July 3, 2025 • 48 mins
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. With Training Camp right around the corner, the hosts answer fan questions in a wide-ranging Q&A including expectations for the Chargers offense & defense, the importance of challenging the Kansas City Chiefs for the 2025 AFC West crown, and much more. They also discuss the big news in the NFL this week with the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers swapping Jalen Ramsey and Minkah Fitzpatrick in a blockbuster trade.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Late fifteen ten touchdown.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What's up, guys, Welcome into a fourth of July edition
of Chargers Weekly, as always, joined by the Voice of
the Chargers, Matt Muddy Smith. And what to think about
Charges Weekly is it's all year round. This is probably
the dead week of the year when it comes to
the football season, but not here on Charges Weekly.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
We got a bunch of questions.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah, we did it last week and it went a
lot better than we thought it was gonna right, you know,
we asked for questions and we're like, it's July in
June and all the players are on vacation, and the
coaches are on vacation, the front office is on It's
truly their last window before they get back to business
on the seventeenth of July. And by the way, hit
up Chargers dot com slash Camp. July seventh is the
(00:51):
day to begin making your reservations for that week for
seventeen eighteen nineteen, So if you want to get out
to training camp, you know, they capped the number of
folks who can come in here on Chargers Weekly. If
you're listening, give you a little heads up that it's
July seventh that they'll open that thing up and you
can reserve your.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Spot that's less than a week away. And you know,
you know, I got to tell you this.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I was.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I'm in Charleston, South Carolina right now and I'm waiting
for my flight and there's somebody at my terminal that says,
what's up. He's a big Charges Weekly fan. He listens
to your Instagram postgame live. His name is I had
to get his name, Paul Menace. He lives in Charleston,
South Carolina. He was a Navy nuke via Temecula and
(01:37):
big Charges Weekly fan. So I told Paul we would
shout him out at the beginning of the show today.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Awesome. Appreciate you, Paul, appreciate your service, especially on this
our nation's two hundred and forty ninth birthday. And certainly
I appreciate you listening to the show. That means a lot.
We love doing it. We love interacting with all of yous,
and that goes for if you ever see us walking
around when we're at the games, not that I expect
to anybody into anybody that knows who I am around
(02:02):
town or Charleston for that matter, but at the games,
especially Chris, we love chatting with the folks. And I
have a special place in my heart for Charleston, South
Carolina because it was my salvation. When we were in
Charlotte for the week, I very quietly rented a car
and snuck out after the Panther game on Sunday night
and spent three days down there at Folly Beach in Charleston,
(02:26):
and was just texting with the bosses over there.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Like, Hey, what are you doing tonight.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I was like, probably just gonna stay in, you know,
just kind of just mellowed out. I got the radio
show and you know, the busy work work, you know,
just work calls as it was, to get some waves
in with my friend Kyle from down there, who's sponsored
by free Fly, and we certainly I certainly appreciate that.
So Paul, thank you for mentioning that, and Chris for
going to Charleston to conjure up those great memories I
(02:50):
had of our trip last year.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Dude, I love Charleston so much.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
My parents have been down here since I think eight
so my brothers were down here, so I figured I'd
spent a few days do some grilling, chilling out with
the fan before we get rolling. But we still have
a ton of questions that we wanted to get answered.
So if you're grilling, if you're at the beach this weekend,
pop on charges Weekly and we'll answer some of these
questions before we do so. Though a couple of things
(03:16):
I guess relevant to last week's mail bag.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Jalen Ramsey's not coming to the Chargers. He's not going
to the Rams either.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
He's a Pittsburgh Steeler traded for Mika Fitzpatrick. The Steelers
also get John Smith in the deal. Kind a kind
of a surprising almost one for one. Yet you add
Smith to the mix. But I didn't think that Mega
Fitzpatrick was on the trade block at all.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
So how about that. That's a big move.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, I wish an interesting I'm going to the depth
chart because I just want to make sure I get
the name's right. It kind of goes to what we
were talking about right when it comes to the because
they just signed Darius Slay. They also have Joey Porter Junior.
You know, it was essentially a first round pick, very
top of the second round. So those are their outside corners.
So where are they gonna play Jalen. He's gonna be
(04:03):
the big nickel he's gonna be Durwin. So that's why
for all the Charger fans that were like, Hey, you
got all this money in this cap space is still there,
go get Jalen Ramsey and it's I think what the
Steelers are doing is kind of what's going to benefit him.
And they just signed one Thornhill as a free agent,
so now he'll be your high safety, which is where
(04:24):
Minca was playing, and Deshaun Elliott's your box safety. So
they just kind of were like, Okay, if instead of
playing Minca at free can we put Thornhill there? Feel
good about it? And now we get that big nickel
in Jalen, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're looking
at it as we want this guy to be Derwin.
We want him to do. You know, they're built very similarly,
(04:44):
they're super athletic, and I think that was kind of
the idea. Now, look, Minca is a hell of a safety.
I mean, he is an incredible safety. So is it
a net neutral, is it a net positive? Is it
a net negative? I don't know, but it's probably pretty
close because of how good Minca is. It's wild to
me that they gave and I assume that's money, you know,
(05:06):
because Mink is making sixteen seventeen mil. Jalen's making twenty
six mil. I think they gave him an extra one
point five on top of what he was already making.
So I think they had to make the money work
and that's probably why they did it. But two teams
were gonna face. So you're gonna see the Dolphins with Minka,
who's a heck of a player, and you're gonna see
the Steelers now with that back end of Slagh Porter,
(05:28):
Deshaun Elliott Thornhill and now Jalen Ramsey not to mention
what they have up front, and Keanu Benton who never
gets mentioned enough. TJ. Watt Patrick queen like oh Hi Smith.
That is a hell of a defense they have over there.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
It is. And the TJ.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Watt thing is something to monitor at this point because
he does.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Not have a new deal yet.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I would assume that the Pittsburgh Steelers do not want TJ.
Watt to leave the city of Pittsburgh, so you would
you would think that would get done. But the Mega
Fitzpatrick thing is interesting. Remember he was he was drafted
before Derwin in twenty eighteen and then when you had
John news Smith. We've heard for the last couple of
weeks how much Arthur Smith wants John new Smith back
(06:06):
in his offense. He was I think he was with
m in Tennessee in Atlanta, if I'm not mistaken. So
then you get Aaron Rodgers another weapon, I guess in
the passing game.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
So fast thinking about those.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Three tight end sets, Chris, you know, we think we
talked to Chargers and yeah, with Friarmouth and with Washington
cut out of Georgia. Yeah, Washington, who's basically an offensive
line's three hundred pounds, so they're going to be running
a lot of that three tight end you know, similar
to what the Chargers are going to be running. And man,
that's going to be ah is the old folks like
to say a slobber knocker. Those two teams tangle whatever
(06:40):
week that is Week ten week because week gate is
the Vikings. We heard about the Rodney Harrison news, so
I remember that the Gates. I think it's I think
it's right around there.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
It's a run there.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
And then week six in Miami against Mika Fitzpatrick and company,
that was that was.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
The other news.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Rodney Harrison going to the Chargers Hall of Fame that
that cool phone call between Harball and Harrison. That's going
to be the Thursday night game against Minnesota Vikings. So
obviously Rodney has his Sunday obligations. He'll be able to
be here for that Thursday night game. It should be
a special night.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
No doubt, you know. And you think about that defense,
and he's one of the all time greats. You know,
it's a bummer that he had to leave. It's good
for him that he got to go out and get
a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots. But you know,
just like Junior sayout, you have two of the iconic
Charger defensive players from that particular era and really of
all time, and they both end up going to the
Patriots to finish out their careers. But excited to have
(07:35):
Rodney back that week. He's certainly a fan favorite. You know,
from an era when if you had someone that could
could bring the heat and could pack a punch, it
went a long way. And I don't know when Rodney
Harrison was playing, if there was a more physical defensive
back in the league and someone you better have your
freaking head on a swivel if you're out there and
knowing that Harrison, number thirty seven was out there lurking
(07:57):
because he would knock your ass clean out.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
You know, Bill Belichick has his favorite defensive players of
all time, and Lawrence Taylor I think is number one,
but Rodney Harrison maybe number two. He talks about Rodney
Harrison with such reverence and it just it harkens back
all those memories of that defense led by Rodney here
when he was wearing those navies for the San Diego Chargers.
So it'd be fun to honor him on Thursday Night football.
(08:23):
And without further ado, Money, let's get some more of
these questions. This is from Henry Smith a third on Instagram.
He wanted to know how he could submit a question
and I said, do it right here, man. He said,
if Money had to pick one bold statement below. Both
are a bit of a stretch, one good, one bad.
Which one would you pick? For twenty twenty five? The
first scenario Roman's offense with full offseason training camp for
(08:44):
Herbert new running backs and Mackai Beckton, a top seven
offense in the league. I don't think he'll see patched,
but I think that could happen. And then number two
offseason loses. Rather, offseason losses have bigger effect on defense.
Second year quarterbacks regrets to the an overall D drops
to eighteenth in the league, which is more likely.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Well, okay, so you're asking me, which do what do
I think is more likely? I think, unfortunately, the defense
is more likely, just because it you know, I just
pulled up the schedule to to look at where Pittsburgh
was and it is week ten, So way to go me.
But you look at this this schedule and it's not
(09:28):
the you know, I see Kansas City, So there you go.
You got two with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. Vegas
is no longer you know, Antonio Pierce and Aidan O'Connell.
It's Pete Carroll and Gino Smith. It's Bo Nixon year two.
You know, New York could be Jackson Dart, they're really
excited about him. Washington's Jade and Daniels. We know Mike
McDaniel can coach offense. You got Tua in all that speed,
(09:50):
you know, as Indianapolis with Shane Steike and going to
be more of a steady hand, and they've got a
hell of a receiving court. Not to mention they just
added Tyler Warren. You got Jonathan Taylor in that backfield.
You see what I'm getting that, Like Kevin O'Connell can
coach offense. You got Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh, not justin fields.
You've got Liam Cohen who put it on the Chargers
last year with Tampa and Jacksonville taking over the reins
with Trevor Lawrence and now Travis Hunter. And we know
(10:11):
what Brian Thomas Junior did last year Philadelphia, Jalen Hurts,
Dak Prescott, c J. Strutt. Like those are the quarterbacks
you're facing last year. I go back to last year.
Let's go back to last year's schedule. Chris for this
defense and again Vegas, O'Connell, Carolina, Bryce, Pittsburgh fields. We
(10:31):
know about Arizona. You know they held Kyler Murray, now
who was you know, to fifteen points. But that offense
wasn't really humming. You had New Orleans with Spencer Rattler Cleveland,
I don't remember who the quarterback was, and it was
James it was, yeah, exactly through the whatever three pay
Jamis Tennessee Will Levis, you know you know what I mean?
Like that, like last year Atlanta with Kirk Cousins who
(10:56):
had a horrible game, so like Drake May and no
offense line. Like, it's a different season of quarterbacks, so
it's a different it's point off sketch, So that that
would That's why I would say that that's more likely.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
You know what, maybe maybe both could happen, right. I
think maybe the offense is a is a group that
can carry the day some weeks when you have to
play some explosive offenses on the other side, and Hampton
and Harris get rolling and Justin rounds into form and
some of these new additions on the outside pop and
you're scoring thirty one points a game for a stretch
(11:33):
of the season.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
So I don't think the thing is like, sorry, Chris
hadit me to jump in there. I don't think the
if I remember right, because I was just looking at
it over the course of the week. I don't think
the offense was that bad last year, even though they
had all here we go twenty twenty four NFL offense EPA. Yeah,
they were twentieth. Like I think people fit look at
(11:56):
the offense last year and they're like, they were like
twenty eighth. No, they were twentieth, And I think for
a good chunk of the year. You know, if you
think about the second half of the year when LAD
really Lad didn't really come on till like week six.
So I think if you were to pull that, if
they were twentieth after what was a pretty rough stretch
there before LAD really got going, I would imagine like
if you took the last ten weeks, they were probably
(12:17):
top fifteen. So to your point, it's not I mean,
seven would be something like if you look at last year,
here's your top seven offenses. Ravens won, Lions, two bucks,
three forty nine ers, four packers five. I think that's right.
Hold on, just this is Oh you know what I
got it? I got this allis That's it said current
(12:39):
EPA that way. I thought I was looking at EPA,
but I wasn't. So my my apologies, man, I screwed.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You'd have to you'd have to surpass the Bills, the Bengals,
the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah, now that was that was a bad Uh. That
was a bad Lion. I'm terribly sorry. I screwed that thing. Up.
Here we go, Yeah, see even better. Last year twenty
twenty four, EPA per play chargers were thirteenth thirteenth. Wow,
expecting points added like they weren't, so to jump to seventh.
It was Baltimore, Buffalo, Detroit, Washington, Tampa, Philly, Bengals. There's
your top seven. You know it was pretty good offense,
(13:15):
but Liam Cohen's.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Gone top top ten would be a win, Henry.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Sorry, it was a longer answer than
it needed to be, but thank you, Henry.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
It goes into this next question, which I think is
a really good one from Nicholas PATRILLI.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Would you be more.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Impressed with Chargers beating the Chiefs once or twice but
only having ten wins or losing to the Chiefs both
times but having twelve wins? Which one of those outcomes
would give you more confidence in the Chargers doing real
damage in the playoffs. If you beat the Chiefs twice,
I'd take that, and you still bake the playoffs, I'd
take that over twelve wins. That gives you confidence, that
(13:50):
gives you a chance to actually win the AFC West.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I don't you have to slay that beast? Money? You
have to slay that beast in Kansas City?
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, I think you're you hit it on the head there.
Chris because if you sweep the Chiefs and you've got
ten wins, I'm guessing you're not gonna get swept by
the Raiders and the Broncos, and you're probably gonna win
the division, and the division's just gonna teams are gonna
knock the hell out of each other, because I can
tell you right now the Chiefs probably aren't getting swept
by both the Raiders and the Broncos. So that's how
that whole thing's going to shake out. And next thing,
(14:20):
you know, ten wins because of the rules that I
disagree with personally, that division winners get home games no
matter what, as opposed to a wildcard team with a
better record. If you're winning the SCUS, you're gonna get
a home game, So let's get the home game as
opposed to being a twelve win wildcard team like they
have been in the past. Twenty eighteen comes to mind,
as a twelve win wild card team had to go
(14:41):
to Baltimore, you know, to play a wild card game.
So yeah, let's take the sweep of the Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
This is from Isaac.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
How many guys on the team have a serious All
Pro potential this season?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Serious?
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Well?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
All Slater Herbert on all offense. Darwin's already the All
Pro Khalil Mack has been an All Pro. Yeah, uh,
Darwin things dayon Henley can be an All Pro. I
we'll see, We'll see if that, if he can make
that leap from Pro Bowl snub to All Pro in
year three, anybody.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Else I'm gonna go to the twenty twenty four All
Pro team. So Herbert would have to beat out Josh
Allen and Lamar Jackson. They were the All Pros last year.
Lad McConkie, Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson linebacker. Let's see Roquan Smith,
(15:43):
where's my list of here we go first team defense?
If he were to make it, So, Zach Bond, Fred Warner,
Roquan Smith are your linebackers on the first team? Frankie Luvu,
Bobby Wagner, Zaire Franklin second team. Yeah, I think he
could beat out Yeah, I think I think I think
(16:05):
he was better than one of these. And the problem
with linebacker is too often they weigh that on, you know,
sort of edges and pass rushing, not off ball linebackers.
So well, now, because you got Roqwan, Fred, Zach, yeah,
first team is gonna be tough. Second team. I think
he could make it. You mentioned, Look, I think Justin
(16:27):
Herbert's in that mix. If he's cooking, I have faith,
you know. Is it gonna be hard to knock off?
You know, Lamar, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow. That's
a tough not to crack, no doubt, But I think
there's potential there. Derwin, as you said, is a no brainer.
The tackles are no brainers that they have the opportunity
to do that. You know, it's Tristan Wurf's Quinn minors
(16:48):
last year were your first team tackles. Your second team
tackles were Jordan Mylotta and and Lane Johnson. So it's tough,
but they can do it. Yeah, I think that sounds.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
The problem with Herbert making the money is just that
the way the Chargers play, if it's going to be
a run dominant scheme and you're just not going to
put up the numbers that a Lamar or Josh Allen
put on on the ground. Back Now, Justin has the
capability of running the football and you know, throwing three
four touchdowns a game.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's just a matter of how.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
They're going to play if they have a big league
going in the second half. We kind of know the
formula that Greg Roman wants to execute.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, the one that could be interesting is whoever the
fullback's going to be? You know, if this becomes one
of the top five run You know, because your fullbacks
were Patrick Riccarton Baltimore, who's he blocking forward? Derrick Henry
and Kyle Uschek in San Francisco and we know they
always have a great running attack up there. So if
the running game with Nagie Harris and a Mario and
(17:52):
Hampton comes together with this new revamped offensive line, then
you could put Scott Matt Locke or Steve O. Klotts
if he makes it as the full back into that
mix as well, because not a lot of teams carry
a full back, but they put one every year on
the All Protein.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
It's a good call. Oh, camera, Dicker, how about him?
Forgot it? Forgot about it, forgot about the kicker?
Speaker 1 (18:13):
You know? Yeah, now this he should have been that
he should have been at this year as Chris Boswell,
it should have been Dicker. I saw that interesting stat.
I don't know if you saw it floating a on Instagram.
Chris that he's got ninety seven field goal attempts in
his career. Once he gets to a hundred war even
if he misses all three, he will still be the
most accurate kicker through one hundred attempts in the history
(18:33):
of the NFL. So about that great call. Get him
out there, yep, and you.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Know what to boot Josh Harris logs snap right, lest
get him as an all pro as well. This is
from Nate Goasney. Uh how did both of you get
into the business? And if you were to tell any
new journalists one piece of advice, what would it be?
And also who on the team would be able to
outsurf money? That's the question I want to answer first.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
I don't think. I don't think I think you. I
think you are. I think you were on a level
by yourself, sir.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
I don't know anybody else who serves like I don't.
I know. I've seen I've seen a car in the
lot with a definitely has a sticker. I'm trying to
think if it's a Spider surf it's got a it's
got a South Bay Surf Shop sticker. I can't remember,
You're not supposed to because I remember having this conversation
(19:24):
with Rahem Moster, who serves a lot because he's from Hawaii,
and he and I were chopping it up at the
Broadcast boot camp once and I asked him. I was like, hey,
if you want to paddle out tomorrow, and he was like,
I can't. He's like, I can when I'm in Hawaii.
He's like, but if I'm here around all these people,
He's like, and people found out, I'd get in trouble.
So I assume they put snowboarding, and you know, like
(19:49):
I remember of lat when I worked for the Lakers,
Remember of last Yeah, busted his shoulder snowboarding. You're not
gonna get hurt surfing. Now, you can drown, you can
slice your foot open. I guess on a fin, I've
certainly gotten hurt. I busted my shoulder surf and so
you can get messed up. But the way these guys
would be surfing, they wouldn't. Yeah, I don't. I don't
(20:09):
think anybody serves. I've tried to get them out. I've offered,
and everyone's if they all have the same reaction. The
shark's out there, man, what is that? Yeah, come on, man, it's.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You put in your dude, you put in your ten
thousand hours too. I think it's gonna take even if
they're even if you're an NFL athlete, It take a minute.
It take a minute to out outsurf Matt Mndy Smith.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, and that was just a throwaway question. What was
the first half I forgot? I got it now. I
was thinking first, I need to chase away from Brazil,
That's all I'm thinking about.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yeah, exactly how did we get into the business and
what piece of advice would you give a new journalist?
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Go ahead, Christian can get started. I'm an old man.
You got into the business and later than I did.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, mine was a winding road though. Man Like I,
I started in sports twenty five years ago. I worked
as an intern on the John Thompson Show in Washington,
d C. It was Redskins training camp two thousand, So,
like I knew, I wanted to get onto the broadcast side.
But sometimes just you take the path you're given. And
I got a job actually with the now Commander's Redskins
(21:13):
in the marketing department. Was there for a couple of years,
and then coincidentally worked with the Lakers when Money was
there doing Lakers line. I was director of sponsorships for
nine years, and I got to the point where, man,
it was awesome. You got to go to three straight finals,
two championships. But I knew I wanted to get back
to cover in football, so I left the Lakers in
(21:33):
twenty fifteen, came back to LA, did some stuff at
NFL Network, and then was fortunate enough to get in
with the Chargers first year in Los Angeles, and that's
kind of how I started Chargers Weekly, and then did
some stuff with CBS a couple years later. So now
I'm full time over at CBS, but still get to
do this podcast with money. So it's been a winding road, man.
(21:55):
But I guess the biggest piece of advice I'd give
you is just be open to anything, any opportunity, because
you don't know where that that path is going to
take you.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
And as far as like.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Being a journalist, you know, sometimes creating something and kind
of making making your own path, forging your.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Own path is the way to go because I don't
know about you.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I don't think I've ever gotten a job applying online
and going through that process where it's you know, it's
just it's very rare that it works that way.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
No, they've always come to me. I've been very fortunate
on that that front. And you know, like, I think
it's just how I don't need to I think you
nailed it, Chris. I'll just piggyback and say, yeah, you
don't know what an opportunity is going to turn into.
I mean, my first opportunity was answering phones as a
phone screener for Kevin Eban on k Rock Morning Show
here in LA And I didn't know at the time
(22:44):
that Jimmy Kimmel was going to become, you know, one
of the most famous television personalities in the world. He
was just the sports guy for Kevin Eban, that's what
he was. And we hit it off and he kind
of was a mentor to me and helped share what
he thought was a path to success, and I followed
him and trusted him implicitly. And on top of that,
(23:05):
for play by play in my free time, the Long
Beach Pyramid used to have cassette decks with headsets upstairs
where you could if you were a student and I
would just sneak in, you could throw a cassette in
there and you could call the game. And so That's
kind of how I got my reps and why I
didn't have to go to a smaller market to start
doing play by play, because I probably did, I don't know,
(23:26):
twenty thirty fifty NBA Summer League games, you know, just
fake calls of NBA Summer League games. And that's how
I kind of was able to get some reps and
some time on task. And so I think, if you
want to go into play by play now, you don't
have to need you don't need a cassette deck. You
can get a headset that plugs into your iPhone, hit
(23:49):
the voice recorder and just sit up there and call
the game and listen back to it and figure out
what sounds right, what doesn't adjust your energy levels? Am
I talking too much? Am I not talking enough? Am
I describing the action right? Do I have the geography right?
Am I saying the players names the way I should
be saying? Like I did all that stuff. And so
that's why when my time came, and you know, I
had a boss who gave me the opportunity to call
(24:10):
the PAC ten tournament at the time wasn't even the
PAC twelve. Yet I was not that nervous. I was
kind of ready to go and was able to pull
it off. And you know that led to my play
by play career.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
What was your first year doing play by play.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Two thousand Well, technically, it's funny. Before I did play
by play, I was a color analyst for a game
for the Lakers. Michael Thompson got sick and I had
to fill in for him. I had to hop a
flight to Sacramento to call the game with Spiro. So
that was my first like, yeah, that was my first game.
Was A was a Lakers you know, when the Lakers
were winning championships. A Lakers Kings game was my first
(24:48):
bit of in game call and I was the analyst.
And then I believe twenty ten, No, I think I
did the Pac ten Tournament in two thousand seven. So
I did the Pac ten Tournament in seven, eight and nine,
and then I started doing football. In twenty ten, I
started doing college football. So here I'm fifteen years later
(25:10):
still calling football.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Love it, love it man, and you and DJ just
guess have the best chemistry. This is fun to hear
the calls and to actually to see the fans literally
turned down the TV to listen to you. Guys. Still
I remember I remember as a kid like listening to Sonny,
Sam and Frank in DC like it was Frank Herzog,
Sunny Jurgensen and Sam Huff and you would turn down
(25:31):
your TV. And I love that tradition, and it's how
it still stands in twenty twenty five, where people will
want to listen to the home call and and money
and DJ get that love it's the best.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Appreciate it, Chris, thank you. Yeah, it's DJ's the best.
I just try to stay out of his way. He's
the best analyst out there. I don't think it's even close.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah, you guys are amazing, all right, Chris Hill's how's
Benjamin Saint Juice looking?
Speaker 3 (25:54):
I think his skill set is perfect for our scheme.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I know Dante, Tarheb and Cam are going to get
the bulk of but I think DBS might be a
sneaky strength on the d So, you know, Saint Juice,
he had a tough go of it last year with Washington.
I think his PFF grade was like forty seven point four.
But I think this is purely the traits and the
(26:17):
reps that he has.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
In the league.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
I think jesse Minzer and company think that they can
work with a guy like this, and I'm really intrigued
to see how he looks with Jesse Minter and in
clan scale and that whole secondary what they're going to
do with Saint Jus and how he's going to fit
into the rotation.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, I think it's a depth piece.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
That's and when we talked to coach Minter, remember what
he said to us, Chris. He specifically pointed out, you know,
the Christian Fulton situation that they saw potential that and
they were really proud of how hard he worked and
how he took to their coaching and what they wanted
him to maybe adjust a little bit. And he ends
up getting a big free agent contract from Kansas City,
(26:58):
and he pointed out, He's like, yeah, you know, Saint
just was. He's got the traits, he's got the athleticism,
he's got everything you'd want in a corner. And we
feel like we can do some things with him. And
that's why he's here because he saw what happened with
Christian and he wanted, you know, and we sold him
on the idea that we can try to do the
same thing. And I know they're very excited about Dante Jackson.
(27:18):
So that's you know, I think that the question hit
it on the head where it's Cam Dante and Tarheeve
and Benjamin Saint. Just is gonna expect it to play
impact special teams, be that fourth corner to start and
try to work his way into the rotation.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, He's a guy that I think is gonna be
really fun to watch during the preseason to see kind
of where he is in this scheme, how quickly he
picks it up. This is from Rico the Sports Guy.
How much do you guys think Justin de Boybe impacts
this year? I know he didn't get too much playing
time last year, but with the depth looking the way
it does, can he have a Poon Afford type of impact.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
We kind of touched on the defensive.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Line element impact money would be, but there's like there's
like seven deep a defensive tack. I'm really excited about
this position, grip because you have Tito, you have cald Well,
you have the two guys Hand and Jones that are
kind of going to replace Puna A boyd B. You
still have Scott Matt locked there. So there's a lot
(28:18):
of guys who I think can play meaningful snaps during
the regular season.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yeah, look, they said that year one to year two coach.
How often have we heard coach Rbass say that the
off season between year one and year two is when
you are going to take your biggest jump. And we've
heard nothing but great things about justin about how much
weight he's put on of muscle, twenty pounds of straight muscle,
how different he looks, how he's done everything they've asked.
(28:44):
We know he was an impact player at Alabama and
that he was considered a project when he was draped
in the fourth round here, So you know, it's we
don't know. We don't know what kind of impact he
can have. What we do know is he's in a
very deep room. Like you said, you know, who would
your starters be, It'll probably be Tito and pick you know,
Nakuon or you know, or Deshaun, and then you're gonna
(29:08):
be rotating in your third round pick and Caldwell, who
I think is gonna probably start earning snaps in a
hurry just because of you.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Say Tier Tart. I mean, you just say Tier Tart too.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
See there we go, dude, I totally forgot about Tier.
He's going to be your starter. You're probably talking about
tier Tart and like Jones and Hand and Tito, and
that's going to be your main rotation. And then the
other guys you're gonna sprinkle in and called well in
a boyd bee. So yeah, I mean the potentials there,
this was their vision. This was I again you mentioned
kling Scale. Mike Elston one of the best coaches in
(29:39):
the league, their D line coach, So I have faith
that he's going to do good things this year.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
This is from Peaky Bolts. Two Peaky questions from Poland.
Dicker speaks Mandarin. Do you or any other Bolts speak
a second language? And did you see this picture? What's
your favorite run? Dmc saw, Yeah, but let me see
the picture.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It's Popper Yopper right all right? There there you go,
Daniel Money and Chris. That's a great photo.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Speaky Bolts, baby.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Yes, what was the first question? Again?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Uh, Dicker speaks Mandard? Does anybody else speak a second language?
Do you speak a second language?
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Espanol? E? Uhogo e Chargers? What's what what his employee
would be? I don't know. Head antheus manager So Francisco
who does the analyst analysis for the radio Espanol e EO.
(30:46):
We'll talk, so typically he does. He does me the
favor of speaking. So I guess I could say a
few things. Let's say it be uh Espanol dos dsra
(31:08):
do so there you go, and don't says uh.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
I'm trying yep, stage me, yep, stage man. Okay. I
used to say.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Exactly, Pancho's the best Pancho do you uh? Do you
have a favorite run DMC song, Bunny, I I don't.
I mean, I'm not a big run DMC guy. Uh,
I do like Aerosmith Aerosmith walked this way? No I can.
I can tell you right now, and I can recite
it word for word. It's like an eighteen second song
(31:40):
and it is called Son of Byford, and I'm not
gonna rap it, but I will recite it. I was
born son of Byford, brother of el Betty. Was my
mammy used to be my pal. It's McDaniel's, not McDonald's.
These raps are daryls, those burgers are Ronald's. I run
down my family tree, my mother, my brother, my sister,
and me. That his son of Byford. It's like this
(32:02):
weird eighteen second interlude on Raising Hell I believe, and
I don't know why, but it always stuck with me
for some reason, that song. I have not heard that
song in twenty years, and yet I can still recite
it a close, almost almost word for word.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Now.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
That was always I bet DMC at a at a
super Bowl party in Arizona. I think it was the
Giants Patriots super Bowl in seven.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
When I was when I was the music director at
k Rock, Russell Simmons came in and Run had put
out his record. He was doing a Reverend Run record
and he didn't necessarily threaten me, but he kind of did.
He was just kind of like, so, here's what we're
gonna do. I was like, well, we're the k Rock here.
(32:48):
Russell like, you know, this is not an easy fit
for us, and he's like yeah, but you're playing nine
to nine Problems by jay Z. I was like, well,
you know it's Jaz, it's Rick Rubin. Oh so Rick
Rubins just but Rick Rubins got more pull than me.
Well he's Rick Rubin and nine inch nails and you
know black Crow, Like, eh, there is he? And he
was like starting to get a little heated, a little upset,
and he's like, how do we do this. It's like,
(33:10):
how do we do what? Like, how do we make
this work? I was like, we'll figure it out. We'll
figure it out.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
The figure it out.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
I think, yeah, we did. I would play it at
night after like I would play it like right before
love Line in the nine o'clock hour. Oh, that's what
it was. I was putting it in the Furious five
at nine and made it sound like people were calling
to request it. And I did that for like a week,
and I was like, here's what I'm gonna do, Russell.
I'm gonna put it in the Furious five at nine.
We'll say people are requesting it. If we actually get
some traction on it, then we'll play it. If not,
(33:38):
I got to cut it. After a week. We're good.
He's like, we're good. I was like, all right, don't
want Russell Simmons on my dad's side.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
That's a great story. Yeah, Oh my god, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
All right.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Darren tiss Own.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Do you believe this is the most anticipated season for
Charger fans? Says the six o seven Charger season, I do,
bolt up. I feel like we always say it. I
feel like we always like Jim Harbaugh's first year was
the most anticipated we've We've had it a long time.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
They won eleven games. I don't know, is this the
most anticipated.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
I feel like I feel like, let's see, that would
have been twenty twenty, twenty twenty. I feel like twenty
twenty two. Right after they lost that game in Week
eighteen in overtime to Vegas to miss out on the playoffs,
I feel like that next year was like, Okay, here
we go, We're we're ready. You know, Staley's the guy
(34:31):
I love the boldness and the going for it. We
you know, it was terrible the way it got away
from him, but herb you know, Justin's ready to take
that step into the top five elite quarterback kind of,
you know, and I think unfortunately it went and that's
the year they won. You know, they got into the playoffs,
jumped on top twenty eight, nothing on the Jaguars, and
that just fell apart and it carried over to the
(34:52):
next season and then coach Staley was gone. So I think,
like you said, I think, you know, just to build
on what you were saying, we always like we lest
we forget, you know, we're prisoners at the moment, and
there is a lot of excitement about this season, but
this is almost exactly where we were, you know, coming
off that nine and eight season, because just because I
(35:14):
don't think there was as much anticipation going into twenty
three because of how badly it went against Jacksonville. That
was kind of like the all the talk was like,
I still can't believe that happened, And that's sort of
the attitude that was the fans were kind of carrying
into the season.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
You know, I'll say this, I think that the expectations
are the highest they've been there.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
And if you look at what coach.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Harball did in year one, winning eleven games, and you
just go by his track record of what he's done.
I think in year two with the Niners, they did
go to the super Bowl. So the fact that coach
Harball has this pedigree of winning everywhere he's gone, that
second year, to me, it seems like the expectations are
probably the highest because you do go to the playoffs
(35:58):
in his first year, you you expect the bar to
be raised another notch. So I don't know about anticipating.
I think expectation wise though, gosh, if it could if
it could match the six seven Chargers then I think
we're cooking here, you know, Segundo come July, you know,
(36:18):
no doubt, Joshua, Now, do you think our linebacker group
could be one of the best. We kind of talked
about this last last week. Even if Junior does not
have an immediate impact like day on, he could still
take snaps off day on in Denzel, I don't know
if I think. I think you mentioned maybe it's the
one of the more underrated groups on this team talking
(36:40):
about I.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Think I think it's one of the best groups in
the league. I expect big things from Junior, and I
think you listen to how coach talks about him, how
Jesse Miner talks about him, how hard it was for
him to get out from under missing all of training camp,
how much he lost physically from that appendectomy, and just
trying to climb back from that from a strength from
(37:03):
a strength standpoint and a being ready for the season standpoint,
and that they were very excited about what he started
to show, you know, the last four weeks of the season.
So yeah, I'm expecting really really big things out of
him and to have day On another year in, you know,
and don't forget Derwin James is a dimebacker, so he's
part of that conversation too, you know, so you can
(37:25):
have Dayan and Derwin out there as your linebackers at times.
And yes, I think it is one of the best
linebacking groups in the league. And I'm saying that blind
on expectations for Junior Colson, but I'm comfortable saying it.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
From Willie Ham.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Is it more of an advantage for us or the
Chiefs to kick off Week one in Brazil? Well, it's
a home game for the Chargers, although they have to
fly thirteen hours to get there. Week ones are or
always wild cards anyway, money, Do you think there's an
advantage one way or another.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
No, I think it's the same for both teams. But
as you said, the Chargers lose their game, the Chiefs
keep their home game against the Chargers, and it comes
on a short week after the Chargers have to play
the Super Bowl champion Eagles on Monday Night Football, So
it definitely benefits the Chiefs when you take the whole
season into context, right, Chargers lose a home game, have
to fly thirteen hours instead of playing it, so fine,
(38:19):
sleeping in their own beds the night before and then
when the Chiefs play the Chargers. It's a Sunday ten
am Pacific kick after the Chargers had just played Monday
night football against one of the most physical teams in
the league, the Philadelphia Eagles. So when you combine those
two things, it is decidedly Chiefs advantage based on how
that thing shakes out.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
All right, Shane le Deswa wants money to share why
he dislikes the Navy so much outside of being winless
in them. This is something that comes up.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Yeah, the people were upset with me about the uniform talk,
and I knew they would be, which, as I said,
I'm willing to accept it.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
I to each his own, to each his own.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Exactly exactly, because I recognize so many folks that are
still huge Charger fans in San Diego, and I love
that and I appreciate that, and that's their uniform. You know,
many of them that are of the twenty to forty
year old range navies. They're into navies, you know, even
fifties because you think about the navies of what was
(39:20):
it ninety four right that went to the Super Bowl
to Stan Humphreys. Ye, natrum means like, yeah, you've got
I get it. But for me, I just have this
negative connotation because the players come out of the locker
room and they're like, yeah, neighbors are sweet, and then
they go out and get their ass kicked, and it's
happened every single time, and so I just can't get
(39:41):
over it. Every time I see the Navies, I'm like,
here we go again. And the players are so into them,
they love them so much, and you can I mean,
you know, you're on the field like they are super
into them, and then they go out and lose the game,
and I'm like, can we just get read of these
Dan Navies. I'm sick of it, like it. They are winless.
They are winless in Navies since they went to the
(40:03):
Powder Blues. So that's it's a personal thing. It has
nothing to do with the way they look or any
of that. That's my thing. Now. Do I like the
way the Royals look better? Yes? I do. That's but
that's also nostalgia and relationship and watching the epic in
Miami and those Dan Fouts, Chuck Munsey, those teams, like
(40:23):
I just love that was sort of my introduction to football,
was that era of football. Being a little kid, really
little kid, you know, five year old, you know, watching
those games and then really getting into you know, football
at that particular moment. So and I always thought the Chargers'
uniforms were the coolest things I'd ever seen, and that
(40:44):
was where the Royals. So that's all it is for me.
Don't take it personal some of you.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
It's just because of recent history in the in the
scoreboard at the end of the game, after the sixty minutes.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
That's it. Yes, this is a great question, XFL.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
What did that person want to say about the Navies?
I jumped you, Chris, and I was trying to defend
myself against the many, but I missed the question.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
I don't want to No, he just he just wanted
you to share why you don't like him.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Oh, okay, there we go.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
Well there is just a simple explanation. Change just wanted
a simple explanation.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
That's it. Man, win a game in the Navies and
I'm all good.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
Exactly exactly, all right, xflow.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Primo most likely to win Protector of the Year award
was is gonna be a new award this year?
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Slater or alt It's a good question.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
Yes, if I were to beat it'd be Slater because
he's just He's one of the best tackles in the
league and has been for when he's healthy, he is
one of the best tackles in the league. He just is,
you know, now all we think can get there. Last
year he was great as a rookie and we expect
him to take a big step this year. But like people,
people don't. I think, look, Charger fans know. Unfortunately, the
(41:54):
rest of the NFL, you know, doesn't know. And so
and it's not like if you give Protector of the
Year to Trent Williams or Lane Johnson or Jordan Malatta,
it's going to be a bad decision. But Rashawn's in
that conversation, like he is just flat out in that conversation.
So like Tristan Wurf's, you know, you have to have
(42:17):
the reputation and that's what typically gets you on those
all pro teams. So when you see Penna and Tristan
on the first team, as I'm looking at it, and
then you see Jordan Malatta and Lane Johnson on the
second team, it's a tough nut to crack. But if
they're running the hell out of the ball and Herbert
stand clean on that blind side and play action is working. Yeah,
(42:39):
he's he's going to be in a mix. He is
definitely going to be in the mix. I think it's
probably going to be harder for a right tackle to
get Protector of the Year unless they're protecting for a
left handed quarterback.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
So that's what I was going to say, you hit
on the head with blind side. I mean he's protecting
Herbert's blindside, so that I think give you the edge.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
But everything we've.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
Heard about Joe alt Man, Yeah, it's it's going to
be be fun.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
Yeah, no doubt. A couple more here before we get
out of here.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Money.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Uh this is.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
From Alex Bolta. Do you think Greg Roman is going
to start throwing to the running backs this year?
Speaker 3 (43:14):
Yeah? I think so.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
I looked at.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
It didn't happen. Well, Gus only caught a few. JK
was targeted like thirty some odd times. But you know,
O Marion showed the ability to catch the blot of
the backfield North Carolina. Now she can catch the blot
in the backfield too. So you know, the more that
those those guys are on the field, I think more
they're going to be part of the passing game.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
Yeah. I think for Roman that he runs the ball,
you know, and a lot of those passes to running
backs are typically extensions of the run game, and it's
just not something that Greg has really done a lot
in his career. And I think a lot of it
also you have to look at when you're talking about historically,
is the backs that he's had. You know, it's Frank Gore,
it's Toby Gerhart, it's you know, Gus Edwards and and
(44:00):
JK and like so the backs you've had aren't necessarily
Austin Eckler, who can catch ninety balls a season, and
that's kind of what we got used to the previous
five years. But with Omari and Hampton, yeah, I could
see him wanting to get him out in some space,
throwing some passes into the flat and watch him make
fools of people out there. So I could and not
to mention, we saw him run that wheel route and
(44:22):
snag that pass over his shoulder and it's like, okay,
we're going to see some of this this year. So yeah,
I think a lot of it is personnel based.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
Two more, do we expect a punter competition? No?
Speaker 2 (44:34):
No, Ryan Ficken loves JK Scott and Jk's pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
So there's no punter competition.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
That's not going to happen, Madam Fanas. This will be
the last question.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Can you guys do a breakdown of what games you
think will win lose next year?
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Love, how money takes into consideration, travel, rest, previous week's
opponent as these factors seem the way heavy on likelihood
of outcome.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
Thanks, bolt up.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Maybe for another show. I mean, I'd have to go
through it, and you.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Know what, how about we do this?
Speaker 2 (45:06):
We have a we have a couple of more episodes
before training camp starts. This may be a this may
be an exercise that we do maybe next week.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Definitely we can get into rest what the other like.
I'd want to that's a good one. I'd want to
dig into it. Give it the full Warren Sharp treatment.
You know, what's the opponent coming off? What are we
coming off as the opponent traveling from the week before?
Are they looking ahead to the week after? Who was
their opponent the week before? Was it a physical bloody
and it's and obviously I get it. I don't need
(45:35):
the disclaimer of well, you know people could get hurt. Yes,
we go and expect accepting that people can get hurt
and things can change drastically with who you know, your
Duck Hodges is your quarterback this week, and they still
want so you know, like I think it's with all
of that being said, yeah, that's one I'd rather dig
into because it sounds like that's what you want us
to do is dig into it and kind of talk
about where the advantages are and where now. I do
(45:57):
know they have a net positive rest schedule this year.
It despite all those mileage, even though they're going to
be the longest traveling team from air miles this year,
they do have a net positive rest schedule because all
of their primetime games, with the exception of the Monday
night or in Vegas, which is a thirty minute flight,
are home games. So that's a huge win when you're
(46:19):
talking about a short week for Thursday night football against Minnesota.
For Monday night footballs, you know, going into the next week,
you get all that extra rest because you're at home
and you're not flying home and ruining your Tuesday and
Wednesday because you played Monday night football in Pittsburgh and
you're not getting home until five am. So like all
of that being taken into consideration. Just to give you
(46:40):
a thumbnail The huge win is that every single primetime
game is at home except the Monday night or in Vegas,
and that's a thirty minute flight. So when we're done
with that game, it's and that's a late kick. Remember
that's the doubleheader Monday night or so that's a seven
o'clock kick. So we're going to be wheels up around
midnight and instead of getting home at six am the
(47:01):
next day, you're getting home you know, twelve thirty one o'clock.
Not too bad. So there you go.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
I was thinking we'd have a little bit more time
before camp to dive into some of these topics. The
good news for us we have like one more week
before we get into camp stuff.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
Yeah, we have, we have. We're taping this on a
Wednesday now. Next week's to ninth.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
The following weeks for fourthday, so it's like we're in
training camp early man, a couple more weeks.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
It's correct, you know, we'll be doing because yeah, next
Thursday's the tenth, we'll be at the first day training
camp for Thursday, when we typically do chargers weekly, it'll
be the first day camp. Well, we'll probably do chargers
weekly from the bolt on the first day of camp.
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
Yeah, probably have a player on too, So I mean, gosh,
we are. We're in there cruising guys.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
Fourth of July weekend. I hope you guys have a
wonderful fourth of July.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
We gave you forty five minutes of of Chargers talk
to Pop on this weekend. You know, I think Litsten,
you guys did the work man fifty questions of the
last two weeks.
Speaker 3 (48:07):
We appreciate it. Anything else to have before we get
out of here.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
Brother all good. Appreciate everybody for shooting the questions in.
I'll add this, Remember, folks, on the fourth of July,
leave the fireworks to the professionals, because safety is no accident.
Speaker 3 (48:22):
That's a BSA.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
Everybody needs that PSA.
Speaker 1 (48:26):
It's right.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Don't blow your fingers off, folks, don't blow your fingers off.
Please enjoy it and we will see you guys next
week for money.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
I'm Chris. This has been Chargers week.
Late fifteen ten touchdown.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What's up, guys, Welcome into a fourth of July edition
of Chargers Weekly, as always, joined by the Voice of
the Chargers, Matt Muddy Smith. And what to think about
Charges Weekly is it's all year round. This is probably
the dead week of the year when it comes to
the football season, but not here on Charges Weekly.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
We got a bunch of questions.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah, we did it last week and it went a
lot better than we thought it was gonna right, you know,
we asked for questions and we're like, it's July in
June and all the players are on vacation, and the
coaches are on vacation, the front office is on It's
truly their last window before they get back to business
on the seventeenth of July. And by the way, hit
up Chargers dot com slash Camp. July seventh is the
(00:51):
day to begin making your reservations for that week for
seventeen eighteen nineteen, So if you want to get out
to training camp, you know, they capped the number of
folks who can come in here on Chargers Weekly. If
you're listening, give you a little heads up that it's
July seventh that they'll open that thing up and you
can reserve your.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Spot that's less than a week away. And you know,
you know, I got to tell you this.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I was.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I'm in Charleston, South Carolina right now and I'm waiting
for my flight and there's somebody at my terminal that says,
what's up. He's a big Charges Weekly fan. He listens
to your Instagram postgame live. His name is I had
to get his name, Paul Menace. He lives in Charleston,
South Carolina. He was a Navy nuke via Temecula and
(01:37):
big Charges Weekly fan. So I told Paul we would
shout him out at the beginning of the show today.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Awesome. Appreciate you, Paul, appreciate your service, especially on this
our nation's two hundred and forty ninth birthday. And certainly
I appreciate you listening to the show. That means a lot.
We love doing it. We love interacting with all of yous,
and that goes for if you ever see us walking
around when we're at the games, not that I expect
to anybody into anybody that knows who I am around
(02:02):
town or Charleston for that matter, but at the games,
especially Chris, we love chatting with the folks. And I
have a special place in my heart for Charleston, South
Carolina because it was my salvation. When we were in
Charlotte for the week, I very quietly rented a car
and snuck out after the Panther game on Sunday night
and spent three days down there at Folly Beach in Charleston,
(02:26):
and was just texting with the bosses over there.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Like, Hey, what are you doing tonight.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I was like, probably just gonna stay in, you know,
just kind of just mellowed out. I got the radio
show and you know, the busy work work, you know,
just work calls as it was, to get some waves
in with my friend Kyle from down there, who's sponsored
by free Fly, and we certainly I certainly appreciate that.
So Paul, thank you for mentioning that, and Chris for
going to Charleston to conjure up those great memories I
(02:50):
had of our trip last year.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Dude, I love Charleston so much.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
My parents have been down here since I think eight
so my brothers were down here, so I figured I'd
spent a few days do some grilling, chilling out with
the fan before we get rolling. But we still have
a ton of questions that we wanted to get answered.
So if you're grilling, if you're at the beach this weekend,
pop on charges Weekly and we'll answer some of these
questions before we do so. Though a couple of things
(03:16):
I guess relevant to last week's mail bag.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Jalen Ramsey's not coming to the Chargers. He's not going
to the Rams either.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
He's a Pittsburgh Steeler traded for Mika Fitzpatrick. The Steelers
also get John Smith in the deal. Kind a kind
of a surprising almost one for one. Yet you add
Smith to the mix. But I didn't think that Mega
Fitzpatrick was on the trade block at all.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
So how about that. That's a big move.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, I wish an interesting I'm going to the depth
chart because I just want to make sure I get
the name's right. It kind of goes to what we
were talking about right when it comes to the because
they just signed Darius Slay. They also have Joey Porter Junior.
You know, it was essentially a first round pick, very
top of the second round. So those are their outside corners.
So where are they gonna play Jalen. He's gonna be
(04:03):
the big nickel he's gonna be Durwin. So that's why
for all the Charger fans that were like, Hey, you
got all this money in this cap space is still there,
go get Jalen Ramsey and it's I think what the
Steelers are doing is kind of what's going to benefit him.
And they just signed one Thornhill as a free agent,
so now he'll be your high safety, which is where
(04:24):
Minca was playing, and Deshaun Elliott's your box safety. So
they just kind of were like, Okay, if instead of
playing Minca at free can we put Thornhill there? Feel
good about it? And now we get that big nickel
in Jalen, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're looking
at it as we want this guy to be Derwin.
We want him to do. You know, they're built very similarly,
(04:44):
they're super athletic, and I think that was kind of
the idea. Now, look, Minca is a hell of a safety.
I mean, he is an incredible safety. So is it
a net neutral, is it a net positive? Is it
a net negative? I don't know, but it's probably pretty
close because of how good Minca is. It's wild to
me that they gave and I assume that's money, you know,
(05:06):
because Mink is making sixteen seventeen mil. Jalen's making twenty
six mil. I think they gave him an extra one
point five on top of what he was already making.
So I think they had to make the money work
and that's probably why they did it. But two teams
were gonna face. So you're gonna see the Dolphins with Minka,
who's a heck of a player, and you're gonna see
the Steelers now with that back end of Slagh Porter,
(05:28):
Deshaun Elliott Thornhill and now Jalen Ramsey not to mention
what they have up front, and Keanu Benton who never
gets mentioned enough. TJ. Watt Patrick queen like oh Hi Smith.
That is a hell of a defense they have over there.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
It is. And the TJ.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Watt thing is something to monitor at this point because
he does.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Not have a new deal yet.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I would assume that the Pittsburgh Steelers do not want TJ.
Watt to leave the city of Pittsburgh, so you would
you would think that would get done. But the Mega
Fitzpatrick thing is interesting. Remember he was he was drafted
before Derwin in twenty eighteen and then when you had
John news Smith. We've heard for the last couple of
weeks how much Arthur Smith wants John new Smith back
(06:06):
in his offense. He was I think he was with
m in Tennessee in Atlanta, if I'm not mistaken. So
then you get Aaron Rodgers another weapon, I guess in
the passing game.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
So fast thinking about those.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Three tight end sets, Chris, you know, we think we
talked to Chargers and yeah, with Friarmouth and with Washington
cut out of Georgia. Yeah, Washington, who's basically an offensive
line's three hundred pounds, so they're going to be running
a lot of that three tight end you know, similar
to what the Chargers are going to be running. And man,
that's going to be ah is the old folks like
to say a slobber knocker. Those two teams tangle whatever
(06:40):
week that is Week ten week because week gate is
the Vikings. We heard about the Rodney Harrison news, so
I remember that the Gates. I think it's I think
it's right around there.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
It's a run there.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
And then week six in Miami against Mika Fitzpatrick and company,
that was that was.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
The other news.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Rodney Harrison going to the Chargers Hall of Fame that
that cool phone call between Harball and Harrison. That's going
to be the Thursday night game against Minnesota Vikings. So
obviously Rodney has his Sunday obligations. He'll be able to
be here for that Thursday night game. It should be
a special night.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
No doubt, you know. And you think about that defense,
and he's one of the all time greats. You know,
it's a bummer that he had to leave. It's good
for him that he got to go out and get
a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots. But you know,
just like Junior sayout, you have two of the iconic
Charger defensive players from that particular era and really of
all time, and they both end up going to the
Patriots to finish out their careers. But excited to have
(07:35):
Rodney back that week. He's certainly a fan favorite. You know,
from an era when if you had someone that could
could bring the heat and could pack a punch, it
went a long way. And I don't know when Rodney
Harrison was playing, if there was a more physical defensive
back in the league and someone you better have your
freaking head on a swivel if you're out there and
knowing that Harrison, number thirty seven was out there lurking
(07:57):
because he would knock your ass clean out.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
You know, Bill Belichick has his favorite defensive players of
all time, and Lawrence Taylor I think is number one,
but Rodney Harrison maybe number two. He talks about Rodney
Harrison with such reverence and it just it harkens back
all those memories of that defense led by Rodney here
when he was wearing those navies for the San Diego Chargers.
So it'd be fun to honor him on Thursday Night football.
(08:23):
And without further ado, Money, let's get some more of
these questions. This is from Henry Smith a third on Instagram.
He wanted to know how he could submit a question
and I said, do it right here, man. He said,
if Money had to pick one bold statement below. Both
are a bit of a stretch, one good, one bad.
Which one would you pick? For twenty twenty five? The
first scenario Roman's offense with full offseason training camp for
(08:44):
Herbert new running backs and Mackai Beckton, a top seven
offense in the league. I don't think he'll see patched,
but I think that could happen. And then number two
offseason loses. Rather, offseason losses have bigger effect on defense.
Second year quarterbacks regrets to the an overall D drops
to eighteenth in the league, which is more likely.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Well, okay, so you're asking me, which do what do
I think is more likely? I think, unfortunately, the defense
is more likely, just because it you know, I just
pulled up the schedule to to look at where Pittsburgh
was and it is week ten, So way to go me.
But you look at this this schedule and it's not
(09:28):
the you know, I see Kansas City, So there you go.
You got two with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. Vegas
is no longer you know, Antonio Pierce and Aidan O'Connell.
It's Pete Carroll and Gino Smith. It's Bo Nixon year two.
You know, New York could be Jackson Dart, they're really
excited about him. Washington's Jade and Daniels. We know Mike
McDaniel can coach offense. You got Tua in all that speed,
(09:50):
you know, as Indianapolis with Shane Steike and going to
be more of a steady hand, and they've got a
hell of a receiving court. Not to mention they just
added Tyler Warren. You got Jonathan Taylor in that backfield.
You see what I'm getting that, Like Kevin O'Connell can
coach offense. You got Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh, not justin fields.
You've got Liam Cohen who put it on the Chargers
last year with Tampa and Jacksonville taking over the reins
with Trevor Lawrence and now Travis Hunter. And we know
(10:11):
what Brian Thomas Junior did last year Philadelphia, Jalen Hurts,
Dak Prescott, c J. Strutt. Like those are the quarterbacks
you're facing last year. I go back to last year.
Let's go back to last year's schedule. Chris for this
defense and again Vegas, O'Connell, Carolina, Bryce, Pittsburgh fields. We
(10:31):
know about Arizona. You know they held Kyler Murray, now
who was you know, to fifteen points. But that offense
wasn't really humming. You had New Orleans with Spencer Rattler Cleveland,
I don't remember who the quarterback was, and it was
James it was, yeah, exactly through the whatever three pay
Jamis Tennessee Will Levis, you know you know what I mean?
Like that, like last year Atlanta with Kirk Cousins who
(10:56):
had a horrible game, so like Drake May and no
offense line. Like, it's a different season of quarterbacks, so
it's a different it's point off sketch, So that that
would That's why I would say that that's more likely.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
You know what, maybe maybe both could happen, right. I
think maybe the offense is a is a group that
can carry the day some weeks when you have to
play some explosive offenses on the other side, and Hampton
and Harris get rolling and Justin rounds into form and
some of these new additions on the outside pop and
you're scoring thirty one points a game for a stretch
(11:33):
of the season.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
So I don't think the thing is like, sorry, Chris
hadit me to jump in there. I don't think the
if I remember right, because I was just looking at
it over the course of the week. I don't think
the offense was that bad last year, even though they
had all here we go twenty twenty four NFL offense EPA. Yeah,
they were twentieth. Like I think people fit look at
(11:56):
the offense last year and they're like, they were like
twenty eighth. No, they were twentieth, And I think for
a good chunk of the year. You know, if you
think about the second half of the year when LAD
really Lad didn't really come on till like week six.
So I think if you were to pull that, if
they were twentieth after what was a pretty rough stretch
there before LAD really got going, I would imagine like
if you took the last ten weeks, they were probably
(12:17):
top fifteen. So to your point, it's not I mean,
seven would be something like if you look at last year,
here's your top seven offenses. Ravens won, Lions, two bucks,
three forty nine ers, four packers five. I think that's right.
Hold on, just this is Oh you know what I
got it? I got this allis That's it said current
(12:39):
EPA that way. I thought I was looking at EPA,
but I wasn't. So my my apologies, man, I screwed.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You'd have to you'd have to surpass the Bills, the Bengals,
the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah, now that was that was a bad Uh. That
was a bad Lion. I'm terribly sorry. I screwed that thing. Up.
Here we go, Yeah, see even better. Last year twenty
twenty four, EPA per play chargers were thirteenth thirteenth. Wow,
expecting points added like they weren't, so to jump to seventh.
It was Baltimore, Buffalo, Detroit, Washington, Tampa, Philly, Bengals. There's
your top seven. You know it was pretty good offense,
(13:15):
but Liam Cohen's.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Gone top top ten would be a win, Henry.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Sorry, it was a longer answer than
it needed to be, but thank you, Henry.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
It goes into this next question, which I think is
a really good one from Nicholas PATRILLI.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Would you be more.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Impressed with Chargers beating the Chiefs once or twice but
only having ten wins or losing to the Chiefs both
times but having twelve wins? Which one of those outcomes
would give you more confidence in the Chargers doing real
damage in the playoffs. If you beat the Chiefs twice,
I'd take that, and you still bake the playoffs, I'd
take that over twelve wins. That gives you confidence, that
(13:50):
gives you a chance to actually win the AFC West.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I don't you have to slay that beast? Money? You
have to slay that beast in Kansas City?
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, I think you're you hit it on the head there.
Chris because if you sweep the Chiefs and you've got
ten wins, I'm guessing you're not gonna get swept by
the Raiders and the Broncos, and you're probably gonna win
the division, and the division's just gonna teams are gonna
knock the hell out of each other, because I can
tell you right now the Chiefs probably aren't getting swept
by both the Raiders and the Broncos. So that's how
that whole thing's going to shake out. And next thing,
(14:20):
you know, ten wins because of the rules that I
disagree with personally, that division winners get home games no
matter what, as opposed to a wildcard team with a
better record. If you're winning the SCUS, you're gonna get
a home game, So let's get the home game as
opposed to being a twelve win wildcard team like they
have been in the past. Twenty eighteen comes to mind,
as a twelve win wild card team had to go
(14:41):
to Baltimore, you know, to play a wild card game.
So yeah, let's take the sweep of the Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
This is from Isaac.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
How many guys on the team have a serious All
Pro potential this season?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Serious?
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Well?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
All Slater Herbert on all offense. Darwin's already the All
Pro Khalil Mack has been an All Pro. Yeah, uh,
Darwin things dayon Henley can be an All Pro. I
we'll see, We'll see if that, if he can make
that leap from Pro Bowl snub to All Pro in
year three, anybody.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Else I'm gonna go to the twenty twenty four All
Pro team. So Herbert would have to beat out Josh
Allen and Lamar Jackson. They were the All Pros last year.
Lad McConkie, Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson linebacker. Let's see Roquan Smith,
(15:43):
where's my list of here we go first team defense?
If he were to make it, So, Zach Bond, Fred Warner,
Roquan Smith are your linebackers on the first team? Frankie Luvu,
Bobby Wagner, Zaire Franklin second team. Yeah, I think he
could beat out Yeah, I think I think I think
(16:05):
he was better than one of these. And the problem
with linebacker is too often they weigh that on, you know,
sort of edges and pass rushing, not off ball linebackers.
So well, now, because you got Roqwan, Fred, Zach, yeah,
first team is gonna be tough. Second team. I think
he could make it. You mentioned, Look, I think Justin
(16:27):
Herbert's in that mix. If he's cooking, I have faith,
you know. Is it gonna be hard to knock off?
You know, Lamar, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow. That's
a tough not to crack, no doubt, But I think
there's potential there. Derwin, as you said, is a no brainer.
The tackles are no brainers that they have the opportunity
to do that. You know, it's Tristan Wurf's Quinn minors
(16:48):
last year were your first team tackles. Your second team
tackles were Jordan Mylotta and and Lane Johnson. So it's tough,
but they can do it. Yeah, I think that sounds.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
The problem with Herbert making the money is just that
the way the Chargers play, if it's going to be
a run dominant scheme and you're just not going to
put up the numbers that a Lamar or Josh Allen
put on on the ground. Back Now, Justin has the
capability of running the football and you know, throwing three
four touchdowns a game.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's just a matter of how.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
They're going to play if they have a big league
going in the second half. We kind of know the
formula that Greg Roman wants to execute.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, the one that could be interesting is whoever the
fullback's going to be? You know, if this becomes one
of the top five run You know, because your fullbacks
were Patrick Riccarton Baltimore, who's he blocking forward? Derrick Henry
and Kyle Uschek in San Francisco and we know they
always have a great running attack up there. So if
the running game with Nagie Harris and a Mario and
(17:52):
Hampton comes together with this new revamped offensive line, then
you could put Scott Matt Locke or Steve O. Klotts
if he makes it as the full back into that
mix as well, because not a lot of teams carry
a full back, but they put one every year on
the All Protein.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
It's a good call. Oh, camera, Dicker, how about him?
Forgot it? Forgot about it, forgot about the kicker?
Speaker 1 (18:13):
You know? Yeah, now this he should have been that
he should have been at this year as Chris Boswell,
it should have been Dicker. I saw that interesting stat.
I don't know if you saw it floating a on Instagram.
Chris that he's got ninety seven field goal attempts in
his career. Once he gets to a hundred war even
if he misses all three, he will still be the
most accurate kicker through one hundred attempts in the history
(18:33):
of the NFL. So about that great call. Get him
out there, yep, and you.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Know what to boot Josh Harris logs snap right, lest
get him as an all pro as well. This is
from Nate Goasney. Uh how did both of you get
into the business? And if you were to tell any
new journalists one piece of advice, what would it be?
And also who on the team would be able to
outsurf money? That's the question I want to answer first.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
I don't think. I don't think I think you. I
think you are. I think you were on a level
by yourself, sir.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
I don't know anybody else who serves like I don't.
I know. I've seen I've seen a car in the
lot with a definitely has a sticker. I'm trying to
think if it's a Spider surf it's got a it's
got a South Bay Surf Shop sticker. I can't remember,
You're not supposed to because I remember having this conversation
(19:24):
with Rahem Moster, who serves a lot because he's from Hawaii,
and he and I were chopping it up at the
Broadcast boot camp once and I asked him. I was like, hey,
if you want to paddle out tomorrow, and he was like,
I can't. He's like, I can when I'm in Hawaii.
He's like, but if I'm here around all these people,
He's like, and people found out, I'd get in trouble.
So I assume they put snowboarding, and you know, like
(19:49):
I remember of lat when I worked for the Lakers,
Remember of last Yeah, busted his shoulder snowboarding. You're not
gonna get hurt surfing. Now, you can drown, you can
slice your foot open. I guess on a fin, I've
certainly gotten hurt. I busted my shoulder surf and so
you can get messed up. But the way these guys
would be surfing, they wouldn't. Yeah, I don't. I don't
(20:09):
think anybody serves. I've tried to get them out. I've offered,
and everyone's if they all have the same reaction. The
shark's out there, man, what is that? Yeah, come on, man, it's.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You put in your dude, you put in your ten
thousand hours too. I think it's gonna take even if
they're even if you're an NFL athlete, It take a minute.
It take a minute to out outsurf Matt Mndy Smith.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, and that was just a throwaway question. What was
the first half I forgot? I got it now. I
was thinking first, I need to chase away from Brazil,
That's all I'm thinking about.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yeah, exactly how did we get into the business and
what piece of advice would you give a new journalist?
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Go ahead, Christian can get started. I'm an old man.
You got into the business and later than I did.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, mine was a winding road though. Man Like I,
I started in sports twenty five years ago. I worked
as an intern on the John Thompson Show in Washington,
d C. It was Redskins training camp two thousand, So,
like I knew, I wanted to get onto the broadcast side.
But sometimes just you take the path you're given. And
I got a job actually with the now Commander's Redskins
(21:13):
in the marketing department. Was there for a couple of years,
and then coincidentally worked with the Lakers when Money was
there doing Lakers line. I was director of sponsorships for
nine years, and I got to the point where, man,
it was awesome. You got to go to three straight finals,
two championships. But I knew I wanted to get back
to cover in football, so I left the Lakers in
(21:33):
twenty fifteen, came back to LA, did some stuff at
NFL Network, and then was fortunate enough to get in
with the Chargers first year in Los Angeles, and that's
kind of how I started Chargers Weekly, and then did
some stuff with CBS a couple years later. So now
I'm full time over at CBS, but still get to
do this podcast with money. So it's been a winding road, man.
(21:55):
But I guess the biggest piece of advice I'd give
you is just be open to anything, any opportunity, because
you don't know where that that path is going to
take you.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
And as far as like.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Being a journalist, you know, sometimes creating something and kind
of making making your own path, forging your.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Own path is the way to go because I don't
know about you.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I don't think I've ever gotten a job applying online
and going through that process where it's you know, it's
just it's very rare that it works that way.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
No, they've always come to me. I've been very fortunate
on that that front. And you know, like, I think
it's just how I don't need to I think you
nailed it, Chris. I'll just piggyback and say, yeah, you
don't know what an opportunity is going to turn into.
I mean, my first opportunity was answering phones as a
phone screener for Kevin Eban on k Rock Morning Show
here in LA And I didn't know at the time
(22:44):
that Jimmy Kimmel was going to become, you know, one
of the most famous television personalities in the world. He
was just the sports guy for Kevin Eban, that's what
he was. And we hit it off and he kind
of was a mentor to me and helped share what
he thought was a path to success, and I followed
him and trusted him implicitly. And on top of that,
(23:05):
for play by play in my free time, the Long
Beach Pyramid used to have cassette decks with headsets upstairs
where you could if you were a student and I
would just sneak in, you could throw a cassette in
there and you could call the game. And so That's
kind of how I got my reps and why I
didn't have to go to a smaller market to start
doing play by play, because I probably did, I don't know,
(23:26):
twenty thirty fifty NBA Summer League games, you know, just
fake calls of NBA Summer League games. And that's how
I kind of was able to get some reps and
some time on task. And so I think, if you
want to go into play by play now, you don't
have to need you don't need a cassette deck. You
can get a headset that plugs into your iPhone, hit
(23:49):
the voice recorder and just sit up there and call
the game and listen back to it and figure out
what sounds right, what doesn't adjust your energy levels? Am
I talking too much? Am I not talking enough? Am
I describing the action right? Do I have the geography right?
Am I saying the players names the way I should
be saying? Like I did all that stuff. And so
that's why when my time came, and you know, I
had a boss who gave me the opportunity to call
(24:10):
the PAC ten tournament at the time wasn't even the
PAC twelve. Yet I was not that nervous. I was
kind of ready to go and was able to pull
it off. And you know that led to my play
by play career.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
What was your first year doing play by play.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Two thousand Well, technically, it's funny. Before I did play
by play, I was a color analyst for a game
for the Lakers. Michael Thompson got sick and I had
to fill in for him. I had to hop a
flight to Sacramento to call the game with Spiro. So
that was my first like, yeah, that was my first game.
Was A was a Lakers you know, when the Lakers
were winning championships. A Lakers Kings game was my first
(24:48):
bit of in game call and I was the analyst.
And then I believe twenty ten, No, I think I
did the Pac ten Tournament in two thousand seven. So
I did the Pac ten Tournament in seven, eight and nine,
and then I started doing football. In twenty ten, I
started doing college football. So here I'm fifteen years later
(25:10):
still calling football.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Love it, love it man, and you and DJ just
guess have the best chemistry. This is fun to hear
the calls and to actually to see the fans literally
turned down the TV to listen to you. Guys. Still
I remember I remember as a kid like listening to Sonny,
Sam and Frank in DC like it was Frank Herzog,
Sunny Jurgensen and Sam Huff and you would turn down
(25:31):
your TV. And I love that tradition, and it's how
it still stands in twenty twenty five, where people will
want to listen to the home call and and money
and DJ get that love it's the best.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Appreciate it, Chris, thank you. Yeah, it's DJ's the best.
I just try to stay out of his way. He's
the best analyst out there. I don't think it's even close.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah, you guys are amazing, all right, Chris Hill's how's
Benjamin Saint Juice looking?
Speaker 3 (25:54):
I think his skill set is perfect for our scheme.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I know Dante, Tarheb and Cam are going to get
the bulk of but I think DBS might be a
sneaky strength on the d So, you know, Saint Juice,
he had a tough go of it last year with Washington.
I think his PFF grade was like forty seven point four.
But I think this is purely the traits and the
(26:17):
reps that he has.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
In the league.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
I think jesse Minzer and company think that they can
work with a guy like this, and I'm really intrigued
to see how he looks with Jesse Minter and in
clan scale and that whole secondary what they're going to
do with Saint Jus and how he's going to fit
into the rotation.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, I think it's a depth piece.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
That's and when we talked to coach Minter, remember what
he said to us, Chris. He specifically pointed out, you know,
the Christian Fulton situation that they saw potential that and
they were really proud of how hard he worked and
how he took to their coaching and what they wanted
him to maybe adjust a little bit. And he ends
up getting a big free agent contract from Kansas City,
(26:58):
and he pointed out, He's like, yeah, you know, Saint
just was. He's got the traits, he's got the athleticism,
he's got everything you'd want in a corner. And we
feel like we can do some things with him. And
that's why he's here because he saw what happened with
Christian and he wanted, you know, and we sold him
on the idea that we can try to do the
same thing. And I know they're very excited about Dante Jackson.
(27:18):
So that's you know, I think that the question hit
it on the head where it's Cam Dante and Tarheeve
and Benjamin Saint. Just is gonna expect it to play
impact special teams, be that fourth corner to start and
try to work his way into the rotation.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah, He's a guy that I think is gonna be
really fun to watch during the preseason to see kind
of where he is in this scheme, how quickly he
picks it up. This is from Rico the Sports Guy.
How much do you guys think Justin de Boybe impacts
this year? I know he didn't get too much playing
time last year, but with the depth looking the way
it does, can he have a Poon Afford type of impact.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
We kind of touched on the defensive.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Line element impact money would be, but there's like there's
like seven deep a defensive tack. I'm really excited about
this position, grip because you have Tito, you have cald Well,
you have the two guys Hand and Jones that are
kind of going to replace Puna A boyd B. You
still have Scott Matt locked there. So there's a lot
(28:18):
of guys who I think can play meaningful snaps during
the regular season.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yeah, look, they said that year one to year two coach.
How often have we heard coach Rbass say that the
off season between year one and year two is when
you are going to take your biggest jump. And we've
heard nothing but great things about justin about how much
weight he's put on of muscle, twenty pounds of straight muscle,
how different he looks, how he's done everything they've asked.
(28:44):
We know he was an impact player at Alabama and
that he was considered a project when he was draped
in the fourth round here, So you know, it's we
don't know. We don't know what kind of impact he
can have. What we do know is he's in a
very deep room. Like you said, you know, who would
your starters be, It'll probably be Tito and pick you know,
Nakuon or you know, or Deshaun, and then you're gonna
(29:08):
be rotating in your third round pick and Caldwell, who
I think is gonna probably start earning snaps in a
hurry just because of you.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Say Tier Tart. I mean, you just say Tier Tart too.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
See there we go, dude, I totally forgot about Tier.
He's going to be your starter. You're probably talking about
tier Tart and like Jones and Hand and Tito, and
that's going to be your main rotation. And then the
other guys you're gonna sprinkle in and called well in
a boyd bee. So yeah, I mean the potentials there,
this was their vision. This was I again you mentioned
kling Scale. Mike Elston one of the best coaches in
(29:39):
the league, their D line coach, So I have faith
that he's going to do good things this year.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
This is from Peaky Bolts. Two Peaky questions from Poland.
Dicker speaks Mandarin. Do you or any other Bolts speak
a second language? And did you see this picture? What's
your favorite run? Dmc saw, Yeah, but let me see
the picture.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It's Popper Yopper right all right? There there you go,
Daniel Money and Chris. That's a great photo.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Speaky Bolts, baby.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Yes, what was the first question? Again?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Uh, Dicker speaks Mandard? Does anybody else speak a second language?
Do you speak a second language?
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Espanol? E? Uhogo e Chargers? What's what what his employee
would be? I don't know. Head antheus manager So Francisco
who does the analyst analysis for the radio Espanol e EO.
(30:46):
We'll talk, so typically he does. He does me the
favor of speaking. So I guess I could say a
few things. Let's say it be uh Espanol dos dsra
(31:08):
do so there you go, and don't says uh.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
I'm trying yep, stage me, yep, stage man. Okay. I
used to say.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Exactly, Pancho's the best Pancho do you uh? Do you
have a favorite run DMC song, Bunny, I I don't.
I mean, I'm not a big run DMC guy. Uh,
I do like Aerosmith Aerosmith walked this way? No I can.
I can tell you right now, and I can recite
it word for word. It's like an eighteen second song
(31:40):
and it is called Son of Byford, and I'm not
gonna rap it, but I will recite it. I was
born son of Byford, brother of el Betty. Was my
mammy used to be my pal. It's McDaniel's, not McDonald's.
These raps are daryls, those burgers are Ronald's. I run
down my family tree, my mother, my brother, my sister,
and me. That his son of Byford. It's like this
(32:02):
weird eighteen second interlude on Raising Hell I believe, and
I don't know why, but it always stuck with me
for some reason, that song. I have not heard that
song in twenty years, and yet I can still recite
it a close, almost almost word for word.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Now.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
That was always I bet DMC at a at a
super Bowl party in Arizona. I think it was the
Giants Patriots super Bowl in seven.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
When I was when I was the music director at
k Rock, Russell Simmons came in and Run had put
out his record. He was doing a Reverend Run record
and he didn't necessarily threaten me, but he kind of did.
He was just kind of like, so, here's what we're
gonna do. I was like, well, we're the k Rock here.
(32:48):
Russell like, you know, this is not an easy fit
for us, and he's like yeah, but you're playing nine
to nine Problems by jay Z. I was like, well,
you know it's Jaz, it's Rick Rubin. Oh so Rick
Rubins just but Rick Rubins got more pull than me.
Well he's Rick Rubin and nine inch nails and you
know black Crow, Like, eh, there is he? And he
was like starting to get a little heated, a little upset,
and he's like, how do we do this. It's like,
(33:10):
how do we do what? Like, how do we make
this work? I was like, we'll figure it out. We'll
figure it out.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
The figure it out.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
I think, yeah, we did. I would play it at
night after like I would play it like right before
love Line in the nine o'clock hour. Oh, that's what
it was. I was putting it in the Furious five
at nine and made it sound like people were calling
to request it. And I did that for like a week,
and I was like, here's what I'm gonna do, Russell.
I'm gonna put it in the Furious five at nine.
We'll say people are requesting it. If we actually get
some traction on it, then we'll play it. If not,
(33:38):
I got to cut it. After a week. We're good.
He's like, we're good. I was like, all right, don't
want Russell Simmons on my dad's side.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
That's a great story. Yeah, Oh my god, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
All right.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Darren tiss Own.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Do you believe this is the most anticipated season for
Charger fans? Says the six o seven Charger season, I do,
bolt up. I feel like we always say it. I
feel like we always like Jim Harbaugh's first year was
the most anticipated we've We've had it a long time.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
They won eleven games. I don't know, is this the
most anticipated.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
I feel like I feel like, let's see, that would
have been twenty twenty, twenty twenty. I feel like twenty
twenty two. Right after they lost that game in Week
eighteen in overtime to Vegas to miss out on the playoffs,
I feel like that next year was like, Okay, here
we go, We're we're ready. You know, Staley's the guy
(34:31):
I love the boldness and the going for it. We
you know, it was terrible the way it got away
from him, but herb you know, Justin's ready to take
that step into the top five elite quarterback kind of,
you know, and I think unfortunately it went and that's
the year they won. You know, they got into the playoffs,
jumped on top twenty eight, nothing on the Jaguars, and
that just fell apart and it carried over to the
(34:52):
next season and then coach Staley was gone. So I think,
like you said, I think, you know, just to build
on what you were saying, we always like we lest
we forget, you know, we're prisoners at the moment, and
there is a lot of excitement about this season, but
this is almost exactly where we were, you know, coming
off that nine and eight season, because just because I
(35:14):
don't think there was as much anticipation going into twenty
three because of how badly it went against Jacksonville. That
was kind of like the all the talk was like,
I still can't believe that happened, And that's sort of
the attitude that was the fans were kind of carrying
into the season.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
You know, I'll say this, I think that the expectations
are the highest they've been there.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
And if you look at what coach.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Harball did in year one, winning eleven games, and you
just go by his track record of what he's done.
I think in year two with the Niners, they did
go to the super Bowl. So the fact that coach
Harball has this pedigree of winning everywhere he's gone, that
second year, to me, it seems like the expectations are
probably the highest because you do go to the playoffs
(35:58):
in his first year, you you expect the bar to
be raised another notch. So I don't know about anticipating.
I think expectation wise though, gosh, if it could if
it could match the six seven Chargers then I think
we're cooking here, you know, Segundo come July, you know,
(36:18):
no doubt, Joshua, Now, do you think our linebacker group
could be one of the best. We kind of talked
about this last last week. Even if Junior does not
have an immediate impact like day on, he could still
take snaps off day on in Denzel, I don't know
if I think. I think you mentioned maybe it's the
one of the more underrated groups on this team talking
(36:40):
about I.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Think I think it's one of the best groups in
the league. I expect big things from Junior, and I
think you listen to how coach talks about him, how
Jesse Miner talks about him, how hard it was for
him to get out from under missing all of training camp,
how much he lost physically from that appendectomy, and just
trying to climb back from that from a strength from
(37:03):
a strength standpoint and a being ready for the season standpoint,
and that they were very excited about what he started
to show, you know, the last four weeks of the season.
So yeah, I'm expecting really really big things out of
him and to have day On another year in, you know,
and don't forget Derwin James is a dimebacker, so he's
part of that conversation too, you know, so you can
(37:25):
have Dayan and Derwin out there as your linebackers at times.
And yes, I think it is one of the best
linebacking groups in the league. And I'm saying that blind
on expectations for Junior Colson, but I'm comfortable saying it.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
From Willie Ham.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Is it more of an advantage for us or the
Chiefs to kick off Week one in Brazil? Well, it's
a home game for the Chargers, although they have to
fly thirteen hours to get there. Week ones are or
always wild cards anyway, money, Do you think there's an
advantage one way or another.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
No, I think it's the same for both teams. But
as you said, the Chargers lose their game, the Chiefs
keep their home game against the Chargers, and it comes
on a short week after the Chargers have to play
the Super Bowl champion Eagles on Monday Night Football, So
it definitely benefits the Chiefs when you take the whole
season into context, right, Chargers lose a home game, have
to fly thirteen hours instead of playing it, so fine,
(38:19):
sleeping in their own beds the night before and then
when the Chiefs play the Chargers. It's a Sunday ten
am Pacific kick after the Chargers had just played Monday
night football against one of the most physical teams in
the league, the Philadelphia Eagles. So when you combine those
two things, it is decidedly Chiefs advantage based on how
that thing shakes out.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
All right, Shane le Deswa wants money to share why
he dislikes the Navy so much outside of being winless
in them. This is something that comes up.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Yeah, the people were upset with me about the uniform talk,
and I knew they would be, which, as I said,
I'm willing to accept it.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
I to each his own, to each his own.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Exactly exactly, because I recognize so many folks that are
still huge Charger fans in San Diego, and I love
that and I appreciate that, and that's their uniform. You know,
many of them that are of the twenty to forty
year old range navies. They're into navies, you know, even
fifties because you think about the navies of what was
(39:20):
it ninety four right that went to the Super Bowl
to Stan Humphreys. Ye, natrum means like, yeah, you've got
I get it. But for me, I just have this
negative connotation because the players come out of the locker
room and they're like, yeah, neighbors are sweet, and then
they go out and get their ass kicked, and it's
happened every single time, and so I just can't get
(39:41):
over it. Every time I see the Navies, I'm like,
here we go again. And the players are so into them,
they love them so much, and you can I mean,
you know, you're on the field like they are super
into them, and then they go out and lose the game,
and I'm like, can we just get read of these
Dan Navies. I'm sick of it, like it. They are winless.
They are winless in Navies since they went to the
(40:03):
Powder Blues. So that's it's a personal thing. It has
nothing to do with the way they look or any
of that. That's my thing. Now. Do I like the
way the Royals look better? Yes? I do. That's but
that's also nostalgia and relationship and watching the epic in
Miami and those Dan Fouts, Chuck Munsey, those teams, like
(40:23):
I just love that was sort of my introduction to football,
was that era of football. Being a little kid, really
little kid, you know, five year old, you know, watching
those games and then really getting into you know, football
at that particular moment. So and I always thought the Chargers'
uniforms were the coolest things I'd ever seen, and that
(40:44):
was where the Royals. So that's all it is for me.
Don't take it personal some of you.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
It's just because of recent history in the in the
scoreboard at the end of the game, after the sixty minutes.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
That's it. Yes, this is a great question, XFL.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
What did that person want to say about the Navies?
I jumped you, Chris, and I was trying to defend
myself against the many, but I missed the question.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
I don't want to No, he just he just wanted
you to share why you don't like him.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Oh, okay, there we go.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
Well there is just a simple explanation. Change just wanted
a simple explanation.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
That's it. Man, win a game in the Navies and
I'm all good.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
Exactly exactly, all right, xflow.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Primo most likely to win Protector of the Year award
was is gonna be a new award this year?
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Slater or alt It's a good question.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
Yes, if I were to beat it'd be Slater because
he's just He's one of the best tackles in the
league and has been for when he's healthy, he is
one of the best tackles in the league. He just is,
you know, now all we think can get there. Last
year he was great as a rookie and we expect
him to take a big step this year. But like people,
people don't. I think, look, Charger fans know. Unfortunately, the
(41:54):
rest of the NFL, you know, doesn't know. And so
and it's not like if you give Protector of the
Year to Trent Williams or Lane Johnson or Jordan Malatta,
it's going to be a bad decision. But Rashawn's in
that conversation, like he is just flat out in that conversation.
So like Tristan Wurf's, you know, you have to have
(42:17):
the reputation and that's what typically gets you on those
all pro teams. So when you see Penna and Tristan
on the first team, as I'm looking at it, and
then you see Jordan Malatta and Lane Johnson on the
second team, it's a tough nut to crack. But if
they're running the hell out of the ball and Herbert
stand clean on that blind side and play action is working. Yeah,
(42:39):
he's he's going to be in a mix. He is
definitely going to be in the mix. I think it's
probably going to be harder for a right tackle to
get Protector of the Year unless they're protecting for a
left handed quarterback.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
So that's what I was going to say, you hit
on the head with blind side. I mean he's protecting
Herbert's blindside, so that I think give you the edge.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
But everything we've.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
Heard about Joe alt Man, Yeah, it's it's going to
be be fun.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
Yeah, no doubt. A couple more here before we get
out of here.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Money.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Uh this is.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
From Alex Bolta. Do you think Greg Roman is going
to start throwing to the running backs this year?
Speaker 3 (43:14):
Yeah? I think so.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
I looked at.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
It didn't happen. Well, Gus only caught a few. JK
was targeted like thirty some odd times. But you know,
O Marion showed the ability to catch the blot of
the backfield North Carolina. Now she can catch the blot
in the backfield too. So you know, the more that
those those guys are on the field, I think more
they're going to be part of the passing game.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
Yeah. I think for Roman that he runs the ball,
you know, and a lot of those passes to running
backs are typically extensions of the run game, and it's
just not something that Greg has really done a lot
in his career. And I think a lot of it
also you have to look at when you're talking about historically,
is the backs that he's had. You know, it's Frank Gore,
it's Toby Gerhart, it's you know, Gus Edwards and and
(44:00):
JK and like so the backs you've had aren't necessarily
Austin Eckler, who can catch ninety balls a season, and
that's kind of what we got used to the previous
five years. But with Omari and Hampton, yeah, I could
see him wanting to get him out in some space,
throwing some passes into the flat and watch him make
fools of people out there. So I could and not
to mention, we saw him run that wheel route and
(44:22):
snag that pass over his shoulder and it's like, okay,
we're going to see some of this this year. So yeah,
I think a lot of it is personnel based.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
Two more, do we expect a punter competition? No?
Speaker 2 (44:34):
No, Ryan Ficken loves JK Scott and Jk's pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
So there's no punter competition.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
That's not going to happen, Madam Fanas. This will be
the last question.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Can you guys do a breakdown of what games you
think will win lose next year?
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Love, how money takes into consideration, travel, rest, previous week's
opponent as these factors seem the way heavy on likelihood
of outcome.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
Thanks, bolt up.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Maybe for another show. I mean, I'd have to go
through it, and you.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Know what, how about we do this?
Speaker 2 (45:06):
We have a we have a couple of more episodes
before training camp starts. This may be a this may
be an exercise that we do maybe next week.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Definitely we can get into rest what the other like.
I'd want to that's a good one. I'd want to
dig into it. Give it the full Warren Sharp treatment.
You know, what's the opponent coming off? What are we
coming off as the opponent traveling from the week before?
Are they looking ahead to the week after? Who was
their opponent the week before? Was it a physical bloody
and it's and obviously I get it. I don't need
(45:35):
the disclaimer of well, you know people could get hurt. Yes,
we go and expect accepting that people can get hurt
and things can change drastically with who you know, your
Duck Hodges is your quarterback this week, and they still
want so you know, like I think it's with all
of that being said, yeah, that's one I'd rather dig
into because it sounds like that's what you want us
to do is dig into it and kind of talk
about where the advantages are and where now. I do
(45:57):
know they have a net positive rest schedule this year.
It despite all those mileage, even though they're going to
be the longest traveling team from air miles this year,
they do have a net positive rest schedule because all
of their primetime games, with the exception of the Monday
night or in Vegas, which is a thirty minute flight,
are home games. So that's a huge win when you're
(46:19):
talking about a short week for Thursday night football against Minnesota.
For Monday night footballs, you know, going into the next week,
you get all that extra rest because you're at home
and you're not flying home and ruining your Tuesday and
Wednesday because you played Monday night football in Pittsburgh and
you're not getting home until five am. So like all
of that being taken into consideration. Just to give you
(46:40):
a thumbnail The huge win is that every single primetime
game is at home except the Monday night or in Vegas,
and that's a thirty minute flight. So when we're done
with that game, it's and that's a late kick. Remember
that's the doubleheader Monday night or so that's a seven
o'clock kick. So we're going to be wheels up around
midnight and instead of getting home at six am the
(47:01):
next day, you're getting home you know, twelve thirty one o'clock.
Not too bad. So there you go.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
I was thinking we'd have a little bit more time
before camp to dive into some of these topics. The
good news for us we have like one more week
before we get into camp stuff.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
Yeah, we have, we have. We're taping this on a
Wednesday now. Next week's to ninth.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
The following weeks for fourthday, so it's like we're in
training camp early man, a couple more weeks.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
It's correct, you know, we'll be doing because yeah, next
Thursday's the tenth, we'll be at the first day training
camp for Thursday, when we typically do chargers weekly, it'll
be the first day camp. Well, we'll probably do chargers
weekly from the bolt on the first day of camp.
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
Yeah, probably have a player on too, So I mean, gosh,
we are. We're in there cruising guys.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
Fourth of July weekend. I hope you guys have a
wonderful fourth of July.
Speaker 2 (47:58):
We gave you forty five minutes of of Chargers talk
to Pop on this weekend. You know, I think Litsten,
you guys did the work man fifty questions of the
last two weeks.
Speaker 3 (48:07):
We appreciate it. Anything else to have before we get
out of here.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
Brother all good. Appreciate everybody for shooting the questions in.
I'll add this, Remember, folks, on the fourth of July,
leave the fireworks to the professionals, because safety is no accident.
Speaker 3 (48:22):
That's a BSA.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
Everybody needs that PSA.
Speaker 1 (48:26):
It's right.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Don't blow your fingers off, folks, don't blow your fingers off.
Please enjoy it and we will see you guys next
week for money.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
I'm Chris. This has been Chargers week.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.