectly.
He hasn't done anything, same thing Ian said. He has
not done anything. He's a rookie coming into the league.
He was highly drafted rookie. But understand that you're talking
about the upper echelon of elite play at that position,
not only just for that organization but all time. So

(13:50):
there's kind of both sides of this, But in my way,
it's like, Okay, well, maybe he was coming into this
thinking like I think I'm going to be this player,
this kind of player for the Giants, and I want
to honor LT by wearing his number. I want to
honor the giants legacy by wearing this number.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
Yeah, the Giants has already honoring it. You don't have
to do anything to honor it his legacy. He might
be idle, he might be somebody you look up to,
but that doesn't mean it's you're deserving of his number.
And I don't know the kid, and I don't know
his motives. I have no idea. But at the end
of the day, when I think about the New York Giants,

(14:26):
I don't think about this young man. I think about
the greats. I think about the people that have came.
I think about the people that have left a massive
imprint on the game of football. So for me, it's
just good luck with that. But you could kick rocks,
because that's not going to happen. And until you go
out there and find success. We see it every single year.

(14:47):
Quarterbacks the biggest position. There's only thirty two of these guys,
but yet every single year there's teams that are going
into the season and we don't really feel that great
about our quarterback position, right, and it's so hard to
find the these guys, and then you start looking at
other positions and it's the same exact thing. I think
last week when we were here, I told you guys,
seven offensive linemen were taken in the first round the

(15:10):
year I got drafted back in twenty eleven. Well, there
was a lot of bus that were drafted before me.
I was the first offensive lineman taking off the board
in the second round, but there were still guys that
fizzled out immediately. So in a game that stands for
not for long, it's one hundred percent injury rate, and
even when you're balling that injuries could take your career

(15:32):
just completely out of your hands. Ryan Shazier, right, he
also had an impact on why I retired, taking that
nasty hit the inside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers about
a decade ago. Anything could happen in this game, and
I just don't think that you could just look at
a young man and say here's a number, especially when
somebody has done so great.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
We're getting to some comments from talanoa Ufonga here in
just a second, but I just want to finish our
conversation for a moment on young players requesting retired numbers. Yeah,
I gotta be honest, man, I think that the retired
number thing is a little bit overrated.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
Really, I do.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
And it's not to say that I don't see the
value or understand the value, like, for example, do I
want to see somebody wearing a number seven in a
Broncos uniform? Ever, again, that's gonna be an interesting thing.
I do think there's a scenario because college football does this,
even the Dallas Cowboys do this with the number eighty eight,
where all time great numbers are not necessarily retired like Michigan.

(16:33):
Michigan could ever retire all the greats that come through
Michigan because then they would have no numbers left. So
what they do is, if you're going to wear that,
you have to earn it, right Penn State, if you're
gonna wear the number eleven, for example, you've got to
earn it. You've got you can't be just somebody coming
in off the street to say, hey, I want to
wear an all time great number, Like I'll do a
car to try to do with lt I think that
that may not be the right way to do it.

(16:54):
I think earning fifty six there could be a path
forward for something like that. And again, talk well I
was saying, I'm talking more of a utopic sense because
that system doesn't exist right now in the NFL. Yeah,
and you're right, that's a little bit of a subjective
concept as well, right, I mean, like if he's Rookie
of the year, does that earn it or you don't
get to have it unless you are Rookie of the

(17:15):
year or help a team win a championship. So you're right,
there's there's some layers to that conversation. But I do
think that we get into this and some of it
is almost spinning off of what happened to see you.
We're retiring the number two and retiring, you know, numbers
that don't don't feel like retirable examples.

Speaker 3 (17:35):
Yeah, I mean, Travis Hunter absolutely just want a heisman, right, right,
number twelve. There's something you colidated about that, right.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
I think you can honor somebody in the stadium, you
can honor their jersey, you and honor the name without
retiring the number.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
That's kind of my point.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
I mean, yeah, they've got that whole ring of fame. Yes,
the Broncos have it. That's right in the stadium. Absolutely,
let's do that all day. So really, though, you don't
you think the retiring of numbers is overrated?

Speaker 6 (18:00):
You do.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
So when you're done, you know, Ryan Afterwards finishes his
radio career. You don't want to retire the mic. You're
not gonna have the mic at home.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Somebody else did use the mic. Come on, honor the listen.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
Those players coming up now get a chance to honor
the legacy that is that was those players, and you
get to see that number and you celebrate another generation
that will honor that because it matters to the fan base,
right like the number seven for example, it really matters
to the fan base. And I know there's gonna be
people that are gonna be upset with this, and that's fine,
and we don't have to agree on this topic. I'm

(18:32):
just saying that what can be a situation where we
say that's off limits and no, no, no, that's.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
The greatest of all time. You can't do that.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
We could say, no, hey, we have this player that
is really special to organization. He fought hard. See Lambweer's
eighty eight, right, he is considering that's right, and Michael.

Speaker 3 (18:51):
Irvin right, we all understand the history behind it, and
yet that number is not retired.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
That numbers are retired.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
So I guess I understand where you're coming out from.
But here's my question to you. Does LT right, because
this is how it all started, right, would Abdua Carter right?

Speaker 6 (19:10):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (19:10):
Does LT deserve to have his number retired for the
New York Giants? Even though you don't, you don't buy
into all of it. For what he did for that
organized zation, what he did for the game of football,
he is.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
On an echelon above almost anybody else. Yes, he does.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
He does, just like John Elway is on an echelon
for what he meant to the Broncos organization over the
course of time that he was here, the two championships
he did, not only as a player, but then of
course eventually as a GM. Even then his number was
retired way before that, right, he was a Hall of
Fame and way before that. So so that's where we
kind of get into this area of like, if you're
going to have untouchable retired numbers, then that is some

(19:48):
conversation for it. But if I guess for me, if
I'm going to lean on a should we do it
or not do it? Yeah, I would aim to not
do it and I would find a way to celebrate
their legacies in another way.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
That's me, But that doesn't have to be for everybody.

Speaker 6 (20:00):
No doubt.

Speaker 3 (20:01):
There's only ninety nine numbers, right so because well there's
a hundred now because you're a zero as well, so
there's one hundred numbers. And with that being said, I
think you have to tighten the rules, tighten up the rules,
the parameters as far as why you're a retiring person's number,
and once they're gone, once the career is over. And

(20:21):
this is not something immediate. I think it's after a
couple of years. But some way, somewhere in the past,
we've kind of just started saying, hey, we're gonna yeah,
we'll retire that number. I think you have to change
the game. I think, no matter what, when you look
at it, it says, hey, how did you impact the game?
And there has to be some other hardware that comes

(20:42):
with it, right, John always number being retired well, winning
super Bowls being Super Bowl MVPs, right, like considering.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
An all time grade at your position.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
All time great at your position. Also, you look at
kind of the other things that happened and I'm not
really going certain places, and you now your career matches
with it absolutely. But even like what Aaron Rodgers did
for the Green Bay Packers, I don't think his numbers
should ever be retired, right because I don't think he impact.

(21:12):
I don't think he changed the game. Right, yet another
very very good player, but I don't think that the
game was changed because of him.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
So like here in Denver for example, because he's come
up often number twenty four for Champ Bailey. Yeah, didn't
win a championship, but considered an all time greatest position,
Hall of Famer, Ring of Famer certainly, right, von Miller
eventually will be a Ring of Famer, will be a
Hall of Famer.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
He did win a.

Speaker 1 (21:37):
Championship, change the game as well, change the game. So
should that be a number that is considered a retirement?
I again, this is me, I opt to know. I
say I'd like to see the next fifty eight be
successful here and again, you got to earn that. You
got to be one of those kind of franchise setting
players that when you're out there on the field. You're
representing the best of or the essence of, if you will,

(21:59):
one of the all time greats for this organization. That's
how I and listen. Some some they wear a patch, right,
I think in Michigan they were a patch on the jersey.
If you're gonna wear that number, you've got to wear
something to honor that player and legacy of that player.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
I'm not saying they're changing this rule anytime soon.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
It's just this has come up as a result of
the abdual car situation.

Speaker 2 (22:18):
This discussion, Oh no doubt.

Speaker 6 (22:19):
I mean, this is just a problem with it.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
It's like there's stuck between a rock and a hard
place when you talk about earning it because one hundred
percent injury. Like I went into seasons and I'm like,
hey man, I hope I wreak a finger.

Speaker 6 (22:31):
Heymen, you know what I could take?

Speaker 3 (22:32):
You know, a grade two MCL spring that sidelines be
for a week or two. I don't want an ACL.
I don't want to tear my labor. I don't want
something that's going to put me on an operating table
and finish my season off. And now when you talk
about a guy earning it, where you've seen guys in
their career in practice, you've seen guys and their season
in practice, not even a game atmosphere that it becomes

(22:56):
hard now because at what point do you say that
this guy has done an off to earn it, because
in practice you're not tackling to the ground.

Speaker 6 (23:04):
And it's not these blood bass that.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
We saw and to hear about and back in my
time and back in my day, you know, and how
it was with the two of Days.

Speaker 6 (23:12):
It's just not that.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
And now a guy goes out there and say a
du a car does earn it through training camp for
the Giants, and he gets it done, and he's some way,
somehow named the captain of the Giants. What if, you know,
knock on wood because I don't want this to happen
to his young man. But he goes out there and
it takes a hit the wrong way, and now he's
done or he never comes back from it, sure you know.

(23:36):
And now it's like you gave him unretired that jersey
for a short period of time.

Speaker 1 (23:42):
All all good points, all good points, and kind of
like the Dallas Cowboys that think you'd have to have
your own set of circumstances on why you make that decision.

Speaker 6 (23:50):
Yeah, right, I'm with that.

Speaker 3 (23:51):
I'm with like, you you could get that jersey, like
you could get into a jersey and maybe you know
you you get you just do a way the retirement.

Speaker 6 (24:01):
I like that point. And then we have more ring.

Speaker 3 (24:03):
Of fame guys, like what the Broncos are doing where
you get a nice banner in your jersey number.

Speaker 6 (24:08):
Your last name up at the stadium. I like that.

Speaker 3 (24:10):
Maybe something at this facility as well, right outside the facility.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yeah, I think you absolutely have every opportunity to honor
the players, and I in a lot of ways am
arguing for that. I'm honoring for honoring their legacy even further,
which is having some of our marquee players wearing those
numbers on the field. You know, one day pastser Tan's
going to retire, right, and maybe we will never see
another number two as good as him, But eventually the

(24:35):
Broncos will draft another great cornerback and there might be
a conversation about the legacy of that number two out
there on an island at cornerback and to honor passer
Tan or we can immediately go well, if they win
a championship, hopefully with pastser Tan he's considered one of
the all time grats.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
He's already defensive MPP right, Well, he might be.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
In the conversation retire number, I would opt to not
do that, and I would say no, I'd like to
see the next number two be a great and be
a number we carried forward, like eighty eight for the
Dallas Cowboys.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
Yeah, and I think there's many ways to get that done.

Speaker 6 (25:11):
You know.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
For me, I don't I'm retired now, right, and I
don't even look like an offensive lineman anymore. But I
just look at kind of the things where I've been
honored in, Right, I won a couple eating competitions, right
all you could eat wings, I smashed what was it,
seventy two Hooters wings fully bred it got it done,
and a wink eating competition.

Speaker 6 (25:32):
But also there was a.

Speaker 3 (25:33):
Steakhouse in Florida or I ate, like a seventy porterhouse
and was able to eat it under a certain amount
of time, and I was able to get a nice
little plaque, you know, my name on there. So if
you get it done and you have an effect on
the game, and some people, you know, you talk about
like multiple.

Speaker 6 (25:51):
Pro Bowls and multiple All.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
Pros and maybe you might not win a championship like
a champ Bailly, or maybe you do win like a
von It does become hard when you're only looking at
one hundred numbers and with certain positions only being allowed
to wear certain numbers as well. It really puts some
parameters on teams, saying, you know, do you really want
to go down this road where you're retiring every single

(26:14):
number or every single person that you think deserves it.
It came out of your organization.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
They've often done that a little bit in the NFL, right,
I mean, you see it a little bit, but d
Rusher's wearing single digit numbers and so on and so forth.
But yeah, I see your point there.

Speaker 2 (26:26):
Too as well.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
But anyway, it's this is more of a off season
hypothetical conversation. It's certainly not going to change anytime soon.
And I'm not saying unretired number seven, John Elway because
once again, even me as as a classic longtime Broncos
fan growing up in New Mexico, the seven feels like
an untouchable kind of number, much like I think for
Giants fans with fifty six. But no, there's there's a

(26:49):
thing about Okay, well, how how what are other ways
we can honor it? That's all. That's really what this
comes down to. What are some other ways that we
can honor it? And how cool to because for example,
Jade Baron were number seven in college, so did our
j Harvey. Once again, they're not going to come into
the organization and ask for number seven because that would
be hitting the wrong note, just like we heard from

(27:09):
me and Rappaport when Abdul Carter is asking for fifty
six before he's played it down the Giants organization.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
He even said it might feel a certain way about that.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
I think Broncos fans if we found out and this
isn't happening, so don't don't freak out. If Jade Barron said, Hey,
wouldn't it be great if I could wear number seven?
I'm sure Broncos fans in the organization would have a
feeling about that.

Speaker 6 (27:32):
Man, I need to get.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Run out of this down. And I don't care how
people feel about John Elway right now today, right because
like it or not. I mean, there's a lot of
different conversations on how it ended it as a GM
and not being able to find the quarterback and all
these different things.

Speaker 6 (27:49):
But as a player.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
This whole entire state is behind that number seven. So
I just think it would rub a fan base into it,
fan base that, you know, with all the professional teams
we have out here. I am happy I lost the
weight because I couldn't go to the gas station looking
like what I used to look like without signing autographs,
taking pictures. So my life is quiet down a lot.

(28:14):
And you know, when you're that first round pick or
just any draft pick for the Broncos, people know exactly
who you are. And if something like that was to
come out, I don't think this fan base, it would
it would leave a bad.

Speaker 6 (28:26):
Taste in this fan base.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
His mouth absolutely speaking of Jade Baron, though I really
we haven't. I don't think we We talked a little
bit about them maybe last week that week Splend Together.
I know it's been like a week since the draft,
but Jade Baron, I'm very excited about that draft pick.

Speaker 6 (28:42):
Shout out for.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
Guys at D and v R.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
They had Talanoa Hufanga on as a guest and they
asked them all sorts of really cool stuff about why
he chose Denver. What he told Sean Payton in his
interview process as a free agent.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
But this one, this was cool.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
He's talking about Jaddey Baron and what sort of he
expects out of him this upcoming year.

Speaker 8 (29:02):
A guy like Jadday learning a lot about him as
we go. But one thing that kind of stood out
to me is just his character. I think that goes
a long way. I think for me, just seeing how
mentally and mature he was the right way when he
showed up, like I got to see him, and just
the way he speaks. I think everybody's interview they talked
about how he put the team on speaker and he

(29:23):
wanted to talk to the whole team like just something
this is you just don't see that nowadays, you know
what I mean. And everybody's in it could be in
it for the wrong reasons or they just want to
get drapped. Like he was so respectful, a person that's
beyond his ears for sure, and so for me, I'm
just excited to work with somebody like that.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
Let me ask you a question, Chough, when it comes
to rookie players, young players coming into a team, how
much weight would you put maturity? Certainly, play in the
field matters a ton, but maturity is the word that
keeps coming up not only about him, but several guys
in this class. What kind of weight do you put
on that for a locker room.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
A lot because you're no longer now becomes a job.
And I know that NFL players are very well compensated,
but you were expected to go out there and treat
your body as a business and make sure that you're
taking care of things. You get so much more free
time when you get to the National Football League and

(30:19):
the game there's three different speeds, and none of them
you've ever seen at the college football level. So you
have to be a very humble human being and also
come in with some maturity and understand that you don't
know it all and even whether you're I think the
only person's jobs that don't change or the long snapper,

(30:43):
the holder, and you know, the kicker and the punter,
but everybody else. Once you get to the National Football League,
whatever you knew before, these coaches are going to tell
you to forget it, Like, hey, whatever you think you know,
you know absolutely nothing. I am going to now teach you,
and I expect to be painting like a blank canvas, right,

(31:06):
So we're going to start from the basics. We walk
in on day one of training camp, Ryan and we
talk about the cadence. The quarterback stands up in front
of a room and goes through the cadence. One of
the first couple pages, it's how you line up in
a huddle, something that you've been doing for decades, right,

(31:26):
and something that you've been doing ever since you were
a little kid. But yet that's where you start when
you walk into the National Football League.

Speaker 6 (31:33):
So you have to come in humble.

Speaker 3 (31:35):
You have to be a mature individual, or guys will
get weeded out. Like I've seen some great players that
come in with a little bit of that I'm a superstar,
and they get isolated and getting kicked out of a
locker room. I'll tell you one guy, Brandon Lloyd. Love
him to death. I thought he was a heck of
a football player. But when John Fox and all of

(31:56):
us got here back in twenty eleven, I watched Brandon
Lloyd yell, hey, Foxy, can you hurry up and learn
her names already? I'm tired of wearing this, you know
tape on my humblet with my name on it. WHOA
A couple of weeks later he was gone, and that
I don't think we went in a different direction because
of his talent.

Speaker 6 (32:16):
I thought he was a hike of a player.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
I don't think we were up against it with the cap,
like everybody was already here. We just had a great
draft class, and I don't remember bringing in a player
right there.

Speaker 6 (32:27):
Immediately after, I.

Speaker 3 (32:29):
Just looked at it as hey, the fit is not
right with the new head coach and this player's mentality
and who this player is. So whether you're just starting
off in this league or even a established vet, I
think you always have to be humble and you always
have to carry a certain level of maturity when you
are looking at the National Football League.

Speaker 2 (32:48):
That's an interesting story on Brandon Lloyd.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Again, I consider one of the all time underrated wide
receivers of this organization right doesn't quite get nearly the
run that we talk about with some of the other
bigger names, obviously Rod Smith, McCaffrey to Marus Thomas, et cetera.
But I mean, yeah, the way he used to contort
his body and make catches. But you're right, there's a
fit from a personality and a maturity standpoint that really

(33:10):
does matter. And I do wonder a little bit in
the nil era. How that is going to impact the
way that these teams are interviewing these guys because a
lot of them don't need the pro team right they
come in. They In fact, there's a thing that came
out recently about Quinn Yours turning down more money in
college than he actually made in his rookie conentre. He's
gonna make his rookie contract as a seventh rounder, and

(33:32):
so they don't need this like they used to. Right
players coming out of college, this was the big payday.
Some of them is really not. And there's a little
bit of an entitlement part to that. It's it's human nature,
isn't it.

Speaker 6 (33:45):
Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (33:46):
And what we're going to CDIA is on draft night,
we're going to be wondering why kids, why kids are sliding.
We're going to see more and more of that where
you see a guy that's so talented, that might have
transferred from a couple schools, might have moved around, just
absolutely had monster numbers out there and you're expecting them
to go high and you have no idea why this

(34:06):
person wasn't drafted.

Speaker 6 (34:08):
Well, I'll tell you why.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Because these NFL coaches and these organizations man they're able
to dig up and what they're able to find on
these players, it's incredible. I was in draft meetings out
there in Indianapolis. They're asking me about you know, there
was an incident when I was at the University of
Miami my sophomore year where I was in a club,

(34:32):
had a couple of drinks, had a few too many
couple pops, and I ended up, you know, took through
one back, turned around, ended up throwing up, got kicked
out of the nightclub that night. NFL scout was telling
me about this at the draft. Wow, not only telling
me about this Ryan, they knew the shot that I took,

(34:52):
They knew what it was, the brand of the shot. Like,
so they're doing their homework and now you see some
of these guys that you know, their personalities might rub
a coach the wrong way, and these coaches might just say,
you know what, this is how I feel and let
me just air it all out and you'll see guys
slide because of it.

Speaker 1 (35:11):
Yeah, there's an intention, clearly an intention for the Broncos
maturity captains. Like they drafted guys that were captains great right,
played several years right Saviian Jones is an example of
a guy that played for four years there at LSU.
You know, the swings that they took on Day three
were that their darts throws. I mean, obviously you were
drafted a punter because you need a punter, but Ke

(35:32):
Robinson was an example of a guy that didn't have
a lot of starts, but he has some special team's ability.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
They feel like he can play right away as a
special teamer.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
And then they took a dart throw on a basketball
tight end, which, again for Sean Payton, it's kind of
right up his out.

Speaker 6 (35:44):
Yeah, I've already seen what he did with one.

Speaker 2 (35:47):
That's right right so and he loves that.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
So anyways, it's just sort of fascinating to me as
we continue to watch how college football is evolving and
what that's ultimately going to mean for the NFL. A
lot of these play and the entitlement part of it,
the maturity part of it. And I really liked what
Talano Whuofangas said. They're specifically about Johnny Baron's maturity because

(36:08):
it's not only something that everybody seems to talk about
about him, but when I ran in him to the combine,
that was one of the things he said he prided
himself on.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
And I got to imagine for.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
Vets in the locker room, when you're meeting these rookies
for the first time and they show up and they're a, yes, sir,
what can I do? And this is how I'm going
to approach my job. I imagine that carries a lot
of weight.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
Yeah, you get that respect from day one, but also
your teammates understand that I could count on you.

Speaker 6 (36:34):
This is the ultimate team sport.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
There's only one position in the National Football League that
relies on himself to do his job, and year in
year out, they could have a job because of what
they do, and that's the long snapper. Everybody else has
to rely on the ten guys around them