February 7, 2025 • 33 mins
Wow, we were all sure that Mike Holmgren would be in the Hall of Fame, but we were left w/ disappointment as Mike was not selected. Gregg and Christopher catch up w/ Dave Boling who covered his fair share of Seattle Sports, and talks about coach Holmgren as he too tries to make sense of Coach not making the HOF. We wrap the hour w/ Hugh Millen giving stats on why Holmgren should be in.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mike Hongren is not one of those four. Our coach,
the Seahawks and Packers Super Bowl coach was a finalist,
but only one of the five from the senior player
slash contributor slash coach pool of finalists got the eighty
percent of oats needed for induction. That was Holmgren's former
Packer's wide receiver Sterling Sharp. The others in the modern
player era Antonio Gates, Eric Allen, Jared Allen only four
(00:25):
the first time in twenty years it has been that low.
Mike Congrean, of course, he did honored his commitment to
talk to Chuck and Buck this morning, the day after
what had to be a crushing disappointment for him and
his family. But it will not surprise you that he
had all the grace in class that Mike Comeran represents.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Good morning, Chuck, how are you guys doing.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
We're doing all right? How are you doing well?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
You know what I'm doing? Okay, I'm If I didn't
say I was disappointed, I wouldn't be truthful. But the
girls and Kathy, I got to round them up. I
gotta get them going in the right direction again. They're pretty,
They're pretty sad about it, but it's you know, it
is what it is, and so we're okay, we'll be okay.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I didn't surprise you at all.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
When I was on with Chuck him Buck this morning,
he said, well, we think we're having Mike Congran on
at nine thirty like we normally do every Frida and so,
oh yeah, he'll be on for sure. Now he's going
to take his wife Kathy to the Saturday performance in
Hamilton at the Paramount Theater here in.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Seattle that they have tickets for that. He said he
was going to.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
The thing is about this, Chris, and we've talked about
all of us here at KG are about the coach.
The problem now is he's probably not gonna get in
next year either, because it's Bill Belichick's first year of
Hall eligibility, and the way this new system works, it
appears only one coach finalist will come out of into
each class to get voted upon, and Bill Belichick is
(01:55):
sure fire first time a Hall of Fame, our first ballot,
And as Mike Hongren said this morning on Chuck and Buck,
hey I'm seventy seven years old. I'm not getting any
younger here and that's sad. And we'll talk about Mike
Homern and his accomplishments some more. And we don't mean
to degrade those that are already in, but he does
(02:16):
have credentials that are better than ones that are coaches
that are already in the Hall of Fame, such as
Dick for Meal and Bill Kauer and Tony Dungee. And
great for them too. But as I told Chuck and
Buck this morning, there are some voters on these panels
of both I know voters personally on both the Hall
of Fame fifty person Hall of Fame and on the
Baseball Hall of Fame three hundred and ninety four of
(02:38):
those who believe it's their job to be almost bouncers
at the door, to keep some from not getting it
for whatever reason, personal bias, feeling slighted one time by
somebody I don't know, but rather than celebrate in some people,
not very many, but some people view, instead of just
honoring and inviting andvoting in those who deserve it, that
(03:02):
their job is to keep some out, Like I said,
like a bouncer at a club. Also last night, in
the NFL Honors show in Super Bowl in New Orleans,
Josh Allen edged out Lamar Jackson for the NFL MVP award.
The same Associated Press panel with fifty voters who named
Jackson over Allen for All Pro Quarterback, then voted Alan
(03:22):
over Jackson for MVP.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
It's kind of weird.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
There's a lot of people that are questioning that Allen
got twenty seven votes, that Jackson's twenty three. I'm chuckling
because former Bears quarterback in Sirius xf XMNFL and it
was Jim Miller picked Lamar Jackson fourth on his MVP ballot.
And now the credit the Associated Press. They're putting all
(03:46):
fifty of the votes out there, the voters and their
votes out there public. Some of the voters apparently didn't
know that was going to happen, but good on them, Chris, Right,
that's the accountability and if we talked about this with.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Each year on the Baseball Hall of Fame and make
a public right. If you can't have your vote public,
then don't have a vote.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You don't deserve one.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
If you don't have ability to back up publicly what
you voted for, why you did, and you're trying to
sneak around and not have it known and because maybe
you're shamed or you know.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
It's wrong, then don't have a vote in the first place.
Pretty much, I agree with that. It's uh.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
I'm happy for Josh Allen, though I want to make
that clear. There's no discredit. I thought whoever one deserved it.
I did have Lamar winning it just because, my goodness,
the season he had was right insane, And that's no
discredit to what Josh Allen did. But someone's gotta win
and someone's gotta lose. That's just part of sports, right,
So I don't think Lamar's taking it anyway. I'm sure
(04:38):
he might feel some type of way, but he shouldn't
just because it was a close one. I don't think
it was as big of a stretch a lot of
people are making it. I thought it was very close
between either of them. I don't think if you went Josh,
you were wrong, and I don't think if you were
with Lamar you were wrong. It was just that close.
So congrats to Josh, though he definitely deserved it, and
(04:58):
let's hope that he can hear him He or him
Lamar that is, can actually dethrone the Cheefe regardless if
they win this year. My goodness, everything goes to it
the Kennesaity Chiefs, so someone needs to finally knock them
off the saddle here.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
If you're mad about Josh Allen being the MVP, shouldn't
be mad. Go to Twitter Acts or whatever the kids
call it, and go to at Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
There is a video.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
From the children at the Buffalo Children's Hospital that will
explain why he's an MVP in ways that football just
doesn't even matter. I was going to air it and
put it on the air here, but I think you
need to see the visual. It would not do it
justice to just do the audio over the radio of
these kids in the hospital, six of the six sick.
(05:44):
We've talked about this with Russell Wilson and his visits
to Seattle Children's transforming lives there, and some say, well,
why isn't Josh Allen the Walter Peyton Man of the
Year for this too? But that kind of is beside
the point. Go to at Buffalo Bills and see Josh
Allen and what the kids in Buffalo and the children's
hospital in Buffalo feel about him. If you want to
(06:05):
see something that brightens your day, it's pretty cool. The chiefs,
of course, in the Super Bowl itself. Well, let's get
first to the rest of the NFL honors. Last night,
Jaguars and former forty nine ers defense from Eric Armstead
win the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Air Awards.
The player has done the most for the most people
on and off the field. Russell Wilson won it in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
You can remember that. And as acceptance speace.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Last night, Armstead, the former Oregon Duck, said quote, I
believe in humanity. I believe that all of us have
the power to change, to be the change in our society.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Raved are you?
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Good job, Eric Armstead. That's what sports is. We've talked
about this, but that's what sports is. Sports is at
its best affecting lives, using platforms to change and improve
and inspire. Good on Eric Armstead, and good on everybody
even nominated for that award who do everything they do
off the field. In cloning Chen and wilsu for the
Seahawks for this year, the Chiefs on the side in
the game the Super Bowl fifty nine one and a
(07:02):
half point favorites over the Eagles to become the first
team to win three consecutive Super Bowls are exclusive Pacific Northwest.
Radio coverage of Super Bowl fifty nine begins Sunda at
eleven am, with kickoff just after three with Kevin Harland.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
On Westwood Ones. Call right here on ninety three point
three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The NFL announced this morning that the Pittsburgh Steelers will
be the home team for the first NFL regular season
game in Doublin Iron the next season. Why is that
some interest out here? Well, the Seahawks have the Steelers
as one of their road games next season. That's pretty cool.
I'm still hoping for Madrid or Brazil for the Seahawks,
but I'll take Dublin against the Steelers. Eric Bell, listening
(07:39):
in Pullman, Washington, get on a flight to go see
his Steelers in Doublin against the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Be pretty cool. Shout out to Sarah Bell.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Too good at Sarah Bell finding time in their day
of being a hockey player, Rower, training to be a pilot,
trying to study, running off to see a boyfriend in
North Carolina, all to listen to the show today.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Thanks Sarah.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Cracking just can't get going again last night for the
third straight time at home spot in Strong, Toronto with
three nothing lead losing three to one. Vancouver won last night,
so the Cracking are now eleven points behind the Canucks
with twenty six games left in the season for the
final playoff spot in the NHL's Western Conference.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Doesn't look good. Maths just not adding up for the Kracking.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Tomorrow's their final game before the two week break for
the Four Nations face off. The Krackinger and Calgary landing
today to play tomorrow night against the Flame. Six thirty
pre game show with Mike Benton pucked her up to
seven o'clock tomorrow night with Everett Fitzchu and Al Kaninski
right here on your home for the Crack at ninety
three point three KGr at FM. Also last night on
KGr Washington. Two nights ago, the Washington men's basketball team
(08:39):
lost at home the Nebraska. Now they get Northwestern tomorrow night.
Because of the Kraken the game will be seven pm,
nine to fifty kr AM.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
The Huskies are two to nine in the Big Ten.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Washington State men's basketball team lost his fifth straight game
last night at Oregon State eighty two seventy four. The
Coops are now five and seven in the West Coast Conference.
They host Pepperdine in Home and tomorrow. He here's what
we're gonna do. We're gonna try to get Mike Home
or Mike Sherman at eleven o'clock. But if we're not
getting in, we could do Dave Bowling perhaps at eleven o'clock.
He seemed like he was pretty open this morning. I
(09:11):
take the time, anyone take a lot of time. But
this is our last show. Those who run KJR tell
me they've decided on a different approach for this time slot.
They're bringing in someone from the East Coast to host
a three hour show ten AM the one PM. Chris
Christopher Kid's going to remain here. He's gonna be producing
the new show. I hope he has a voice that
he's had.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
On this and the new guy. Let's Chris talk especially
about this beloved NBA that.
Speaker 5 (09:35):
Oh, Mark's an NBA guy, so we are He's, uh, yeah,
he's an NBA guy. So there might be some disagreements,
but yeah, he's he's all in on the league.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Good for him and Ford Asseol hosts out from one
to three, Dave Softy Maller, and Dick Fane is going
to stay from three until seven.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I want to say thank you to all all of you.
I've had a.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Blast sportswriter, first time radio, full time head host, learned
to t I'm sad and mad honestly because I really.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Enjoyed all of this.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I enjoyed the playback with you guys and gals. On
the text line, I try to make it worthwhile listening.
I try to bring something a little different. I tried
to bring in like I do my sports writing, which
I've come to learn that sports is about the people.
It's not about the final scores or the stats. It's
about the people who play the games and the stories
behind them. And while it's sometimes hard to do it
(10:26):
on radio, that's what I tried to do. I tried
to bring humanity to the games that you watch when
I had the chance to. It's why I want you
to go to at Buffalo Bills and see what the
kids at Children's Hospital in Buffalo think of Josh Allen,
new NFL MVP.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
I tried.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I know some of you think that this wasn't the
place for it, and that's fine. Everybody got taste and
it's funny about human nature. They're not shy about saying
it on the text line when they don't like something.
It's pretty easy to sling arrows, and that's cool. I'm
good with that.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I truly appreciate that and the feedback.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
The task I had when Richmore hired me was be
interactive with the listeners. That's why Chris and I opened
up the phone lines quite a bit more than anybody else,
I think at the station nowadays that's rare. But we
wanted you to have a voice in the show, which
why we leaned heavily on the text line, and we
played it back and read back your text every day.
That's why I tried during breaks and pauses in the
(11:18):
show to interact with you on the text line. I
wanted you to be a part of it, and it
was cool to be a part of your day. I'll
still be around. I'll be doing my seven am daily
talks with Chuck and Buck on the Seahawks, as they've
been doing since twenty seventeen when Mitch Levy was hosting
here in the station, and I'm gonna stay on kjr's bench.
I'm going to fill in hosting fill in hosts. I'll
(11:38):
fill in for Ian for some we'll see what happens
with that. I still got my first job with the
Doos Tribune, the Seahawks beat writer. I'll be at the
NFL Combine in Indianapolis here in a couple of weeks,
and with all the time, I'm going to spend more
time in Michigan with my parents. I'm going to eighty
nine years old and insisted living care. They need it,
(11:58):
they need time with their family, and we don't know
how much more time we have, so I'm going to
spend a lot of my spring and off season back
in Michigan visiting with them. So thank you, thank you
Chris for everything. Thanks to all of you. Chris was
an immense help behind the seed. You couldn't even imagine
holding and carrying a sports writer through these shows since
last April. But we've had a great time, and I've
(12:20):
had a great time, So thank you to all of you.
I just wanted to get out of the way. I'll
still be going to the Army Navy game. I was
part of the deal. I said, okay, you take away
my show, don't take away Army Navy for kJ R,
and I'll be doing that every December, as I've done
the last few years.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I cherish that's really important to me. See my classmates
and all of that. Next, we're going to talk about
Mike Hongreen.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
We're we're gonna humelling broke down statistically as only he
can about Mike Homeran's candidacy compared to those who are
already in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
We'll talk about that.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
At eleven o'clock we'll talk to Day Bowling, my great friend,
former travel partner on the Seahawks, who covered Mike Hongren
as did I, and he'll get his active He also
is now for the spokesman of you writing about Gonzaga basketball,
and I ask him about that too, your text four nine,
four to five on and tell him we were next
the time when his game time, it's tally time. We're
back to Texas eleven thirty is we do every day
(13:10):
at that time, and then the international join us hitting
into a show in from twelve until three. We'll also
give you a chance to win one thousand dollars to
do this hour, do it next hour this hour go
to nine three three KGr dot com and our one
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E E N Green and of that now at nine
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Speaker 3 (13:28):
For your chance to win one thousand dollars. That's green.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
I'll have another word for you next hour on ninety
three point three kJ r f M.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You're listening to your one and only home for the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
Super Bowl, make us your number one pre set in
your car and on the new iHeartRadio app. Now back
to Greg Bell and Christopher Kidd on Sports Radio ninety
three point three Super Bowl kJ r FM.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And welcome ackt The Greg Bell Show with super Kid,
a final edition here in ninety three point three kJ
r FM.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Now're gon switch it up again.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Mike Sherman did call from Cape cod so he's gonna
be on at eleven, which means my man Dave Bowling
normally you remember him from the News Tribune is going
to join us pretty soon here on the Beacon Plumbing
Hotline talk about Mike Sherman and his career. Dave Bowling
and I had some really fun trips, including the Green
Bay and back in the snow and stopping in Sheboygan
in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.
(14:28):
Day Bowling joined us in the Beacon Plumbing Hotline to
talk about Mike Sherman.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
On almost no notice. Good morning, Dave. Good to talk
to you again. Yeah, how are you doing well?
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Thank you, Dave.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Well, I gotta say first, Mike Hombran decision had to
have surprised you. You've covered him for a long time.
Your perspective why he's not in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Well, first of all, disappointed on personal levels. You know,
you keep distance from the people you cover professionally. But
I think he played. He coached one hundred and sixty
games for the Seahawks, and I staffed every one of them,
I believe, home and away, you know, regular season playoffs.
(15:15):
I really highly admired this guy, as you know, he
just he he looked like a you know, kind of
a raging, angry bear on the sidelines. But every time
you talk to him, he was very professorial. You know,
he started out as a high school teacher and coach.
(15:36):
You know, he kind of still had a lot of
that in him whenever we dealt with him. And so
I really admired what he did. And I think if
I were one who was making a pitch for his
induction to the Hall of Fame, voters, yes, you know,
(16:00):
his numbers, the win percentages, etc. Et cetera. I think
there's a couple of expanding factors there that that come
into play. And I think he salvaged two franchises that
were in the ditch. Now. The Packers were awful, Seahawks
had gotten up to neutral to mid range, and I
(16:24):
think Dennis Erickson, for you know, whatever anybody would have,
you know, thought about how he did it was it
was really in the ditch with Tom Florest. He got
him back up to competitive. But homegrin salvage two franchises
really is one thing. The other thing is what he
did with quarterbacks. You know his history with quarterbacks, it
(16:47):
has to be unmatched Montana Young five Hasselback. You know,
the influence of those guys on the game was an
extension of home grown influence on them. And then the
third thing that I think about, and I don't know
if the voters take this into account, but I think
it is a part of their legacy is the coaching tree. Yep.
(17:12):
And you know who is the who is the guy
who is the most prominent coach now is Andy Reid
And he was very definitely a homegren acolyte and has
said many many times how great Holmgren's influence was on
him and and to some extent he has changed the game.
(17:34):
I would have pushed all those three things, which which
I think takes Homegren's candidacy to an extra level. How
does the person influence the game? And I think I
think he was well deserving and I'm surprised he didn't
get it.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
That's interesting you bring about the coaching three, Dave, because
you know the league and have covered it so long,
and you've seen Andy Reid go from a low level
assistant to a Super Bowl head coach in the Hall
of Famer zone, right, should that matter more? I think
of that in terms of Tony Dungee, for instance. So
Bill cow not to degrade those who are already in
the Hall of Fame, but it's a natural to to
(18:09):
sure compare resumes. And I think that's where Mike hongrean
his head and shoulders above Dick for Meal and like
and Tony Dungeee and Bill Kawer. Some of those that
vote are your contemporaries, my contemporaries. Is it that they
just don't get that or that should that be more
of a consideration in your mind? You know?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I I think it's among the other things too, and
and the quarterback thing. You know, maybe some people think,
well he was Bill Walsh. She was a Bill Walsh guy.
Bill Wash did a lot of the coaching. Sure, he
did a lot of play calling. But but you've heard,
you've seen in documentaries. You've heard Montana and Young and
(18:51):
for and Hasselback, all those guys talk about what Mike
Holmgren did for them in their career. And Uh, especially Far,
I think you know, the the Falcons wanted to get
rid of him. You know, didn't see a future for
the guy. And you talk about a makeover of of
(19:14):
of channeling someone's natural talent and personal nature. It was
it was Far he home and had to figure out
a way to to you know, you you know, when
you when you're breaking a fractious cult, you know you
don't want them to lose their spirit, but you wanted
to stay under some kind of control. And I think
that's an analogy for for Far. Uh, he found a
(19:37):
way to to make him to channel that competitiveness, and
it was, you know, it was a miraculous job he
did in Green Bay. And and I think, you know,
to some extent, save it, save the franchise.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Dave what's your favorite Mike Homeran's story, either personally or
covering him or.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Okay, favorite one involves, uh, you know someone a lot
of people outside the franchise don't probably know who had
a great, great influence on the direction of the whole
club was Gary Wright, you know, the PR director. And
one of the funniest stories I ever heard was that,
(20:23):
you know, you see Mike on the sidelines and and
and he and he could rage. And at practices he
could rage, He could he could weave a tapestry of
profanity that would be you know, thick and rich, and
and would cover the whole field. And uh, but then
(20:43):
when he came out, he came into the press conference,
he was Jimmy kick Christmas and.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Oh no, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Uh, he would be he would be like a like
a different guy. And then after games, you know, you
know how these coaches, after a while, the losses just
are just so painful that you know, it's like a
gallstone attack or something homegroun out. I don't know how
many press conferences I watched, one hundred thousand, I don't know.
(21:14):
Was always under control, always in control when he came in,
I know, you know, there were guys he didn't like
dealing with, and he would he would answer their questions.
He was a real gentleman in how he dealt with us.
And one of the stories that Gary Wright told I
(21:38):
think it might have been at his retirement, and they
that Mike would come off the field and he would
just be torn up, you know, and then he would
meet with Gary before he went into the postgame press conference.
And Gary is not a tall individual, and Mike is
a monolithic human being. He is physically imposing, and and
(22:04):
Gary maybe five six, but I don't I don't know,
and just this wonderful little man who was so great
at his job. It would would get Mike in there.
And one time he was trying to get Mike to
calm down and prep him for what was going to happen.
But most of all he had to try to try
to calm him down. And he says, I know you
(22:26):
want to punch people out there. You can't do that. Instead,
I want you to punch me instead. Around It was
such a ludicrous proposal that home runs started laughing. Everybody
started laughing, I guess. And then he went in and
(22:46):
had allowed him to to uh to go do the
wonderful thing that he did. He was a genius and
master class. Ever, almost every press conference was was a
master class and how to how to deal with with
the me you. He may not give you the answer
to the question you wanted, but he would lead you
to another story that would be entertaining, or faxfield or
(23:09):
great historical background that you could end up using that
And boy, that was an art and that's that's one
of the things that Hall of m voters aren't going
to pay attention to that, But the people who had
to deal with him on a daily basis could could
deeply appreciate.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Dave. Thanks a lot. We appreciate on short notice and
moving you around.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Mike Sherman's going to join an eleven to talk more
about him, and but you know him as well as
anybody in Seattle. Enjoy the time with the grandkids, and
it's great to talk to you again.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
We'll see you.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Soon, you bet, take care.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Dave Bowling finally of the News Tribune, also the Spokesman Review.
He's now in semi retirement covering Gonzaga basketball whenever he
feels like it's a great gig. He went to the
Bahamas to cover the battle for Atlantis for Gonzaga because
he said, sure, why not a pretty good deal. He's
at the NLI Classic and all these fun stuff that
Dave Bowlings now do. We had a lot of fun
(24:03):
times traveling the Seahawks together, and the best we're driving
from Chicago to Green Bay to cover Seahawks Packers games,
talking about Mike Congren and his perspectives of it, and
he brings up a good point about some of the
best of Mike Hongren that Hall of Fame National Hall
of Fame voters won't know about because they didn't deal
with them on a daily basis. And his humanity and
the fact that I've talked about this as well, that
(24:24):
he talks so much more than just football. It was
real life stuff. And I was in his office in Kirkland.
I remember being in his office in Kirkland for a
couple things that then had nothing to do with football,
talking to Mike congrean about and I'll always appreciate him
for that four nine four five one on the telem
We do text sign when it's game time. It's Tully
time up next. Now we'll get into some of the
historical and statistical analysis if you really want to start
(24:46):
splitting hairs with why Mike Hongrean should be in the
Hall of Fame over others who are our own.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Hugh Millen broke down some numbers for you. We'll talk
more about that.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Mike Sherman will call from Cape Cod, Massachusetts and his
hunt with retirement home in retirement of from football, about
Mike Homer and the guy who gave his first NFL
job man he replaced as a Green Bay Packers head coach.
Mike Sherman will join us at eleven o'clock eleven thirty.
We'll reback to texting to tell him. We'll do text
line four nine four five one when it's game time.
It's Tully time. Your keyword this hour to win a
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(25:37):
the Greg Belt Show with Christopher Kidt On ninety three
point three kJ r f M. On a Friday, a
football Friday, two days before the Super Bowl, don't forget.
On Sunday, the Super Bowl coverage begins here at eleven
am on ninety three point three KJRFM with Westwood One's
four and a half hour pregame show four and a
half hour radio pregame.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
It's like Husky Honks a U DUB game.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Safty Maller is gonna be the Emeral Queen Casina for
the Big Game. If you can't make it to New
Orleans in the next two days and then something to say.
If you're still in Seattle, you're probably not going. Join
Dave Safty Maller at the Emerald Queen Casino Events Center
for a Big Game viewing party. Watch the game on
three screens, including a giant video wall. They'll be prizes,
food and drink specials, and your chance to win four
thousand dollars special VIP packages that are available for purchase
(26:22):
at Emerald Queen dot com.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Try to e Nunzi eight that my speech therapist wife
would be proud of that.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Join Dave Saftie Maller at the Emerald Queen Casino, the
entertainment capital of the Northwest. Doors open at one point
thirty on Sunday for Super Bowl fifty nine again, the
game will kick off just after three o'clock. Chiefs Eagles
Kevin Harland Westwood wins. Broadcast here on your exclusive Northwest
home for the Super Bowl super Bowl fifty nine to
ninety three point three kJ RFM. Probably no MA now,
(26:52):
Mike Holmgren did not make it into the Hall of Fame,
and next year's may not make it either because Bill
Belichick's going to be eligible for enshrinement. The process change
this year. We've talked about this multiple times. I've written
about at the News Tribune, the News Tribune dot Com.
Mike Comran was put in a category with senior players
and contributors. There were five such finalists in that category
(27:15):
fifteen finalists in the modern player category. Only one of
the five and Mike Comran's category, got selected for induction.
I was Stirling Sharp, senior player for incidentally, former wide
receiver of Mike Comran's for the Green Bay Packers whose
career was cut ship by a neck injury. There were
three inducted from the list of fifteen finalists on the
(27:35):
modern player side, so total of four in this year's class,
the smallest class in two thousand and five. Mike Sando
one of my predecessors at the News Tribune as the
Seahawks beat writer, now with the Athletic is on the
selection committee for the Hall of Fame, and he said
that was a Mike.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Coleman was a victim of the math this year.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Last night, Mike wrote from New Orleans where he was
in on the Hall of Fame so election voting meetings. Quote,
I think we're saying that a strong player like Sharp
beats a stronger, even stronger coach when voters must choose.
This is why coaches and contributors were separated from modern
era players, initially to help their chances, but by combining
them with the players, even senior players in this case,
(28:17):
and then requiring the eighty percent votes and that voters
must pick three. There's a minimum here we are. Hugh Mellen,
our quarterback, broke it down as only he could with numbers.
In a statistical analysis of Mike Congren with those coaches
such as Tony Dungee, Dick Vermeal, and Bill.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Kawer who are already in the Hall of Fame. This
is what Hugh had to say.
Speaker 7 (28:39):
I'm angry, I'm confused, I'm dismayed. I know Softy's gonna
just mount Softie's gonna hit it.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Three.
Speaker 7 (28:48):
I'm gonna try and keep my emotions constrained and just
kind of make a rational point or two.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Okay, And you know, one of.
Speaker 7 (28:58):
The ways in my nerdy way of looking at the
world off and I just said, okay, let's look at
the Hall of famers on the coaching side. Now, there's
some guys. You know, Al Davis was a coach, but
that's not wise in the Hall of Famer. Forrest greg
It was a coach, but that's not wise in the
Hall of Fame. He was a player, right, But the
coaches there are twenty four coaches. So what I did
(29:19):
is I said, Art, I'm gonna make a little spreadsheet
and I'm gonna insert Mike holmgrin as if he was
a Hall of Famer, and then I'm gonna see how
does he rank now, so he would be in this
thought experiment, he'd be the twenty fifth coach. Got me
twenty five nice round numbers. So as I present to
you these ranks, if you hear a lot of numbers
(29:42):
in the in the mid to mid twenties, so you're
gonna say, well, maybe it's a little sketchy there. But
but if you hear numbers, obviously lower numbers means higher rank,
then you're gonna say, Okay, this guy belongs, and I'll
just hit a few of them. Now everything the number
I say is going to be the rank where obviously
(30:03):
one would be the best and twenty fifth would be
the worst. Of the twenty five Hall of famers got me. Yep,
So his ranking in years coach tenth games coached, eight wins,
eighth win lost percentage, fourteenth games over five hundred and
twelve years in the playoff, fourth games in the playoffs,
(30:24):
third wins in the playoff, fifth win lost percentage in
the playoffs, eighteenth, average rank in his division, third championship seventeenth,
Super Bowl's tenth, and conference championship sixth. If you take
all those Now if I'm not going to make this argument,
but if you just said all of those are equal,
(30:45):
and then you average the rank, which would be nine
point oh eight, that ranking would be seventh. So is
aggregate ranking out of twenty five with those stats would
be seventh. You know, if you've got the issue of
of him as a that's just his head coaching. What
(31:06):
about what about his quarterback coaching. I mean they say
Bruce Arians is the quarterback whisper. Put Mike Holmgren's resume
up against Bruce Arians and and he and Andy it's
a slam Duncan's he dwarfs him. When you consider that
Steve Young had passer ratings in the fifties and sixties
at Tampa before Mike Holmgren got hold of him. In
(31:27):
San Francisco, that Matt Hasselbeck wasn't even invited the Combine,
that Brett Favre was given away by the Falcons. Jerry
Granville couldn't couldn't stand Brett farv Uh you know, bag
of cleats to get him. Uh, well it was the
first round draft pick and a bag of cleats. But
but but he was the third string quarterback and then
and then Joe Montana was already a star before Holmgren
(31:49):
got him. But the facts are he had his most
impressive Super Bowl and his two league MVPs when Mike
Holmgren was coaching him. And Bill Walsh, I'll close with this.
Bill Walsh, in his book The Score Takes Care of Itself,
he goes on about how the time that they he
interviewed a bunch of coaches. He said, Mike Holmgren was
so overwhelmingly the most qualified. And he said this, and
(32:14):
I'm quoting Bill Walsh, the best offensive coach I have
ever seen.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
End quote.
Speaker 7 (32:21):
So and then you know, let's we can talk about
his coaching tree and what have you. Look, his impact
on the game is just titanic, and I just can't see,
as I said, I'm confused, perplexed. I'm certain it's unjust, but.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 7 (32:40):
I think when you see that that he on those
aggregate ranks would be seventh out of twenty five if
he were a Hall of Famer today, Obviously, it just
speaks loudly that he belongs.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
Hugh mellon Titanic is a good word for Mike.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Mike.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Mike Holmgren's impact on NFL football, college.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Football, even high school football.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
He coached at is alma mater, Lincoln High School in
San Francisco as a history coach, then at BYU, then
with the forty nine Ers and Joe Montana, Steve Young,
then with the Packers and Brett Favre, then with the Seahawks,
and turned Matt Hasselbeck into as Haswick explaining, you actually
a fourth stringer in Green Bay to a three time
Pro Bowl and Super Bowl quarterback with Seattle.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
I'm next, Mike Sherman.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
The first NFL job he got as an assistant coach
was for the Green Bay Packers and Mike Congren. The
first job he got as an offensive coordinator in the
NFL was in Seattle for Mike Congren in the Seahawks,
And the first head coaching job he got was replacing
Mike Hongrean in Green Bay. We'll talk to Mike Sherman
from Cape Cod on the phone next on ninety three
point three KJRFM
Mike Hongren is not one of those four. Our coach,
the Seahawks and Packers Super Bowl coach was a finalist,
but only one of the five from the senior player
slash contributor slash coach pool of finalists got the eighty
percent of oats needed for induction. That was Holmgren's former
Packer's wide receiver Sterling Sharp. The others in the modern
player era Antonio Gates, Eric Allen, Jared Allen only four
(00:25):
the first time in twenty years it has been that low.
Mike Congrean, of course, he did honored his commitment to
talk to Chuck and Buck this morning, the day after
what had to be a crushing disappointment for him and
his family. But it will not surprise you that he
had all the grace in class that Mike Comeran represents.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Good morning, Chuck, how are you guys doing.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
We're doing all right? How are you doing well?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
You know what I'm doing? Okay, I'm If I didn't
say I was disappointed, I wouldn't be truthful. But the
girls and Kathy, I got to round them up. I
gotta get them going in the right direction again. They're pretty,
They're pretty sad about it, but it's you know, it
is what it is, and so we're okay, we'll be okay.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I didn't surprise you at all.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
When I was on with Chuck him Buck this morning,
he said, well, we think we're having Mike Congran on
at nine thirty like we normally do every Frida and so,
oh yeah, he'll be on for sure. Now he's going
to take his wife Kathy to the Saturday performance in
Hamilton at the Paramount Theater here in.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Seattle that they have tickets for that. He said he
was going to.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
The thing is about this, Chris, and we've talked about
all of us here at KG are about the coach.
The problem now is he's probably not gonna get in
next year either, because it's Bill Belichick's first year of
Hall eligibility, and the way this new system works, it
appears only one coach finalist will come out of into
each class to get voted upon, and Bill Belichick is
(01:55):
sure fire first time a Hall of Fame, our first ballot,
And as Mike Hongren said this morning on Chuck and Buck,
hey I'm seventy seven years old. I'm not getting any
younger here and that's sad. And we'll talk about Mike
Homern and his accomplishments some more. And we don't mean
to degrade those that are already in, but he does
(02:16):
have credentials that are better than ones that are coaches
that are already in the Hall of Fame, such as
Dick for Meal and Bill Kauer and Tony Dungee. And
great for them too. But as I told Chuck and
Buck this morning, there are some voters on these panels
of both I know voters personally on both the Hall
of Fame fifty person Hall of Fame and on the
Baseball Hall of Fame three hundred and ninety four of
(02:38):
those who believe it's their job to be almost bouncers
at the door, to keep some from not getting it
for whatever reason, personal bias, feeling slighted one time by
somebody I don't know, but rather than celebrate in some people,
not very many, but some people view, instead of just
honoring and inviting andvoting in those who deserve it, that
(03:02):
their job is to keep some out, Like I said,
like a bouncer at a club. Also last night, in
the NFL Honors show in Super Bowl in New Orleans,
Josh Allen edged out Lamar Jackson for the NFL MVP award.
The same Associated Press panel with fifty voters who named
Jackson over Allen for All Pro Quarterback, then voted Alan
(03:22):
over Jackson for MVP.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
It's kind of weird.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
There's a lot of people that are questioning that Allen
got twenty seven votes, that Jackson's twenty three. I'm chuckling
because former Bears quarterback in Sirius xf XMNFL and it
was Jim Miller picked Lamar Jackson fourth on his MVP ballot.
And now the credit the Associated Press. They're putting all
(03:46):
fifty of the votes out there, the voters and their
votes out there public. Some of the voters apparently didn't
know that was going to happen, but good on them, Chris, Right,
that's the accountability and if we talked about this with.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Each year on the Baseball Hall of Fame and make
a public right. If you can't have your vote public,
then don't have a vote.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You don't deserve one.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
If you don't have ability to back up publicly what
you voted for, why you did, and you're trying to
sneak around and not have it known and because maybe
you're shamed or you know.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
It's wrong, then don't have a vote in the first place.
Pretty much, I agree with that. It's uh.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
I'm happy for Josh Allen, though I want to make
that clear. There's no discredit. I thought whoever one deserved it.
I did have Lamar winning it just because, my goodness,
the season he had was right insane, And that's no
discredit to what Josh Allen did. But someone's gotta win
and someone's gotta lose. That's just part of sports, right,
So I don't think Lamar's taking it anyway. I'm sure
(04:38):
he might feel some type of way, but he shouldn't
just because it was a close one. I don't think
it was as big of a stretch a lot of
people are making it. I thought it was very close
between either of them. I don't think if you went Josh,
you were wrong, and I don't think if you were
with Lamar you were wrong. It was just that close.
So congrats to Josh, though he definitely deserved it, and
(04:58):
let's hope that he can hear him He or him
Lamar that is, can actually dethrone the Cheefe regardless if
they win this year. My goodness, everything goes to it
the Kennesaity Chiefs, so someone needs to finally knock them
off the saddle here.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
If you're mad about Josh Allen being the MVP, shouldn't
be mad. Go to Twitter Acts or whatever the kids
call it, and go to at Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
There is a video.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
From the children at the Buffalo Children's Hospital that will
explain why he's an MVP in ways that football just
doesn't even matter. I was going to air it and
put it on the air here, but I think you
need to see the visual. It would not do it
justice to just do the audio over the radio of
these kids in the hospital, six of the six sick.
(05:44):
We've talked about this with Russell Wilson and his visits
to Seattle Children's transforming lives there, and some say, well,
why isn't Josh Allen the Walter Peyton Man of the
Year for this too? But that kind of is beside
the point. Go to at Buffalo Bills and see Josh
Allen and what the kids in Buffalo and the children's
hospital in Buffalo feel about him. If you want to
(06:05):
see something that brightens your day, it's pretty cool. The chiefs,
of course, in the Super Bowl itself. Well, let's get
first to the rest of the NFL honors. Last night,
Jaguars and former forty nine ers defense from Eric Armstead
win the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Air Awards.
The player has done the most for the most people
on and off the field. Russell Wilson won it in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
You can remember that. And as acceptance speace.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Last night, Armstead, the former Oregon Duck, said quote, I
believe in humanity. I believe that all of us have
the power to change, to be the change in our society.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Raved are you?
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Good job, Eric Armstead. That's what sports is. We've talked
about this, but that's what sports is. Sports is at
its best affecting lives, using platforms to change and improve
and inspire. Good on Eric Armstead, and good on everybody
even nominated for that award who do everything they do
off the field. In cloning Chen and wilsu for the
Seahawks for this year, the Chiefs on the side in
the game the Super Bowl fifty nine one and a
(07:02):
half point favorites over the Eagles to become the first
team to win three consecutive Super Bowls are exclusive Pacific Northwest.
Radio coverage of Super Bowl fifty nine begins Sunda at
eleven am, with kickoff just after three with Kevin Harland.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
On Westwood Ones. Call right here on ninety three point
three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The NFL announced this morning that the Pittsburgh Steelers will
be the home team for the first NFL regular season
game in Doublin Iron the next season. Why is that
some interest out here? Well, the Seahawks have the Steelers
as one of their road games next season. That's pretty cool.
I'm still hoping for Madrid or Brazil for the Seahawks,
but I'll take Dublin against the Steelers. Eric Bell, listening
(07:39):
in Pullman, Washington, get on a flight to go see
his Steelers in Doublin against the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Be pretty cool. Shout out to Sarah Bell.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Too good at Sarah Bell finding time in their day
of being a hockey player, Rower, training to be a pilot,
trying to study, running off to see a boyfriend in
North Carolina, all to listen to the show today.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Thanks Sarah.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Cracking just can't get going again last night for the
third straight time at home spot in Strong, Toronto with
three nothing lead losing three to one. Vancouver won last night,
so the Cracking are now eleven points behind the Canucks
with twenty six games left in the season for the
final playoff spot in the NHL's Western Conference.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Doesn't look good. Maths just not adding up for the Kracking.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Tomorrow's their final game before the two week break for
the Four Nations face off. The Krackinger and Calgary landing
today to play tomorrow night against the Flame. Six thirty
pre game show with Mike Benton pucked her up to
seven o'clock tomorrow night with Everett Fitzchu and Al Kaninski
right here on your home for the Crack at ninety
three point three KGr at FM. Also last night on
KGr Washington. Two nights ago, the Washington men's basketball team
(08:39):
lost at home the Nebraska. Now they get Northwestern tomorrow night.
Because of the Kraken the game will be seven pm,
nine to fifty kr AM.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
The Huskies are two to nine in the Big Ten.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Washington State men's basketball team lost his fifth straight game
last night at Oregon State eighty two seventy four. The
Coops are now five and seven in the West Coast Conference.
They host Pepperdine in Home and tomorrow. He here's what
we're gonna do. We're gonna try to get Mike Home
or Mike Sherman at eleven o'clock. But if we're not
getting in, we could do Dave Bowling perhaps at eleven o'clock.
He seemed like he was pretty open this morning. I
(09:11):
take the time, anyone take a lot of time. But
this is our last show. Those who run KJR tell
me they've decided on a different approach for this time slot.
They're bringing in someone from the East Coast to host
a three hour show ten AM the one PM. Chris
Christopher Kid's going to remain here. He's gonna be producing
the new show. I hope he has a voice that
he's had.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
On this and the new guy. Let's Chris talk especially
about this beloved NBA that.
Speaker 5 (09:35):
Oh, Mark's an NBA guy, so we are He's, uh, yeah,
he's an NBA guy. So there might be some disagreements,
but yeah, he's he's all in on the league.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Good for him and Ford Asseol hosts out from one
to three, Dave Softy Maller, and Dick Fane is going
to stay from three until seven.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I want to say thank you to all all of you.
I've had a.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Blast sportswriter, first time radio, full time head host, learned
to t I'm sad and mad honestly because I really.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Enjoyed all of this.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I enjoyed the playback with you guys and gals. On
the text line, I try to make it worthwhile listening.
I try to bring something a little different. I tried
to bring in like I do my sports writing, which
I've come to learn that sports is about the people.
It's not about the final scores or the stats. It's
about the people who play the games and the stories
behind them. And while it's sometimes hard to do it
(10:26):
on radio, that's what I tried to do. I tried
to bring humanity to the games that you watch when
I had the chance to. It's why I want you
to go to at Buffalo Bills and see what the
kids at Children's Hospital in Buffalo think of Josh Allen,
new NFL MVP.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
I tried.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I know some of you think that this wasn't the
place for it, and that's fine. Everybody got taste and
it's funny about human nature. They're not shy about saying
it on the text line when they don't like something.
It's pretty easy to sling arrows, and that's cool. I'm
good with that.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I truly appreciate that and the feedback.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
The task I had when Richmore hired me was be
interactive with the listeners. That's why Chris and I opened
up the phone lines quite a bit more than anybody else,
I think at the station nowadays that's rare. But we
wanted you to have a voice in the show, which
why we leaned heavily on the text line, and we
played it back and read back your text every day.
That's why I tried during breaks and pauses in the
(11:18):
show to interact with you on the text line. I
wanted you to be a part of it, and it
was cool to be a part of your day. I'll
still be around. I'll be doing my seven am daily
talks with Chuck and Buck on the Seahawks, as they've
been doing since twenty seventeen when Mitch Levy was hosting
here in the station, and I'm gonna stay on kjr's bench.
I'm going to fill in hosting fill in hosts. I'll
(11:38):
fill in for Ian for some we'll see what happens
with that. I still got my first job with the
Doos Tribune, the Seahawks beat writer. I'll be at the
NFL Combine in Indianapolis here in a couple of weeks,
and with all the time, I'm going to spend more
time in Michigan with my parents. I'm going to eighty
nine years old and insisted living care. They need it,
(11:58):
they need time with their family, and we don't know
how much more time we have, so I'm going to
spend a lot of my spring and off season back
in Michigan visiting with them. So thank you, thank you
Chris for everything. Thanks to all of you. Chris was
an immense help behind the seed. You couldn't even imagine
holding and carrying a sports writer through these shows since
last April. But we've had a great time, and I've
(12:20):
had a great time, So thank you to all of you.
I just wanted to get out of the way. I'll
still be going to the Army Navy game. I was
part of the deal. I said, okay, you take away
my show, don't take away Army Navy for kJ R,
and I'll be doing that every December, as I've done
the last few years.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I cherish that's really important to me. See my classmates
and all of that. Next, we're going to talk about
Mike Hongreen.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
We're we're gonna humelling broke down statistically as only he
can about Mike Homeran's candidacy compared to those who are
already in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
We'll talk about that.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
At eleven o'clock we'll talk to Day Bowling, my great friend,
former travel partner on the Seahawks, who covered Mike Hongren
as did I, and he'll get his active He also
is now for the spokesman of you writing about Gonzaga basketball,
and I ask him about that too, your text four nine,
four to five on and tell him we were next
the time when his game time, it's tally time. We're
back to Texas eleven thirty is we do every day
(13:10):
at that time, and then the international join us hitting
into a show in from twelve until three. We'll also
give you a chance to win one thousand dollars to
do this hour, do it next hour this hour go
to nine three three KGr dot com and our one
thousand dollars power playing under the word green g R
E E N Green and of that now at nine
three three KGr dot com.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
For your chance to win one thousand dollars. That's green.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
I'll have another word for you next hour on ninety
three point three kJ r f M.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You're listening to your one and only home for the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
Super Bowl, make us your number one pre set in
your car and on the new iHeartRadio app. Now back
to Greg Bell and Christopher Kidd on Sports Radio ninety
three point three Super Bowl kJ r FM.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And welcome ackt The Greg Bell Show with super Kid,
a final edition here in ninety three point three kJ
r FM.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Now're gon switch it up again.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Mike Sherman did call from Cape cod so he's gonna
be on at eleven, which means my man Dave Bowling
normally you remember him from the News Tribune is going
to join us pretty soon here on the Beacon Plumbing
Hotline talk about Mike Sherman and his career. Dave Bowling
and I had some really fun trips, including the Green
Bay and back in the snow and stopping in Sheboygan
in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.
(14:28):
Day Bowling joined us in the Beacon Plumbing Hotline to
talk about Mike Sherman.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
On almost no notice. Good morning, Dave. Good to talk
to you again. Yeah, how are you doing well?
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Thank you, Dave.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Well, I gotta say first, Mike Hombran decision had to
have surprised you. You've covered him for a long time.
Your perspective why he's not in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Well, first of all, disappointed on personal levels. You know,
you keep distance from the people you cover professionally. But
I think he played. He coached one hundred and sixty
games for the Seahawks, and I staffed every one of them,
I believe, home and away, you know, regular season playoffs.
(15:15):
I really highly admired this guy, as you know, he
just he he looked like a you know, kind of
a raging, angry bear on the sidelines. But every time
you talk to him, he was very professorial. You know,
he started out as a high school teacher and coach.
(15:36):
You know, he kind of still had a lot of
that in him whenever we dealt with him. And so
I really admired what he did. And I think if
I were one who was making a pitch for his
induction to the Hall of Fame, voters, yes, you know,
(16:00):
his numbers, the win percentages, etc. Et cetera. I think
there's a couple of expanding factors there that that come
into play. And I think he salvaged two franchises that
were in the ditch. Now. The Packers were awful, Seahawks
had gotten up to neutral to mid range, and I
(16:24):
think Dennis Erickson, for you know, whatever anybody would have,
you know, thought about how he did it was it
was really in the ditch with Tom Florest. He got
him back up to competitive. But homegrin salvage two franchises
really is one thing. The other thing is what he
did with quarterbacks. You know his history with quarterbacks, it
(16:47):
has to be unmatched Montana Young five Hasselback. You know,
the influence of those guys on the game was an
extension of home grown influence on them. And then the
third thing that I think about, and I don't know
if the voters take this into account, but I think
it is a part of their legacy is the coaching tree. Yep.
(17:12):
And you know who is the who is the guy
who is the most prominent coach now is Andy Reid
And he was very definitely a homegren acolyte and has
said many many times how great Holmgren's influence was on
him and and to some extent he has changed the game.
(17:34):
I would have pushed all those three things, which which
I think takes Homegren's candidacy to an extra level. How
does the person influence the game? And I think I
think he was well deserving and I'm surprised he didn't
get it.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
That's interesting you bring about the coaching three, Dave, because
you know the league and have covered it so long,
and you've seen Andy Reid go from a low level
assistant to a Super Bowl head coach in the Hall
of Famer zone, right, should that matter more? I think
of that in terms of Tony Dungee, for instance. So
Bill cow not to degrade those who are already in
the Hall of Fame, but it's a natural to to
(18:09):
sure compare resumes. And I think that's where Mike hongrean
his head and shoulders above Dick for Meal and like
and Tony Dungeee and Bill Kawer. Some of those that
vote are your contemporaries, my contemporaries. Is it that they
just don't get that or that should that be more
of a consideration in your mind? You know?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I I think it's among the other things too, and
and the quarterback thing. You know, maybe some people think,
well he was Bill Walsh. She was a Bill Walsh guy.
Bill Wash did a lot of the coaching. Sure, he
did a lot of play calling. But but you've heard,
you've seen in documentaries. You've heard Montana and Young and
(18:51):
for and Hasselback, all those guys talk about what Mike
Holmgren did for them in their career. And Uh, especially Far,
I think you know, the the Falcons wanted to get
rid of him. You know, didn't see a future for
the guy. And you talk about a makeover of of
(19:14):
of channeling someone's natural talent and personal nature. It was
it was Far he home and had to figure out
a way to to you know, you you know, when
you when you're breaking a fractious cult, you know you
don't want them to lose their spirit, but you wanted
to stay under some kind of control. And I think
that's an analogy for for Far. Uh, he found a
(19:37):
way to to make him to channel that competitiveness, and
it was, you know, it was a miraculous job he
did in Green Bay. And and I think, you know,
to some extent, save it, save the franchise.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Dave what's your favorite Mike Homeran's story, either personally or
covering him or.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Okay, favorite one involves, uh, you know someone a lot
of people outside the franchise don't probably know who had
a great, great influence on the direction of the whole
club was Gary Wright, you know, the PR director. And
one of the funniest stories I ever heard was that,
(20:23):
you know, you see Mike on the sidelines and and
and he and he could rage. And at practices he
could rage, He could he could weave a tapestry of
profanity that would be you know, thick and rich, and
and would cover the whole field. And uh, but then
(20:43):
when he came out, he came into the press conference,
he was Jimmy kick Christmas and.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Oh no, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Uh, he would be he would be like a like
a different guy. And then after games, you know, you
know how these coaches, after a while, the losses just
are just so painful that you know, it's like a
gallstone attack or something homegroun out. I don't know how
many press conferences I watched, one hundred thousand, I don't know.
(21:14):
Was always under control, always in control when he came in,
I know, you know, there were guys he didn't like
dealing with, and he would he would answer their questions.
He was a real gentleman in how he dealt with us.
And one of the stories that Gary Wright told I
(21:38):
think it might have been at his retirement, and they
that Mike would come off the field and he would
just be torn up, you know, and then he would
meet with Gary before he went into the postgame press conference.
And Gary is not a tall individual, and Mike is
a monolithic human being. He is physically imposing, and and
(22:04):
Gary maybe five six, but I don't I don't know,
and just this wonderful little man who was so great
at his job. It would would get Mike in there.
And one time he was trying to get Mike to
calm down and prep him for what was going to happen.
But most of all he had to try to try
to calm him down. And he says, I know you
(22:26):
want to punch people out there. You can't do that. Instead,
I want you to punch me instead. Around It was
such a ludicrous proposal that home runs started laughing. Everybody
started laughing, I guess. And then he went in and
(22:46):
had allowed him to to uh to go do the
wonderful thing that he did. He was a genius and
master class. Ever, almost every press conference was was a
master class and how to how to deal with with
the me you. He may not give you the answer
to the question you wanted, but he would lead you
to another story that would be entertaining, or faxfield or
(23:09):
great historical background that you could end up using that
And boy, that was an art and that's that's one
of the things that Hall of m voters aren't going
to pay attention to that, But the people who had
to deal with him on a daily basis could could
deeply appreciate.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Dave. Thanks a lot. We appreciate on short notice and
moving you around.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Mike Sherman's going to join an eleven to talk more
about him, and but you know him as well as
anybody in Seattle. Enjoy the time with the grandkids, and
it's great to talk to you again.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
We'll see you.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Soon, you bet, take care.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Dave Bowling finally of the News Tribune, also the Spokesman Review.
He's now in semi retirement covering Gonzaga basketball whenever he
feels like it's a great gig. He went to the
Bahamas to cover the battle for Atlantis for Gonzaga because
he said, sure, why not a pretty good deal. He's
at the NLI Classic and all these fun stuff that
Dave Bowlings now do. We had a lot of fun
(24:03):
times traveling the Seahawks together, and the best we're driving
from Chicago to Green Bay to cover Seahawks Packers games,
talking about Mike Congren and his perspectives of it, and
he brings up a good point about some of the
best of Mike Hongren that Hall of Fame National Hall
of Fame voters won't know about because they didn't deal
with them on a daily basis. And his humanity and
the fact that I've talked about this as well, that
(24:24):
he talks so much more than just football. It was
real life stuff. And I was in his office in Kirkland.
I remember being in his office in Kirkland for a
couple things that then had nothing to do with football,
talking to Mike congrean about and I'll always appreciate him
for that four nine four five one on the telem
We do text sign when it's game time. It's Tully
time up next. Now we'll get into some of the
historical and statistical analysis if you really want to start
(24:46):
splitting hairs with why Mike Hongrean should be in the
Hall of Fame over others who are our own.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Hugh Millen broke down some numbers for you. We'll talk
more about that.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Mike Sherman will call from Cape Cod, Massachusetts and his
hunt with retirement home in retirement of from football, about
Mike Homer and the guy who gave his first NFL
job man he replaced as a Green Bay Packers head coach.
Mike Sherman will join us at eleven o'clock eleven thirty.
We'll reback to texting to tell him. We'll do text
line four nine four five one when it's game time.
It's Tully time. Your keyword this hour to win a
(25:16):
thousand dollars in our power plays green g R E
E n if I spelled that right. Go to nine
through three KGr dot com right now to enter that
word for a chance to one thousand dollars. On ninety
three point three kJ r f M, Welcome back to
(25:37):
the Greg Belt Show with Christopher Kidt On ninety three
point three kJ r f M. On a Friday, a
football Friday, two days before the Super Bowl, don't forget.
On Sunday, the Super Bowl coverage begins here at eleven
am on ninety three point three KJRFM with Westwood One's
four and a half hour pregame show four and a
half hour radio pregame.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
It's like Husky Honks a U DUB game.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Safty Maller is gonna be the Emeral Queen Casina for
the Big Game. If you can't make it to New
Orleans in the next two days and then something to say.
If you're still in Seattle, you're probably not going. Join
Dave Safty Maller at the Emerald Queen Casino Events Center
for a Big Game viewing party. Watch the game on
three screens, including a giant video wall. They'll be prizes,
food and drink specials, and your chance to win four
thousand dollars special VIP packages that are available for purchase
(26:22):
at Emerald Queen dot com.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Try to e Nunzi eight that my speech therapist wife
would be proud of that.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Join Dave Saftie Maller at the Emerald Queen Casino, the
entertainment capital of the Northwest. Doors open at one point
thirty on Sunday for Super Bowl fifty nine again, the
game will kick off just after three o'clock. Chiefs Eagles
Kevin Harland Westwood wins. Broadcast here on your exclusive Northwest
home for the Super Bowl super Bowl fifty nine to
ninety three point three kJ RFM. Probably no MA now,
(26:52):
Mike Holmgren did not make it into the Hall of Fame,
and next year's may not make it either because Bill
Belichick's going to be eligible for enshrinement. The process change
this year. We've talked about this multiple times. I've written
about at the News Tribune, the News Tribune dot Com.
Mike Comran was put in a category with senior players
and contributors. There were five such finalists in that category
(27:15):
fifteen finalists in the modern player category. Only one of
the five and Mike Comran's category, got selected for induction.
I was Stirling Sharp, senior player for incidentally, former wide
receiver of Mike Comran's for the Green Bay Packers whose
career was cut ship by a neck injury. There were
three inducted from the list of fifteen finalists on the
(27:35):
modern player side, so total of four in this year's class,
the smallest class in two thousand and five. Mike Sando
one of my predecessors at the News Tribune as the
Seahawks beat writer, now with the Athletic is on the
selection committee for the Hall of Fame, and he said
that was a Mike.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Coleman was a victim of the math this year.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Last night, Mike wrote from New Orleans where he was
in on the Hall of Fame so election voting meetings. Quote,
I think we're saying that a strong player like Sharp
beats a stronger, even stronger coach when voters must choose.
This is why coaches and contributors were separated from modern
era players, initially to help their chances, but by combining
them with the players, even senior players in this case,
(28:17):
and then requiring the eighty percent votes and that voters
must pick three. There's a minimum here we are. Hugh Mellen,
our quarterback, broke it down as only he could with numbers.
In a statistical analysis of Mike Congren with those coaches
such as Tony Dungee, Dick Vermeal, and Bill.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Kawer who are already in the Hall of Fame. This
is what Hugh had to say.
Speaker 7 (28:39):
I'm angry, I'm confused, I'm dismayed. I know Softy's gonna
just mount Softie's gonna hit it.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Three.
Speaker 7 (28:48):
I'm gonna try and keep my emotions constrained and just
kind of make a rational point or two.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Okay, And you know, one of.
Speaker 7 (28:58):
The ways in my nerdy way of looking at the
world off and I just said, okay, let's look at
the Hall of famers on the coaching side. Now, there's
some guys. You know, Al Davis was a coach, but
that's not wise in the Hall of Famer. Forrest greg
It was a coach, but that's not wise in the
Hall of Fame. He was a player, right, But the
coaches there are twenty four coaches. So what I did
(29:19):
is I said, Art, I'm gonna make a little spreadsheet
and I'm gonna insert Mike holmgrin as if he was
a Hall of Famer, and then I'm gonna see how
does he rank now, so he would be in this
thought experiment, he'd be the twenty fifth coach. Got me
twenty five nice round numbers. So as I present to
you these ranks, if you hear a lot of numbers
(29:42):
in the in the mid to mid twenties, so you're
gonna say, well, maybe it's a little sketchy there. But
but if you hear numbers, obviously lower numbers means higher rank,
then you're gonna say, Okay, this guy belongs, and I'll
just hit a few of them. Now everything the number
I say is going to be the rank where obviously
(30:03):
one would be the best and twenty fifth would be
the worst. Of the twenty five Hall of famers got me. Yep,
So his ranking in years coach tenth games coached, eight wins,
eighth win lost percentage, fourteenth games over five hundred and
twelve years in the playoff, fourth games in the playoffs,
(30:24):
third wins in the playoff, fifth win lost percentage in
the playoffs, eighteenth, average rank in his division, third championship seventeenth,
Super Bowl's tenth, and conference championship sixth. If you take
all those Now if I'm not going to make this argument,
but if you just said all of those are equal,
(30:45):
and then you average the rank, which would be nine
point oh eight, that ranking would be seventh. So is
aggregate ranking out of twenty five with those stats would
be seventh. You know, if you've got the issue of
of him as a that's just his head coaching. What
(31:06):
about what about his quarterback coaching. I mean they say
Bruce Arians is the quarterback whisper. Put Mike Holmgren's resume
up against Bruce Arians and and he and Andy it's
a slam Duncan's he dwarfs him. When you consider that
Steve Young had passer ratings in the fifties and sixties
at Tampa before Mike Holmgren got hold of him. In
(31:27):
San Francisco, that Matt Hasselbeck wasn't even invited the Combine,
that Brett Favre was given away by the Falcons. Jerry
Granville couldn't couldn't stand Brett farv Uh you know, bag
of cleats to get him. Uh, well it was the
first round draft pick and a bag of cleats. But
but but he was the third string quarterback and then
and then Joe Montana was already a star before Holmgren
(31:49):
got him. But the facts are he had his most
impressive Super Bowl and his two league MVPs when Mike
Holmgren was coaching him. And Bill Walsh, I'll close with this.
Bill Walsh, in his book The Score Takes Care of Itself,
he goes on about how the time that they he
interviewed a bunch of coaches. He said, Mike Holmgren was
so overwhelmingly the most qualified. And he said this, and
(32:14):
I'm quoting Bill Walsh, the best offensive coach I have
ever seen.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
End quote.
Speaker 7 (32:21):
So and then you know, let's we can talk about
his coaching tree and what have you. Look, his impact
on the game is just titanic, and I just can't see,
as I said, I'm confused, perplexed. I'm certain it's unjust, but.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 7 (32:40):
I think when you see that that he on those
aggregate ranks would be seventh out of twenty five if
he were a Hall of Famer today, Obviously, it just
speaks loudly that he belongs.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
Hugh mellon Titanic is a good word for Mike.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Mike.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Mike Holmgren's impact on NFL football, college.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Football, even high school football.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
He coached at is alma mater, Lincoln High School in
San Francisco as a history coach, then at BYU, then
with the forty nine Ers and Joe Montana, Steve Young,
then with the Packers and Brett Favre, then with the Seahawks,
and turned Matt Hasselbeck into as Haswick explaining, you actually
a fourth stringer in Green Bay to a three time
Pro Bowl and Super Bowl quarterback with Seattle.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
I'm next, Mike Sherman.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
The first NFL job he got as an assistant coach
was for the Green Bay Packers and Mike Congren. The
first job he got as an offensive coordinator in the
NFL was in Seattle for Mike Congren in the Seahawks,
And the first head coaching job he got was replacing
Mike Hongrean in Green Bay. We'll talk to Mike Sherman
from Cape Cod on the phone next on ninety three
point three KJRFM
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