Chargers Weekly: Breaking Down Chargers Preseason Win vs. Lions

On this episode of Chargers Weekly, Bolts radio play-by-play announcer Matt “Money” Smith & host Chris Hayre recap the latest news involving LA and the entire NFL. The Chargers took a break from training camp on Thursday for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game vs the Detroit Lions. The hosts spend an hour breaking down all the best moments from the Bolts’ preseason win in Canton, including quarterback Trey Lance’s impressive night, rookie wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith’s continued breakout performance, and the defense’s five-turnover showing. Later, they discuss their excitement to see Chargers legend Antonio Gates enshrined in the Hall of Fame after his historic career in the NFL.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Late fifteen to ten touched up.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
What's Up? Guys, Welcome into a brand new episode of
Chargers Weekly, as always, joined by the voice of the Chargers,
Matt Muddy Smith. Back in southern California. I'm sticking around
for the Gates Inshrineman tomorrow. So still in Ohio, Buddy.
We were both in Canton last night. And a heck
of a good first impression for the for these Jim

(00:31):
Harball Chargers thirty four to seven, and listen. You can
attribute it to maybe being in camp an extra week,
or just maybe have more talent on the back end
of the roster, but they look crisp, they look prepared.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yeah, I think that's that's part of what this team
is and what this coaching staff is all about and preaches.
I mean, they started camp a week earlier than the Lions,
and they have the same schedule, and I don't think
there's any questions to me. That's the thing that jumps
out at you the is just how well they played,
how prepared they were, time on task. You got the

(01:05):
opening kickoff, you know, and Ryan Fickens bunch scores a turnover.
You got one guy punching it out, you got two
guys scrapping for it. I think Kenda Williamson punched it out,
Caleb Murphy had the ankles, and it was and I
think it was a MANYMANI that ends up getting the
football and it's like, yeah, that's charge of football right there.

(01:26):
First play, no plays off, and it just it took
off from there, man, like a rocket ship.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
I mean, you want to talk.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
And the great thing too, Chris, is that guys that
we've been seeing performing in camp are the ones that
performed in the game.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
That's right, That's right. I mean, and we could go
down the list and we will go down the list
of so many top performers and we've been talking about
on this podcast for the last several weeks. I want
to start with the quarterback though, because listen, Trey Lance
number three overall pick in twenty twenty one, and I
don't know about you, but I just since this this confidence,
and I think he's had this confidence instilled in him

(02:03):
by Jim Harball and Greg Roman early and just you know,
thirteen to twenty one hundred and twenty yards, two touchdowns,
a passer rating of one hundred and fourteen point six
led it off with that will Disley touchdown to open
up the scoring. And we're going to get into the
kls and just what he's transferred on to the playing
field in a real game. But I just want to

(02:24):
start with Trade because I really like the way that
he played. And I remember a year ago throwing five
interceptions against the Chargers as a Dallas Cowboy, Trey looked
the part. And I know this is the first preseason game,
it's the Hall of Fame game, and you know this
is a guy who was a top pick. But I
really liked what I saw from Trey Lance.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, I think you know, you look at and I'm
pulling up the I want to see where here's my
Trey Lance. So last year, I mean we saw it
firsthand against the Charges. You saw the good and you
saw the bad from Trey Lance, right, and the really
good was the rushing. He rushed eleven times for ninety
yards in a touchdown. He was an absolute menace with
his feet in that game. Through for three hundred and
twenty three yards, attempted forty nine passes, through five picks,

(03:09):
took three sacks, And I think today or yesterday, it
feels like today because of you know how late it
was for that that it was just a hey, let's
manage the mistakes out of the game. Let's take what
the defense is going to give you. There were a
couple of throwaways in there, you know that that passer

(03:30):
rating was in the one thirties before that that third
quarter when he just kind of started managing the game
a little bit like Okay, yeah, I could, I could
try to force this in here, and you think about
the five interceptions from that game last year. But instead
it was just let's throw it away, let's dirt it
at the feet, let's let's live to play another game.
We did not even see the run like which was

(03:50):
crazy to me. I was excited to see some of this,
you know, sort of Greg Roman and what he does
and how much he likes these type of quarterbacks that
can use their legs and have this type of athletics,
and it just wasn't there. He never every single one
of his I think you only rushed three times and
they were all on scrambles. They were not designed runs.
There was one RPO that he pulled it, but he

(04:12):
was still looking downfield before he picked up three yards.
And he showed us stuff that we have that I
feel like I didn't see in training camp, you know.
I mean, you've been out there with me, Chris, he's
been he's been a little inaccurate. We haven't seen the
touch throws. Some of those distance throws you know, have
just like heck, I saw one bounce into the merch tent.

(04:32):
For God's sakes. It was so far off line. And
so to see this in the game, and I thought,
DJ put it perfectly. He's like, you know what, some
guys like that training camp atmosphere. It just doesn't work
for them. It's like kind of the mush and there's
no threat of being hit, and you just maybe you
take it down a notch or two. And so to

(04:52):
see Trey come out and perform like that was incredibly
trying to think of the best word to put it.
It's not like exciting or I just I think it's
it's satisfying because you feel good for the young man
because of all the crap he's been through, being a
number one overall pick or number three overall pick, and

(05:12):
trading three first rounders with Kyle Shanahan, all that disappointment,
just the weight of the world being on him for
being one of the biggest busts in the history of football,
and Harpos just able to push that all aside, say
slap him on the tap him on the head and
do all that.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
Just go out there and play football. Man.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
He's twenty five years old. Yes to think like he's
got his best football in front of him. Sam Farmer,
I think asked him a question at the podium. Just
I think Jim and his presser referred to like the
fat part of the bat. That's his career right now.
Like he's twenty five, he's got several years in front
of him, and maybe this is the place where he

(05:52):
can you know, you come into a situation money where
there's no pressure to be the starter. We know that
Justin is the star. And he even said like he
didn't realize how much Justin ran the football and just
kind of how this system works so well with him.
And you know, the one thing that struck me in
his press was just the the joy of being in

(06:13):
LA and I think being with this coaching staff, I
think that he feels comfortable here.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah, look handon hooker right is was was older than
Trey Lance when he was drafted two years later, older
than Trey Lance when he went not now he's yeah,
he's still two years older, but when he actually was drafted.
But that's how young Trey Lance was when he came
into the league. And really, you know, got delta up

(06:42):
Like I'm never going to say got delta bad hand.
He had guaranteed money. So you know, what do you
go to college for? To get a job, to earn
a living, to support your family, all that sort of stuff.
But just you're talking about a guy that got to
play one game because of COVID the year before he's
drafted into the NFL one game, and then you go
to a situation where you know, we know how particular

(07:04):
Kyle Shanahan is with his quarterbacks, how they have to
be an extension of him. You have to operate exactly
as I tell you to operate. You are an extension.
You're not your own person, You're an extension of me.
And that's and you're talking about a guy that you
know at North Dakota State.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
If I pull up my my stuff, the.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Guy that was running like a running back, I mean,
you know, while passing as well. I just wanted to
just to kind of put it in perspective for people,
because we're talking about a backup quarterback that I think
is in a battle with Taylor Heineke. I don't think
Kyineke has that thing locked up at all. And let's
see what was it. Here we go and the year
he won the D one Championship and was the game MVP.

(07:46):
He threw for twenty seven eighty six, twenty eight touchdowns,
zero interceptions, rushed for eleven hundred yards and fourteen touchdowns.
Like that's that's the type of player we're talking about.
And you look at what Kyle Shanahan passed on to
Shaun Watson, Mitch Trubisky, and Patrick Mahomes because he had
Brian Hoyer, who he liked as an extension of himself.

(08:08):
So you so much of football is circumstance. What I'm
what I'm getting at is, by all accounts, every person
I've ever talked to that's been around Trey Lances said
he's an exceptional guy. He's a great guy, and they're
pulling for him. And I hope whatever this is, whatever
this stop on his career path is, I just hope
it works out for him because when you hear the

(08:28):
things that you hear about him and the type of
person he is, you'd love to see, you know, Jim
Harbaugh and his his methods of motivation work out.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
You know, DJ could break this down much better than
I can. But just you know, the eye test when
it comes to these quarterbacks coming out of college, if
you don't have a lot of starts under your belt,
it's a little bit of an adjustment's a little bit
of a struggle going into the NFL. That's partly why
Justin Herbert was so good from the beginning. It's just
all the starts that he had at Oregon. And you
look at some of the guys like you know Bo

(08:57):
Nick's Bo Nicks for instance, a lot of stars six years,
six year from Auburn to Oregon. So for Trey, you know,
Taylor Heineke, he didn't play in this game because he
has a lot of tape. He's played in a lot
of games. I think that the competition is on now
starting in New Orleans, and we'll see if Taylor gets
to start. I would anticipate that Heinek would maybe get

(09:19):
the start in that game and we'll see a lot
of Trey Lance and maybe that's where that backup quarterback
position starts. That first drive too. You know, Amarion Hampton.
I think he touched the ball three times from a
stat perspective, two carries nine yards. That one eight yard
run showed me everything I needed to see, and I'm
sure the coaching staff as well. He was out of

(09:39):
there after the first series, so you know, that's all
we needed to see from the first round draft pick.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
Money at jump cut, explosion, fought through contact for an
extra four yards. That's it, Like you said it perfectly, Chris.
Everything that he is was on display on that one
run where is able to make the first man miss
with a jump cut, explode, forward, breaks a tackle, picks
up an extra four yards and we're good.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
You know.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
And when you don't have your first string offensive line
out there, and you have someone as valuable to the
organizations is Amari and Hampton. I think that's that's why
we're talking about, you know, three carries and out show
as a little something. Take a couple of whacks, you know,
a couple of licks from the opposing defense, and get
the heck out of here and stay healthy. But to

(10:26):
expand that, it's fun running back competition.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
Man.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
We talked about it, Chris, and I know we're going
to get to it. But you saw competitors welcome, right,
that's the that's the mantra of the Chargers, and I
think you saw competitors welcome in that in that sort
of you know the way that Kamani by Dell ran
how hard he ran that second touchdown where he carried
two defenders into the end zone trying to beat him
to the corner and couldn't quite get there. You saw

(10:53):
it with Naheim Hint and Nahem Miller Hines. He it's look,
Nahem's got a legit him at shot to make this team.
I think you saw that old name Hins. Oh, no
question out there in that game.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
Yeah, you know, especially with with Naji's situation up in
the air too. You know, we still don't really have
a timeline for when we're going to see him on
the field. A guy like Kimani his second training camp,
ni carries thirty seven yards, there's two touchdowns. Miller Hines
eight for thirty four along of nine, Haskins six for
thirty four along of eleven. Uh So, yeah, that that

(11:29):
running games, Chris. Yeah, And you know, and you've you've
preached this all the time with Haskins, I mean, a
special teams guy, a guy who can block. I mean
a Michigan guy, somebody Jim Harpall is very familiar with.
So you know, you would think that he's he's safe.
But man, I'll tell you what to see this kind
of revamped running game and not even talking about, you know,

(11:50):
one of the big free agent signings this offseason, Najie Harris. Uh,
it's definitely a positive thing for the Chargers up front.
Really the only projected starters Ion at center. I know
there was a bad snap on that first series. Is
there anything else you can really take from from Zion's performance?

Speaker 3 (12:06):
Man, you saw a couple of those.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
You had a box botched exchange, you know, and then
you also had to snap those a little bit high
and then look, he's just got to work on that.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
I think the big question is, you know, how how
much time are they willing to put into it? You know,
is it's going to be a full training camp thing,
or do they want to get this thing settled and
get those five to to gel and to coalesce. So
that's that's going to be the interesting thing is if
they feel like the fundamentals are at a point where

(12:37):
he still needs a lot of work on that front.
Is he that much better than Bradley with that athleticism,
with the way he can pull, with the way he can.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
Get to the next level? Like is?

Speaker 1 (12:47):
I think that's the conversation that the front office and
that you know, coach dev and Coach Roman and coach
Harbor are going to have to have, like what, you know,
what what level of commitment do we want to make
to this because we know how important practice reps are
and training camp reps are if we need to get
you know, bows can wake up and roll out of

(13:08):
bed and do it. So it's not that, but it's like,
do we want to have a legitimate competition at center
or do we need to start talking about having a
competition at left guard? And now it's Zion versus Solar
and that's something that we need to start working through reps.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
So that's that's what I think is going to.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Be sort of the more interesting thing, just because you know,
I was talking to somebody about the snaps and they,
you know, and they were saying that it's it's not
that big of a deal, that it's just mechanics and
muscle memory, and everybody does it different. I think we
talked about it here before, Chris and so, but I
do think when you see it go live, and you know,
and and bodies are flying and guys are hitting, and

(13:52):
we're doing it for real, like that's those are drive
killers and you have to be careful. And so I
think that's something that I'm anxious to see in New
Orleans game, you know, if they want to do that,
or if they want to throw Andre James out there
and and and give him because he played quite a
few snaps out there as well.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, that's what I was gonna mention is just you know,
we've talked so much, and I know the coaching staff
has talked so much about the competition squarely between Bows
and Zion, but we've also heard how much Sawyer has
improved and and gotten better from last year. And we
know Andre James is another guy who who's a veteran
who's played a lot of football, a lot of starts

(14:29):
with the Raiders. So is that competition suddenly becoming kind
of a four man competition instead of a two man competition?
And I feel like coach even said, if if Zion
doesn't start at center, he's going to cross train at center.
And and they're they're going to make him a potential
backup center or somebody who can can kind of fill
that position, uh in a moment's notice if need be.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
So, Yeah, Chris, real quick, Sorry ahead, go ahead.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
No, I was just going to say, I think that
that's something to look for, especially for fans this week.
Is just kind of how the line looks and the
expectation for the New Orleans game across the line, both first,
first and second stringers.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
And I was just gonna say on the snaps, like,
I just I think he'll get it figured out. That
more important than the snaps is the blocking, you know, danies.
And it's not like the defensive coordinators are running stunts
and running exotic blitzes or anything like that. But in
that portion of it, he played fine. He blocked well,
pocket held up, no pressures up the middle, you know,

(15:29):
and and so I think on that front he was fine,
you know. And so that's that's kind of where you're like, Okay,
let's keep this going, and let's just make sure he's
working with with coach Hardwick and we can get that
snap thing going, you know, and we'll get that thing fixed.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
Yeh. A good time to work out the Kinks is
the first preseason game of this season, right, he got
an extra one? Had that extra one is key. Before
we get to the defense, let's just home in on
the on the pass catchers. You know, Trey Harris just
one target in this game, so he didn't a cruise
stat line. Roddy Gatson one catch, seven yards. The guy

(16:05):
that everybody's talking about for the last two weeks for really,
and it seems to be maybe the number one kind
of fun storyline among the fans, is just the emergence
of KeAndre Lambert Smith. We've seen it, We've talked about
him every single week on this podcast. He makes a
play in every single practice and you wanted to see
can he transfer that to a football game? And you know,

(16:27):
two catches on two targets, a beautiful ball down the
sideline from Trey Lance for twenty eight yards, and then
that third and six the slant money the move that
he made there for the fifteen yard touchdown. Every bit
is advertised. You know that eighty four reminds me of
Antonio Brown. Now forget Brandon Lloyd, right.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
It was impressive, it was and look it's Ennis Rakestraw
that he's doing it. Against I think he was a one.
I don't remember if he was their first or their
second round pick, but you know he's doing it against
a corner that's expected to be a stop top starting
outside corner in not a depth piece in this league,
and that that second, that second catch is all you

(17:08):
need to look at. It showed you everything. It's it's
it's putting your foot in the ground, it's dusting your
guy on the cut. And then the explosion after the
catch where nobody was catching him, it was. It was impressive, man,
just crushing press coverage. If I remember right, I'm pretty
sure Rakestraw was right up there on the line of

(17:29):
scrimmage with him, dusts them, gets the quick slant, a
beautiful throw from Tray so he doesn't have to break
stride and then there's four to three seven into the
end zone and it was impressive. And there's another PI
in there by the way as well. That was a
big gainer. The PI that came against him on the
opposite side when he was trying to run that slant.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
It was illegal.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
It wasn't p I was illegal, hands in the face
as he was breaking in on the other side. So yes,
it's there's there's something there. There's definitely something there, and
talking to some people and how does this guy slide
to the fifth when you're coming out of Auburn in
the SEC with nearly a thousand yards just about twenty
yards per reception? Like, what's what? What happened there? And

(18:12):
I think I think there were some concerns from from
people based on conversations they had with coaches and man,
you're not seeing that now. It's he's he was something
and it's and it's one thing to do in a
preseason game against backups. But we've seen it all training camp.
It's just like, yeah, we've seen it in camp and
it's like, oh, well, let's see it in a game. Okay,

(18:33):
well now we've seen it in a game, and now
let's just stack keep stacking it because that's like, to me,
that's you know, when when Coach Roman was talking about
Trey at the Z, it's like, that's that's the Z.

Speaker 3 (18:48):
That's the guy you.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
Want, you know, off the line of scrimmage a little
bit and using that that quickness, that shiftiness and then
that breakaway speed if he gets the ball in his hands. Man,
it was h it was a lot of fun to watch,
and again somebody that I'm happy for that seemed like
he had a chip on his shoulder because he slid
to the fifth round and thought he was a lot
better than that. You talked about the Rose Bowl reception

(19:10):
eighty eight yards to Peydr, longest reception in Rose Bowl history,
and the stuff he had at Penn State, and maybe
there were some feelings about him coming out there, coming
out of there when he decided to go to Auburn,
and maybe those planeted, you know, some nefarious seeds with
some teams, and that's why I ended up sliding to
the fifth. But good on Joe Hortiz and his his
alma mater, you know, ignoring those and going out and plucking.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Them, you know from if you go to training camp.
You mentioned it just kind of the building blocks and say, okay, well, hey,
can you do it a couple of times in training camp?
Can you do it in a game? Now? How about
doing it with Justin Herbert? Right, It's one thing to
do it with Trey Lance in the Hall of Fame game,
But you know, we talked so much about Justin's rookie

(19:55):
year and how he elevated t Billy and Jalen Geiiton,
some of the guys on the back end to the roster.
I think that this this Lambert Smith Herbert connection with
his speed and Justin's arm and his ability to find
guys like that. I don't want to get ahead of
ahead of myself, but like that's something, and we said

(20:16):
it last week. This offense sorely lacked last year. They
did not have a downfield threat four to three seven speed.
And having Justin Herbert week one against the Chiefs and
having KeAndre Lambert Smith out there to stretch the field, man,
it just brings another dimension. And you know it's hard

(20:36):
to it's hard to really assess Trey Harris in the
limited time that he played. He only had one target.
But that's another guy too who has shown out in camp.
And the Chargers are I don't say the roll in
the dice, but there's a bit of an unknown with
some of the guys around Ladd and Quintin because their rookies,
but at every checkpoint they've raised their hand and they've

(20:56):
shown out.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
You know, with Trey, I think we've seen it in practice,
like we've seen it, you know. When I had the
chance to talk with him, for in front of the
season ticket holders on Tuesday, sat with him for ten minutes.
He's exceptional, exceptional young man. Like just you see it
on the field, and then when you talk to him,
you're like, oh, okay, now he's really got it up there.

Speaker 3 (21:16):
I mean he is a sharp dude.

Speaker 1 (21:18):
So he's got the size, he's got the route running ability,
he's got the athleticism, he's got the hands to win
the fifty to fifty balls.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
He's got it up here.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
And then you start thinking about how expensive that position
is and you have got Quintin year three, Lad year two,
Lambert Smith, Trey Harris both year one. Like that's that's exciting.
That's what you're talking about surrounding your quarterback and that's Look,
I'm not doing this to pat ourselves on the back.

(21:48):
But when Mike Williams retired and everyone's like trade for
Terry McLaurin, sign a Marii Cooper, It's like, no, they're
going to take inventory on what they have first. That's
just the way this you know, this regime operates. We've
seen it enough that they're going to take their inventory
and then figure it out and if they need it,
then they'll go get it, and so I think what
they're seeing now is, you know, we don't need to

(22:11):
be dropping twenty thirty million bucks on a guy because
we feel pretty good about lad being the one. You know,
Q had eight touchdowns in eight hundred yards last year.
I for good there, if you want to call that
a two or a three or or whatever. And now
we've got all of this excitement surrounding, you know, these
two players and Lambert Smith and Trey Harris, and like

(22:32):
you said, Trey just didn't get the opportunities. But I've
seen enough that what I was getting at, sorry, when
I talked to him in practice after training camp that
day on Tuesday, I was talking about that pass from
Justin in the back of the end zone where he
threaded it through two players, two tray and just kind
of how that whole thing came about, and he sounded
like a ten year vet. He's like, yeah, you know, Justin,

(22:53):
you kind of know generally where he's going to want you,
and then you just need to make that effort to
get there. And then you also have to because you know,
he seems a bang bang man, and you got bodies
flying everywhere, and you've got two guys in front of you,
and he's thrown up between the two with laser like speed,
and Trey just sounded like Mike Williams would have said,

(23:13):
you know, in the Raider game, you put the fourth
down catch, Yeah, you know, just kind of know where
Justin wants me to be, got to make sure I'm
kind of right there, And that's kind of what it was,
you know. And he's just got that maturity to him
and so very excited about both of those those players.
And that's not to say anything take anything away from
you went through it, Chris. It's nobody had more than

(23:34):
two catches. How about Tucker fist Man snatching that thing
out of the air that lasers in the air. That
was pretty awesome.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
We got the two guys in the tight ends room
who are considered past catch first making big plays in
the in the Hall of Fame game with Conklin out
and you know, Gats and getting that one catch. But Butdy,
I go back to the conversation that you and I
had during free agency when we were going through the
DK metcalt T Higgins of the world and try to

(24:02):
figure out if they're going to get Justin this big
weapon and there's there's I think, for good reason, some
hesitancy around the league to give a wide receiver thirty
million plus because it takes up so much a coupt
unless you're the Cincinnati Bengals right where you're paying Higgins
and Jamar Chase. But you know you're seeing it in
Washington right now, where you know Terry McLaurin is the

(24:24):
ultimate team guy. He's an awesome, awesome player. But even that,
they don't want to pay him thirty three million dollars
a year. That's a lot of money to invest in
a wide receiver. Excuse me. So to see how Joe
has kind of approached this. You know, Mike Wayams was
supposed to be kind of the stop gap veteran for

(24:44):
a year, but to get Trey Harris and I don't
think anybody really expected KeAndre Lambertsmith to look like this
this early, right, So I think that you're kind of
playing with house money with that. But to surround Justin,
who's making a lot of money with lad like you said,
his second year, Quinn in his third year. These two rookies, Gadston,

(25:06):
you know, a short term deal with Conklin. You know
Disley's in tow you have to pay guys like for
Shaun Slater and dayone Henley and Derwin James probably down
the road. So not having to invest all that money
in the wide receiver position, maybe it's a it's a gamble,
if you even want to call it that, that that's
going to pay off for the charges this year if

(25:26):
these guys continue to perform like.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
This, I think you you know you put it prop
you put it perfectly in context. Right If I'm Washington,
just pay Terry McLaurin. You've got a guy in his
second year that's coming off one of the greatest rookie
seasons in the history of quarterbacking, and you look at
the rest of that room and you don't want to
send him out there in year two with that, not
not with the one score games you had, not with

(25:49):
the wild finishes you had in all those games. Making
a run to the NFC Championship where you absolutely got
your doors blown off.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
You like, it's a game of chicken, now money between
between Terry's that's the guy you pay, because look, it
works both ways.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
You know the Titans did it with Aj Brown. They're like, no,
we don't want to pay you we think there's a
million receivers coming out and we can find the next
AJ and Treilon Burks. He's already gone's draft picks. You know,
AJ's in the conversation, is the best receiver in football.
You know he's he's top five guy. So it works
both ways. But in the case of Justin, here's a

(26:28):
guy in. You're five, or you're six, whatever it is.
You're twenty one, two, three, four, Yeah, you're six, Now
we can do that's Justin Herbert's he's gonna he's gonna
make KeAndre, Lambert Smith and Trey Harris as long as
they're capable of getting where they need to be, He's
gonna deliver the ball accurately, on time and put them
in a position to win. Like you can get away

(26:50):
with it there, especially when you already have a Lad McConkey,
who we saw last year. Like that's the difference, Justin
Herbert with a rookie, is what it looks like when
that rookie's good, Lad mccacky, that's what it looks like
when that's your quarterback. So I think when you have
a young quarterback, that's where maybe it makes more sense.
Jalen Hurts let's get a AJ Brown, Let's let's let's

(27:12):
get him some of these veterans to surround him with.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
And Justin Herbert. He's got Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
Here we go.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
We got some vets for him to kind of get
things rolling. And so I think that's the difference where
you can you don't need a Namari Cooper. You don't
need necessarily that that sort of player in order to
enhance the offense because you got a quarterback that as
DJ and Bucky always talk about on move the sticks.
Are you a truck or are you a trailer? Are

(27:40):
you pulling it trailers or is it pulling you? Justin's
a truck. You know, he's got to pull everybody else.
And so that's where you can save all this money
and and you know, get yourself a Rashawn Slater extension.
Is the highest paid lineman in the league. Maybe you
think about redoing the Drwin deal and get ahead of
that and just give him a little bit more. You know,

(28:01):
then I don't know who just got the biggest deal.
I can't remember who just got it, but whatever, you know,
you get him ahead of I think Jesse Bates did
he just get like ninety something million bucks. So let's
just do that now, and let's let's keep this financial
puzzle as settled as possible so we can. You know,
that's so this, that's what this, that's what roster construction
is all about. You're gonna have if you're gonna be

(28:23):
a Super Bowl contending team, you're gonna have to pay guys.
Guys are gonna get paid, and then you got to
figure out how you're gonna supplement with guys that aren't
getting paid. So that's that's what a guy like Heandre
Lambert Smith and someone like Trey Harris can do for you.
And and that's a high a premium position that demands
a high wage that you can maybe get away with something.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
Good conversation on the offense money. Let's switch into defense,
and we mentioned that the turnover differential five zero starting
with that that opening kickoff. But you know the DB's
you know, Nico Reid is another guy who again we've
been so similar to kle He pops, he pops in camp.
He anticipated that ball a sixty yard interception or turn

(29:06):
six yard shy of a pick six. And you just
talked about the competition in the running backs room. How
about that DB's room right now. You know, we know
about Cam and Tarheebe and how young those guys are,
and Dante Jackson and Ben Saint Jews, but some of
these udfas man, they have been popping all over the screen.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
Look, that's is Kyle Allen, an e lad quarterback. No,
but he's been in the league for seven years and
he started thirteen games in Carolina and Nico Reid played
him like a fiddle, baited him right into it, watched
his eyes the whole way. Thought he had a little
window on that out and it's what we've seen in camp. Look,
he had a pick six on Herbert. You know, he's

(29:46):
a guy that's just he sees it. He explodes to it.
And that's the only reason he was undrafted. Probably his size.
You know, he's not a big dude. He's listed at
five to ten, So what does that mean? You know,
maybe he's a little under five to ten. He's what
I think he's listed five to ten?

Speaker 3 (30:04):
Is that right? Is that?

Speaker 1 (30:05):
Where do we got Nico at here listed at five
ten one eight? So you know how those measurements go.
I don't believe he was at the combine, which is
wild to think of.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
Right now, right right, let's see twenty two years old.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
I want to see if he here he go, let
me see what his official measurements were, if they have them.
Uh no, see he did not get invited to the
to the combine. But if I'm to go to my
my notes here and see what do I got on?

Speaker 3 (30:36):
What did I write down about? Read? Here you go?

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Second most undrafted free agent guarantee behind Raheem. We talk
about roh, you know Rocket Sanders most guarantee of any
free agent.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
Well, guess who got the second most?

Speaker 1 (30:49):
Nico Reid got forty k Put that in perspective, Antonio
Gates got two thousand dollars. So talking about forty grand
in guarantees, that's the priority that he was. Let's see
that the mentor quote his consistency is the most impressive.
The old adage is make a play a day and
people will start to know who you are.

Speaker 3 (31:12):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
And then our friend Lance and his bio wrote punches
above his weight as a tackler and run support he's
and what did Jesse Minner tell us, Hey, man, I'm
playing zone because I got guys that play zone. I'd
love to play man. He's a better press man corner.
And I think if that's the case, people are like, Okay,
you're gonna play press man in the NFL at five ten,

(31:35):
that's a tall task. And so that's how that's how
someone that was as productive as he was at Oregon
forty nine games, one hundred and fifteen tackle, five interceptions,
twenty two passes defensed was his stat line in college.
And and so that's how you find these these gems,

(31:55):
you know, and you look, you ain't hiding him on
the practice squad. I can take that right now. That's
guy's making the team or he's going to be on
another team. That's the reality after a nationally televised game
like that, to put up that type of performance, those
pbu's and that pick, that dude's making the team.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
But dude, I get to good, Hey, listen, this is
a good problem to have. You know, we'll get a
miles Miles purchase and that pick that he had at
the end of the game. But you know, Jaseir Taylor
is having an awesome camp and he you know, Jesse
Mitzer referred to him as one of the most improved
players from last year to this year. That's another guy
in this quarterbacks room. So this is another position battle,

(32:33):
especially going into this New Orleans game over the next
three weeks. Like who's going to raise their hand in
the games? You know that we've seen the practices and
you know we've seen Nico read in the practice. We've
seen just her in the practices. Who's going to do
it when the lights are bright? And you know to
see guys like Miles Purchase and Nico Reid do it great.

(32:53):
How about Tony Jefferson the preseason? God's playing like a
rookie that that game against the Cowboys last year was
maybe one of the best preseason performances I've ever seen.
I just love that he's out there in a Hall
of Fame game making place.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah, I'm looking at the day. I was great to
watch man and we love Tony. We were chatting with it.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
When we walked through the Hall of Fame, DJ and
I were right in front of him, and it was
so great to listen to the guys give him the business.
They were like we were because him and DJ were
talking Padres baseball and I was.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Like, hey, of course, of course they were Hey.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
Guys, this is the Hall of Fame.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
Let's not talk about a team that hasn't won a
World Series and it's destined for the wild card round
every year. It's just not befitting of the venue. So
we were having some fun with that. And then and
then one of the guys from the back is like, yo,
d Jeff, come here, man, they got your uniform from
high school.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
Over here. It's like the nineteen twenties. Other helmet.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
There's a guy I suited up starting the Hall of
Fame game like a freaking missile blowing up a play
at the line of scrimmage. It's just it's awesome. It's
competitors welcome, right. But to go back to you, by
the way.

Speaker 2 (34:12):
Hey, by the way, fourth quarter, how much how much
padres trade deadline? Talk in just trade deadline?

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Nope, tells you how much fun we were having. Man,
how much fun we were having with that game.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
It was. It was a blast. I said it at
the end of the broadcast.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
I said, look, you know, I get to do this
these games with the guy I've known for fifteen years,
one of my best friends.

Speaker 3 (34:32):
It's such a great time. In the booth.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
Love Shannon, She's part of the family down on the field.
We have a great time together. It's a great crew.
And I think a lot of people would roll their
eyes and be like, god, we got a fourth preseason game.
What a nightmare. We had a fly to Canton. Man,
it was just good vibes all around. And I felt
like that was the case with the team. Competitors, welcome,
let's compete, man, let's go out there competing this game.

(34:55):
And I think you saw a difference between a team
that was probably like on it be here. You know,
we had best record in football last year. We could
routed in the freaking divisional round. Now we got to
go play the Hall of Fame game. How sloppy they were.
Just the mistakes, the you know, the penalties, the the interceptions,

(35:16):
the fumbles, the turn from the Lions. You could see
the difference in those two teams. I'm not saying it's
going to carry through the season, but I think just
for that game, you saw a mindset and you saw
a focus, and you saw a what's the task at hand,
let's go execute it to the best of our abilities.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
And I think for us.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
Look, not comparing myself to the football players out there,
but we took it on as the same. You know,
I put a ton of time into prepping for that
game and having as many stories as I could in
case it looked like a typical Hall of Fame game.
And it was zero to zero in the third quarter
with seven turnovers, and instead, man, we got we got
competitors welcome, and we got Nico Reid, and we got

(35:56):
Caleb Murphy playing with his hair on fire from that
edge position, and and we got so much out of
it that it was a reminder of competitors welcome.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
Ke Andre I I got to catch it with KeAndre
on the field after the game, and I asked him
about just I said, what did the coaches say to
you guys about this game that that had you like
so ready to play? And ke Andre said, he said,
just hey, let let your training do the talking. And
b coach said, like, this game is going to get
higher ratings than an NBA Finals game or a World

(36:29):
Series game. So no pressure, but a little pressure, right,
And they played like it, man, And you know, I
kind of went into this. You know, when you have
a fourth preseason game, it can get ugly in a hurry.
Oh but I think I think the last couple of weeks.
We've gotten in the weeds with so many fun things
with this team. There were storylines every quarter, you know,

(36:52):
there was you know it was it was the rookies,
it was Zion at center, it was Trey Lance. Uh
you know the third overtemption Tour. Yeah, yeah, a redemption tour.
You know, Gates is in the is going into the
Hall of Fame on Saturday. And I think that that
was another thing too, just even talking to some of
these young guys like just here, they know what Antonio
Gates means to this organization, and I think that there

(37:14):
was a sense of pride going out there to say, Hey,
this is Gates's weekend. This means a lot to the organization,
and they played like it.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Yeah, no doubt, And I just it's the mantra, it's
the mindset. It's exactly what this team is all about.
And there's one thing that you can count on, and
that is that Jim Harbaugh is he's not going to
mince words and he's going to tell you it, tell
you what it is. And when he says we're an

(37:43):
offensive line team, tip of the spear, what position group
has every other position group depend on them? But they
don't depend on anybody else offensive line, and they go
out and they draft Joe Walt and not Malik Neighbors
and not one of those exceptional wide receivers. They take
the tackle and then what does he say, competitors welcome.
And he's got a group of guys that are going

(38:05):
out there like it is the NBA Finals, like it
is the World Series on the opening kickoff, attacking and
you know, and creating a turnover. And you've got Will
Disley out there. You know, a guy who's a seven
eight year vet, that's that's you know, got to block
his tail off and catch passes and all the stuff
that's put on him. And he's out there to help

(38:27):
Trey Lance to make sure that you know, with those
with that opening series, that he can get this thing
to look as right as possible with Trey with the
you know, the second team offensive line and a first
team tight end.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
And look what it has.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
I didn't see Trey Lance feather a pass like that
all training camp long, like his those touch passes have
just not been there.

Speaker 3 (38:49):
So and what does he do.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
He starts, He sets the tone and Trey has himself
a day man. And so I think that's it's just
a reminder of how special this coaching staff is, you know,
to have Shane back. You know, Herbert absolutely loved him.
They sent him packing, you know at one point, and
now he's back and Herbert's happy, and you see Trey
Lance and you know, and look, I know it was

(39:12):
a very limited sample, but you know, we saw a
little miscommunication on that left sideline out. DJ thought it
was an out, but I don't remember who the receiver was.
It might have been Campbell that cut it as an inn.
But outside of that, man, DJ had two beautiful passes,
I mean, through a freaking laser on that second pass.
And there's a guy that's in the same BoatUS trade,

(39:33):
the number one recruit in the nation, you know, that
goes to Clemson, plays his tail off in his first
two games, you know, against Boston College eighteen point deficit,
comeback win, and then trades punches with Notre Dame at
Notre Dame for you know, four quarters in an overtime period,
and then it just kind of unravels on him a

(39:54):
little bit, and it's like, come on over here, DJ,
We're gonna build you back up. You're you were a
man amongst boys in high school and you got off
to that great start at Clemson and had a solid
year at Oregon State. We're gonna find it for you.
And I think that's what this Nim Heines, you've been
out of football for two years.

Speaker 3 (40:10):
Come on, man, you.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
Want Miller on the back because no one ever asked
you what you wanted the backyard jersey to say whatever, dude,
let's do it. Print it on the back, man, put
your mom's name on there, and let's go. And you saw,
you know, Naim Hines, who's in his sixth season, playing
like he's a rookie fighting for his job like Tony
Jefferson was last year. There is a culture to this
team that in the era of fantasy football, everybody's collecting

(40:35):
stats and draft status and that's how they're judging wins
and losses, and culture gets overlooked. And you've got to
have an identity and you have to have a culture,
and you have to have coaches you know. And I
think that's what you see. That's the difference in this
team is it starts at the top with the Spanos
family hiring Jim Harbaugh and then stepping back and saying, hey, man,

(40:58):
it's yours.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
What are you need?

Speaker 1 (41:00):
Oh, I need a big pot of cash, because I'm
gonna go sign some assistance that you're gonna pay and
you're gonna pay them a chunk of money.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
And Okay, how.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Much were we gonna pay your strengthen court, I mean your
head of strength and core the most in the NFL. Okay, here,
here it is. How much are we gonna pay your
defensive coordinator millions?

Speaker 3 (41:19):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (41:20):
Here it is? And so I give it's that's what's
been established. It's it's more than draft picks and free
agent signings. It's the fact that they've built this out
with coach Elston and coach Clink and coach dev and
coach Hardwick and coach Minter and coach Roman and coach
Ficken keeping him around when the vultures were circling to
pluck him out of this place as soon as Staley

(41:41):
was let go, and they're like, no, that guy's staying,
and so is coach Gold. You're you're not gonna let
him take a special team's coordinator job. You're gonna pay
him a prim that's what we're seeing.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
Chris, Yeah, you know, coach coach Herb what you're seeing
on on the field, especially from these guys in their
second year that work with coach Herb from their rookie
year to their second year, or you know, just her
Taylor told me last year when had those injuries, just
he had never gone through that before and a week
after the season got with Coach Herb and that's why

(42:13):
he feels the way he does and he's playing the
way he is. That guy means such a great deal
to this organization, into the players on this team. Maddy,
I want to shift to the to the Hall of
Fame before we get out of here, and I'm gonna
be here all week.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
I want to before Chris I do want to just
get in because we only really touched on the corners.
I'll just kind of run through it just sort of
my notes from Yeah, yeah, he's done it the first
two levels of the defense, which I mean, he's done
it again. You know, Mike Elston and Jesse Minter have
done it again the push and I know their backup
offensive line and stuff. But you know, the Lions are

(42:48):
an offensive line team just like the Chargers are. That's
the culture that they create. They are going to be
a physical beat you up offensive line centric team, and
man that defensive line, and they had them all out
there and Tito's out there, Jones is out there, hand
is out there, and Jamari Caldwell. Dude, they were pushing
those guys off the ball like they were freaking folding chairs.

(43:11):
And it was like it goes back to the coaching
and so I think of all the groups, I know,
the corners are going to get a lot of the
attention Myles Purchase with that incredible interception. You know the
secondary is going to get all that attention. Mickens had
a great form tackle. It was the most beautiful tackle
of the entire game. Late in that game, head up,
open space, going against an athlete wrapped up, drops them

(43:33):
for minimal gain. Like there's a lot to take away
from that defense that played their tails off them in
my god, four turnovers right, one of them.

Speaker 3 (43:39):
On special teams.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
But but you're seeing it, you know, I think if
there was one, if just to make sure we're being
fair and even I think if there was one concern,
I think you're seeing Junior still.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Trying to catch up.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
I think he's still, you know, kept kind of getting
sucked in and kept being a little bit late to things,
and so I think that's just continue to get him
the those reps so he can get up to speed.
But man, that defensive front was special. Now it was
it was special.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
And Mundy there's there's so much deeper this year. You know,
there was a lot of lot to be made about
Puna Ford going to the Rams, but they replaced him
with like two or three guys. Uh and and to
to draft Caldwell two that that late edition of Tier
Tart Layton training camp a year ago and what he
proved to be. You bring in hand, you bring in Jones.

(44:28):
I mean, it's a it's a group that it's again
it's another competition where I don't know how you're gonna
be able to keep all these guys, you know, And
and to your point about you know, a guy like
Nico Reid, like if you let one of those guys go,
he's not gonna be on the practice squad, He's gonna
be on a fifty three men roster. So the defense
and Jesse Mitch a lot of like tough decisions to

(44:50):
make over the next couple of weeks. And that's you know,
we always look for a silver lining in preseason because
sometimes these games get a little rough in the second half,
but because of the talent and what we've seen on
the back half of the roster, these second halves are
are interesting. I mean they're good because you know, if

(45:11):
you flash in the fourth quarter, chances are you know,
you could you could make the fifty three, or you
could be a practice squad candidate immediately. So I just
I applaud Joe Hortenz. I think that's where it starts too.
As you mentioned all the coaches, but you know, Joe's
going into his twenty eighth year in the NFL, has
worked with Ozzie Newsom, a Hall of Famer, comes from
the Baltimore Ravens. I don't think it could be understated

(45:34):
what what Joe has done, both from you know, a
free agent perspective and the draft finding these guys. I
said this on Monday, like you find two starting quarters
in the fifth round last year, if if Kls and
Gats and Pop I joke I said, Joe should be
in Canton. You bring in these impact players late late

(45:57):
in the draft money like the entire draft class last year.
You know you mentioned you mentioned Colson and you hope
that Colson can can kind of get it together throughout
the rest of the preseason. But you know him and
a boy beat. If those guys hit, I mean, it's
a it's a home run class from last year.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Yeah, I think and I will say, like the edges
I think needed some help to. You know, we've kind
of been looking at at Kyle Knnart and haven't seen
a whole lot.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
Left the game for a little bit and came back.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
Yeah, so you know, I don't know there's something going
on with him, But I think that's one Treman Morris brash,
some great some not great. Had you know, the hit
of the had probably the the hit of the game.
I want to say it was a tight end that
he must have thrown ten yards before making that tackle
for loss in the backfield. But I think the edges
is where you know, Cayleb Murphy played his tail off

(46:46):
led to that one sack from t Ry Edwards where
he came did a nice swim and swim and spin.
But yeah, the edges, I think you're you're still looking
at you know, but you're talking about two lee Bud
and Khalil that are good at the majority of that,
so you're really talking about the fourth edge. For me,
it was just the fact that all those interior linemen
played and you can just see it, and I think

(47:06):
for people that that, you know, cause those aren't things
that you're going to find in a in the box.
And if you go to pro football focus, like I
just I hate to me, that's just the great thing
is just what anyway. I love what they do, but
that whole part of it, it's like you don't know
what the assignments are, you don't know what they're supposed
to be doing on that play. And if you just
watch the game, you could see that push and you

(47:27):
could see just how much they the bullies and by
the way, just look at him, just look at that
group of guys and you're got. We kept making the joke.
I was like, yeah, you know, you got, Uh, where's het?
Let me see Nakwon Jones out there six three, three
thirteen and three thirteen. That dude's three thirty three if

(47:50):
he's five pounds, you know, and just to shawan hand,
his giant Caldwell's three hundred.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
And forty pounds giant massive.

Speaker 1 (47:59):
They are massive and they are people movers man, and
they were moving people in that game. So yeah, defense
tip of the cat Mike Elston, the job that he
does to clink in those corners. What an interception by
Miles Purchase. It gave me an opportunity to put in
my purchase more ham and bacon. You know, a little
note that I had in there that everybody got a

(48:20):
kick out of from Iowa State when those four guys
were together, and and yeah it was it was a
great night. So just wanted to get all that in there,
make sure we we tend the safeties. You know, you
saw some of those plays from from Bridges and from
Mickens and those guys you know up top as well,
just all levels of the defense playing some some really
good ball.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
Yeah, I think if I had to distill down to
kind of one overarching takeaway, it's a very very deep roster.
It is a deep, deep roster. And it's evident from
the first Hall of Fame game. I mean, when you
when you have that much talent kind of popping in
all four co orders, you know you have a deep team.

(49:01):
You know, you have a competition at a lot of
position groups. And we had to see that play out
starting next Sunday against the Saints. But yeah, before we
got out of your money. The reason why I'm still here.
Antonio Gates getting inducted until the Hall of Fame tomorrow,
and I got a chance to sit down with Antonio yesterday,
and you know, it really is maybe one of the

(49:22):
more improbable roads to Canton ever. I mean, it's like,
this guy played college basketball thirty miles up the road
from Canton at Kent State, went to the Elite eight
his junior year, averaged like twenty points his senior year.
He thought he was going to the NBA. He had

(49:43):
no interest in playing football. So I think it was
like two hundred and thirty five days between his last
points in college basketball to his first career NFL touchdown.
I think he was wearing the number forty three in camp.
I think Sam Farmer said it was a seven thousand
dollars contract said it was two thousand and so whatever
it is, it's not.

Speaker 1 (50:02):
It wasn't a lot. It was with less than than
ever it was. I may have that rot. I thought
the notes they gave me was too, but I could
be wrong.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
No, it's it's it was. It was hardly anything. And
to see this guy go to Canton one hundred and
sixteen touchdowns all of them from Rivers and Breeze, with
the exception of two from Fluti and two from LT.
You got to call his record breaker against Miami Dolphins
in twenty seventeen Week two, and that that home opener,
and you know you have to call his last touchdown

(50:32):
against the New England Patriots and the Divisional round Man.
Just just an unbelievable career and I don't think it's
one that will ever be duplicated. A guy who'd never
played college football with a gold jacket.

Speaker 3 (50:43):
Yeah, not a single snap.

Speaker 1 (50:44):
And look, you know it's that the paths are the paths,
and you can call it whatever you want, fate, destiny,
you know, we make our own fate, We make our
own however you want to describe it.

Speaker 3 (50:56):
But remember that's not how it started. It started with.

Speaker 1 (50:58):
The guy that was an exceptional high school football player,
an exceptional high school basketball player, and two of arguably
the greatest coaches in the history of college football and
basketball recognized it, and he was going and he was
at Michigan State to play for Tom Izzo and to
play for Nick Saban. Then the two of them had

(51:19):
an agreement that he could play both until he gets
nicked up, and Saban's like, you're not playing football anymore
or you're not playing basketball anymore, and Gates was like,
that's not the deal. I am playing basketball. And if
you don't want me to be on the football team
unless I quit basketball, ain't happening. And then he's got
to go to a community college, and then he goes
to Kent State, and at Kent State, you know what's

(51:41):
his dream is to play NBA basketball. He does it
on the biggest stage. Is the best player on a
team that makes a Cinderella run and knocks off Okie
State as a ten seed and then proceeds to knock
off Alabama as a two seed, knocks off pitt Is
a three seed to get to the Elite eight, and
he's their best player. And yet no nobody comes knocking
on the door, not even with a second round pick

(52:04):
or an offer. And he's got to be like, all right, well,
I guess I'll try the football thing. And it's it's
the it is not you said it, Chris, it's not.
Probably it's the most unlikely road to Canton ever and
a guy that changed the position forever that you know,

(52:26):
solidified the idea. Look Tony Gonzalez was playing basketball at
Cal Julius. Peppers was playing basketball at North Carolina. There's
guys that have done it, but not just basketball. You know,
there's a guy I think I told the story. There's
a guy at Alabama I called a bunch of Alabama
games this year is the number one team in the
nation with Robert or and he was telling me that

(52:47):
there were football scouts there to watch him. I wish
I could remember his name. But that's another guy that
has not played. And that's the Antonio Gates factor. As
you look out there and you're like, man, look at
that body, look at that wiggle.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
And you know.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
When we talked to Nick Hardwick, who obviously was his teammate,
and he told a great story. He goes, and this
is going to push forward to Philip in his Hall
of Fame path. He's like, I don't know. We used
to joke about it. We're like, somehow Philip has made
a deal with someone to get more hours in the day.
He's like, because I would wake up for coffee every

(53:20):
single day, and Philip and I would get together every
day and go through film and go through calls and
go through looks that we were going to see for hours,
and then I would see him go into the wide
receiver room for hours, and then he would sit with
gatesy and he and Gates would talk for hours, he said.
And that's what this was. It was just time on

(53:40):
task where you have this this ability, this muscle memory,
this conditioning to just do it, and you just do it.
And that's and it happens because you don't have to
think about it once you're out there and he and
Rivers and man, when you start going through it, and
I don't need to get too deep into it because
people just it up.

Speaker 3 (54:00):
It's just numbers.

Speaker 1 (54:01):
But when you go through red zone touchdowns, third down touchdowns,
fourth down touchdowns, third down conversions for first downs, like
there's no one even close to him, nobody even close,
single season or career. And he was a special, special player.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
He said that, you know, because he never really had
this dream. When he kept racking up the stats and
they're like, hey, Gates, you're about to pass Lance Alworth
or you're about to pass this person. You're about to
pass this person, it didn't really register it to him,
the magnitude of what he was actually doing. He said,
like even in his seventh year. He said, I approached

(54:41):
it like with the fear of being cut, even though
I was an All pro, just just like having to
prove it over and over again. And to your point
about Rivers, he said, the IQ of Rivers kind of
married with his raw ability was just magical. It was
just magical. And to have a sixteen year career with
Breeze and Rivers as your primary quarterbacks, man, like, what

(55:04):
a benefit because those guys could be wearing gold jackets
as early as his next year. So I just you know,
it was fun listening because you know, Sam is it
has so many nuggets. He said that Gates had a
he ran a four eight forty, and so there were
there were scouts in the building like what are we
doing with this guy? Like is he a defensive tackle?
Is he a tight end?

Speaker 3 (55:24):
Like?

Speaker 2 (55:25):
And Jared Allen kind of poked fun of him at
the at the press conference because you know, I think
he said, hey, Nick nick Saban said I could have
been at defensive end of defensive tackle, because well that's
why Nick Saban got fired, because could you imagine if
you're a defensive defensive tackle, you wouldn't be a canton
man that's so great. So, you know what, I'm looking

(55:46):
forward to this this weekend because it's going to bring
back so many old Chargers and there's gonna be so
many memories and it's one of my favorite. It's like
the one of the favorite ten pole events for me
because the speech is, you know, you're always going to
glean something from him, and uh, like I said, we're
gonna be if you guys want to follow along our
our Sports Central LA account, We're gonna be at the
Gold Jacket dinner today and then the enshrinement tomorrow, and

(56:08):
our hope is to talk to as many former Chargers
as possible, not only about Gates and and uh, you know,
the speech and everything, but also kind of their thoughts
on this this version of the Chargers too. I always
love kind of hearing the perspective of of older players
about about the new team. So hope to see Rivers
and Breeze out here. Should be a fun weekend.

Speaker 3 (56:29):
Yeah, I'll tell you it was fun for us.

Speaker 1 (56:30):
And just you know, I think as I kind of
went through, I know it's gonna be kind.

Speaker 3 (56:34):
Of weird, but it's it's just it was. It's it
was so much.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
Fun to go to the uh to the Hall of Fame,
and like, I just you know, there's Lance and you know,
just all of them and I will say this, you know,
like they like look at Ron Mix, look at his
look at that hair, like it's if you have hair,
it's you know, here's sid Gilman, like the bus are just.

Speaker 2 (56:58):
Do you have do you have fouts? I think Faults
has the best the best bus. It looks exactly like him.

Speaker 1 (57:03):
Yeah, I mean, here's Kellen. I just kind of was
snapping photos of all the guys. This Charlie Joyner right there,
like it's just the busts are awesome. Look at Juniors Man,
Juniors is one of the best. Yeah, that is one
of the absolute best. There's Ladanians, but like the best one.
I thought, like, Walter Jones is the head of Walter

(57:25):
Jones is like the head of the freaking Earth. It's
the most massive head. And then I was like, god,
look at the size of his head. And then you
turn around and there's Jonathan Ogden and you're like, oh
my god, that's Jupiter. It's just like this massive head.
It's just it's it's a really cool experience that if
you're a.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
Fuddy what what was it like? What was it like
being there and seeing the current Chargers players take it
at all?

Speaker 1 (57:47):
Yeah, it was the best. Like Derwin was yelling screaming
for Brennan Rice, like where Brennan, come on, man, get
a look at your old man's helmet, like it's just
like cool moments like that, or given Tony Jefferson the
business about it being his form from nineteen twenty six and.

Speaker 3 (58:02):
Just seeing them all.

Speaker 1 (58:04):
And then I'll tell you the one place that I
did see the most Chargers was the display of Super
Bowl rings. They were all kind of looking at those
Super Bowl rings and thinking about, you know, what theirs
would look like. So they made this stop in the
most important spot for sure, as far as current fans
are are considered. But yeah, they all it was not hey,

(58:24):
just kick me through this and get me out of here.
They were all taking their time and paying attention to
stuff and finding their favorite players and their busts.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
You know.

Speaker 1 (58:33):
I think I saw Derwin stop at Polamalu and was
talking about how that might be the best bust and
the hair and all that. So it was a special experience.
And I'll tell you, man, based on the way they
played the Chiefs said they want to play on Christmas
Day every year. The league may be like, hey, Jim,
you guys are playing in the Hall of Fame game
every year. You're are guys. You certainly took the a

(58:57):
approach that is unlike the approach of just about any
other team we've ever invited here. And how much you
embraced it. And oh and I would recommend I don't
know if it's available. I don't know how you would
find it. But Man Harbaugh told the best story when
we interviewed him, and I know he knew it was
a good one because it carried over to the NBC
interview because Mike Tarica was like, oh, he told us

(59:17):
that story today. I was like, yeah, we got that
out of him last night.

Speaker 3 (59:21):
You know.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
We asked him what his favorite Hall of Fame memory was,
and he talked about being five or six and going
with John and Joni with his parents, and he said,
the thing I remember most about it was my dad
bought this this little facade, this replica of the Hall
of Fame, of the facade of the Hall of Fame.
And He's like, it wasn't our mantle forever, Like it

(59:44):
was like a family sort of like, you know, an
heirloom or something that you would put on the mantle,
he said. And then come to find out that when
Grandma Harbaugh would watch us and we'd get a little
too you know, a little too rambunctious, little too rowdy.
At the top, the fire came off and it was
full of booze, and Grandma was.

Speaker 3 (01:00:03):
Sucking down the booze in there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
He goes, I don't know what it was filled with,
but yeah, I come to find out that thing was
full of liquor. And Grandma used to hit it and
and got he got so excited. He then Joshed the
veep of pr was there, and he's like, Josh, can
you find me one of those? And Josh goes to
work and he's like, got it. Found it on Etsy

(01:00:28):
and he's like how much. He's like seventy bucks. He goes,
buy it, I'll give you, and he goes, I find
a second one on e Bay. It's only twenty five bucks.
He's like, buy them both. Here's one hundred dollars. So
Harbaugh was gonna get his his Hall of Fame, you know,
the entrance to the Hall of Fame replica that was
at one point, and then we came to find out
it was full of jim Bean whiskey is what Grandma

(01:00:50):
Harball was sucking on.

Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
And that's the thing about Harbor. Yeah, he's got a
million of those.

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
Stories and it was so great and he just had
the biggest smile on his face.

Speaker 3 (01:01:00):
I remember that, man.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
I wonder if they still sell it, and oh, he's
just he's such a fun guy to be around, especially
when you're putting football into a historical perspective.

Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
All Right, the Griball Hardball. Sorry, a good way to
end this podcast, I think, guys, thank you for listening along.
We went over an hour on this. So the Hall
of Fame game wasn't that boring.

Speaker 3 (01:01:20):
Was it? No?

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
We made it work. We made it work, Chris. We've
had every time out there this weekend. Man, enjoy it.
I'm looking forward to all the coverage you guys are
going to be doing over there on CBS.

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
I appreciate it, brother, and I'll see you next week.
We'll get you guys ready for I guess Week two
or I don't know Week zero was was this week?
I guess so Week one of the official NFL preseason
next week against the Saints on Sunday. We'll get you
ready for that next week for money, I'm Chris. This
has been charges week.