Segment 2: NFL Owners Meetings

Matt, Dale are joined by Max Starks and recap Mike Tomlin's comments to the media at the NFL Owners Meetings. They cover QBs, O line, as well as the Steelers' upcoming game in Ireland

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
At least he's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt
Williamson on your twenty four to seven home of the
Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
And welcome back.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
I am Dale Lolly here with the Max Starks and
Matt Williamson at the league meetings here in West Palm
Beach and Mike Tomlin addressing the media here earlier today.
I was asked about that on on social media last week,
Mike Thomlin's talking at at the meetings? Is this something special?
I'm like, no, this is what he does every year.

(00:37):
He doesn't talk until he gets down here. He lets
Omar talk at the you know, at the at the
the combine and all that stuff, and so they you know,
just have everything is very much laid out. Omar Kalm
will talk either tomorrow here or he'll talk on Tuesday.
We'll hear from Art Rooney the second on Tuesday, once
the league meetings wrap up and they decide what they

(00:59):
decide about any potential rule changes and not as many
rule changes on the on the docket this year.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Guys now now more more so like I guess, operational rules,
I guess I think is probably the best way of
operating that.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
I mean, you have the assistance of the refs, you
have you know.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Uh, coaching reviews, those type of things that are more
you know, kind of what we call situational type of
deals versus actual structural rules to gameplay.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Yeah, so it's not I mean, and Tomlin did say
today that they're you know, and he's on the Competition committee.
Obviously they're talking a lot about the kickoff rule, and
what was initially proposed was bringing the ball out to
the thirty five. He said today. One other thing that
they are talking about is moving the kickoff back five
yards as opposed to bring you'd keep the kickoff, yeah,

(01:50):
rule as is as is, but you move the ball
back and say, okay, if you can bang it out
of the end zone.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
Yeah, if you can bang it eighty yards, have that.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, but you're still got to put it in that
landing zone. Yeah, or you know you're in trouble. It's
gonna go out to the forty.

Speaker 5 (02:02):
I would like to see more kickoff returns. Yeah, I
didn't think you're one of The kickoff rule was a disaster.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
No, it was because you got a twenty three percent
increase in returns.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah. Yeah, different, which is what you want.

Speaker 5 (02:13):
So it had the.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
Yeah, fewer concussions.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
You know, you had that a little short scrum line
that you had to deal with. So I think getting
more of those and just getting more looks at it,
you now create it.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
They called the dynamic kick, but you make it an
exciting kickoff. I'm not gonna go dynamic yin. That's a
big one.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, dynamic is huge. That a big word. And it
wasn't I mean, there were more, there were more kick
return touchdowns and there had been the previous year, but
it wasn't like the teams were returning the ball left
and right number yeah, yeah, but we did see more
returns and that was the one area on special teams
where the Steelers were lacking last year was A on

(02:52):
their kick return and b on their kick return coverage.

Speaker 4 (02:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
I think part of that was because it was such
a new rule that you know.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
A little behind schedule.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
I mean, I I can't tell you how many times,
especially when the first preseason game came out, Remember that
first one, and.

Speaker 5 (03:07):
I just remember knew what they knew, not what to think.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
And then Danny Smith had just come out of meetings
and I remember I was sitting down like at the
picnic Carrea right up top outside of Saint Benedict and
I had just seen a play where the dude ran
this crazy cross reverse and I remember I went up
and I was like hey, and Danny Smith was walking by.
I was like, hey, Danny. One of the returns that
came out. I was like, it was very intriguing. I

(03:30):
was like, you might want to go watch it. It
was crazy to see this something. He he went out
to you. He went right upstairs, pulled the video, watched it,
came back down and gave me a full report about it.

Speaker 4 (03:41):
Just he was like, hey, hey, Max Man, you know
how he kind of talk.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
I've never met a Cajun Pittsburgh before, so I'm like,
you're from Pennsylvania, right. I was like, He's like, why
do you sound like you're from like you know, Ebo,
Alabama or somebody on the Bayou. And he he had
had a full report like, hey, hey, we already saw that,
we already saw the dank thing.

Speaker 5 (04:00):
How much have we talked about that in training camp
and on the air, and O what's this kickoff rule
going to mean? And it really didn't mean that much
because at.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
The end of the day, what your good kickers said, Ah,
we'll just kick it out the back of the end zone.

Speaker 5 (04:11):
Different.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
Yeah, it wasn't.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
It wasn't a big enough difference.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
And honestly, from the where the returns, the average return
was out to liket the twenty eight.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
Yeah, it wasn't a thirty.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
It wasn't a big enough difference.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
That's why they're talking about move maybe moving it to
the thirty five or pushing the kick back. Now you
start going to the thirty five we talked about last week.
If you're you get the ball to thirty five, what's
that two first field goal range?

Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 5 (04:37):
But these kickers nowadays, I think that's actually a pretty
significant change.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
And I think and teams would be more likely to say, hey,
we need to get them back.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
It's not that much different from going to the forty
with if you kick the ball out of bounds and
I know coaches hate.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
That, yeah, exactly, lead to more points.

Speaker 4 (04:52):
This will lead to more points scoring. That's what initially
is going to be.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Whether you move it back five more yards or whether
dependal he goes out to the thirty five.

Speaker 4 (04:59):
You're trying to generate points. Both of those things I
think kind of like.

Speaker 5 (05:02):
That's what fans want and betters and fantasy players, And.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
I was about to say, for the for the all
good sake of of Vegas and all of those lights
that they have to keep powered on, they would love
to see.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
This more points more. Yeah. Absolutely, I think it will
be something. It will be tweaked either it will be
and I think I think it should be, you know,
to a degree. I think you need to penalize guys
and not just kicking out of the back, because that's
what we were trying. That's what that's what we tried.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
That's what we tried to avoid why we created this
new kickoff, right, and to go back to more of
the same is going to be the similar thing.

Speaker 5 (05:32):
And I think either a five yard penalty or five
yards back would definitely make a difference. Yeah, it doesn't
sound like much, but I think it definitely makes a difference.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah, it does, especially when you're talking, you know, and if.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
You struggle offensively.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Now you've give me five more yards than I normally
would have and like you said, two first downs.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
I'm in kicking range.

Speaker 5 (05:48):
Yeah, some of these Steeler offens is gonna use them
over the years.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
Back in those Canada offenses.

Speaker 5 (05:55):
Yeah five yards awful lot.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
Yeah, yeah it is. Can I put that on my
stat line.

Speaker 5 (06:01):
A strong give, a strong push, push, feel or care?

Speaker 4 (06:05):
I mean, honestly, I don't care.

Speaker 5 (06:07):
Yeah, I think I think. I don't think it's fun
to watch.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
I mean, I just think it's one of those things
like if you're going out and banning the play outright,
I don't know if I.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
Agree with that. I think you should. You can't tweak it, and.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
I just don't think you should be able to assist
the runner.

Speaker 5 (06:21):
And the thing that's my thing.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
It used to be a sudden and I'm like, I
get if you're listen, if you want to push the
offensive lineman in the butts, like like the old school, Like, yeah,
that's that's different. But the guy with the ball.

Speaker 4 (06:32):
You can't touch the guy with the ball.

Speaker 5 (06:33):
That's my problem.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
That's that's because I mean, what's the difference between when
you get an open field and offensive lineman slingshots the
guy you just.

Speaker 5 (06:41):
Pick up a little back and throw them five.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
The end exactly right.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, you know it's like and you're not allowed for example,
on on a if I'm if I'm lining up for
a field goal, you can't use another player to catapult,
but you're like kind of allowing that kind of assistance
on those plays.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, you now swish it to the other side of
the ball. You're saying, we can do this. And it's
also the ball carrier, Like that's the other thing. It's
different if like you're in the open field and you're
getting that scrum and you're like pushing the power forward,
which you guys don't have a problem with that unless
it not. But if his feet comes off the ground,
but yet you're having a guy like kind of submarine

(07:20):
feet off the ground and you're still assisting him.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
I'm like, you can't have it both ways. You got
to pick one or the other.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
And I think if they tweak that rule to where, hey,
you cannot touch the runner, you can assist the linemen
that are in the ground.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
If you're that guy.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Coming across in motion, you know, you give a push
that way, but don't touch the ball carrier.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
I'd be a lot happy.

Speaker 5 (07:39):
That's how I would tweak it. Yeah, we haven't want
to it.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
I don't want to ban it out right, you know
what I'm saying, because you're gonna get into dive situations.
If there's a burden contact, cool, but not the premeditated content.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
Yeah, and the assisting the ball carrier part bothers me
and we haven't seen it, fortunately, But I also think,
and I'm not an athlete, but I would not want
someone pushing me from behind. From an injury standpoint, I
feel like I can't protect myself when I'm all this
motion behind me, you know, like it's just taking those guys.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Dynasty Kansas City was trying to do right to submarine
the center as a center. I wouldn't want that because
I'm like, I got opposing forces and you know, Jason Kelsey, listen,
I get it shorter, you know, guy, but gam Jurgen's
a little bit taller.

Speaker 4 (08:22):
I would be worried about my knees.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
I'd be worried about they're coming in low and then
you got them pushing and they're gonna be high. So
now it's like, do I just fall over and just
lay on top of it because my legs have not
kicked out? Well, what if I kick Jalen Hurts in
the shin with my cleats and then I'm.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
In trouble in those moments.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
So yeah, it's it's a safety issue that they do
need to figure out a more streamline way.

Speaker 4 (08:44):
Of dealing with.

Speaker 5 (08:45):
I think it's also fun for the fan or the viewer.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
It was not, Yes, loved it, which was the game
in the playoffs where Washington was Washington and it was
kept jumping off side and jumping off We're just gonna
give them a touch down if you do it again, right.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
Nobody wants to see that. No, you don't want to
see free points being given in that moment, especially the
goal line.

Speaker 5 (09:07):
I mean half of this is goal Who cares, you know?

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
Are we at the point now where the quarterback sneak
like it's a legitimate play there? There's you know that's
been in the in the game forever.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yes, it's not that.

Speaker 5 (09:22):
You're also going to see the Tyler Warren's doing it,
and then there's some tight ends, as they should. Tyler
Warren's perfect for it, you know.

Speaker 6 (09:31):
But you're not shoving Lamar in the back. No, definitely
hurts a big, stronger guy, you know, well, hurts Squat's
almost as much as Saquan. Yeah, that's why you use
him for those type of situations.

Speaker 5 (09:42):
But so were right there, there's not a lot of
huge role changes that I think changed in this couple
of days.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah, it's not that great. We'll see what they do
with the kickoff, We'll see some of these other things.
But I don't think most fans are going to necessarily
look at this and go, Wow, they really changed the
game and.

Speaker 4 (09:56):
It's not noticeable.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
But I did see something on Roger Goodell and I
can't remember where I saw the story at Pushing Again,
they're they're talking about that eighteenth game.

Speaker 5 (10:07):
Yeah, oh that's coming.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
It's just a matter of when it's going to.

Speaker 5 (10:11):
Be eighteen games, two buys, one fewer pre season and
get used to it. It's coming.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yeah, well I think I think it is coming, but
I think you know, it's it's a it's that darned
CBA those players got. Yeah, so it's gonna have to
be collectively bargained, and I think that that monetarily with
what that's gonna do with the current contracts versus the
new television contracts, and everybody's like, you're not you're not
gonna You're not gonna short us on this. So I

(10:37):
think that's the only thing that's probably holding this up
and why we got just to seventeen and we didn't
jump from sixteen to eighteen, which was the initial plan
was to do that.

Speaker 4 (10:45):
They had to, they had to compromise it.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
But the way the salary cap has gone up in yeah, yeah,
I mean the league's pretty healthy.

Speaker 4 (10:52):
It's there.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
The salary the last two years, the salary cap has
gone up more than the entire salary cap was when
I first started covering the Steelers in nineteen ninety three.

Speaker 4 (11:03):
Right it is.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
It's gone up over thirty million dollars in each of
the last two In the last two years, it was
like thirty million dollars for your entire roster when I
started covering the team, which.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
It absolutely should. I mean when I came in, eighty million,
it wasn't that much. The big of a difference.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
Now guys are getting eighty million.

Speaker 4 (11:22):
They're getting it.

Speaker 3 (11:23):
One guy in particular, we got eighty four million for
four years.

Speaker 5 (11:28):
I'm like, this shows me the league's healthy. I mean
people have a problem with it. Wh I have a
problem with it when you see.

Speaker 4 (11:33):
The sales of teams, like every team is worth billions
of dollars.

Speaker 5 (11:36):
That's the only way to judge the health of league
or what are the teams worth? And what's the salary cap.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, when Washington went up for sale and they hit
that four million, four billion, and.

Speaker 5 (11:44):
They could have had the they have the worst business
plan on the planet, Like they were so bad at
their first job, and they still and they still it
was the best investment ever.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, and then you saw the Celtics what they went
for as a basketball franchise six point one.

Speaker 4 (11:58):
It's like, yeah, these teams.

Speaker 5 (11:59):
Are only the only appreciating billions billions, right, I mean
a hedge fund manager buys the Panthers. Yeah, it's the
best investment ever. It's a better investment than anything he
can invest in the.

Speaker 4 (12:10):
Market, right, hedge, right exactly.

Speaker 5 (12:13):
This is a loss situation.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, yeah, nobody, nobody loses money.

Speaker 5 (12:18):
Ever, I can the sign in the ground like Washington
will still make a fortune.

Speaker 4 (12:23):
Still make a King's rant.

Speaker 5 (12:24):
That's crazy. Leagu's healthy. It's all means.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
Let's get to another break.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
He is Matt Williamson, that is Max Starks and I
am Dale Lolly. We are here at the Breaker Breakers
Hotel slash resort.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
Golf course, everything get away.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
There's all kinds of stuff back there, and it's it's
a beautiful, uh here in West Palm Beach. Uh with
league meetings taking place here and uh, well we'll come
back and we'll talk more about just that here on
Steelers Nation Radio and the Steelers Audio Network work right
after this.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
And we are back. I am Dale Lolly, he is
Matt Williamson. We're here with Max Starks as well here
on the Drive in this special edition of The Drive,
a Sunday Drive. Who doesn't like to take a nice,
nice Sunday drive, afternoon Sunday drive. Maybe go get ice
cream or something, you know, a little family out.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
Of Burger Fi.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
You know, it's right down there on the Johont Trail.
There you go. So one of the things that happened
this Austume.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
We were just talking about the salary cap going up
so much that I think it really affected free agency.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
To the point where.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
We saw, like I thought Dan Moore would get a
nice contract in free agency. I thought, I'm thinking like fifteen.

Speaker 4 (13:58):
Mil per year. Yeah, yeah, you end up.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
Getting over twenty because the cap went.

Speaker 4 (14:02):
Up so exponentially.

Speaker 5 (14:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
More more so than I think people recognized. And it
has gone Look it's gone up over sixty million dollars
in the last two years, and so you got to
spend your money, yeah, because you have to have a
ninety percent cap spin right right right.

Speaker 4 (14:17):
Yeah. The Patriots, for example, they.

Speaker 5 (14:20):
Don't have anybody they can give it to on their
own team.

Speaker 4 (14:22):
They give.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, they end up giving you know, Stephan Digs, I
think more money than anybody thought that he was going
to get in the guy company.

Speaker 4 (14:28):
He is thirty years old, coming up with an ACL tear.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Major ACL tear and still dropping the bucket for that,
and they gave him more than twenty million a year.
Like this isn't two, you know, twenty Stephan Digs. This
is yeah, twenty twenty four stef On Digs. But you
have to make that work for somebody. You have to
give that money team Stephan Digs. Yeah, yeah, So I

(14:52):
just think the stuff got inflated a little bit higher
than maybe if I keep it. Did the Steelers not
spend all, you know, a bunch of mone any in
free agency because they're waiting on the quarterback. No, I
think they go into things with they set price and
they're not gonna go above that set price.

Speaker 5 (15:09):
So and you can't forget the Metcalf.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
I mean they got met they got DK Metcalf.

Speaker 5 (15:12):
Ever, like they did they were low spenders in free agency,
but they paid Metcalf.

Speaker 4 (15:17):
I found the got to pay.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
And you still are contemplating with TJ that extension as well.

Speaker 5 (15:22):
So the Patriots don't have a TJ to give their
money to, you know.

Speaker 4 (15:25):
Nor did they acquire DK Metcalf.

Speaker 5 (15:27):
Yeah no, right.

Speaker 4 (15:28):
Right, they don't. They don't even have a Derek.

Speaker 5 (15:31):
Wattch no, right, right right. They're gonna have a hard
time spend their money.

Speaker 4 (15:35):
Yeah, yeah, and even in the draft.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
I mean you think they're gonna have a lot of
people they're going to find somebody to give an extension to.

Speaker 5 (15:41):
Yeah, exactly to me, because.

Speaker 4 (15:43):
And I mean you let you let bar Barmore walk, right.

Speaker 5 (15:46):
No, he's he's fighting a blood clotch situation.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Okay, so you can't pay him, right right? And yeah,
what else do you have? Drake maystill on a rookie contract.

Speaker 5 (15:55):
Right, I mean there's guys who can't pay and.

Speaker 3 (15:57):
You you got to spend it a ninety you know,
you can't just continue to roll that money.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
Over.

Speaker 5 (16:02):
So see what we're seeing though, is and you mentioned
this to start, the guys that actually hit free agency
aren't as good at players as they used to be.
Because if I've got a ton of money, which every
team has a ton of money, I mean, even except
for like the Saints, I mean, but like everyone has
a ton of money and they can make money. I mean,
their world so strange. They kicked so far down the room.

(16:23):
But think of the extensions we saw. We saw Stingley,
Chase Miles, Garrett, Micah Parsons is on the horizon, all
these huge dudes. You just don't let them get the
free agency now because we have all the money in
the world. The Steelers aren't gonna let wat hit free agency,
you know.

Speaker 4 (16:38):
And that's why they were able to, you know, since
Sanny was able to pay t Higgins.

Speaker 5 (16:42):
Yeah right, right right. They were probably thrilled the cap ony.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
Yeah, yeah, they were like, hey, listen, we got this
money to spend.

Speaker 4 (16:46):
We still got it.

Speaker 5 (16:47):
Let's do it. Yeah. But you know, going back to
New England, those guys aren't going to hit free agency much.

Speaker 4 (16:52):
Listen to how many guys the Patriots added.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Oh I know, Harold Landry, the third you paid him.
Splaine goes there from Las Vegas. Carlton Davis, Morgan, Moses
Milton Williams. Another guy you paid twenty You paid a
lot of money to Kyrie's Tonga, Joshua Dobbs, Mac Collins,
Calebon Chase On, Marcus Epps, Garrett Bradberry, Jack Gibbons.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
They added something and they're still.

Speaker 5 (17:17):
They still by far more to spend the name, still have.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
Way more money to spend and they've added I mean,
was that twelve guys I just named.

Speaker 3 (17:23):
That overpaid like Roberts. Robert Splaine is getting damn near
as much money as the Steelers paid to get Patrick Queen. Yes,
Plaine is a is a fine player, solid, but he
ain't Patrick Queen.

Speaker 4 (17:38):
There's a reason why he's not here. Patrick Queen is.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, there was an appreciable difference. But you know, that's
a team that you're you're in a full rebuild, and
like you said, you didn't pay anybody last year and
and your draft, your draft picks compensation where you're at
right now resembles that, and you know they had they
had to change it because Mike Rabel's not gonna put
up with that, right So This is why you have

(18:00):
to go out there. So we can't sit there and
compare apples to apples. We're not in We are a kumpquat.

Speaker 4 (18:05):
Don't compare me to you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
In this type of situation, as a team that also
has been to the playoffs, what other playoff team spent
a lot?

Speaker 5 (18:15):
Not a lot, no, not a lot of zero.

Speaker 2 (18:16):
I think we've spent more, probably than most of the
other fourteen.

Speaker 5 (18:20):
People aren't even kept Stanley and that was it.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
People aren't factoring the dk Metcalf thing into free agency
when they really should, because if there's a quarterback, if
TK Metcalf had been on the open market, oh, he
is worth more than T Higgins. He's higher. This would
have been right below j mar Chase. He's been a
better player in his career than T Higgins.

Speaker 5 (18:40):
His contract could be way higher than one the Steeler game.
If he was on the open warning, what would the
Patriots have given dk Metcalf in the market. He would
have been the highest FAE receiver in the league because
they can't spend it anywhere else. So the other thing
people don't factor in with these contracts is true UFAs
that signed a new deal. How often do they see
every dollar that you know?

Speaker 2 (19:03):
Never never close to those No, and they're backloading the
back deals anyway, right right, they're just looking at how
to how to spread the cap hit.

Speaker 5 (19:11):
All these dudes get cut and then you pick them
up and they don't hurt your camp game, you know.
But right, we got a one.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
Hundred and forty million dollars over four years. We ain't
never seen one hundred and forty million dollars, right, No,
that's all.

Speaker 4 (19:21):
That's all. So he can go into the locker room
and tell his buddies. They look at the contract, agg
he puts it on the next kid.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
Which is why you see on all the all the
inside or stuff contract negotiated by.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, that's that's only. That's the only pub for them. Yeah,
you know, and I think that's where people and you
can't get enamored with that. I think that's the biggest thing.
Don't get enamored with the number. Look at the quality
of what you're getting over the content. But like you said,
you do need to factor in traded players before you
get the free agency because those matter against that future
cap as well.

Speaker 5 (19:51):
Speaking of which you know with Metcalf like, people don't
look at it this way, like I've gotten many people.
Thirty million is way too much for that guy. I'm like, okay,
you have that right to say that. Fine, But if
he was on the old market, he'd get more. But
the last contract he signed with Seattle, I don't know
what the numbers were, but it was a higher percentage
of the cap then than thirty million is now. It's

(20:13):
all relative. Look at percentage of cap, not how many
dollars actually, right, not pass value, right, because the cap
goes up the cap.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
It's exponentially gone up, and you have no reason to
not believe that it won't go up another thirty million
next year.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
If I was making thirty thousand dollars a year in
nineteen seventy nine, I was doing really good.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
Right.

Speaker 3 (20:34):
If I'm making thirty thousand dollars a year now, not
so much.

Speaker 7 (20:38):
You're below the poverty yeah, right, the gallon mill doesn't change,
then start changing a dozen eggs, right, thirty grand would
get me a dozen It would get.

Speaker 5 (20:49):
Me If people don't look at the salary cap stuff,
and in the right manner, you know they don't.

Speaker 2 (20:55):
And then you have to also look at what that
future impact is, you know as well, And that's why
you look at longer deals because you need to spread
out those hits and you plan for dead cap years
in those moments as well.

Speaker 3 (21:07):
That's one of the things that didn't happen as much
this offseason. Back in your playing days, when a guy
signed a free agent contract, it was typically four years
or longer, four.

Speaker 4 (21:17):
Or five years. And you saw it.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
I looked it up like two weeks ago on a Wednesday, right,
we were a week into the free agent period. At
that point, there had been one five year deal signed,
seven four year deal signed, and over one hundred one
and two year deals.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, two years and below. Yeah, yeah, I mean, And
that's why when we saw like this freezing. I mean,
I think we had one hundred more transactions than we
did like a year before because of all.

Speaker 4 (21:45):
Those deals and and teams were and guys were okay
with just one years.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Smart for the team. It's smart for.

Speaker 3 (21:53):
The player because you know, if I'm not going to
get guaranteed money, yeah, all right, we're gonna go. I'll
go find a new deal next year. Okay, I'm gonna
get I'm gonna give six this year. Well, if I play. Well,
I'm betting on myself. I'll get eight next.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
Year is that cap goes up, that maximum spending goes up,
and I know that it's all I have to do
is stay healthy and for the.

Speaker 5 (22:14):
Team, if you have a bad year, if the cap
goes up, you still might get five as opposed to six.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, get six again.

Speaker 5 (22:21):
You might six again, right because that six was like
last year's five exactly for the teams.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
It makes sense because in the market, I can I
can test this guy out. If I like him, I
could sign him long term, or if he goes somewhere else,
I might get a call pick in return.

Speaker 5 (22:36):
Plus, free agency happens before the draft, So you give
Slay a one year deal. But I can still draft
a corner, you know, that's on that I get for four,
or I don't draft a.

Speaker 4 (22:44):
Corner and he can sit for a year and learn
and then he's ready year two.

Speaker 5 (22:47):
Yeah, the place of Sleigh. I mean, if the right
guy's not there in the draft, you don't take him.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yeah, you're And I think you know that's also how
the college game is looking at it, right, because I
mean there is this decision you know, coming coming down
in nanc double about the JUCO transfer rule. So if
JUCO doesn't count, why not take a more mature JUCO
guy has played two years post high school, and now
I get a more mature freshman that I get in here.

(23:12):
Same type of concept that you're working here is if
I can, if I can put him behind a guy
because he only has a one year deal and then
now he's ready to play year two, I've done my
job a little bit better.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
Rule change that they're proposing that JUCO is just an
extension of high school basically.

Speaker 4 (23:27):
Account against your collegiate eligibility.

Speaker 5 (23:29):
Okay, Yeah, so it's interesting that used to be there.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
The post prep schools.

Speaker 4 (23:34):
Were that.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
You go to thirteenth grade, as I like to call it,
you go to two military schools that are in Virginia
you go to the one in Maine, or you go
to the one and in Georgia you go there, or
you got right, there's like two or three of them.
Or you go to Oak Hill for basketball was the
famous place for that. You go for one and then boom,
now you jump into college you're one year older.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yeah, that's what we do with Larry, and I think
some of that may be trickling down to the nil stuff.
I think, not not the payment of it, but the
idea that hey, guys are guys are moving around, Guys
are going to three or four different colleges. So why
do we think they can't come in and learn a
new system with us in a year because they're doing

(24:15):
it in college.

Speaker 5 (24:16):
Tyler Schuck's been with three schools and has four degrees.
I think he'll be able to learn the offense when
he gets here a twenty six.

Speaker 4 (24:23):
Year old or wherever you know exactly.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
He's Dylan Gabriel another multiple times, and cam Ward has
been in three different schools like this, they this happens, and.

Speaker 3 (24:32):
They're this is the reality, right, this is the new
reality that we're used to.

Speaker 2 (24:36):
You're not gonna hear a guy You're like, hey, you
know hi, Max Stark's University of flo You're not gonna
hear that you're here, cam Ward Louisville, Miami, blah blah
blah blah blah.

Speaker 4 (24:45):
You're like three or four different schools. They might have
to change the what did I interest?

Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yeah, or just saying most recently, there's that, Yeah, so's it's.

Speaker 5 (24:55):
The wild West a little bit in miscouty world.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Yeah, it really is, and I just wonder, like, I know,
you know, when this first started happening, Kevin Colbert was like,
you know, I look at guys that transfer like that,
you know, a little differently than the guys who who
stayed with their programs. I think that mentality has changed
over these and even Kevin's mentality on that changed over these.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
Because now.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
The number of guys who actually stayed with their school
is far less than it used to be. The you know,
the outlier used to be the guy who transferred three times.
Now the outlier is the guy who stays with one school. Yeah,
you're like, wait a second, you can't learn, or it's
like are they compensating. Some guys are like, you know,
Mason McCormick is like, no, I started here.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
I want to finish here.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
These are the people who got me, you know, at
the beginning, and they put a lot of effort. Betime,
he's getting calls from other teams. He could have made
more money, you know that. The Toledo corner was another one.
Last year he stayed at Toledo.

Speaker 5 (25:49):
Yeah, I'm sure Alexander got offered from Yeah, right, I.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
Think you kind of look at it and like you said,
and I think those type of you know, GM types
and personnel guy is a college kind of court. I
think you you kind of you have to evolve with
this because if you don't, I don't think you have
a job long term. Because that's just the way that
this this game has just a reality and it's the reality.
And I think that's why, you know, you have to
have a guy like Kevin Colbert agree to agree to Hey,

(26:14):
this is this is a lot different than we anticipated, guys,
so let's just kind of grow with the times and
the ones that don't, especially like coaches. I mean, that's
why you saw Saban get out of the game, you know,
and said I can't deal with guys, and then having
to bring in new guys. And I'm surprised as the
heck that Bill Belichick wanted to go to North Carolina
and deal with that, right, But.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
The first thing he did is hire as a GM
to handle that all that stuff because it's more like
the professional game now.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
It is it is, I mean, and more and more
guys are getting picked up. I think Andrew Hawkins is
actually at Toledo. I think that's where he took the
job as their GM, and you see Kevin Colbert doing
the job at Colorado State, like they're now going and
finding guys, Hey, are you experienced for you know, personnel
guys from the NFL league. You're now finding a job
in college now because this manager it similarly.

Speaker 4 (27:00):
Now you just need to manage.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
Being able to keep guys a little bit longer, tie
them in a little bit more. But that's where this
game is growing too, to where we're literally seeing a
semi professional league growing right underneath us.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
At this homegrown level, it really has become a college
football has become a minor.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
League, and they play sixteen games in full and if
you go to the championship, you're playing sixteen games.

Speaker 5 (27:23):
Yeah, it's like the week before the Senior Bowl. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:27):
Yeah, this guy's playing nat Championshi. Yeah, he'll be ready
for the Senior Bowl. This is another week of Rinder.

Speaker 5 (27:31):
Howard didn't look great throwing at the combine and he's
played sixteen games. He's tired, he's tired, all beat up.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
The other trickle down effect that has happened from this
max Is and Matt and I.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
Have talked about this a lot.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
People assume that, well, next year's quarterback draft class is
going to be great.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
You can't assume that.

Speaker 3 (27:49):
You can't assume that an underclashman is going to enter
the draft anymore.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
Because we talked about him all the time, is going
to be yours. Yours should have done the same thing.

Speaker 4 (27:59):
You should totally.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
He could have went to Georgia and probably probably made
about three million, right easy, But he's going in.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
But Carson Beck stays and gets four million at Miami. Yeah,
guess what the rookie ways skill.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
You're gonna be in a top twenty five pick with that,
with that salary, and you don't get the scrutiny.

Speaker 5 (28:15):
Right, take ballroom dancing at Miami and have a.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
Great now underwater basket weaving right right? Yeah, the art
of sleep, I don't know, whatever, whatever you want.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
Because you coach football coaching, you know, yeah, basketball coaching,
all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
You can take it all exactly and you get to
be the big man on campus and you get to
live off campus right wherever you want? An il deal
from that. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to stay in this
you know, this condo penthouse. Caleb Williams, right, had a
penthouse in downtown lah You know.

Speaker 5 (28:45):
A couple of weeks a couple of Carson Beck had
a Lamborghini and Mercedes stolen on the same ball and
did not bad night, right, Like I lost one with
Lamberg and he's a college star. It's not a bad life.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
No, that's that's it's way different than our colle is like.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
And I think what we've seen as well in recent
years is that the quarterbacks who come out who have
more collegiate experience are better prepared to play in the
NFL because they've had more starting experience.

Speaker 5 (29:13):
Oh next, Jayden and Daniels. I mean these guys were yeah.

Speaker 4 (29:15):
They played, and they moved on from different schools.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
Even Joe Burrow was a guy they that has had
a lot more experience. And I think that's what you
want to see because the era, the air and time
of like the Mitch Trubiskys of the world, the same
how the ones that play like one year right there,
one year that's gone because they're saying, why didn't you
transfer and why does your tape look like this? You
still only won six games?

Speaker 3 (29:38):
Yeah, you know, you only started thirteen games in your career,
Like you could have stayed another year and got another Yeah.
Another Trey Lance is a perfect example of that like
when he was coming out, he'd thrown like two hundred
and twenty passes.

Speaker 4 (29:51):
Yeah, he only had one game COVID year.

Speaker 5 (29:55):
Now he's in the CFL, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
Now now he's gone, and I think those so those
are gonna be especially at quarterback. I think offensive line
we're still going through that. Sure, Marius Meim's only had
sixteen stars Proger get there, and they still.

Speaker 3 (30:06):
Got drafted in the first round because there's there's I
mean just the planet theory. There are only so many
guys on the planet who are that big in that
athletic and that's.

Speaker 5 (30:13):
What sim shouldn't have transferred from Georgia to Akron.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
No, we want to see you get more pt but right,
and I think for them also for offensive linemen, they
mature later in the league. Like your lineman hit their
stride year four, year five, year six in the league.
That's what they're at their best. You're not expecting them
to be year one. Joe Thomas start the game, Jake
Long right, like, we don't need that anymore. We need
you to be on the long haul because we need

(30:38):
you for ten years down the line.

Speaker 5 (30:39):
And I urge people remember that with Roger Jones. Yeah,
I mean he has not hit his prime yet even close.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
And listen, everybody wants everybody won't want to hear this.
He will be a lot better left town. He's you
can't judge him at left tackle.

Speaker 4 (30:53):
How you did it right tackle? Just gonna I'm just
gonna finally home. He's home.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
He's more natural there, and if he just does half
of the stuff that he did in college, he will
be fine at left tackle.

Speaker 4 (31:04):
He bear with him.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
He's going to struggle because he has not played a
lot of snaps there, But I guarantee you by mid
season will be like, man, why has it this been sooner?
Like he's going to fit in there. Nationally, he wasn't
good enough the last two years to beat out Dan Moore,
hence why he did not move and take Dan moore spot.
But now being here, knowing what the responsibility is, I
think he'll be fine.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
And Dan Moore just got twenty million dollars a year.
People look at that, he's he's stinks. I'm like, no,
he's an average, But was out.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
There right, he was the bell of the ball right
because there was nobody else available.

Speaker 5 (31:40):
There's a massive shortage.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
Yeah, there's a I mean Morgan Moses got paid.

Speaker 3 (31:44):
If Ronnie Stanley had hit the open market, yeah, before
Baltimore paid him, he'd have gotten twenty five or thirty.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, he would have got way more. And then Dan
Stipe might have got still got twenty.

Speaker 4 (31:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
Here's the thing, because he's still in that top five
and he has not gotten injured, and he's played every game.
Do you understand what consistency and availability do for your value?

Speaker 3 (32:04):
And this is not a great offensive tackle draft.

Speaker 5 (32:08):
That's a thing.

Speaker 3 (32:08):
Yeah, there are guys, they're guys to play offensive tackle
in college who well they might be.

Speaker 4 (32:13):
They're not offensive tackles.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
They might be guards, yes, you know.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
And so you look at it and you go, Okay,
we can either try to get one of the four
true tackles that are in this draft, or we can
go sign Dan Moore.

Speaker 4 (32:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
And it's like if Dan Moore was a free agent
last year, would not it would not have worked out
that way. This year, he hit the market at the
right time and he and he capitalized on the market availability.

Speaker 4 (32:33):
There's a scarcity, so to speak.

Speaker 5 (32:34):
Every week three, there are gonna be sixty four offensive
tackles starting games. There's thirty good ones, there's fifteen I
can live with, and then the other guys, and you
just don't want to be the other guys.

Speaker 4 (32:46):
Blindfold on and like, we'll go ahead, give me the
cigarette before shoot me.

Speaker 5 (32:49):
Yeah, let alone when injury starts settling.

Speaker 4 (32:52):
Yeah all right, yea yeah, I don't even talk about
Let's get to another break.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
You are listening to the Drive here on the Steelers
Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. I'm Dale Lolly
here with Max Starks and Matt Williams, and we are
live from the NFL meetings here in West Palm Beach
at the Breakers Hotel.

Speaker 4 (33:12):
We'll be back with more right after this.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 4 (33:29):
And we are back.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
I'm Dale Lolly here with Matt Williamson at Max Starks.
We are here at the Breakers in West Palm Beach
where the league meetings are taking place, and.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
Max had a sit down.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
We had to sit down with Mike Tomlin as the
local media contingent, and Max also had a sit down
with Mike Tomlin that you can check out on Steelers
dot Com. I'll also have a story there later here
a little bit about what Mike Tomlin had to say
to the assembled media.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
But Max, one of the things you asked Mike Tomlin about.

Speaker 3 (34:02):
Was the international game, and it's it's the Steelers haven't
gone overseas since twenty and thirteen when they went to London. Yeah,
and that was a quick in and out this one
to Ireland that whatever point that they gets announced here
closer to the schedule announcement, Steeler's going to be the

(34:23):
home team for this one. And so there's a little
bit more involved.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
Well, it's a lot more involved, and also I think
there's a lot more significance as far as the ownership
ties and the history with Ireland and what the late
Dan Rooney you know, really meant, I mean being an
ambassador to Ireland and pretty unique. Yeah, his his fight
for American football in Ireland. I mean, you think nineteen
ninety six go there for an exhibition game, that was

(34:47):
a huge milestone. But now getting a regular season counting
game in Ireland and the first one in history, the
first one, I think I think it's only appropriate that
you get that. I think, you know, when we're talking
about Dan Rooney up in heaven right now, smiling about that.
He's got to be smiling ear to ear because he
fought hard in his time there to get this and
now it's a reality. So you know, Mike Tomlin's really

(35:09):
really happy about going into that game, and you know,
he said, all I can think about is just how
proud Dan would be to see this game in Ireland.

Speaker 4 (35:17):
And you know we talk about the fans.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
I mean, you know Mike McDonald, you know, pounding the
dirt in the ground there locally, and you know we've
had him on our show and he's been a big
proponent of this.

Speaker 4 (35:28):
So to get the.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
Irish Board of Governors or I forgot whoever votes on
that their legislature to agree to that, and it's going
to be a croke Parker. I think it's going to
be a really fantastic thing. I think you expect to
see a little bit more involvement than it was in London,
you know twelve years ago.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
Yeah, you were the visiting team. You just you know,
you were just taking part in that game.

Speaker 2 (35:45):
We go on a Friday and we play that Sunday morning,
body clock Day and then you know, just ravage and
then fly back home.

Speaker 4 (35:52):
I think this will be more you'll spend more.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Time there, and there's a lot more emphasis on this
because this is something they want to see be a
sustained thing, kind of like how Zilla is now is
going into year two.

Speaker 4 (36:01):
You want to see that game grow in Europe.

Speaker 5 (36:04):
And it's cool that these teams kind of have a
home field. Yeah, there's a right there.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
There's a certain allegiance there because I mean, you know,
just even landing here at PBI, right, you know, you
see a Rooney's Irish public steers, you.

Speaker 4 (36:16):
Were wondering like, hey, is that that yet? No, there's
an association.

Speaker 5 (36:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (36:21):
So it's awesome.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
Yeah, absolutely, and so we'll see when that when that
game does get announced closer to the schedule, one of
seven games. Yeah, the league is playing internationally this year
the most.

Speaker 4 (36:33):
Yeah, this is the most.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
And you're thinking about two new markets with that, obviously
Dublin but then also Madrid, yeah being one. Dolphins I
believe are going to be the hosting so that one.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
This is becoming more and more a part of what
to expect every year from the NFL. I mean, if
you're going to play seven, seven international games, that means
fourteen teams are going to be affected.

Speaker 2 (36:53):
Now often the Jaguars do it twice.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Yeah, and it's only going to expand they're not going
to start scaling this back any time soon.

Speaker 5 (37:00):
Especially if there's an eighteen game schedule with two buys too.
I mean, if that's the way it ends, will go,
and it'll be even easier to do it.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
Yeah, because i mean think about this twenty twenty six.
You know the Rams are going to Melbourne, Australia, are
they Yeah, they're going. That was announced before the Ireland
So yeah, that eighteen game and wanting and putting that
on the back end of a buy, that's the only
thing that's going to help a team like the Rams,
even though they're geographically the closest, it's still you're going
across the timeline. You're you're crossing you're crossing a day line,

(37:26):
the international date line. You got to cross that, so
you're a day ahead of everybody, and then coming back
that's going to ravage your body as player, Yeah, no
doubt about it.

Speaker 3 (37:34):
But certainly it offers unique experiences for the players. It
offers unique experiences for the fans if you want to
actually travel to that game and and you know, maybe
see somewhere that you had no intention of. Maybe you
always wanted to go, but now you have a reason.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
To get an excuse if you're if you're a guy,
you know, just like Vegas, whenever team's playing, I gotta
go to Vegas, I gotta follow my teeth. Ah right, yeah,
you know this is just an even cooler expanded version.

Speaker 5 (37:58):
Could you see twenty years from now a first round
pick from Dublin, you know, like Wemby from France. So
you know, like all these other sports, hockey, you know,
all over.

Speaker 2 (38:07):
I think you have to play that into because as
that growth happens, right, there's more outreach there. I mean
I think about the IPP program that the NFL runs
right now. It's the International Player Portal Player Pathway Program.
And we have guys on teams now that once you
get into the IPP you're guaranteed on their roster for
two years. We got pass from Nigeria, from Germany, from
London that are on these rosters, and so I have

(38:27):
to think that that's the next growth. And I mean
look at this Jordan Mylotta, Yeah, yeah, he was a
part of the IPP from from New Zealand.

Speaker 4 (38:34):
Yeah, dude, it never put on a football helmet, and
maybe if he.

Speaker 5 (38:38):
Would, if he'd have been a first round pick from
New Zealand.

Speaker 8 (38:41):
Right, Hia, right, yeah, New Zealand. Go Kiwi's I don't know. Obviously, Baseball, basketball, hockey,
everybody else has done it. Yeah, the first round is
half Americans. I didn't even know, right.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Yeah, yeah, Well the NBA especially, I mean you think
about the best players in the league right now, they're
not even really American born, like you have a couple,
but most of those guys, it's Europeans, the Luka Doncics
of the world that are coming in here.

Speaker 4 (39:03):
Like you said, Victor Wimbin.

Speaker 5 (39:04):
Yamba Joker and all these.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
Guys are now because they developed those guys differently overseas,
because they don't have as much access to games.

Speaker 4 (39:11):
That I believe. I believe that too.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
I don't know if it be Ireland, they need to
grow a little bit taller, sure, but I mean, hey, Norway,
you know both big Norwegian dudes, Germans.

Speaker 3 (39:22):
I mean, you know, very physically if you look at it,
there's a there's a reason why. You know, some of
the countries that have produced guys, you see a lot
of Nigerians. Yes, you see a lot of Tongans, you see.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
I mean their body types are built built for contact,
built for contact. And I think you know when you
talk about that. And even we had we had Marvin
Allen on our squad from the international exemption list, played
wide receiver and now he's the head of the UK office,
you know, judging this town because he's done it and
been through it. So I think as as it gets
more sophisticated, as like you said, you get more exposure

(39:56):
of the American game in these countries, the more the
resources come there to where they can and actually trained
similar not the same, sure, right, because these guys are
now coming to America for college, you know, and getting
that americanism you know, to the football game. Now you
can start seeing it more homegrown and then coming over.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
Yeah, and that's I mean honestly, you know, when you
get to the point where you do start having that
is when the game really takes off internationally. Yes, you
know you can think about a guy like example in
the NBA, Mao Yang Yeah dude, yeah, yeah, Open.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
He was the big at that Open China for all
kinds of business, you know, And now that that's why
they do games over there. That's why they have, you know,
marquee moments that happened now all those countries.

Speaker 4 (40:39):
I think the same thing.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
Like for us, it was a long time feeder in Mexico,
you know, and obviously we'll get back to Mexico. But
because Mexico wasn't available, I think that forced us to
be more forward. Thing. That's what got us into Brazil
because stadium wasn't ready, Sal Paulo was and now we're
getting a second year in South Paulo, Brazil, where we
never had a footprint. So I think this is what
the game has aspired to. This is why Roger Goodell

(41:02):
resigned is because he knew he was going to grow
this game internationally. And now you see the emphasis and
the dollars. We don't have the World League anymore, right,
you could go put those guys and it was kind
of an exhibition for the kind of left. Now you're
sending more key guys over there to be the.

Speaker 4 (41:14):
Ambassadors for this game.

Speaker 3 (41:15):
Yeah, and uh, James Harrison would be happy about Yeah.

Speaker 4 (41:22):
He's like, why couldn't we do this regular season?

Speaker 2 (41:25):
It's like, no, you didn't want to play for what
was this Spanish what was it?

Speaker 4 (41:28):
What was it?

Speaker 2 (41:28):
What was the team? And he was in Frankfurt. He
was in Frankfurt the Galaxy and they won a championship
I believe when he was there. So yeah, I think
we've moved on from that.

Speaker 3 (41:37):
But it does, uh, you know, it just opens new doors,
new avenues, creates more fans. And again you the NFL
is America's game. Yes, we don't look at it the
same way as they look at like soccer or in
the case of you know, Gaelic soccer for Gaelic football

(41:59):
in Ireland, and it just looked at differently.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
Well, that's that's how.

Speaker 3 (42:02):
We look at football here exactly, you know. And so
you you want to help people understand they just don't
know that. They don't understand the game to the level
they haven't grown up with.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
It to the level that that that people have they
know the nuance.

Speaker 3 (42:17):
But fifty years ago football wasn't the number one sport.
It was baseball, yes, and and but it's taken off
because everybody's you know, so you want to just create
that everywhere it is. It's a great game, it really is.

Speaker 4 (42:32):
And the more.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Exposure you get, like you said, because also time zones
you have to think our games are played.

Speaker 4 (42:37):
Way later, Yeah, because we're further west.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
I know, I know, we don't like to think of
ourselves as true, but we're western by at least four
hours before the most westernmost European country, right, There's a
lot of time zones in between. So you know, you
have Michael McDonald and those guys in Ireland watching it
as at four am in the morning.

Speaker 5 (42:54):
Yeah, like you.

Speaker 4 (42:55):
Put it on the dedication, that's dedication.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
Yeah. And then you have our our men and women
of the ur Enforces getting up in the middle of night.

Speaker 3 (43:01):
To watch Germany, you know, Shaudi Arabia, wherever they're at.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
I mean even when I was in Afghanistan, right, I
mean the patent was it Like They're getting up the
middle of the night to watch these games. And I
think the more you bring that game closer to them
and you get it in their time zone, the.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
More attachment you're going to build with the game.

Speaker 4 (43:17):
Yeah, no, no doubt about it.

Speaker 3 (43:19):
And again it's a great game, it's a great sport.
It's why we do what we do because the fans
support here just screams for it. Yeah, you know, so
you do want to continue to grow the game. You know,
could it be bigger in the United States? I guess,
but I don't know how. I mean, it's hard to

(43:39):
imagine that it could that. You know, it could get
much bigger.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
And where can you expand in the US that it
doesn't already touch, right, you know, and have that viability.
I think that's why you have to go internationally. That's
why we're talking about, Hey, what if we did a
division eventually in London where teams are in London because
we need the space and we need the fan per capita.
You know, it has to grow into Europe. While you
look at a team in Germany or something, but you need.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
Multiples over there. You can just be one off.

Speaker 2 (44:05):
Although the planes are getting so damn fast now they
are they are. I mean, you could always resurrect the
Condor you know what I'm saying, and just get a
team Condor jet.

Speaker 4 (44:13):
But but you want to That's.

Speaker 3 (44:19):
So the flight that we took back from Seattle two
years ago on was it Christmas ever.

Speaker 4 (44:23):
New Year's Eve?

Speaker 3 (44:24):
Yeah, We're we're four hours like we were, like, I
couldn't believe up the fat we were almost back before
we left.

Speaker 4 (44:31):
Yeah exactly. I mean, and that that's amazing.

Speaker 2 (44:34):
Like you said, the efficiency of jets and I think
you know you and and with that growth, you want
to have that flexibility, right, we want to be like, hey,
London's not that far away, you know, we can we
can have some other guys.

Speaker 4 (44:46):
Uh yeah, you know, and.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
And we can have that constant international view because that
expanded viewership. Guess what leads the more conscience leads, the
bigger salaries leads the more opportunities. And if you got
eighteen games, you want to get some excitement in there
as opposed to saying all right, this week fifteen matchup.
You know, just like how we get with Thursday night football,
sometimes with these match pretty well, excitement bring a different

(45:09):
audience in there. That's like, okay, well I'm getting to
see somewhere different. Those crowds to oh got those soccer
crowds of Europe. Man, fun, they are nuts. I love it.
It's definitely fun, guys.

Speaker 3 (45:20):
That's going to do it for our show too, A
fun little version of a little little Sunday drive here
in West Palm Beach. I can think a few places
better to do a little Sunday drive. But that's going
to do it for our show today. We'll be back
again tomorrow for seven pm. Right here get the extended
hours on Monday and Tuesday for the Drive, but for

(45:41):
Max Starks, for Matt Williamson, I am Dale Lolly when
we thank Brian La Martina back in studio for making
sure we stay on the air, and we want to
thank you for listening to this edition of the Drive
on the Steelers Audio Network.