Lots to Say: Super Bowl Odds and SB Champion Vernon Davis

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is
a production of the NFL and iHeart podcasts.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
We got lots just.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
We got lost?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Just what Becker here?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
And we hope you say because we got lost? Yeah,
we got lost.

Speaker 4 (00:28):
Just say, here's Bobby Sey.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
What's happening everybody?

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Vernon Davis coming up in just a little bit. I
will say that whenever you saw much foot, I'm gonna
cast right now. I had any surgery, and Castle did
the most athlete thing ever. Comes up and looks in
and sees my toes and goes, he goes, you're doing okay,
you're doing okay.

Speaker 5 (00:49):
Yeah, I've had a foot injury before, and I know
that those things can get black and blue and swollen.
I just remember my toes being three times the size
they should. I was like, oh, they look all right.
They all gangering and like peeling. Mine was like peeling off.
How you feeling, by the way, what a gamer you are?

Speaker 6 (01:05):
I'm good.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
The pain medicine messes me up, Oh I'm sure.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
So I only take it right before I go to bed,
which means I wake up and do the morning show
and I'm out of it. What feels like the first
half of the morning show. But then as the pain
starts to set back in, I get kind of my
bearings thinking and talking, but then the pain is setting in.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yep. So it's very much a gift take. But I'm fine.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
I just thought it was hilarious because everybody else who's
seeing I have a massive cast on my foot, they'd
been like, oh, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (01:32):
And you walk in and go let me see your toes.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Let me see your toes, buddy, and you're like, ah,
but you're good, You're good, big boy head.

Speaker 5 (01:37):
They look pretty good. It looks pretty good. So the
pain's been pretty substantial.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
No, it's just constant. You just have no blood flow
down to that area. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
I actually am very grateful that it doesn't hurt worse.
But it's like, you know, I have a toothache or
an earache, and it's not that it has to.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Be killing you. It just doesn't. Just doesn't. It doesn't
go away. But I'm good.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, you've had to actually play with injuries. Me I'm playing,
but I'm talking like, if you have a foot injury
or a hand injury, that's gotta be the worst as
a quarterback.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Right, Oh, that's the worst.

Speaker 5 (02:06):
I mean, I had two handed surgeries and one would
both of them put me on ir for a little bit.
Actually the first one did because I spiral fractured my
I don't know what pone this is, but I still
have screws in there.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
You can kind of see him come up right there,
you can.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (02:20):
So I get back in the huddle and my finger
is literally stuck behind my middle finger. So it was
on a third down, get tackled by Duomerville from Denver.
But I just landed funny and I got up and
my finger was stuck, and I was like, all right,
it's fourth down.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
We're going to go for it. It's later in the game,
so we should go for it.

Speaker 5 (02:34):
I get the ball and I can't move my index finger,
which is the most important finger on the ball, and
we run like these crossing routes. Thing he's going to
be man. Of course it goes zone. So I scramble up.
I don't get the first down. Everybody's yelling at me
on the side just throw the ball. I was like,
there's nobody open number one, number two. I don't know
where the ball would have gone if I tried to throw.
So I get over the sideline. I get over the

(02:55):
side and I tell Brody Crawle. I'm like, hey, Bud,
will you get get the doc? So he goes gets
him and he goes, what's going on? I was like, well,
my finger won't move and I can't seem to set.
He's like, well, where's it hurt. I was like right
here and he starts going. I was like, yeah, it
hurts a little bit, and he goes, well, can you throw?
I was like no, I wouldn't have got you over

(03:15):
here if I could throw the ball. He's like, let's
go on and course spiral fracture. The other one was
I hit a helmet, dislocated my thumb. They had to
go put it back into place and put pins in
there for nine weeks. But that was at least before season.
It just you never got the full strength back because
even doing this early on was brutal.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
I feel like that hitting the helmet when throwing for
a quarterback is like the most unfortunate injury. Oh yeah,
because there's really not a lot you can do. It
just kind of accidentally happens.

Speaker 5 (03:43):
It accidentally happens, and I've done it. I've had stitches
on three different knuckles. Here just from hitting a helmet.
Luckily I didn't break anything. But there's just one time
we're actually in spring ball. We're in Shells. Dree Casey's
rushing Taylor Lawan and gets pushed back in my lap.
I throw the ball and just hit the top of
his helmet and immediately this thing pops out a joint

(04:03):
right then, immediately, because I looked at my thought, I
got that's not good, and you're kind of in shock
a little bit. And they said, do you want us
to pop in and I was like, no, not yet.
I want to go to the hospital, get some medicine
and numb it up. And so I went in and
they popped it back in. But they obviously because it
tears out all the I don't know if it's cartilage, ligament,
whatever it is, and so they had to go up
to pin it and that was that was wonderful.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, it sucks.

Speaker 5 (04:26):
It sucks, dude, And there's nothing worse than foot and
hand injuries because it just throbs.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
That's what That's what I'm dealing with now, just constant throbbing.
Do you have any ice machine or anything that you
get to get to wrap that bad boy up? Then
so I can't put ice on it. So what the
doctor has me doing is putting ice like on my
knee as close to it as possible.

Speaker 5 (04:46):
Never heard of that before met me either. At least
your knee is not going to be swollen.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
It's not. Everything else is wrapped up. It looks like
it is in a parka here. I feel like I'm good.
I'm just dealing with it.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
I just thought I would be better by now, even
though we're three days out of it, four days out
of it, I really thought i'd.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Be back on my feet by now. Really well. Expectation
going in.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
The expectation was a doctor said, you'll spend about a
week and a half in a hard cast and then
if you have moved past, that will put you in
a walking boot.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
And I know we're four days in, but I'm usually
ahead of the curve. Yeah, because you're a healer.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
So I just thought I just thought I would be there.
You're just you're you're ready to get back out there,
and you're not. I'm drinking a little drinking. I saw
that I don't drink coffee.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, what is that?

Speaker 1 (05:28):
But what I have to do is stay awake because
my sleep schedule is so jacked up from this injury,
and I'm taking pay medicine to go to sleep. If
I fall asleep and take a nap in the middle
of the day, you're done for I'm done. I'm taking
pay medicine. Then I'm awake on pain medicine. So this
is some sort of espresso shot. It's like the most

(05:51):
European feminine coffee drink.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
You can have. If it has caffeine in it, I'm in.
So this is what I'm having. It's like a cinnamon
tonic express.

Speaker 5 (05:59):
That's not what I expected. I thought you meant like
it was an expresso shot. No, it's a cinnamon to.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Ye yeah, yeah, yeah, delerberry absolutely elderberry flour in it.
I've taken everything masculine out of it and tried to
water it down.

Speaker 3 (06:12):
And I don't.

Speaker 6 (06:13):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
I don't drink coffee like I've never I never even
tasted coffee until like.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
Years, like five hours ago, when you made that It's tough.
I ordered this, I did you Yeah? Yeah, yeah. They
actually serve it in that cup.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, in this little feminine cup, and I drink on
my pek yup, Yeah, you sure do.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
What is what is your coffee drink in the morning.
I usually I am a.

Speaker 5 (06:32):
Black coffee guy, and I'll put cayenne pepper in it
and a dab of salt.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah, out of your mind.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Swear to God, that's like what you say if you
want to have the most masculine drink ever.

Speaker 5 (06:41):
No, I do that because they say it helps with
blood circulations.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Well, so tell me about your drink again.

Speaker 5 (06:45):
It's black coffee, black coffee, and then I put cayenne
pepper in it, a dab of cayenne pepper and a
little salt to kill the acidity, and then drink that
bad boy down and probably we'll have two of them.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
Doesn't that seem like what you would say if you
were trying to prove a point by having the most
masculine coffee ever.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
Keven, absolutely, I never even heard of it. I thought
he was joking. You're welcome, You're welcome, you guys.

Speaker 5 (07:05):
It was like all the benefits of cayenne pepper.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
There's a lot of it. It's all about blood cirp.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
I believe you, Yes, I thought you were just no,
I'm being dead serious. There's a TikTok assaw yesterday with
these guys going to a coffee shop and it's two
like big bearded masculine men and they go ontore like,
we'll take two of your blackest coffees and she's like okay,
and they say this out loud and they hand her
a note and on the note it's like eleven things.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
Squirt of a like please keep it quiet.

Speaker 5 (07:36):
Yeah, it was pretty funny. The other day, I get
a text message from my brother in law. It's my
wife's brother, obviously brother in law, and he goes a
cast who do you think could throw better or spiral?

Speaker 3 (07:47):
Bobby or me? And it was the most random text
he must have seen.

Speaker 5 (07:51):
When we were going through the the video of us
going through our grips, and I was like, I've seen
you throw a football and there has not been one
point in all the years that we've gone out and
thrown the football because he used to catch routes for
me in the offseason, like I used to bring friends
out that I've ever seen you throw a consistent spiral.
So I'm gonna go with Bobby even though I haven't

(08:11):
seen him throw, and I've also seen his grip, which
looks like a pretty fair grip, So I'm gonna go
with Bobby. He's like, Dude, I've been in the backyard
ripping it with He's like, I've been in the backyard
ripping it. You wouldn't even believe what I've got going
on right now. And I started laughing. I go, dude, NERF,
footballs don't count. So I definitely I went with you
after the grip discussion.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
For sure.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
I don't even feel like you picked me because of
anything I did. I feel like you just didn't pick
him because you played with him.

Speaker 5 (08:37):
No, I've actually seen him throw a football, and so
the kid was phenomenal four year star at USC as
a setter on the volleyball team. But when you give
him a football in his hand, I mean, he just
can't turn that ball over to save his life.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
Could he catch?

Speaker 5 (08:49):
He could catch, But early on I would throw some
I'd have him throw it like a run a slant,
and I'd throw it to him and he'd take it
right off the chest.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
And yeah, and he was one of those guys. It
was always really fit.

Speaker 5 (09:00):
So he'd run routes without his shirt on, just red
marks all over all over him.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
But I appreciated it.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
One of the games this weekend, and you say, that
there was a game where it was very rainy.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
I didn't put this on my notes. Was the Jets
game super rainy? Uh?

Speaker 1 (09:16):
There was a body pass the guy tried to catch
off his body and he ended up dropping the ball
because it was raining so hard.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Right? Was there? Was that? Ever?

Speaker 1 (09:23):
Like an unspoken with your tight ends and wide receivers,
like try to keep it near my body if it's raining,
so I can use my body to catch it.

Speaker 5 (09:30):
Yeah, a lot of times those guys are not as
confidence obviously with hands catching because the conditions. And that
might have been Chicago, Right was that Chicago and the Jets.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
I don't know if that was the game where ing
in the beginning, Yeah it was, there was even the
game the was the Commanders. Was that game raining?

Speaker 3 (09:46):
It doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
The weather has sucked everywhere because it's been cold and west.
But I wonder if that's ever like a mindset with
the quarterback too, like they're going to have to start
catching with their body more because it's raining.

Speaker 5 (09:53):
You absolutely want to try to put it on their
body because a lot of times that's the one time
that it's acceptable to try to catch it against your
body because the ball will just go through your hands
in certain type of conditions, when it's slippery, when it's wet,
and a lot of those guys will.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Take off those gloves. And that's what happened here.

Speaker 5 (10:08):
Right, because the gloves they're meant to be in warm
weather or at least not that type of condition because
otherwise they get super slick. So they might keep it
on for a second and then they'll see them drop
a ball, then they'll take them off and it'll be like, well,
we told you not to wear gloves, but they're not
used to doing it because they usually play with gloves
all the time. But that was a big, big thing.
And then also just throws over the middle, you wanted

(10:30):
to keep it underneath their face masks, especially for backs
and tight ends, because a lot of times those guys
have bigger pads, so you run the risk of when
you throw it high, even a little bit above above
their head, that that ball is going to go through
their head and they can't get their hands up to
get it. And that's when tips happen in interception. So
we constantly talked about that, especially bad weather situations.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Would there ever be a time where if you let
a receiver a little too much or a little too high.
They would come back and you would apologize, like, shouldn't
have done that?

Speaker 5 (10:57):
No, I say, you should have caught that ball, Like
what the hell are we doing? Like that was in
the realm, Like if you get your hands on it,
that's on you. But let's be honest. And then when
you go to the press conference and you're like, yeah,
the ball was high and it got tipped an interception, Yeah,
that was on me.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
I got to do a better job.

Speaker 6 (11:12):
No.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
I would always try.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
I always played the card with my guys, try to
be as fair as possible.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
I would get on them about depth of their.

Speaker 5 (11:20):
Route, coming out of their route, on certain stuff, and
I'd try to get on them on that and hold
them accountable. But when I messed up and I missed
the throw, I was the first one to say, hey,
that's on me. I'll get you a better ball, because
they respect that right if you take ownership and your failures,
and because we're all going to make mistakes, especially physical mistakes.
Mental mistakes were the things that I couldn't handle because

(11:41):
we know better, and that messes with the rhythm of
the pass play and where you're supposed to be the
timing everything else. But when you make a physical mistake,
say you slip coming out of he r up, look
that's going to happen. Or if I'm going to miss
a throw every now and then, or just throw an
interception because I didn't see the defender, and I'll take
full responsibility for that.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
What was it to you as a quarterback that you
would get most irritate? That like a little thing a
receiver wouldn't do right, But it was like the thing
that bothered you the most.

Speaker 5 (12:11):
There was probably there's two things. If we had a
conversion on a route, so a lot of times you
talk about on the outside. Sometimes you have a hitch
that may convert versus roll coverage. So you're not gonna
still run that hitch because it's tight man coverage and
we don't want to run that's a verse off coverage.
But sometimes these guys wouldn't be paying attention, or a
wide receiver wouldn't pay attention. All of a sudden you

(12:31):
get a bail technique. Well, you're still running that hitch,
and I'm thinking you're gonna run the hitch because I
see it, and all of a sudden, you are still
running the go route. So conversion routes were one thing
for me, and then always depth of target because we
would just over and over meticulously go through the depth
of a route. And a lot of times it's those

(12:52):
high low situations. When I say that, I mean you've
got the slot defender going up to five yards and
he's sitting down, but behind him we're running the incut
and it's got to be sixteen yards because if it's not,
there's not enough separation between that backer. That backer can
literally cover two people because there's not enough room to
throw it over them. So you have to get that
depth in order for me to throw it over the

(13:14):
backer or throw it into a window. And if you're short,
then immediately the entire route concept goes awry.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
What about if you're trying to draw the defense off sides?
Did you ever try that without an actual offensive play
called and someone still jump?

Speaker 3 (13:29):
Oh, it happens a lot.

Speaker 5 (13:31):
I mean we would sometimes not even give a play
in the helmet and we'd have a live word or
something like that. Now it's for real, and all we
are trying to do was go through a double cadence
because a lot of times teams will go through why day,
why Adi said, hut, and then they know the second
ones live. But we'd go through two full cadences to

(13:52):
get them to jump, and a lot of times you
would it would be very effective, and I'd go the
live color or whatever it was, and we knew the play,
but nobody was supposed to jump and constantly whether it
was double cadence or whether it was that, and I
wouldn't say constantly, but you would often have somebody jump
off sides and I'm like, I didn't even give you
a play, like where are you running? Like what are

(14:15):
you shooting out to block right now? Because I have
yet to give you the play at the line of scrimmage.
Because a lot of times we'd hold the play. I
wouldn't even give them a play in the in the headset,
I'd say, hey, wait for me. I mean in the huddle,
I'd say, wait for me to get through the two
cadences and then I will give you what the play
is at the line of scrimmage, because you have all
the different signals and stuff, and every now and then

(14:36):
guys would jump and I'd be like, I just don't understand.
It's kind of like the Vikings game. They were at
home the other day. I think they had eight false
start penalties at home. That's absurd, and some of that
might be people getting used to JJ McCarthy and his cadence,
but they have eight at home is completely completely I.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
Don't even know what to say. It's a disaster. Eve
eight on the road on the road a lot.

Speaker 5 (15:03):
But to have it at home with because Caden is
supposed to be a weapon and a factor for the offense,
and when you have eight at home, that is just ridiculous.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
I felt like justin Jefferson were to kill him. Yes,
kill everybody. It was not a good week for JJ McCarthy. No,
it was not nine. It was not a good week
for nine. That's the character he gets into nine. Let's
go back and forth. I want you to go first,
because you know, right before we started taping this show,
we learned that they've all was fired.

Speaker 3 (15:33):
So I have you talked about that? I know you
know him, Like, what do you know what? I know?

Speaker 5 (15:38):
Well, I know that he was fired like the rest
of us do at this point, and I think that
it's a result oriented business.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
I get it.

Speaker 5 (15:44):
But when he inherited that team in twenty twenty two,
I mean they had won fourteen games in the previous
three seasons, and he comes in and they go to
the playoffs. I think they were nine to seven and
one or something like that. That first year they won
a playoff game, but then I think the second round
of that playoffs is when they got beat down by
the Eagles, and then the losing just kind of continued
and we're never able to get on I think some

(16:04):
of it was Daniel Jaws and at the same time
him not being healthy the entire tenure, and then when
you go into this season, there was higher expectations, but
still there was a quarterback controversy, and when you saw
Jackson Dart go in the game, I think that you
saw progress from this offense. But then again, you lose
Molik Neighbors, your number one wide receiver, lose Skataboo, who

(16:26):
was obviously a guy that came in and was an
impact player. And I think it's also the way in
which they lost those games. But I don't put it
all on Dable because at the end of the day,
in most of those games, they were up two scores
at some point in the game, and defensively they couldn't
get to stop and win and Unfortunately for him, it
was just too much losing because right now, what do

(16:47):
they said? And eight two and eight, two and eight,
and they're ready to make a change. And I think
the next higher though, is going to be a very
important higher because of the development of Jackson Dart.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yeah, I feel like that we saw enough growth in
Dart and again losing Milik Neighbors Scataboo coming making impact
and then again that flamed quick. It was awesome for
a second, and then he got hurt. But I felt
like that enough earned him at least another.

Speaker 5 (17:14):
Year, right And that's what I felt was that's what
they were trending toward. And I think some of it
too might have been the fact that Jackson Dart got hurt.
And you know everybody's talking about the fact, well they
ran him too much, they put him in harm's way.
But their most successful plays this last weekend were was
the design QB runs and so he's doing everything in

(17:36):
his power to put this team in a position to
win and score points. And they took advantage of Jackson
Dart's athleticism and ability to run, and unfortunately he took
the wrong hit at the wrong time and it resulted
in a concussion took him out of the game and
really changed the momentum of that game. But I don't
put that on Dable because at any given point, any
player can get hurt, and we've seen it.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
Do you feel like it was premature to fire him?
Would you have given him another year? I think that
you would have to play this season.

Speaker 5 (18:02):
I would have let him play this season out to
be honest with you and see where you could take
this thing by the end of the year, because I
do think the offense look completely different with Jackson Dart
on the field, even minus those injuries. To keep players
on the offensive side. But I mean with ownership there.
And the other part is the GM didn't get fired right, right,

(18:23):
the GM doesn't get fired, he gets to stay, and
so it's just an interesting dynamic that they're going to
keep him, and because he's the one a hired day
ball normally that goes hand in hand.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
You're getting rid of both those guys.

Speaker 5 (18:34):
You're going to start a whole new regime, change basically
the GM head coach and start over. So it'll be
interesting to see what they do there.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
I looked up the odds to see who the next
head coach would be for the Giants. The leader right
now is Mike McCarthy, and I think McCarthy brings you stability. Yep,
not a super high ceiling. I think I would say
a three quarter ceiling. I think you can I think
you can win. He won with the Cowboys, right, he

(19:01):
obviously won with the Packers. Yes, he's one of the
names being mentioned for the Titans job because you just
got to have some sort of stability. But what's tough
is to have a stable head coach, but the instability
of the organization.

Speaker 5 (19:13):
Right, and there is instability. But I'd say this, when
you look at the defensive side the ball, that's the
part that is a little bit frustrating for me when
you look at the Giants because they have what three
first rounders on that defensive line between Burns, Thibodeau and
Abdulla Carter from this year, and they've got dudes all
over that defense, but they're not getting it done on
that side of the ball. Because I think that if

(19:34):
they stood up and made a few stops on any
part of these games, their record would be major difference
in terms of wins versus losses, and that might have
saved Dave Ball's job. So But in terms of Mike McCarthy,
I like the fact that he's offensive minded. I like
the fact that he's won every place that he's been,
and he does bring some stability and he's got respect

(19:56):
of most people that are in the league.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
I feel like you could be the most stable coach,
but if you're in an instable environment, there's only so
much good you can do. There's a reason the Giants
haven't won one hundred years. There's a reason the Jets
haven't won in one hundred years. There's the reason the
Raiders haven't won in one hundred years. And it's not
the coach, right, because I think Davel's a good coach.
I think he'll go somewhere and win. He may go
be oc for a couple of years somewhere else. But
I don't think this hurts him as a coach to

(20:19):
be fired from the Giants. If anything, I think it
gives him a shot to go be successful somewhere else,
somewhere where the organization has a bit more stability.

Speaker 5 (20:28):
Right, And I don't think that the Giants organization is
a place you can go out and get a young
coach that a first time head coach because of the
nature of that media market and if you don't have
success right away, they're going to eat you alive. And
you have to be so mentally tough to be able
to handle that. At the same time, like you said,
instability within the organization itself and the lack of winning consistently,

(20:51):
that's a tough organization to go to if you're a
first time head coach.

Speaker 3 (20:55):
CLAINK.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
Kubiak second, Yep, Spags third. There's two more on the
list in the top ten Robert Sala which, by the way,
if I'm solid, I do not want to go back
any reason.

Speaker 5 (21:06):
I hate everybody in the media there, right, Yeah, he's like, dude,
you guys killed me.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
And also, like both of those New York teams, there's
a reason they don't win because the owners are too medley. Right,
We shouldn't know who the owners are unless you're a
diehard fan.

Speaker 5 (21:21):
Die hard, and they're in the mix every time, and
they because they make headlines for the wrong reason.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yes, they wanted to fire day Ball like before they
even came back, do you guys see that? And they
talked him out of it on the plane like from Denver.
Maybe they played Denver the week before.

Speaker 3 (21:34):
Yeah, Denver was a few weeks ago. Yeah, whenever that
game was.

Speaker 1 (21:37):
They wanted to fire him after that game on the
plane before they even came back, and they talked the
owner out of it.

Speaker 3 (21:42):
They did play at Denver, but I was like that
four weeks ago, and that's when they wanted to fire him.
The first time they blew that big game. Yeah, that's
when they wanted to fire him. Lane Kiffin also makes
the list.

Speaker 1 (21:50):
But Lane's up for every job in HR, every college coach,
every college.

Speaker 5 (21:54):
Coach, anybody that needs a coach or anything like that. Yeah,
they want Lanekiff. And I understand the connection to with
Jackson Dart. He just had them in college and it
was this coach and had a lot of success. So
I get. But I don't think he blames wants any
part of that.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
I don't mean that.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
Joe Burrow returns to practice. Saw the video, Yes, it
was so lack of sensation. I thought it was a joke. Yeah,
look at Joe, He's standing on the field.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
Well he walks through and he just like slowly walks through,
his head down.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
I was surprised they even posted on social media because
there was so nothing about it.

Speaker 3 (22:44):
They're just building excitement.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
It was just him walking like into the facility with
his helmet in his hand, with his head down. So
the team opened him up the twenty one day window
to return from ir The question is can the Bengals
get back in it now? They're three and six, they're
third in the AFC North. He hopes to return on
Thanksgiving against the Ravens, which could be a big game.
The Ravens are by far the fai to win that

(23:05):
division right now, Isn't that crazy?

Speaker 3 (23:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (23:08):
I mean they were the favorite the last week that
Lamar didn't play. They were still the favorite because he
was coming back the next week, right like, They've been
the favorite that division the whole time, even though the
Steelers have been ahead of them. The Bengals are playing
the Steelers, Patriots, the Ravens, and that Ravens game will
be the game that possibly he comes back. So I
think if they win one of the two, there's a

(23:29):
good shot he comes back, right.

Speaker 5 (23:31):
Yes, I think if he can play. I do believe
he does come back this season.

Speaker 1 (23:34):
But if it's over, would you even rush him back?
Like Jayden Daniels, I wouldn't bring him back as yah.

Speaker 5 (23:39):
If he's one hundred percent and he can run around
and be himself, then I'd say, yes, you're the franchise quarterback.
You've worked your way back in the lineup one hundred percent.
Get out there and play. But I mean it's gonna
be tough because the Ravens are one game back from
the Steelers, and they've got the Browns, the Jets, and
the Bengals coming up. I mean, those are three winnable
games and they could easily be in first place at

(24:00):
that point, and I don't think there's any looking back
as long as they're healthy.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
So let's say I'm just gonna throw this out. Let's
say they beat the Steelers, they lose to the Patriots.
That puts them at four and seven playing the Ravens.
So Joe Burrow's back at four and seven, Let's just
say they win because he's back. They're five and seven,
they're playing the Bills. They probably lose that. They're five
and eight, they're playing the Ravens again. Let's give him
another win six and eight. The Dolphins don't win that
seven and eight, The Cardinals don't win that eight and eight,

(24:24):
Browns nine and eight. It's like last year they had
to win every game. So there is a shot. Did
they make the playoffs if the Joe Flacco Bengals can
beat the Steelers, which he's already proven he can do. Yeah,
they have to go to Pittsburgh this time though.

Speaker 5 (24:42):
Oh yeah, But I mean after watching the Steelers are good,
they're not good. After watching the Steelers against the Chargers
this week, I mean, I was like, man, this doesn't
look good.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
I mean, are we thinking the Bengals can do it?
Are we thinking the Bengals can hop back in this thing?

Speaker 3 (24:55):
Come on, let's go.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
But last year was fun. They did not hop back
in the They did win, but it wasn't enough. And
I think they went nine to eight last year. I'm
going from memory. I think they ended up going nine
to eight, winning all those games at the end, but
they did not get.

Speaker 3 (25:06):
In the playoffs. But Joe Burley got to stay healthy.
Is that right? Nine and eight?

Speaker 6 (25:10):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (25:10):
Nine and eight? All right? What he got? Their second
topic for us?

Speaker 5 (25:13):
I watched this Lions game last week and I'll tell you,
Dan Campbell calling plays, I'm into it because what did
he say that they have to do? They have to
get Gibbs involved Moore, they did, Jamison Williams got him
involved more, and the offense just look like they were
on a roll, completely in sync. And I know that
they were going up against the Commanders whose defense has
had the struggles and this, that and the other. But
at the end of the day, that offense and how

(25:35):
it operated looked like the offensive old So I'm pretty
stoked about Campbell coming back in taking over play calling
responsibility because I think it's going to make them better
down the line.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
I'm looking at the odds to win the Super Bowl.
The Lions are a plus seven to fifty in third place.
So right now, if you're betting, the Lions are the
third favorite to win the Super Bowl. Yep, Okay, who
do you think number one is right now to win
the Super Bowl?

Speaker 3 (26:00):
The betting favorite? Right now, I'm going to go with
the La Rams selection. They are at number two.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
They're a number two Seattle Seahawks and number five, So
what's crazy? And I'll walk you back. First of all,
both of you guys's team, the Patriots tenth, no.

Speaker 3 (26:17):
Respect, Patriots are tenth. I love it, dude. Just keep
it going. That fire man.

Speaker 5 (26:22):
You go on the road and you beat the Bucks
on on the road. I mean that was a huge
win for that team and the legitimacy and also the
narrative around that team.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
Okay, keep going so or we can say fifth in
the AFC, whatever you want to do. But they're tenth
right now, Okay. I do feel like, as a non
biased person, that seems to be a little low. I
think they should be up a bit at nine. The Packers.
I got to tell you something. You're gonna have to
reconvince me that the Packers are good. Yes, what a
terrible game. That was terrible And I'm only watching on

(26:50):
my app because I have YouTube TV, so I can't
even watch it because they've taken all the channels off. Yeah,
and you think it was boring to watch the actual
players play, imagine watching just like the cartoon characters.

Speaker 3 (27:02):
It was the most it was worth that.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
I was like, I'm trying to watch my fantasy players
because I had Jalen Hurts and I needed like twelve
points and like, luckily he got me the point that
actually won my game.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
But it was a terrible game to watch. Well, unless
you're defensive minded, I mean, unless you all you like
to watch is defense dominate because both those defenses were incredible,
and the offenses were not going out there and being
productive in any sense of the word. Now, they got
a few plays here and there, but that's all it
took in this game because it was low scoring, defensive dominated,

(27:36):
and I mean neither one of these offense came out
with any firepower whatsoever. Yeah, the Packers got to reconvince me.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, because I think I was big on the Packers,
but I think maybe I was just listening to people
that I feel like are smarter than me. Right, and
now after watching them, well, I think the Craft being
hurt sucked as well.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
I think the misperception too. Craft was hurt, and so
was there was another other Matthews, I think Golden Matthew
Golden was also hurt. So I get that, but I
think the perception was after why watching them dominate the
Lions first game of the year, getting Parsons all the
firepower that they have, that this was a team that

(28:13):
was super Bowl bound, and then as the season has
continued to go along, you start to realize, well, they've
got some issues, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
And Jordan Love I think he's a really good quarterback,
but I don't think he's at the upper echelon of
the quarterback position right now.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
The Ravens at eight.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
They're getting a lot of credit for what they're probably
going to do right, more so than what they have done. Again, yep,
they have a top three quarterback and he missed. He
has missed most of the season for sure. The Bills
at seven, Hey, not a good look. I think I'm
a little concerned about the Bills.

Speaker 3 (28:47):
They laid an egg. They laid egg.

Speaker 5 (28:48):
Now. I know they're what with the top rushing team
in the NFL, James Cook, But my concern with that
team is the wide receiver and the weapons that they
have on the outside, because at some point they're going
to load the box and those guys are going to
go have to win one on one opportunities. And when
you watch that Dolphins game, there was nobody open and
Josh Allen can't do it all by himself.

Speaker 3 (29:09):
He's had to do it by himself in one before
he expected.

Speaker 5 (29:12):
You can, yeah, and you expected, but it really a
lot of red flags popped up in that game.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
Colts at six. I was glad to see them one again. Yep,
I'm in I want small market teams to matter, Yes,
and I like, this isn't like baseball though, no, sor,
I hear you, and you know what, let's let's let's
pour one out.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
Let's pour one out.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
You know their owner died.

Speaker 5 (29:37):
Yeah, yeah, okay, we'll go small market team, small market
team with a dead owner.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
I'm all for it. And then also like I'm rooting
for Daniel Jones. Yeah, like he's been ruining for Daniel Jones. Yeah,
I'm rooting for Daniel Jones.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
The Seahawks at five, the Eagles at four four four, yeah,
the Lions at three, the Rams at two, and the
number one team with the best dodds meaning you're gonna
make the least amount of money, does shave it?

Speaker 3 (30:01):
Chiefs the Chiefs, And they're not even in small market team.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
They're not even the playoffs right now. If the season
into right now, they would not make the playoffs. That's amazing.
But they're still I mean, they have a tough schedule.
Yet they do have a really tough schedule.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Kevin.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
So right now, here's the AFC playoff picture if it
were to end today, Colts at one, they get to
buy well.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
The Chiefs also been holding holding plays back, that's true. Yeah,
So according to.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
The Broncos at two, I think that's a fraudulent two.
The Broncos are at two, yeah, because they're eight and two.
I know they're eight and two, but have you watched
their games?

Speaker 3 (30:37):
That's what I say. It's a fraudile two at some point.
But arter your record says you are you are.

Speaker 5 (30:42):
I mean to get into playoffs, I feel like, but
to win those games consistently in the playoffs against the
best teams, that that's a.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
Tough Sleedton for me to believe that they're two. Give
me your Kansas City Chiefs over there. We got the
Broncos next, at the Broncos this week, okay, then the Colts,
yep at Dallas three versus Houston. They're peeling a four
in a row right now, go ahead, Okay, Then the
Chargers they owe them one. They're peeling off five in
a row, and this is the for sure win at

(31:10):
Tennessee six in a row. Then the Bronco goes again
seven in a row. Let's end the season at Vegas. Okay.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
The Chiefs may not so maybe maybe they're through the
hardest part of their schedule. Maybe, Yeah, they may not.
Lose again this year. Okay, yeah, and look the Chargers again.
That's a tough one. They've already lost the Chargers once,
Yes they did.

Speaker 3 (31:29):
They owe them one.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
The Patriots will be the three, the Steelers will be
the four, Chargers five, Buffalo six, and the Jaguars will
be seven. The Jaguars did beat the Chiefs when they
played that one time earlier this.

Speaker 5 (31:38):
Year, yes they did, but they've had some injuries, especially
on that offensive line.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
They lost both of their tackles, which is gonna make
and Herbert gets hit a lot. It's crazy to me.
The Chiefs are the betting favorite and right now they
wouldn't even make the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
I've never seen them like that before.

Speaker 5 (31:52):
I think they just went through the schedule just like
we did and said, yep, yep, yep.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
Got it? What else you got? You have another one
over there.

Speaker 5 (32:00):
Dronk signs on one day contract. I guess it would
be to retire with the Patriots. And when you look
at the tight end position all time greats, I think
he is the best of all time.

Speaker 1 (32:12):
I think he's definitely the hardest player to guard, the
hardest player to line up against.

Speaker 3 (32:19):
I don't think he's statistically the best, he's not.

Speaker 5 (32:21):
I mean, you've got guys like Gates and Tony Gonzalez,
Jason Witten, guys like that that have been around. Travis
Kelsey's going to be up there in terms of statistics.
But when you look at the definition of what a
tight end is, I agree between blocking, running routes, big body.
Nobody can cover you because you're just a freak of nature, unguardable.
He was unguardable, and you could put him outside of

(32:43):
a dB it's a mismatch. You bring him inside, put
him on a linebacker or safety, same thing. But then
the other part is they would run behind him like
he was a dominant blocker. I don't think you've seen
the likes of somebody that can do it both in
the past game and on the line of scrimmage in
the run game in terms of blocking like Ronk did.
I just think he's just a there as the best

(33:06):
tight end to ever play.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
I think he's the best to ever play as well,
But I don't think he'll be the greatest to most
people because statistically he doesn't have that, although he did
win Super Bowls, yeah, multiples, and it's just hard talking
to you too, because you played for the Patriots and
you're a dire Patriots fan.

Speaker 3 (33:20):
Yeah, there's a little bit of bias. Yeah, but I
didn't play with drunk, but you're a Patriot.

Speaker 5 (33:26):
Yeah, I guess I could consider myself a Patriot.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
Well I consider you I was.

Speaker 5 (33:30):
Well, I know that's the only only season you ever
saw me play, and you couldn't care about my career
anywhere else.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
I think I probably watched you playing Kansas City a
little bit. Yeah, maybe, yeah, a little bit.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
What if it turns out I was a super fan
and this was my whole plan for years, Yeah, to
get you to come and do a show.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Yes, I got a Patriot tattoo? You do have Patrio tatoo? No, okay,
let me do this.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Brian Kelly is now suing LSU over an attempt to
short circuit his buyout. This has become the greatest soap opera.
It's so good because LSU fires him and we're like, dang,
that's crazy. Now pay him out his fifth million. And
so we hear their negotiation and I'm going, why would
he negotiate?

Speaker 3 (34:11):
That's what I wanted to know.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
To give them some of his buyout back and maybe
it's he wants a lot of it up front, and
it wasn't in there. Maybe it's mitigate. I don't know
the details of his contract, but that being said, they
kept coming back going, no, he wants his full buyout.
And so now the last thing that I saw was
LSU has now said we haven't fired him yet.

Speaker 3 (34:30):
Exactly. They're like, we haven't fired him yet, and we're
going to fire him for cause. And so the cause
of losing, like that's just part of the job.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Like it's bizarre. You feel like they might have fired
him a little too early. They didn't have all their
ducks in a row. They emotionally said he's fired, yes,
And now they're going, he won't take less money. We
had planned for him to negotiate and take less than
the fifty six million.

Speaker 5 (34:52):
Dollars, because I also heard it was like a thirty
day payout. It wasn't like overtime, which is a hefty.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
Sung ninety.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Being paid out. Yeah, and so LSU is on the
hook fifty four million dollars. And so now if I'm
Brian Kelly, which by the way, I think Brian Kelly's
the most unlikable guy in college football. That being said,
I'm now rooting for him.

Speaker 5 (35:15):
Yeah, he's gonna win this. Like, what do you mean
he didn't fire me? You had a press conference, the
governor came on, Yes, we fired the ad.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
So is the AD still?

Speaker 5 (35:24):
Are you on the hook for that money or he's
not fired either? Are you going to bring him back
to coach the team? What are you talking about?

Speaker 1 (35:30):
According to the lawsuit obtained by ESPN, Kelly claims LSU
called him earlier on Monday and said he'd never been
formally terminated and that the school was instead looking into
firing him for cause. But cause would mean he did something,
not lose games.

Speaker 5 (35:43):
Anything inappropriate that they deemed that inappropriate. Yes, they'd have
a leg to stand up. But right now, pay the man.
We haven't heard anything or nothing's come out about cause.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
I can't believe you may be root for Brian Kelly,
and I kind of hate you for it, LSU, because
I think he's the worst. But pay the man or
I'm rooting for him. I heard he's in contract negotiations
with Arkansas. He did not, and I tweeted, and I'm
very care full about not not creating a barrier between
me and anybody, specifically that hasn't worked for Arkansas, and
I am always like I never say I don't want

(36:15):
this coach or I want this coach, and never do
that because who knows who's gonna have the job, right,
and I want to have a decent relationship, And so
I did right. I'm there for whoever except Brian Kelly. Really,
that's how much I dislike Brian Kelly. Yes, but now
I'm rude.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
Was this the first time you've ever done that? Speaks
a lot? Probably.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
I was pretty vocal that I don't think Sam Pittman
is the guy, and I got some backlash from that
early on, but it wasn't because I disliked Sam Pittman
at all.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
Right, I like Sam, you just didn't think he was
the right fit. I did not.

Speaker 1 (36:48):
And I'm a fan before i'm anything else, Before I'm
a booster, before i'm the guy that's got shows. I'm
a fan first and foremost, and I tweet like a fan.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yeah, how would you do in the ad role there?
I would do awesome. We'd have winners because I would
raise money. Yes, that's what it is. It's resources and
you've got a lot of them at Arkansas. I would
eight relationships and have.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
I think I do pretty good. Yeah, I think you'd
be a relationship builder for sure. I think i'd be
a money getter. Yeah, just give me your money.

Speaker 3 (37:16):
I think I would. It's for the pigs.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
I also know, as somebody with an ego, how to
actually like massage people's egos, like find out what makes
them feel good and make them feel good so they
give you money that makes you feel good.

Speaker 5 (37:29):
This all makes sense. I'm feeling good. Listen to you
feeling good right now? Like, honestly, I'm feeling good about this.

Speaker 3 (37:34):
Who go fund me? Bobby Bones and Arkansas.

Speaker 1 (37:54):
It's time for the Week in Preview, presented by DraftKings.
From first touchdown score to anytime touchdown props or the
thrill of live in game betting, every snap is loaded
with opportunity. Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go
through the three biggest going to the NFL for Week eleven,
Bucks at Bills. Hey, this is a good one because
both those teams need to win.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
This is really good. They're in Buffalo.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
In Buffalo, and that probably affects Tampa more so than
a lot of these other teams because Tampa is pretty warm.

Speaker 5 (38:20):
It's very warm, and it's just like when a cold
weather team goes down to Tampa. There's an impact of that,
especially going into the heat from cold weather, and then
there's an impact of Tampa going up to the cold weather.
This one's tough for me because I really do like
the Buccaneers in their defense, and also obviously the way
Baker Mayfield's playing, he battled last week against the Patriots.

(38:43):
I'm going to go with the Buccaneers on the road
against the Bills.

Speaker 1 (38:48):
I think the Bills need it a little bit more
mm hmmm, because we expect them to be not just
winning the AFC East, we expect them to be that
number one team, number two team battling for that spot,
and I think they have more on the line. If
they lose again, I think it's the worse than if
the Bucks lose to a row just divisionally speak, because
that they.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
Put them three back against the Patriots and then the division. Yeah. Wow.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
So I'm going with the Bills. I just think it
means and it matters more to them. And then maybe
like there's like a ball dude with like a fake
mustache over there coaching like his analyst. It's Brian Dable.
He's back over. He got a fake mustache on.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
He's from Buffalo.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
Well, I mean I know him from being the offensive
coordinator with Josh Allen.

Speaker 5 (39:34):
But he actually grew up in Buffalo. Yeah, so I
think he's priced. Still got a home there.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
Seahawks at Rams it's so good.

Speaker 1 (39:42):
I feel like the Seahawks, and I think part of
it is where they're located. I feel like they're not
getting the respect that they deserve because they've been killing folks.
I think when you're in Seattle or you're in Portland,
it's just hard to get the respect because you're just
so far behind and you're not LA like La San Francisco.
Bigger markets, but especially LA like things are based in LA,
so they get the love naturally because a lot of

(40:03):
these analysts are there. Yes, I feel like Seattle doesn't
get the love because nobody's there.

Speaker 5 (40:08):
I would agree with you, because they're playing as good
as football as anybody in the league. I would even
argue that they could potentially be the best team in
football right now, just the way that the offense is operating.
Sam Donald's been amazing, defense has been outstanding. So I
mean these two teams. This one's a hard pick for
me because they both have a great identity on offense,

(40:29):
they know who they are, They've got superstar players on
the outside. The quarterbacks are playing at a really high level,
and the defenses are young and getting after people. I'm
still going to have to go with the Rams at home.
Matt Stafford just his his big game experience and everything.
Not to say that Sam Donald doesn't have that, but
Stafford's a proven entity and at the end of the day,
I think he's playing at a really really high level

(40:50):
MVP type.

Speaker 3 (40:51):
Stafford's awesome. I was surprised to see that he just
now is five hundred all time.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
Really if you pull up his record, because I think
you played for Detroit for yes, that's why, teen years,
that's why.

Speaker 5 (41:04):
Yeah, And they're always like that eight and eight, like
right around there, and had some down years, had a
few up years, but he was.

Speaker 3 (41:10):
Like something something in one what is it? One fifteen,
one fifteen and one. Wow. Hall of Famer for sure
for Super Bowl champion.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
Really one of the best, one of the best fifty
quarterbacks I think of all time, just because I haven't
thought about it. Maybe he's best twenty five but one
of the best fifty of all time.

Speaker 5 (41:25):
What he had to endure for all those years is
chalaedy as he is then lifted up that organization to
be better than what they could.

Speaker 3 (41:31):
Can you imagine if he didn't go there? Oh yeah,
Chiefs at Broncos. I'm going Chiefs, Yeah, Chiefs.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
I don't think the Chiefs lose like three years. That's
my prediction that we don't see a lot to like
twenty thirty.

Speaker 3 (41:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (41:44):
I do think the Broncos defense is really good, so
I will say that they're going to put up a fight.
But for them to continue to win games consistently in
the fourth quarter, in the manner in which they have,
I think it's hard pressed to think that they can
maintain that.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
I think they're the Denver Fraudcos. Boom boom, thank you,
you nail that. But again, you are what your record
says you are. Eight two.

Speaker 3 (42:10):
It's pretty impressive. I agree. That was your Week in
Preview presented by Draft Kings.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
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Speaker 4 (42:34):
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Speaker 3 (43:04):
All right, we're gonna get.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
Over and talk with former NFL tight end Vernon Davis.
Vernon was drafted sixth overall in two thousand and six
by the forty nine Ers. He went on to play
fourteen years in the NFL. He ran a sub four
four forty. He has a new podcast we're going to
talk about called The Next Role, and you can follow
him on Instagram at Vernon Davis eighty five.

Speaker 3 (43:25):
Here he is Vernon Davis, so Vernon before we start
talking about ball, like what is your next role?

Speaker 6 (43:32):
Like?

Speaker 3 (43:33):
What are you finding for filming in right now?

Speaker 2 (43:35):
My next role is is film and television, just being
just doing things that bring me joy And I think
that's the biggest thing that gives me motivation when I wake.

Speaker 6 (43:49):
Up every morning.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Vernon, How you doing, buddy.

Speaker 5 (43:51):
It's good to see you again about the new podcast.
What's something that you've already learned doing this only only
a month that maybe you didn't know before starting this endeavor?

Speaker 2 (44:01):
Well, I didn't know that. It took a great deal
of effort on my end it. You know, I would
have people you know doing all the work for me.
But it goes hand in hand with everything else in life.
If you want something, if you if you're passionate about it,
then you put your own time and energy into it.

Speaker 3 (44:20):
Are you enjoying it? Are you finding you're taken to
it pretty good?

Speaker 6 (44:23):
Yeah? Yeah, I enjoy it. I enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
It's it's a building, it's a building process. Just like
all the things that I did when I was playing
football started. I related to like starting from the beginning
when I first got to San Francisco, we were losing,
couldn't find a win at all, and then all of
a sudden boom.

Speaker 5 (44:40):
So on the show and the premise of the show,
You've got ex athletes, you got comedians, you got people
from all different walks of life. Was that something that
you really wanted to have inside this new podcast that
you started.

Speaker 6 (44:52):
Yeah, I wanted.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
I wanted to infuse my life with this podcast from
playing football athletes.

Speaker 6 (44:59):
Basketball was my first love.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
Also, there's a there's a lot of things that I'm
doing now in the basket ball space. I invested in
the team in Australia called the National basket in the
National Basketball League NBL team, which is the Brisbane Bullets.
So I wanted to cultivate that even with the production
side of you know, friends and people that I've met

(45:24):
in the acting world and television world. So it's it
just all comes together. It's just my life confused.

Speaker 1 (45:30):
And let's talk about basketball in high school. How good
a ball player were you in high school.

Speaker 6 (45:34):
Oh man, I was okay. I was okay.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
The one of the one of the guys that I
played against in high school in my area was Kevin Durant.

Speaker 6 (45:44):
I remember playing against him.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
It was that was that was tough because they also
had Patrick Ewing Junior had a really good team, so
it was it was a challenge for us.

Speaker 6 (45:52):
But I think I did really well.

Speaker 3 (45:54):
What'd you average?

Speaker 6 (45:56):
Probably eight to ten points a game.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
We had a guy on our team named Trey Kelly
who was going all the points every night, so he
was a little selfish. He wouldn't he wouldn't pass the
ball much, so you had to let him do his thing.

Speaker 5 (46:07):
So you played basketball, you played football? Did you also
do track in high school? And then what I ultimately
led you to Maryland?

Speaker 6 (46:13):
I did? I did.

Speaker 2 (46:14):
I did track and field, I did shot put, I
did high jump, and I felt like those things really
helped mold me as a football player.

Speaker 6 (46:24):
And the thing that led me to Maryland.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
Was just stay close to home, staying close to my grandparents,
my family, and allowing them the opportunity.

Speaker 6 (46:32):
To be able to see me play on Saturdays.

Speaker 1 (46:35):
So you sound like a guy then that would want
kids to play a bunch of sports, not just specialize
in a single sport.

Speaker 6 (46:41):
Yeah. Well, unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
I tried to get my son to run track and
play basketball, but he refused came home. He came one
home one day after track practice and I was like,
you're supposed to be in a track practice. He was like, yeah, Dad,
But I just didn't go there and say, Okay, I
get it, I get it, you don't want to do it,
and he's and I'm excited for him because he's he's
going to Maryland to play football as a linebacker in

(47:03):
twenty twenty six.

Speaker 6 (47:03):
So excited for Johnny.

Speaker 5 (47:06):
Yeah, you're one of those rare tight ends. Obviously when
you're coming out. Your explosive athleticism and all that was
recognized at the combine when you ran what a four
three eight, which is unheard of at the tight end position,
but you're drafted six overall at the age of twenty two.
Talk about that process and what that was like for
you and the expectation that went along getting drafted to
the forty nine ers six pick overall as a tight end.

Speaker 6 (47:28):
Yeah, that process for me was was very important.

Speaker 2 (47:32):
I knew how, I knew what the Combine could do
for a young guy coming into the NFL, and I
don't think a lot of guys that series. It was
a way for me to increase my stock in the draft,
and I did.

Speaker 6 (47:48):
I feel like.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
I felt like all the hard work and dedication I
put in from high school to college and even training
for the Combine really stood out. So my approach going
to the Combine, I was like, Hey, I'm want to
be the best and everything.

Speaker 6 (48:03):
That I compete in.

Speaker 2 (48:04):
I remember that night before going to Big I just
kept listening to it was a song by eminem you
only get one shot, did not miss your chance to
opportunities come once in a lifetime. That song I would
listen to all the time because it was a music
motivates you. It gives you the inspiration that you need.
And I got up that morning and it was game

(48:25):
time for me. It was game time. I knew this
was the moment that was going to change my life forever.
And that was my approach.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
When you were at Maryland, you played h back, you
played tight end, you moved around a bit, but you
could have also been a wide receiver.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
I mean you ran so fast, you were just large.

Speaker 1 (48:38):
You could have been a large wide receiver, right, instead
of a really fast tight end. Why did you decide
to play in rather than split out?

Speaker 6 (48:46):
When I robbed in Maryland, I did start a wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (48:49):
And then Coach Franklin, you know, unfortunately my heart goes
out to him because he's a hell of a coach
there at Penn State. But Coach Franklin was he was
a wide receiver coach there when I arrived. Coach Friedan
told me he was watching me one day and proctically said,
you know what we're going to move you to? And
then I said, I said why. She said, because you

(49:10):
I feel like you're going to get bigger. I said, okay,
And then from there back lead locking online backers for
the running back at times, and flex style catch balls
in the flats and things of that nature. And then
my Jenie year that was a true tight end and
he was right. I got up to about two hundred
and fifty three pounds.

Speaker 5 (49:30):
When you first got to the forty nine ers, Obviously
you were an organization that was still building to get
to eventually where you got to, but you obviously went
through adversity, and we remember the two thousand and eight
at least I do. I'm sure you do with Mike
Singletary and the altercation that you guys had, but that
was probably.

Speaker 3 (49:45):
A turning point for you and a growing moment.

Speaker 5 (49:48):
You obviously eventually become the captain, but talk about that
moment and what that did for you in your career
and how that helped change you as a player in
your mindset.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
When you're coming into the National Football League, you you
look up to certain individuals. You try to find that identity,
and sometimes the person that you're looking up to isn't
the right person. So you have to really make sure
you put yourself around the right role model. And I
was searching for that. I had to meet me mentality
and it shouldn't have been that way. I only had it.

(50:20):
It was only that way because I had a chip
on my shoulder. I wanted to be the best at
what I was doing, but I didn't know how to
go about it. Coach Singingtey was there. He was always
watching me, he was always behind me. I remember the
first day I arrived and he came up to me.
He said, you have great qualities and I feel like
you could be the best. And he told me that
from day one, and I guess he knew exactly what

(50:43):
to do to get my attention. The day he called
me out, sent me to the locker room, I remember
going home washing it on TV. I got a text
from him said come see me in the morning, and
when I arrived in his office that morning, we had
heart to heart.

Speaker 6 (50:57):
He started to cry, I was crying.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
And from there I started to see the big picture,
the big picture of what they brought me in to
being the big picture of just my my journey and
what I wanted for myself. In order to do that,
I have to be self less instead of selfish, and
and do just be a great, a great locker room guy.
All the time we hear the term great locker room guy.

(51:19):
That's very important. That dictates what the guy's playing three
years or fifteen years. So if you're a great locker
room guy, that transfers to the field, and that's what
I became.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
I'd love to hear about both quarterbacks in San Francisco,
both Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick, and what it was
like playing with both of those guys, like both of
their strengths, well.

Speaker 6 (51:39):
They are totally different.

Speaker 2 (51:40):
Alex was well, of course, Alex was my favorite guy
because when I came in, he was there.

Speaker 6 (51:44):
That was the guy that brought me. That was the
guy that brought me in.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
For to you know, just to cultivated relationship from a
receiver quarterback standpoint, and he was I mean, he was
amazing man.

Speaker 6 (51:57):
He was.

Speaker 2 (51:57):
We saw everything he went through with the injury in Washington,
d C. With his leg That's who Alex Smith is.
He's resilient, he's relentibly and he had that from the
beginning of time, even from the time when he suffered
from the concussion and was bitched to Colin Kaepernick, for
Colin Kaepernick to step in when hard ball was there.
His his ability, I mean, he has a unique great

(52:20):
arm strength, He had great football awareness, great IQ for
the game.

Speaker 6 (52:25):
He was a football player.

Speaker 2 (52:26):
Unfortunately he didn't have that in the beginning because we
had to go from we went from offensive coordinator to
offensive coordinator. It was just it was just it was
chaotic and he didn't have a chance to grow and
evolve as a as a quarterback. But he showed what
he could who he was when he went to Kansas City. Now,
Colin Kaepernick or nothing, it's just a totally different, different
style of playing quarterback. The way he threw the ball,

(52:49):
the way his ability to run, he was just just
totally different. But unfortunately for Colin Kaepernick, that didn't last
long for him. They were both great humans, you know,
fan favorites in the locker room, but Alex Smith was
when I look at quarterbacks, I would say, Alex Smith

(53:10):
is is the guy that I really really enjoyed playing with.

Speaker 5 (53:13):
Talk about coach Harball coming in twenty eleven. Obviously there
had to be a cultural shift at that point because
from twenty eleven in twenty fourteen, you guys go to
three straight NFC Championship games, go make a Super Bowl
appearance as well. But talk about the impact he had
on that organization at that time.

Speaker 2 (53:31):
Coach Harbaugh coming in, there was a culture shift the
guys started. I mean, we had some of the same
guys that our Brooks, all the Smith, Justin Smith, Frank.

Speaker 6 (53:39):
Gore, all the guys we had to call that court
group of guys. What happened was is.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
Just well, of course the game plan both offensively defensively,
new system all around, and what he expected out of
us was was totally different. Like he held us. You
talking about accountability he's the guy to enforce that. He's

(54:06):
going to enforce accountability. He's going to make sure that
you guys, the guys understand the Hey, I want you, but.

Speaker 6 (54:11):
I don't need you. You can easily be replaced.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
And once guys understood that, I mean, it was it
was like a totally different dynamic. He just he's just
has this way about him that you know, I mean,
he's he's the general man. He knows how to get
guys to play the game of football and play at
a high level.

Speaker 1 (54:32):
So then you weren't surprised to see him, I'm guessing,
win a national championship at Michigan and then turn the
Chargers around.

Speaker 6 (54:37):
No, I wasn't surprised to see him win the national championship.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
I wasn't surprised at all because I know that hardball
has he has it. You know a lot of guys
either have it in you or you don't. He's made
for football. You know, it might take him some time,
yet he'll get you there. You may not win it,
but he's going to come back and do something miraculous
at some point in time. He's one of those type
of guys that you you don't want to let him
go because you know what his pedigree is, from his

(55:02):
brother to his father to who he is.

Speaker 5 (55:05):
He just has talk to us about that divisional game
against the Saints, since referred to as catch number three
in the forty nine Ers folklore of their organization.

Speaker 3 (55:15):
But what do you.

Speaker 5 (55:16):
Remember from that game, in that moment when you caught
that touchdown pass? Because it was probably one of the
best divisional games of all time in NFL history.

Speaker 6 (55:24):
Oh yeah, that game.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
That was our first time going to the playoffs, believe
it or not, first time there. Super exciting. We wanted it.
I think you know how it is when you played
this game. You can never you playing and playing you're
looking for that win. That could get super frustrated. I
felt bad for guys like Frank Golhu who been there.
Frank arrived the year before me in twenty two thousand
and five.

Speaker 6 (55:47):
He was extremely upset over the years and just watching him.

Speaker 2 (55:51):
So when we finally made it to the playoffs, it
was just we had something in us. It was something
about that team that we were desperate for that win.
I knew how important it was for the team, the organization,
the fans, and just the city of San Francisco. So
that was the That was the first time I felt
like I was unstoppable, like I was in the zone,

(56:14):
like it was nothing that could stop me from producing
for my team.

Speaker 6 (56:20):
Right.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
I remember going to the hardball and saying, Hardball, just
threw me the ball. You could throw me the ball.
I'm I got it, trust me, and he just they
just kept coming to me.

Speaker 6 (56:28):
You know.

Speaker 2 (56:29):
He called the play. It was a play that went
started called them. It was the Vernon post. We ran
that plate one time. I didn't think we were gonna
call it, but Greg Roman called that play. We had
a couple of seconds left from the clock. It was
the play that that brought that game home. I remember
it was like like it was yesterday.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
It's the twentieth anniversary of Dancing with the Stars. You
did the show. What are your memories from that show?

Speaker 6 (56:50):
Me wanting to go home, me wanting.

Speaker 3 (56:57):
Why why is that?

Speaker 2 (56:58):
And that was the hardest thing I've had to do
in my life that I'm like, I guess because it
was it was super foreign to me. I didn't and
I didn't have I didn't know how to dance. You know,
I'm not a dancing guy. I don't have a dancing background,
So walking into a studio having to develop a dance
routine in two days, it's extremely tough, stremely difficult. It

(57:21):
was a challenge for me. I'm not gonna lie, but
I didn't. I kept going, I kept fighting, and eventually
it became it became fun. It became fun once I
learned the just the different, the different things you need
to have when.

Speaker 6 (57:35):
It comes to dancing, especially ball room dancing.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
I know you have your your Super Bowl trophy, but
don't I did win that ship, he won.

Speaker 3 (57:46):
Tell me this is not the ultimate flex. I don't
bring it out off. Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (57:53):
This is the one athletic thing that I probably have
a trophy that you don't in the history of the
world with one thing.

Speaker 3 (57:58):
With a bang up shoulder too, right, Oh yeah, I
tore my shoulder. I had to go to like the Titans.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
I didn't play Pro Bowl, obviously, but I had to
go to the Titans facility in Nashville because I tore
my shoulder.

Speaker 3 (58:06):
I didn't know how to dance.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
I'd never dance in my life, and so I tore
my shoulder on the first dance because I fell at
the end of the dance because I was celebrating because
I never actually finished the dance in practice.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
That's exactly laughing. Wow, yeah, and I did.

Speaker 1 (58:21):
I didn't go to the twentieth anniversary because I freaking
tore my ankle.

Speaker 3 (58:25):
So I'm in a cast right now.

Speaker 1 (58:27):
And before you came on, I was like, I think
Vernon did the show, and yeah it was.

Speaker 3 (58:30):
It was super hard. So yeah, anyway, I just want
to show off my trophy, that's all.

Speaker 5 (58:34):
Yeah, he got that trophy, and then in our profession,
you got the ultimate trophy. You're traded to Denver in
twenty fifteen with Peyton Manning. Talk about that experience, what
that was like and actually ultimately getting to achieve what
all of us ultimately wanted to achieve in this sport.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
Yeah, so when that happened, so we had I think
we just finished playing the Saint Louis Rams at the time,
and I remember being home, We're getting to the house
that night, waking up that morning with the text from
Trent balk A general manager saying hey to come see
So I'm already like, ah, he never, he never sends me.

Speaker 6 (59:09):
He never sent me a text like that.

Speaker 2 (59:11):
If it was, it would be a phone call, text,
So I took new something kind of fishing. I go in,
I see him and he says, sit sit down. So
I sit down and it's like, what's this about you
guys probably gonna trade me?

Speaker 3 (59:23):
Huh.

Speaker 6 (59:24):
He's like yeah.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
So he started pulling up different teams and he's like,
Denver highly interested in bringing you in. So I was
just like, okay, I'm processing everything, and of course I'm
I'm shedding tears because I'm with this organization. I've been
with this organization since two thousand and six. Now it's
twenty twenty fifteen. I'm like, all right, so you know

(59:48):
that happened. To get on the plane and go to Denver,
and I get a text from Peyton said come see
me when you get here. I'll be in the gym.
The rest is just history. Ended up winning the Super Bowl,
Super Bowl fifty in Denver, Von Miller, the Marcus what
where we just had an amazing team. That team reminded

(01:00:09):
me of the team that we had when I went
to Super Bowl forty seven with the San Francisco forty
nine ers. It was just the same kind of energy,
the same feel. Everybody was so positive. Conference was like
just super out there and you could just feel it,
you could feel the energy.

Speaker 6 (01:00:22):
It was just a great, a great thing we had
going on.

Speaker 2 (01:00:26):
Unfortunately, the thing for me was that I played with
two different quarterbacks. I played with bark Hoswald and I
played with Peyton Manning. So learning both guys on the
fly within a month or two was just like super
difficult for me. I'm not gonna live as a challenge
because it was just a totally different a totally different

(01:00:47):
processing and playbook with Peyton Manning and it it was.
It was awesome to experience that, even even though you know,
I didn't feel as comfortable as I wanted to. But
I wish I had the opportunity to start with those
guys in the beginning, from training camp all the way through.
It would have been a special It would have been

(01:01:07):
even more special, I think. But look, I don't take
anything for granted. I enjoyed the moment, the journey, in
the process, and you know, that's the moment that I'll
remember for the rest of my life.

Speaker 3 (01:01:18):
Final question, how did you know when it was time
to hang them out?

Speaker 2 (01:01:21):
I had my last concussion, my grandfather just died, and
the way I was feeling, I was like, mentally, I'm
not I'm not in it, and this game is to
me is probably ninety ninety percent mental ten percentage just
the physicality of the game, in my opinion, because the

(01:01:43):
things that you have to do and create in your
mind when you're out the left field is a man.
If you don't have that, then you can't play this game.
And to me, I wanted to be able to be
free mentally when when playing this game of football because
I had to have that, you know, all my career,
I used my mind to go out there and produce

(01:02:04):
at the highst them, so I knew it was time.

Speaker 6 (01:02:07):
When that feeling came over me, I knew it was
time to let the game go.

Speaker 3 (01:02:11):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:02:12):
The podcast is called The Next Role. You can listen
wherever you get your podcast. You can watch on YouTube.
Vernon Davis Vernon, We really appreciate the time man. Good
luck with the podcasts, good luck with the acting, good
luck just finding your next role. You have the fulfillment
in your life now, so we appreciate that.

Speaker 6 (01:02:26):
I appreciate you guys, Thanks for having me all.

Speaker 3 (01:02:27):
Right, Thanks Vernon, all the best.

Speaker 6 (01:02:30):
Get to see you too.

Speaker 5 (01:02:31):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
Okay, before we go who's the coach in the NFL
that you look at now and you think I didn't
get the chance to play four with them.

Speaker 3 (01:02:55):
But I would love to have played for with them.

Speaker 5 (01:02:57):
Probably Kevin O'Connell. But you played with him, I know
that doesn't Yeah, that's what it would make it so great.
Got a great relationship. No, I mean he's a QB whisper.
I think that. Have you watched the videos of him
after the game? Yes, in the locker room.

Speaker 6 (01:03:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:03:12):
I never would have guessed that when I first started
playing with him. The way that he's matured and grown
up in the profession, but also his messaging and everything else.
I think he's just a high character individual and it
would be a fun experience to play for him.

Speaker 3 (01:03:25):
Plus they do win a lot of games.

Speaker 5 (01:03:27):
I know they're going through a little bit of a
phase right here where they're not winning a lot of games,
But that would be a guy I would like to
play for.

Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
I'd like to see what he says with no cameras,
no microphones. To his closest of confidence about J. J. McCarthy,
I'll call him because I think it's really bad.

Speaker 5 (01:03:43):
I don't think it's what they expected, and I think
that they're now looking in the Mara going Sam Darnold's
out there in Seattle.

Speaker 3 (01:03:51):
And Daniel Jones and Daniel Jones that I'm both.

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
Now they weren't going to be able to offer them
long term contracts or they they weren't going to We
would Sam get a.

Speaker 3 (01:03:58):
Three year deal?

Speaker 5 (01:03:59):
Yeah, three year deal and you still had JJ McCarthy
on a rookie deal, so potentially you could still make
that work. Very hid insight of you. Yes, yeah, I mean,
I'm just looking at it. I wouldn't have let Sam
Donold walk outside that building after the season that he had.
And I know that people like well in the biggest
moments against the Rams late in the year and they said,
look if you look at Jared Gofflain, but he did

(01:04:21):
in that playoff game last year against the Commanders he
threw four interceptions. So I mean I know that it
was because Sam was the first year starter for the
Minnesota Vikings, was with Kevin O'Connell and they say, well,
it's Kevin O'Connell. No, it's the player out there making plays,
doing it consistently. And I would have never broke that
relationship up.

Speaker 3 (01:04:41):
My agent has called me three times during this podcast.
Is that good or bad? It's one of the two.
What are we doing, guys? What's next? Don't get rid
of castle. We're going up. You're hosting American Idol.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
But it's funny that you you went bad in your head.
In my head, I'm saying it's good for you, but
you went bad for you. You're like, I'm moving to
La cas Sorry, definitely not doing that.

Speaker 3 (01:05:06):
Something's happening. Let's call it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
Something's happening now, come on never, Hey, we're on air
right now, but tell me what's going on. He So,
he first called at like twenty minutes into the podcast,
and I just made a quick video and sent it
to show and we were in the middle of recording.
He called again at fifty minutes into it, and then
he just called again and said, call me after.

Speaker 3 (01:05:25):
Ooh, there's some juicy on the other end of this.

Speaker 1 (01:05:27):
I feel like it ain't good. Do you get excited?
Do you like kind of know everything about my life?
Is I associate with heye, call me after to be
called me after because I have bad news.

Speaker 3 (01:05:36):
Yeah, that's probably the route that I usually go.

Speaker 1 (01:05:38):
If you've called me three times, something happened, Yeah, yeah,
so I feel like it's probably not the best call coming,
but like, how.

Speaker 3 (01:05:44):
Bad could it be?

Speaker 5 (01:05:45):
Did you do anything when you're all hooped up on
Mountain Dew for your foot surgery that we need to
know about, or you don't don't really remember.

Speaker 3 (01:05:51):
I don't think so. I don't think so. I hope not.
I don't think so.

Speaker 5 (01:05:55):
You're like like Woof of Wall Street when he takes
the Quailers and driving down the street.

Speaker 3 (01:06:00):
No, I totally got home. Fine, honey, here's your ice cream.
So I guess I'll call him. That's it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:06):
Thank you very much. Thanks again to Vernon Davids for
coming on. That's Matt Castle. That's Kickoff Kevin, that's Brandon Ray.
I'm Bobby Bones and I got a calling agent. But
we've had lots to say goodbye. Everybody lots to say
with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. Is a production of
the NFL and iHeart Podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

(01:06:29):
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.

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Hosts And Creators

Bobby Bones

Amy Brown

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Eddie Garcia

Morgan Huelsman

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Mike D

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Lots to Say: Super Bowl Odds and SB Champion Vernon Davis