January 3, 2023 • 45 mins
The locker room opens up with heavy hearts as the football world's thoughts and prayers are with Damar Hamlin this morning.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is in the locker room with Wolf and Starks
on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your
neighborhood Forward Store. The F one fifty is the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Welcome back to Cincinnati, where
medical personnel have been working on Bill safety Damar Hamlin
(00:29):
for the last nine minutes. Hamlin made a hit. He
got up, took a couple of steps, and just then
just fell to the ground. We don't know, of course,
the extent of his injuries, but the entire Bill's team
is out on the field right now. Several players are
down on their knees. Other players are holding hands praying.
You can just see the word looks on their faces.
(00:51):
As soon as we have more, Joe will cast it
on up two. Doesn't move Steelers Nation. This is one
of those mornings, one of those moments where um the
game suddenly recite, it just recedes into the background. Of course,
we're speaking about DeMar Hamlin and what went on last
night on Monday Night football, and West is joining me
(01:12):
here in the locker room. Unfortunately, Max got caught up
in travel from the game he was doing yesterday, so
West and I are here, and uh, this is one
of these situations where it's very, very tough. I was
touched by Ryan Clark in the words that he spoke
last night and the fact that he, you know, puts
that human face on somebody like DeMar Hamlin, who of
(01:34):
course is a Pittsburgh kid from the area. And so
what I'd like to do, and I hope that uh
people in out and Stealers Nation will join me. We're
gonna say a quick prayer for for DeMar Hamlin. Lord
God Almighty, we come to you and beseech you for
a healing and restoration for demorrow. We pray for comfort
for his family and friends and his teammates. Lord, we
(01:55):
asked that you'd let him to continue to be the
shining light he is in his community. Lord, we ask
this in Jesus precious name. Amen. Look, football is one thing,
but life is life, and this young man is out there,
He's just doing his job. It's one of those situations
West where it's a bang bang thing and something happens.
(02:18):
I've been on the field and somewhat somewhat similar circumstances,
not not life threatening like that, but where there was
temporary paralysis or what have you. And it's an extremely
difficult thing. And I'm glad the NFL said, Okay, we're
putting the game aside, we're done with this because right
now this is way bigger than the game. Yeah, I'm
(02:39):
I'm with you on that one. Um. There was only
one decision last night, and that was to suspend the game.
And and you know, whatever they decide going forward, I
think we'll be fine with anyone, whether they play it,
scrap it, whatever. I think that's in the back of
everyone's minds right now. It is about the health and
safety of the mar Hamlin and it's it's it's one
(03:00):
of those moments, Wolf that you're watching that game last night,
right in time kind of stops in a way. Um,
you know, I think we we all had similar feelings
just a few years ago at that same stadium with
Ryan Shay's ear. I'm thinking about that last night as
well too. Just how odd it is that it happened,
you know, on the on the same field, in the
same stadium. Different situation obviously, but similar feeling. Similar um
(03:25):
moment that transcends who's gonna win or lose this contest
and you're just worried about the safety of one of
your teammates of you know, the NFL brotherhood, if you're
if you're the Bengals on the other sideline, one of
your you know, one of your competitors. UM, it's just
like I said, it is, it's it's one of those
moments that really puts things into perspective, really stops you
(03:46):
in your tracks. And uh and and you realize that
that this is you know, why we get so caught
up in the winds and the losses and the performances
and who's doing good and who's doing bad, and who
do we like and who do we don't like? In
the rivalries and our opinions on all the players and
the coaches and this that and the other. You know,
these these guys who are out there putting it on
(04:08):
the line, um seventeen times a season plus preseason, plus
training camp plus all that, they're the ones who you know,
afford us this incredible uh league that is the National
Football League. Uh, this sport, this entertainment, this business and
uh man DeMar Hamlin, You're just you're you're hoping for
some good news. UH. You know, in stable condition UM
(04:33):
is the latest and that is obviously a step in
the right direction. But I think we're all very you know,
hopeful here that in the next you know, twelve hours
or so whatever it may be, that that will get
even some better news and that hopefully it'll look like
things are on on the up and up for tomorrow,
no question, well said last. You know, the thing about
it is, um, you know what the problem is is
(04:55):
you play a very gladiatorial sport and you're involved in
a sport that is, uh all about performance. It's not
about it's not a place for those who uh are
you know, non physical physical type thing. You know, it's
it's really it's it's about guys that that are laying
(05:16):
it on the line. And it's it's a extremely difficult
when you all of a sudden pull back that curtain. Say,
by golly, this is a human being. This is a
guy who's just out there trying to you know, make
a go. He's he's a light in his community. He's
raising money for you know, toys for kids and everything.
And by the way, that's that's a magnanimous response by
(05:37):
the football community and in the community at large, UM
to respond to his charity. I believe what was it,
what was the last total that was up to I
saw this morning three and a half million UM, which
is which is incredible I'm reading here online. You know,
when when DeMars started this this toy drive in his
hometown of McKee's Rocks, not far from where you and
(06:00):
I are now, well about about fifteen minute drive away. UM,
he had the goal of raising two thousand, five hundred dollars.
He is now well over three million dollars of donations
in a matter of hours. Not obviously the way that
we wanted that to happen, but I am glad that
you mentioned that, because that is, you know, a silver
lining right now is that people, you know, people are
(06:21):
distraught and and feeling for him and his family, and
they see, okay, what can you know. Everyone's sitting there
saying a prayer and it's you know, it's what can
I do? Um, Hey if nothing? But there's nothing you
can do but pray and if you want to, you know,
exorcift for for people looking for an avenue to exercise
some of that that worry as well too, and and
(06:42):
reach out and feel like they're having an impact. Hey,
to to raise that kind of money for his for
his charity, for his annual uh toy drive. Hey, that
is that's certainly ah, I think a silver lining of
all this and something that I'm sure Damar and his
family are are very touched by in this time. Well,
you know, the thing about it is you have a
demonstration of the mortality or ah, the you know, the
(07:05):
humanness of the player from last night, I mean a
game day. We used to talk about being tent foot
tall and bulletproof, you know, and then you come to
that realization that I sixty four years old, I'm six
ft two and uh overweight, you know. I mean he said,
you go, okay, you're very mortal. You know. It's it's
about you know, coming to grips with with you know,
(07:26):
your life and what's going on. And now I'm so
glad again that they decided that it was more important
to make sure that this young man got all the
treatment he could and to realize there's nobody that's got
his mind on on the business the game of football.
You know, to go out there when you're that distracted
to be endangering all these guys because nobody, nobody, I've
(07:50):
been out there. When you know, when you you have
the board come out and you think that there's you're
dealing with some paralysis and stuff when the hardest things
to do is to restart and get yourself in the
frame of mind to go out and hit somebody when
you've just seen a teammate or or or a well
a teammates still in the football community, if he's on
(08:12):
another team. You're dealing with something that every athlete is. Uh,
you know, that's something you've got to face, is that
the possibility of everyone's worst night playing out in front
of a devastating injury like that, and so you know,
you see that play out and all of a sudden
you just realize what's really important, what's not important, and
(08:33):
certainly getting the game just either delayed or not delayed.
But I mean, you know, thrown out or or played
on another day is what I meant. Um, that's the thing. Okay,
that's fine, get rid of it, because right now everything
is about tomorrow, Hamlin. You know, everything is about knowing
and making sure you're doing everything to um focus on
(08:53):
him and what's going on. And certainly there's just no
way you could put yourself in a position to go
back to a game that requires intense concentration and every
every sort of cellular vibe, you can drop in yourself
to do what you need to do. Um, So yeah,
what's your prayers out to this young man? That's your
(09:16):
your spot on there, wolf. I mean, listen, you you
play football long enough, you're gonna see gruesome injuries, right.
You might you might see a bone poking out of
one of your teammates fingers or wrists. You know, you
might see an ankle or a knee that that twists
away it's clearly not supposed to. And there's a twenty
minute pause on the field, you know while maybe while
they while they get that person stretchered off and get
(09:38):
their their leg or their wrist or their shoulder or
whatever stabilized. And that's difficult to get yourself back ramped
up to go out there and play after you know,
that fifteen minute or so pause when it's something like
this man, where it's it's close to an hour, your
teammates there on the ground and he's and he's getting seat.
I mean, they're literally giving him life saving measures on
(09:59):
this yield. Um. You know, that's that's at a whole
another level. And and you're right, you know, I know
you're right because I've heard I've heard Moats talk about
the same thing, just the mindset that you have to
be in to play this game at a high level.
And how that's a you know, Moats would talk about
for him, that process of getting his mind ready started
when he drove across the bridge and saw the stadium,
(10:20):
you know, three, three or four hours before the game.
And then that's when I have to start getting my
mind ready to go out there and you know, dish
out and take the abuse that I'm about to to
deal and receive. Um, It's it's like you said, it's
it's one thing when when one of your teammates or
when somebody that you're competing against has one of those
devastating injuries, it's another one. It is a life threatening injury.
(10:45):
And yeah, after you know, forty fifty minutes of seeing
like I said, literally life saving measures being done to
one of your teammates or one of your competitors. I
I think everybody last night, um, you know knew that
that that moment that that they just needed to step
away and uh and allow everybody the time that they
needed to process his teammates, his opponents. You know, I'm
(11:07):
thinking too, Wolf about a guy like Tyler Boyd, right,
who competed against Damar in high school, went to pit
with him together as teammates, and is out there on
the field with him when he collaps. You know, what
do you think is going through Tyler Boyd's mind? Um?
So this like this, like you said, it doesn't just
affect the bills, It affects everybody who's out there on
that field. And and I'm with you. I mean, there
(11:27):
there was no decision last night other than to, um,
you know, do what they did, and that is leave
leave the status of the game up in the air
while we await the important status of DeMar Hamlet. There's
no question and man, oh man, there's nothing more important
than everybody. They're interceding on behalf of this young man
with God Almighty. M m hmm. Man, let's uh, if
(11:54):
it's all right with you, can I play the you
know you you referenced at the start of this segment,
the mess sage that Ryan Clark gave. And he's obviously
a guy who had a very serious with his sickle
cell anemia in the situation he was, he was in
the hospital and he lost thirty pounds. Uh, here is
Ryan Clark last night. Well, if I'll play this clip
(12:16):
real quick, if it's all right with you. Uh, this
is Ryan Clark late last night on with with Scott
Van Pelt, you know, on like the midnight edition of
Sports Center. Right. The first thing, this is the song.
This is about Damar Hammon, and um, it's about a
young man at twenty four years old that was living
his dream that a few hours ago was getting ready
(12:38):
to play the biggest game of his NFL career and
there's probably nowhere else in the world he wanted to
be and now he fights for his life. And when
Damar Hamlin falls to the turf, and when you see
the medical staff rushed to the field and both teams
are on the field, you realize this isn't normal. You
(12:59):
realized this is in just football. And so many times
in this game and in our job as well, we
use the cliches. You know, I'm ready to die for this.
I'm willing to give my life for this. It's it's
time to go to war. And I think sometimes we
use those things so much we forget that part of
(13:19):
living this dream is putting your life at risk. And tonight,
you know, we got to see a side of football
that is extremely ugly, a side of football that no
one ever out, side of football that no one ever
wants to see or never wants to admit exists. When
you see both teams on the field crying in that way,
(13:40):
your first start is do more Hamlin. The second thought
is his family. And this isn't about a football player, right,
This is about a human. This is about a brother,
This is about a son, This is about a friend.
This is about someone who is loved by so many
that you have to watch go through this. I dealt
with this before, and I watched my teammates for days
(14:03):
come to my hospital bed and just cry. I had
them call me and tell me that they didn't think
I was going to make it. And now this team
has to deal with that and they have no answers.
And so the next time I think that we get
upset at our favorite fantasy player, or we're we're upset
that the the guy on our team doesn't make the
(14:23):
play and we're saying he's worthless, and we're saying you
get to make all this money, we should remember that
these men are putting their lives on the live to
live their dream in tonight Damar Hamlin's dream became a
nightmare for not only himself, but his family and his
entire team. That is so very well said by Ryan Clark,
who I have a great respect for as a player,
(14:45):
as a man, as a man of God. Um, just
listen to him speak. Last night was something. Um, and
then he speaks truth, and he speaks words that are comforting.
And I know it's just got to be so tough
for Demorrow's family, for those in his community, in his light,
(15:09):
you know, I mean, this is just you get a
special guy like that, a guy who's just you know,
shines bright and everybody speaks so highly of them, and
it's just it's devastating. But at the same time, we
have great hope, made great hope. Now, Um, he's gotten
through some of the harder moments I see. Um they're
they're saying that he's stable, still in critical condition. Um
(15:32):
that they his vitals have returned to normal. But um
they're reporting, as far as I can see, taking off
the internet here, it's solf worth. Um. The news reports that, Um,
you know, they put them to sleep, so I get
a tube down him and all those things that they
need to do. But you know, the young man's got along,
you got a road back, you know, and uh, we
(15:52):
will continue to pray for this young man because again,
you know, each and every guy out there competing there
are person, They're human, they have as Ryan said, they're
a son, or a husband or a you know, um, yes,
thank you. Yeah, I mean, you know, you just kind
of struggle for words. And I felt so bad for
(16:14):
the guys last night that had to try to commentate
in between, you know what I mean. I thought it
was just they were over agonizing the poor people on
air that had to you know, find their way through
and navigate through what was going on. Yeah. I remember
when Ryan Shay Zero went down. I remember the hit.
I saw it. I was on the sidelines and I
(16:35):
was right there, and I remember Mike Tomlin's face, you know,
that was Yeah, that's I'm sure that's something that'll stick
with you forever. And it's like you and I talked about,
it's and it's it's just stranger than than fiction that
you know, both of these things happened at the same stadium,
at the same field. Um, maybe the one thing jeeus
(16:59):
were trying to get through this, maybe the one thing
before we go before we got a break here. Wolf.
That I'll say is you know we've we've mentioned Tomar
and his family and the players and the coaching staff
and everybody involved. How about a prayer of thanks and
of guidance for for all the doctors and everybody at
uh at you see health as well too. UM. Bye,
(17:20):
by all, by all reports and and and what Ryan
shas here and everybody around him himself said. Uh, they
were amazing with Ryan a few years ago, you see
Health and the work that they were able to do,
uh to get him to where he needed to be
before they ultimately, you know, sent him back to Pittsburgh
to continue his his treatment and recovery. Uh. They will
do the same thing with them, are obviously. UM so
(17:42):
so are our prayers and our thanks to everybody there
you see health center as well too. Um, as they
go about this critical time and in these critical measures. Uh,
just just thoughts and prayers with them that they're able
to do their job to the best of their ability
and do everything they can for for DeMar and his
fa Emily as well, beautifully said West. And that's what
(18:02):
we're gonna do. We're gonna take a break and continue
praying for good guidance from the doctors, for wisdom for them,
for healing fo DeMar, and for comfort for his family,
friends and teammates. You know what, we're gonna be back
after this. We got that there's something going on with
third down conversions with the Steelers. You know what, we'll
talk about it when we come back. This is more
in the locker Room. This is in the Locker Room
(18:38):
with Wolf and Starks on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio,
presented by your neighborhood Forward Store. The F one is
the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers go without
a huddle third down and four at Botimore Sturdy six
Steelers on third down six for ten, pick it back
(18:58):
to throw it. He throws out and it's pulled in
by Deonte Johnson fends away from a man twenty knocked
out a bounds at the fifteen yard line of Boulevard.
Ha ha, Yeah, little Deonte magic going on their third
and four. Nice twenty one yard conversion. West. I don't
know what's going on with the third down conversions gad zooks.
Earlier in the year we couldn't seem to buy third
(19:21):
down conversions, and yet here we go. Through the first
eight games, we're at thirty three point six conversion, right,
but over the last eight games fifty three point five.
Great googly moogly. You know, you look at this and
you think to yourself, all right, you're getting it. And
while you are getting it, but here's the point in it.
(19:41):
The Steelers converted ten of sixteen third downs in the
Baltimore game, right, they had eleven of the sixteen were
third and four or less. That's outstanding, baby, manageable, makeable,
as Bruce arians used to call it, makeuble third downs,
manageable third downs, third downs, whatever whatever m word you
want to use to convert that. But certainly the important
(20:04):
thing is because this is what I truly believe. The
best defense is a good offense if you can keep
your offense time of possession. And you got a head
almost thirty five minutes in that Ravens game. Yeah, about
ten minutes extra with the ball, yes, exactly, that's ten
minutes less that the other side's got to do with
that ball, right, particularly team like Baltimore too. Wolf, you
(20:25):
know it's not it's not. The Bengals are the chiefs
where they want to go to plays and eight yards
right and hit a big bomb down the field. Good point, Baltimore.
They they need time with their drives, and they want
to get the ball and they want to be able
to run it and take their time and play with
a lead and all those things. Uh yeah, when you're
keeping an offense like that that you know possessions are
already at a premium four on the sideline, that's even better.
(20:46):
You know. I'm looking at this and I went through
and charted at every every third done. He had third
and one, third and two, third and one, third and two,
third and three. Uh, then there was one of third
and five. They had a couple of big ones, third
and fourteen and a third and eight. But everything else
uh in a third and eighteen, But everything else is
mostly third and three, third and five, third and three,
third and fourth, third and fourth, third four. I mean
(21:08):
it is just repetitious. But so many there's one, two, three, four,
at least four third ones. I mean that's exactly what
you want to do, is be able to make these
things a good conversion, you know, one that you have
a high percentage of conversions to be able to keep
rolling those chains. Is Mike Tomlin always talked about and
(21:29):
that's the important thing, especially when you face a Lamar
Jackson or a Tom Brady or something. You keep them
quarterbacks dead, gut, keep their butts over on the bench,
you know. And now that the next step is going
to be in converting you know, because conversion, converting third
downs is not the same as converting them into touchdowns.
And that's where the Steelers gotta work on finishing drives.
(21:52):
Obviously we all know that I think they're averaging around
seventeen points a game. You'd like to see that stepped
up some, but certainly this is a good solid basis
by which you have a foundation of being able to
get some drives going and now learning to get them
into the end zone, stick them in the end zone, correct,
And that's the you know, that's the final step of
(22:12):
this progression for for this Steeler's offense. But Wolf, You're right,
there's been there's a lot of um there's a lot
of check marks, there's a lot of boxes checked, there's
a lot of milestones, if you will, I think in
this progression for the Steelers offense, the final you know,
the final crown jewel is to start scoring you know,
over twenty points a game. Twenty one points a game regularly,
(22:33):
you know, get get closer to UM. But they have
done much better with their third down efficiency as as
you just laid out there UM for them to be
you know, over fifty and since the bye week is impressed.
I mean, if you're hitting in the high forties, you know,
if you're at third down conversion, right, that's good. In
(22:53):
the NFL, you're towards the top even my math my
poor maths, right, figure, that's pretty good. That's pretty good.
So if you're hitting over I mean you're ten out
of sixteen on third down efficiency on Sunday night, that
is exactly where you want to be. You want another
encouraging progression for this offense, Craig wolf Lee, Yes, I
would love one the West right now, So double joy
(23:20):
if you, uh, if you will. Look at red zone efficiency.
That's another thing we've talked a lot about as it
relates for this offense. Right red zone red zone efficiency.
There are two teams in the National Football League that
score touchdowns or more of the time when they enter
the red zone. Just two. That's the n f C
UH East foes, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys,
(23:44):
both pretty good teams this year. Right, well, the the
Eagles are twelve and three, the Cowboys are eleven and four.
To two good football teams. They're the only two in
the NFL that, through this entirety of the season score
touchdowns more than seventy percent the time in the red zone. Okay,
over the last three weeks, wolf the Steelers offense is
scoring touchdowns seventy two percent of the time in the
(24:06):
red zone. I like those numbers over the last three weeks.
So that's you know, that's a that's not just one week,
that's not just two weeks. Over their last three games,
the Steelers offense is at that over seventy percent elite area.
You know, we're not We're again, only two teams are
there for the entirety of the season of scoring touchdowns
in the red zone. That to me, I saw that
(24:29):
yesterday and that kind of jumped off the page at me,
because you know, that's one of those other things we've
talked so much about this off When you get to
the red zone, you gotta score more. You gotta score more.
You're settling for threes instead of scoring sixes and sevens
too often. Right over the last three weeks, seventy two
percent of the time this Steeler's offense has been in
the red zone. They've finished in the back of the
(24:49):
end zone, that is in the upper echelon of numbers
where you want to be in the National Football League.
And that I think is another again, not finished product,
not anything like that, but another progression, another stepping stone
in the growth of this offense, and you know, in
the in the growth of young Kenny Pickett as well too,
exactly exactly. So you know, I'm looking at this and going,
(25:11):
all right, so You've got the conversions going, how many
how many double digit drives did we have the other night?
We had one, two, three, four or five? Five out
of the nine were double digit drives. You know, it's
well even if you take away the one with the
interception that was a kneel down, so five of right,
five of eight we're double digits. I mean, that's that's fantastic.
(25:35):
Can we can Can anybody sit here and go, hey, actually,
way to go? Can we throw some flowers at real
quick before we do well? If I'm looking at this
as well, one of those drives was the end of
the half in the first half as well, too, right,
so it's five seven, so it's really five of seven. Yeah, man,
my mass skills are just hot this morning. Man. That's
that Syracuse edumacation would have been great. Like touch always
(25:58):
used to say, not a ten in class. That's because
you know, your worst class was geography. You couldn't find
your class. You and I. Well, if you and I
both had done in comment next time, next time. You
see my father asked him about it. Oh yeah, you
might might have been ready to pull me out after
my my brains freshman year. I got you, so we
(26:18):
got right. Now we're converting the the Ravens game, they
converted of their third downs and now, uh in the
red zone converting to touchdowns? Are scoring? Right? Is scoring
your touchdowns? It's touchdowns? So yeah, not just that's that's
touchdown percentage in the red zone. All right. So with
(26:38):
all that, I think it's time to say, hey, mc
cann is doing a pretty dead come good job. You
got a young quarterback or rookie quarterback that who has
made eleven starts and he's already got three fourth quarter comebacks.
You know, Uh, that's not bad. That's that's doing something right,
doing something right. And I think that's that's a lot
(27:00):
of times Wolf, I think people think when you when
you bring up these positives that you know again that
maybe you're talking about the Steelers offense like they're suddenly
you know, the Bills are the Chiefs or something like that.
That's not what you and I are saying. What we
had been telling people all season long, and particularly at
two and six when everyone was mashing the let's fire
everybody in tank the season button is you gotta give.
(27:22):
He just had to give some time and give some patience.
And we know as NFL fans that's the worst thing
to hear because you only get to watch your team
play seventeen times this season, right, and that's it, and
you want your wins, and you want them now, and
you want the instant gratification. And we've been pretty fortunate,
pretty spoiled here in Pittsburgh over the years that we
haven't had to be patient very often. As of late,
we have been in win now mode and contention mode
(27:44):
for the better part of two decades, thanks to, you know,
in large part, having that Hall of Fame franchise quarterback
that we're all optimistic that we can have here once
again with Kenny Pickett, but you needed to give him time.
You need to give the young offense time around him.
You needed to give uh, Matt Cannon and all the coaches,
Mike Sullivan time as they're working with multiple quarterbacks, both
new to the roster. One yes, a veteran, but still
(28:06):
new to the roster, the other a rookie getting his
first taste of of NFL action and weekend and week
out in preparation and all those different things. I didn't
say you had I'm not saying you had to enjoy
it right well, but it was if you were being realistic.
I think it was to be expected in a sense,
when you lose a guy like Ben Roethlisberger, you're going
to take a little bit of a step back. It's
(28:28):
just natural. Can When you lose a guy like Ben Roethlisberger,
you're going to take a little bit of a step back.
Look at the flux that the cults have been and
since they lost their Hall of Fame quarterback, the Saints,
I know, it's a smaller sample size, and the Patriots
since they lost their Hall of Fame quarterbacks. You know,
there are the rare exceptions of going to Brett Farve
(28:49):
to Aaron Rodgers. But that very rarely happens, all right,
most of the time, you gotta have a little bit
of patience. And if you were somebody who was patient
and willing, I think you're you're getting the payback years
as now. You know, again, not where we want to be,
but you're playing a meaningful game week eighteen of the season.
I think all of us would have signed up for
(29:09):
that at at two and six that, you know, thank
you for bringing us back to our reference point. You know,
reference points are so big, you know, because once you
do it, you sit there and go, well, I've seen
this before, I've done this before, I've been here before,
and you have that reference point by which you can
launch forward and move forward. You look at the the
rushing offense here. Now you've got this superb performance against
(29:33):
a good, very good, tough Ravens defense that was third
in the NFL before the game started, and you can
you pulled off for the first time the biggest rushing
total since what right, I mean, it's unbelievable. You know,
you've got almost two hundred yards when everybody says, oh,
you can't even make one hundred yards, and yet um,
you know these guys are moving in the right direction.
(29:55):
And that's the point at two and six, Like you said,
when everybody was for you know, let's taking, which never
happens here. You're never gonna do that here. That's just
not part of the culture. But the fact of the
matter is you say, well, let's slug it out. That's
let's stay after, let's get, let's get. You know, we're
back to the w's putting those w stacking those ws.
(30:16):
And I love that because that's the fighting spirit that
this city embraces, this community embraces that this this football
um team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, has lived up to their
entire lives. Even even when they were no good, Hey,
they still played to win. He played hard. You know.
It's like they say, it was always a pyrrhic victory.
(30:37):
You know, you lose the battle, you lose. You win
the battle, but lose the war, you know, because they're
physically going after people and banging, but there you're losing
people along the way. I remember Andy Russell telling me
about Ernie Stautner and how he broke bones in his
hand and it was coming through his skin and he
just duct taped it up and played the rest. Oh
(31:01):
my gosh, that's like unbelievable. Duct tape, duct tape of
all things. Man, you kid me, definitely goodness. Oh my
hope you put at least a little cloth or something
underneath that duct that rip the hairs right off your
(31:21):
wrists there, I tell you, oh man. But it does
speak to this offense is going in the right direction.
They're experiencing more success on first and second downs that
gets them to those makeable third and fours and less
uh situations. That's what you're looking for. That's it's a
constant upgrading of the offense. And the defense has coming
(31:42):
along too and doing the things that they need to
do to be that dominant defense that Mike Tomlin talked
about at the beginning of the year. That was set back.
When you lose a defensive player of the year. Hello,
you know what I mean, when you lose that sort
of magnitude of performer. And we all know and have
heard stats of of what happens t J. Watts in
the lineup and when t J. Watt isn't in the
(32:03):
lineup one twelve and one without him in the last
three seasons, perfect perfect, right. Well, I'm not I'm not
a guy either, But I can hold on. Let me
crunch the numbers here. I think that's not great. Let
me crry the one on that. Yeah, that would be
about dead last in the NFL. If you have played
(32:25):
that out over seventeen game season, he might get that high.
Pick that some of the some of the tankers wanted
out there. Well, let's tell you what. Let's let's go
to break here, and when we come back, we're gonna
talk about is it Kenny Cool, is it Kenny Magic
or is it the Sun Dance Kid just doing what
the Sun Dance Kid does. He's better when he moves
(32:46):
all this is more. SNR is in the Locker Room
(33:13):
with Wolf and Starks on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio,
presented by your Neighborhood Forward Store. The F one fifty
is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pick it
in the gun etis a set third at the tent,
gets the snap, he looks chased out of the pocket,
steps out of the tackle, Crowser for the gold line
(33:35):
touch down. Nachie Harris Rodgie from ten yards out and
pick it didna hood to make that flight possible and
the Steelers jump ahead. Up Bolimore. So I've heard Kenny Cool,
I've heard whodin you? So we got Kenny Magic? Or
is it the sun Dance Kid and Kenny Move? Can
(33:56):
I move? What the hell you mean? Move? I think
it's a Sun Dance Kid there, buddy, what do you
think West? I'm with you, Wolf, I mean, I'm I'm
all about unique nicknames, right. I don't like the low
(34:18):
Hanging Fruit, you know, I don't know that made my
whole career on that in broadcast. I see, I don't
think like I think Kenny Cool or Kenny Magic. I mean,
those are those are standard nicknames. Your your creativity here.
Kenny's better when he moves? What's that remind me of? Oh,
Sundance Kid? Boom? There you go? You know it's like, well,
(34:39):
if can I can I be honest with you now
that he is formerly of this parish and now with
the Chicago Bills. Are our departed brethren, Chase Claypool, Chicago
Bills or Bears? Sorry, you can tell we've been all
over the place that one, the Chicago Bears. This is
what happens when you hang out with me too long. Well,
(35:00):
to be fair, they had to stay in Chicago for
Christmas after they beat the Bears, you know, because the
flight situation with the weather and Buffalo, so maybe they
were the Buffalo Bears there the Chicago Bills for for
about twenty four hours or so. Um. But Chase Claypool,
all right, I could say this now that he's gone,
and this wasn't his fault. It was everybody around him.
But I didn't like Maple Tron alright, because it's just
(35:24):
too easy. It's too lazy. You're you're biting off Megatron alright,
which Calvin Johnson was such a unique, such a great player,
such a cool nickname. Can we just leave that alone.
We don't have to repurpose his nickname. And oh, let's
go with Maple because he's Canadian. There was just no
creativity there, right. I love Sundance Kids a nickname for
Kenny Pickett because it requires a little thought into the nickname,
(35:48):
and to me, those are always the best ones. Well,
it's funny because I had a stat here too. In
it they you know, they registered his well he was
thrown while he's running. He had some great stats, you know.
And I can't find the stupid stat of course, because
it would it would be far too easy for me
to quote a stata you left it at some classroom
(36:09):
in Syracuse, exactly. I'm so bad at this. But you know,
here's the thing about you just watch them, you know,
and whether he slides east, west or north, he's south.
He climbing in the pocket there and and moving. I
love the fact that, by golly, we're seeing a little
bit of like, I don't know, maybe call it a
Mahomesian effect, right, you got a little bit of that
(36:30):
mahomes thing. You draw the defense to you, which and
and opens up some sort of window, whether it's in
zone or whether it's man coverage. And you know, you
you create that conflict where do I go after the
quarterback or do I stay with my coverage? And that
creates that conflict that enables players to get open. And
by golly, it's it's starting to there's things that are
(36:52):
happening where you see a great positivity from his ability
to deliver under the gun. Yes, and to me, Wolf,
that is one of those things. You know, there's a
lot when it comes to uh, I think particularly quarterbacks,
which is, you know, such a specialized position in the
National Football League. I think there's a lot that you
can teach, and there's some that just has to come naturally, right,
(37:15):
Like like part of your athleticism just has to come naturally.
You can work on footwork and things like that, absolutely,
but you know, either the sun dance kid or you're not.
You can either move or you can't. In a lot
of instances, you know, they could work on Tom Brady
and Matt Ryan's footwork as much as they want, those
guys were never going to be as mobile as Josh Allen. Right.
It's just athleticism is one of those things. I think
(37:38):
your poise in those moments is one of those things too. Yeah,
you can grow and you can get better the more
you experience it, but you can also be like a
guy that Ben Roethlisberger was, be like the guy that
Kenny Pickett has been here down the stretch for the Steelers,
that you know what, things aren't going our way, It's
time to make a play. We we need just one
(37:59):
more opertunity. Just give me one more opportunity and and
and we'll find a way to get this thing done.
To be comfortable, not only comfortable, but confident in those
moments as well, too, I think that's one of those
things that quarterbacks just they want that big moment where
it's all on the line, or they kind of can
shrink in those moments. And Kenny Pickett clearly is is
(38:19):
the former not the ladder here. And I think you
can date that back to his his collegiate time as
well to find examples of that too. Um. And that is,
like I said, you love to see that, particularly so
early in his career because that's one something to build on,
and two as well, that just feels like that's something
that's ingrained in you as a competitor. You either want
those pressure packed moments and you want to be the
(38:41):
guy with the ball in your hands, or you're kind
of more so the guy in the background who doesn't
want to be at the forefront of everything. You better
be the former if you're going to be a quarterback
in the National Football League. That's a great point and
absolutely well said. You know you think about it, um,
I go all the way back to preseason. Remember when
the crowd was chanting any Kenny Kenny Yes, and it
(39:04):
was like you know Eddie and the Cruisers, you know
they're going you know, And he responded, though, I mean
you saw it early on. We saw evidence of his
ability to manifest all that energy coming from the crowd
and do something with it, you know, lead to the
Steelers in a in a positive way at that point
in time. And we've seen this again in the last
(39:25):
two weeks. He's the first rookie quarterback to throw the
game winning touchdown pass in the last minute of the
game and back to back games in NFL history. I mean,
if that doesn't say something about your ability to be
spectacular in the big moments, I don't know what else does.
And the fact of the matter is with him being
able to get this offense going to the point where
now as we as we just talked about earlier in
(39:47):
the segments, with the conversion rate on third downs, with
the upping of the red zone opportunities for touchdowns, Um,
it's coming on. It's all moving in the right direction.
And so the the ability to keep this momentum going
and start to see the results of that with more
finished drives in the end zone is going to be
so very important. But it's something that this guy embraces.
(40:11):
When Mike talks about the fact that he you know,
he smiles in the face of all this stuff. Uh,
you know, you look at him. He seems to be
enjoying himself. You know, he's having a great time succeeding.
That's the sick of mentality that you need to play
quarterback in this league. Well, I know I wouldn't want that.
I don't want that. It is. It's weird, it's a
(40:31):
it's a different mindset though, like you have to be.
We all know. Well, if everybody you go to dances
growing up, homecoming from whatever, dance, maybe I was just
hanging at the wall. That's that's why you're an offensive lineman, right,
because you want to hang out over in the corner.
You're not in the spotlight because you don't look very good.
(40:52):
I bet you, I bet you if we could go
back in time and we could watch Kenny Pickett at
homecoming or um maybe even at some of those establishments
down in Oakland, you know, on a on a Friday
or Saturday night during the off season. I bet you
Kenny was one of those guys. He's right in the
middle of the dance floor. He's doing all the latest dances.
(41:13):
He's everybody, check this out. I got the moves, pointing
to the different ladies. Come come check out my Mercedes.
Uh you gotta have that. There's there's gotta be some
of that. Like not that you know, I want all
the attention to be about me all the time. But
you've got to enjoy the spotlight in a way too,
you know, You've you've got to enjoy those moments where
all eyes are on you. And again, you know, you
(41:35):
go back to examples from his his collegiate days. You
you can pick some examples here, you know, in his
first handful of NFL starts. That's a good spot to
be this early. And and like I said, I'm I'm convinced.
I think that's one of those it's just a personality thing.
You just have it or you don't. And the best
quarterbacks in the NFL always have it. Think about this
(41:55):
and his three fourth quarter drives that he's led all right,
game winning drives against the Colts, Raiders, and Ravens. Uh
excuse me, pick it as a combined seventeen twenty one
for a hundred and seventy four yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions.
His passer rating is one thirty two point nine. Uh,
that's pretty pretty dead gum good there, Yes that is, yes,
(42:19):
that is you know what I mean. Prior to uh,
those those drives. Pickett was a combined forty four seventy
three for four twelve, no touchdowns, one interception in those games.
His combined passer rating was very uh pedestrian, seventy point one.
All right, now, you put him under the under the pressure,
and all of a sudden, this kid is looking like
(42:40):
a diamond, you know. And look, I know right now
he's no Ben Roethlisberger right now, absolutely not. But you
give him time. And you know that's the whole thing
about it. You look at what Ben did the body
of work, the great Hall of Fame quarterback, and he
did for almost two decades, and in for anybody to
compare Kenny to Ben is just totally unfair. Um, that's
(43:04):
just wrong. Now, what you can compare is his reactions
in some of the big moments, just like Ben. I
will never forget Ben in the a f C Divisional round.
I believe it was against the Colts years and years
ago when he was what his rookie year or second year,
I can't remember which it was dead gumming now, okay,
second year. Yeah, when he was telling jokes with the
(43:27):
Chain gang guys right before he went out as the
crowd is just it's thunderous. It's it's like totally overwhelming.
That amplify that was that was just dirty pool there.
But he's telling jokes moments before he goes out on
the field and I'm looking at him. I'm looking at
him and go get zukes. Ben. Don't you understand the
(43:48):
magnitude the pressure that you're under here, son, You get
it together the moment. You can't let the moment on you.
He did. Oh is he big in that moment? Right?
He goes out and he starts winging the ball all
over the place. Yeah, and that's he was great. People
forget because Ben. Ben didn't have the best Super Bowl
performance against Seattle, and people forget how good he was
(44:09):
against Cincinnati and Indie in Denver in the lead up
to Super Bowls. Like, he didn't play a great super
Bowl game. But they don't get there without his performance
in the three games in the playoffs leading up to
to the to that to that game against the Sea,
especially making the tackle especially. You know, but here's the
thing about it. You see you see little snapshots of
(44:31):
what Ben was uh of Ben and Kenny is what
I'm saying, Little snapshots where he performs under pressure at times,
and I again, there's no need to. You don't have
to live up to anything other than be the very
best of yourself, the very best version that you can be.
But I think Kenny is going to be a very
excellent version of himself. None of you out there start
(44:53):
calling him Big Ken, all right, Yeah, that's creative nicknames only.
That's not gonna fly, that's for sure. All Right, Hey,
let's take a break because we got Alvarro Martin coming
up from our Spanish broadcast team. He's gonna drop in
with his delivery, which only he can do and in
the way he does it. We'll be back with more
S n R.
This is in the locker room with Wolf and Starks
on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your
neighborhood Forward Store. The F one fifty is the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Welcome back to Cincinnati, where
medical personnel have been working on Bill safety Damar Hamlin
(00:29):
for the last nine minutes. Hamlin made a hit. He
got up, took a couple of steps, and just then
just fell to the ground. We don't know, of course,
the extent of his injuries, but the entire Bill's team
is out on the field right now. Several players are
down on their knees. Other players are holding hands praying.
You can just see the word looks on their faces.
(00:51):
As soon as we have more, Joe will cast it
on up two. Doesn't move Steelers Nation. This is one
of those mornings, one of those moments where um the
game suddenly recite, it just recedes into the background. Of course,
we're speaking about DeMar Hamlin and what went on last
night on Monday Night football, and West is joining me
(01:12):
here in the locker room. Unfortunately, Max got caught up
in travel from the game he was doing yesterday, so
West and I are here, and uh, this is one
of these situations where it's very, very tough. I was
touched by Ryan Clark in the words that he spoke
last night and the fact that he, you know, puts
that human face on somebody like DeMar Hamlin, who of
(01:34):
course is a Pittsburgh kid from the area. And so
what I'd like to do, and I hope that uh
people in out and Stealers Nation will join me. We're
gonna say a quick prayer for for DeMar Hamlin. Lord
God Almighty, we come to you and beseech you for
a healing and restoration for demorrow. We pray for comfort
for his family and friends and his teammates. Lord, we
(01:55):
asked that you'd let him to continue to be the
shining light he is in his community. Lord, we ask
this in Jesus precious name. Amen. Look, football is one thing,
but life is life, and this young man is out there,
He's just doing his job. It's one of those situations
West where it's a bang bang thing and something happens.
(02:18):
I've been on the field and somewhat somewhat similar circumstances,
not not life threatening like that, but where there was
temporary paralysis or what have you. And it's an extremely
difficult thing. And I'm glad the NFL said, Okay, we're
putting the game aside, we're done with this because right
now this is way bigger than the game. Yeah, I'm
(02:39):
I'm with you on that one. Um. There was only
one decision last night, and that was to suspend the game.
And and you know, whatever they decide going forward, I
think we'll be fine with anyone, whether they play it,
scrap it, whatever. I think that's in the back of
everyone's minds right now. It is about the health and
safety of the mar Hamlin and it's it's it's one
(03:00):
of those moments, Wolf that you're watching that game last night,
right in time kind of stops in a way. Um,
you know, I think we we all had similar feelings
just a few years ago at that same stadium with
Ryan Shay's ear. I'm thinking about that last night as
well too. Just how odd it is that it happened,
you know, on the on the same field, in the
same stadium. Different situation obviously, but similar feeling. Similar um
(03:25):
moment that transcends who's gonna win or lose this contest
and you're just worried about the safety of one of
your teammates of you know, the NFL brotherhood, if you're
if you're the Bengals on the other sideline, one of
your you know, one of your competitors. UM, it's just
like I said, it is, it's it's one of those
moments that really puts things into perspective, really stops you
(03:46):
in your tracks. And uh and and you realize that
that this is you know, why we get so caught
up in the winds and the losses and the performances
and who's doing good and who's doing bad, and who
do we like and who do we don't like? In
the rivalries and our opinions on all the players and
the coaches and this that and the other. You know,
these these guys who are out there putting it on
(04:08):
the line, um seventeen times a season plus preseason, plus
training camp plus all that, they're the ones who you know,
afford us this incredible uh league that is the National
Football League. Uh, this sport, this entertainment, this business and
uh man DeMar Hamlin, You're just you're you're hoping for
some good news. UH. You know, in stable condition UM
(04:33):
is the latest and that is obviously a step in
the right direction. But I think we're all very you know,
hopeful here that in the next you know, twelve hours
or so whatever it may be, that that will get
even some better news and that hopefully it'll look like
things are on on the up and up for tomorrow,
no question, well said last. You know, the thing about
it is, um, you know what the problem is is
(04:55):
you play a very gladiatorial sport and you're involved in
a sport that is, uh all about performance. It's not
about it's not a place for those who uh are
you know, non physical physical type thing. You know, it's
it's really it's it's about guys that that are laying
(05:16):
it on the line. And it's it's a extremely difficult
when you all of a sudden pull back that curtain. Say,
by golly, this is a human being. This is a
guy who's just out there trying to you know, make
a go. He's he's a light in his community. He's
raising money for you know, toys for kids and everything.
And by the way, that's that's a magnanimous response by
(05:37):
the football community and in the community at large, UM
to respond to his charity. I believe what was it,
what was the last total that was up to I
saw this morning three and a half million UM, which
is which is incredible I'm reading here online. You know,
when when DeMars started this this toy drive in his
hometown of McKee's Rocks, not far from where you and
(06:00):
I are now, well about about fifteen minute drive away. UM,
he had the goal of raising two thousand, five hundred dollars.
He is now well over three million dollars of donations
in a matter of hours. Not obviously the way that
we wanted that to happen, but I am glad that
you mentioned that, because that is, you know, a silver
lining right now is that people, you know, people are
(06:21):
distraught and and feeling for him and his family, and
they see, okay, what can you know. Everyone's sitting there
saying a prayer and it's you know, it's what can
I do? Um, Hey if nothing? But there's nothing you
can do but pray and if you want to, you know,
exorcift for for people looking for an avenue to exercise
some of that that worry as well too, and and
(06:42):
reach out and feel like they're having an impact. Hey,
to to raise that kind of money for his for
his charity, for his annual uh toy drive. Hey, that
is that's certainly ah, I think a silver lining of
all this and something that I'm sure Damar and his
family are are very touched by in this time. Well,
you know, the thing about it is you have a
demonstration of the mortality or ah, the you know, the
(07:05):
humanness of the player from last night, I mean a
game day. We used to talk about being tent foot
tall and bulletproof, you know, and then you come to
that realization that I sixty four years old, I'm six
ft two and uh overweight, you know. I mean he said,
you go, okay, you're very mortal. You know. It's it's
about you know, coming to grips with with you know,
(07:26):
your life and what's going on. And now I'm so
glad again that they decided that it was more important
to make sure that this young man got all the
treatment he could and to realize there's nobody that's got
his mind on on the business the game of football.
You know, to go out there when you're that distracted
to be endangering all these guys because nobody, nobody, I've
(07:50):
been out there. When you know, when you you have
the board come out and you think that there's you're
dealing with some paralysis and stuff when the hardest things
to do is to restart and get yourself in the
frame of mind to go out and hit somebody when
you've just seen a teammate or or or a well
a teammates still in the football community, if he's on
(08:12):
another team. You're dealing with something that every athlete is. Uh,
you know, that's something you've got to face, is that
the possibility of everyone's worst night playing out in front
of a devastating injury like that, and so you know,
you see that play out and all of a sudden
you just realize what's really important, what's not important, and
(08:33):
certainly getting the game just either delayed or not delayed.
But I mean, you know, thrown out or or played
on another day is what I meant. Um, that's the thing. Okay,
that's fine, get rid of it, because right now everything
is about tomorrow, Hamlin. You know, everything is about knowing
and making sure you're doing everything to um focus on
(08:53):
him and what's going on. And certainly there's just no
way you could put yourself in a position to go
back to a game that requires intense concentration and every
every sort of cellular vibe, you can drop in yourself
to do what you need to do. Um, So yeah,
what's your prayers out to this young man? That's your
(09:16):
your spot on there, wolf. I mean, listen, you you
play football long enough, you're gonna see gruesome injuries, right.
You might you might see a bone poking out of
one of your teammates fingers or wrists. You know, you
might see an ankle or a knee that that twists
away it's clearly not supposed to. And there's a twenty
minute pause on the field, you know while maybe while
they while they get that person stretchered off and get
(09:38):
their their leg or their wrist or their shoulder or
whatever stabilized. And that's difficult to get yourself back ramped
up to go out there and play after you know,
that fifteen minute or so pause when it's something like
this man, where it's it's close to an hour, your
teammates there on the ground and he's and he's getting seat.
I mean, they're literally giving him life saving measures on
(09:59):
this yield. Um. You know, that's that's at a whole
another level. And and you're right, you know, I know
you're right because I've heard I've heard Moats talk about
the same thing, just the mindset that you have to
be in to play this game at a high level.
And how that's a you know, Moats would talk about
for him, that process of getting his mind ready started
when he drove across the bridge and saw the stadium,
(10:20):
you know, three, three or four hours before the game.
And then that's when I have to start getting my
mind ready to go out there and you know, dish
out and take the abuse that I'm about to to
deal and receive. Um, It's it's like you said, it's
it's one thing when when one of your teammates or
when somebody that you're competing against has one of those
devastating injuries, it's another one. It is a life threatening injury.
(10:45):
And yeah, after you know, forty fifty minutes of seeing
like I said, literally life saving measures being done to
one of your teammates or one of your competitors. I
I think everybody last night, um, you know knew that
that that moment that that they just needed to step
away and uh and allow everybody the time that they
needed to process his teammates, his opponents. You know, I'm
(11:07):
thinking too, Wolf about a guy like Tyler Boyd, right,
who competed against Damar in high school, went to pit
with him together as teammates, and is out there on
the field with him when he collaps. You know, what
do you think is going through Tyler Boyd's mind? Um?
So this like this, like you said, it doesn't just
affect the bills, It affects everybody who's out there on
that field. And and I'm with you. I mean, there
(11:27):
there was no decision last night other than to, um,
you know, do what they did, and that is leave
leave the status of the game up in the air
while we await the important status of DeMar Hamlet. There's
no question and man, oh man, there's nothing more important
than everybody. They're interceding on behalf of this young man
with God Almighty. M m hmm. Man, let's uh, if
(11:54):
it's all right with you, can I play the you
know you you referenced at the start of this segment,
the mess sage that Ryan Clark gave. And he's obviously
a guy who had a very serious with his sickle
cell anemia in the situation he was, he was in
the hospital and he lost thirty pounds. Uh, here is
Ryan Clark last night. Well, if I'll play this clip
(12:16):
real quick, if it's all right with you. Uh, this
is Ryan Clark late last night on with with Scott
Van Pelt, you know, on like the midnight edition of
Sports Center. Right. The first thing, this is the song.
This is about Damar Hammon, and um, it's about a
young man at twenty four years old that was living
his dream that a few hours ago was getting ready
(12:38):
to play the biggest game of his NFL career and
there's probably nowhere else in the world he wanted to
be and now he fights for his life. And when
Damar Hamlin falls to the turf, and when you see
the medical staff rushed to the field and both teams
are on the field, you realize this isn't normal. You
(12:59):
realized this is in just football. And so many times
in this game and in our job as well, we
use the cliches. You know, I'm ready to die for this.
I'm willing to give my life for this. It's it's
time to go to war. And I think sometimes we
use those things so much we forget that part of
(13:19):
living this dream is putting your life at risk. And tonight,
you know, we got to see a side of football
that is extremely ugly, a side of football that no
one ever out, side of football that no one ever
wants to see or never wants to admit exists. When
you see both teams on the field crying in that way,
(13:40):
your first start is do more Hamlin. The second thought
is his family. And this isn't about a football player, right,
This is about a human. This is about a brother,
This is about a son, This is about a friend.
This is about someone who is loved by so many
that you have to watch go through this. I dealt
with this before, and I watched my teammates for days
(14:03):
come to my hospital bed and just cry. I had
them call me and tell me that they didn't think
I was going to make it. And now this team
has to deal with that and they have no answers.
And so the next time I think that we get
upset at our favorite fantasy player, or we're we're upset
that the the guy on our team doesn't make the
(14:23):
play and we're saying he's worthless, and we're saying you
get to make all this money, we should remember that
these men are putting their lives on the live to
live their dream in tonight Damar Hamlin's dream became a
nightmare for not only himself, but his family and his
entire team. That is so very well said by Ryan Clark,
who I have a great respect for as a player,
(14:45):
as a man, as a man of God. Um, just
listen to him speak. Last night was something. Um, and
then he speaks truth, and he speaks words that are comforting.
And I know it's just got to be so tough
for Demorrow's family, for those in his community, in his light,
(15:09):
you know, I mean, this is just you get a
special guy like that, a guy who's just you know,
shines bright and everybody speaks so highly of them, and
it's just it's devastating. But at the same time, we
have great hope, made great hope. Now, Um, he's gotten
through some of the harder moments I see. Um they're
they're saying that he's stable, still in critical condition. Um
(15:32):
that they his vitals have returned to normal. But um
they're reporting, as far as I can see, taking off
the internet here, it's solf worth. Um. The news reports that, Um,
you know, they put them to sleep, so I get
a tube down him and all those things that they
need to do. But you know, the young man's got along,
you got a road back, you know, and uh, we
(15:52):
will continue to pray for this young man because again,
you know, each and every guy out there competing there
are person, They're human, they have as Ryan said, they're
a son, or a husband or a you know, um, yes,
thank you. Yeah, I mean, you know, you just kind
of struggle for words. And I felt so bad for
(16:14):
the guys last night that had to try to commentate
in between, you know what I mean. I thought it
was just they were over agonizing the poor people on
air that had to you know, find their way through
and navigate through what was going on. Yeah. I remember
when Ryan Shay Zero went down. I remember the hit.
I saw it. I was on the sidelines and I
(16:35):
was right there, and I remember Mike Tomlin's face, you know,
that was Yeah, that's I'm sure that's something that'll stick
with you forever. And it's like you and I talked about,
it's and it's it's just stranger than than fiction that
you know, both of these things happened at the same stadium,
at the same field. Um, maybe the one thing jeeus
(16:59):
were trying to get through this, maybe the one thing
before we go before we got a break here. Wolf.
That I'll say is you know we've we've mentioned Tomar
and his family and the players and the coaching staff
and everybody involved. How about a prayer of thanks and
of guidance for for all the doctors and everybody at
uh at you see health as well too. UM. Bye,
(17:20):
by all, by all reports and and and what Ryan
shas here and everybody around him himself said. Uh, they
were amazing with Ryan a few years ago, you see
Health and the work that they were able to do,
uh to get him to where he needed to be
before they ultimately, you know, sent him back to Pittsburgh
to continue his his treatment and recovery. Uh. They will
do the same thing with them, are obviously. UM so
(17:42):
so are our prayers and our thanks to everybody there
you see health center as well too. Um, as they
go about this critical time and in these critical measures. Uh,
just just thoughts and prayers with them that they're able
to do their job to the best of their ability
and do everything they can for for DeMar and his
fa Emily as well, beautifully said West. And that's what
(18:02):
we're gonna do. We're gonna take a break and continue
praying for good guidance from the doctors, for wisdom for them,
for healing fo DeMar, and for comfort for his family,
friends and teammates. You know what, we're gonna be back
after this. We got that there's something going on with
third down conversions with the Steelers. You know what, we'll
talk about it when we come back. This is more
in the locker Room. This is in the Locker Room
(18:38):
with Wolf and Starks on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio,
presented by your neighborhood Forward Store. The F one is
the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers go without
a huddle third down and four at Botimore Sturdy six
Steelers on third down six for ten, pick it back
(18:58):
to throw it. He throws out and it's pulled in
by Deonte Johnson fends away from a man twenty knocked
out a bounds at the fifteen yard line of Boulevard.
Ha ha, Yeah, little Deonte magic going on their third
and four. Nice twenty one yard conversion. West. I don't
know what's going on with the third down conversions gad zooks.
Earlier in the year we couldn't seem to buy third
(19:21):
down conversions, and yet here we go. Through the first
eight games, we're at thirty three point six conversion, right,
but over the last eight games fifty three point five.
Great googly moogly. You know, you look at this and
you think to yourself, all right, you're getting it. And
while you are getting it, but here's the point in it.
(19:41):
The Steelers converted ten of sixteen third downs in the
Baltimore game, right, they had eleven of the sixteen were
third and four or less. That's outstanding, baby, manageable, makeable,
as Bruce arians used to call it, makeuble third downs,
manageable third downs, third downs, whatever whatever m word you
want to use to convert that. But certainly the important
(20:04):
thing is because this is what I truly believe. The
best defense is a good offense if you can keep
your offense time of possession. And you got a head
almost thirty five minutes in that Ravens game. Yeah, about
ten minutes extra with the ball, yes, exactly, that's ten
minutes less that the other side's got to do with
that ball, right, particularly team like Baltimore too. Wolf, you
(20:25):
know it's not it's not. The Bengals are the chiefs
where they want to go to plays and eight yards
right and hit a big bomb down the field. Good point, Baltimore.
They they need time with their drives, and they want
to get the ball and they want to be able
to run it and take their time and play with
a lead and all those things. Uh yeah, when you're
keeping an offense like that that you know possessions are
already at a premium four on the sideline, that's even better.
(20:46):
You know. I'm looking at this and I went through
and charted at every every third done. He had third
and one, third and two, third and one, third and two,
third and three. Uh, then there was one of third
and five. They had a couple of big ones, third
and fourteen and a third and eight. But everything else
uh in a third and eighteen, But everything else is
mostly third and three, third and five, third and three,
third and fourth, third and fourth, third four. I mean
(21:08):
it is just repetitious. But so many there's one, two, three, four,
at least four third ones. I mean that's exactly what
you want to do, is be able to make these
things a good conversion, you know, one that you have
a high percentage of conversions to be able to keep
rolling those chains. Is Mike Tomlin always talked about and
(21:29):
that's the important thing, especially when you face a Lamar
Jackson or a Tom Brady or something. You keep them
quarterbacks dead, gut, keep their butts over on the bench,
you know. And now that the next step is going
to be in converting you know, because conversion, converting third
downs is not the same as converting them into touchdowns.
And that's where the Steelers gotta work on finishing drives.
(21:52):
Obviously we all know that I think they're averaging around
seventeen points a game. You'd like to see that stepped
up some, but certainly this is a good solid basis
by which you have a foundation of being able to
get some drives going and now learning to get them
into the end zone, stick them in the end zone, correct,
And that's the you know, that's the final step of
(22:12):
this progression for for this Steeler's offense. But Wolf, You're right,
there's been there's a lot of um there's a lot
of check marks, there's a lot of boxes checked, there's
a lot of milestones, if you will, I think in
this progression for the Steelers offense, the final you know,
the final crown jewel is to start scoring you know,
over twenty points a game. Twenty one points a game regularly,
(22:33):
you know, get get closer to UM. But they have
done much better with their third down efficiency as as
you just laid out there UM for them to be
you know, over fifty and since the bye week is impressed.
I mean, if you're hitting in the high forties, you know,
if you're at third down conversion, right, that's good. In
(22:53):
the NFL, you're towards the top even my math my
poor maths, right, figure, that's pretty good. That's pretty good.
So if you're hitting over I mean you're ten out
of sixteen on third down efficiency on Sunday night, that
is exactly where you want to be. You want another
encouraging progression for this offense, Craig wolf Lee, Yes, I
would love one the West right now, So double joy
(23:20):
if you, uh, if you will. Look at red zone efficiency.
That's another thing we've talked a lot about as it
relates for this offense. Right red zone red zone efficiency.
There are two teams in the National Football League that
score touchdowns or more of the time when they enter
the red zone. Just two. That's the n f C
UH East foes, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys,
(23:44):
both pretty good teams this year. Right, well, the the
Eagles are twelve and three, the Cowboys are eleven and four.
To two good football teams. They're the only two in
the NFL that, through this entirety of the season score
touchdowns more than seventy percent the time in the red zone. Okay,
over the last three weeks, wolf the Steelers offense is
scoring touchdowns seventy two percent of the time in the
(24:06):
red zone. I like those numbers over the last three weeks.
So that's you know, that's a that's not just one week,
that's not just two weeks. Over their last three games,
the Steelers offense is at that over seventy percent elite area.
You know, we're not We're again, only two teams are
there for the entirety of the season of scoring touchdowns
in the red zone. That to me, I saw that
(24:29):
yesterday and that kind of jumped off the page at me,
because you know, that's one of those other things we've
talked so much about this off When you get to
the red zone, you gotta score more. You gotta score more.
You're settling for threes instead of scoring sixes and sevens
too often. Right over the last three weeks, seventy two
percent of the time this Steeler's offense has been in
the red zone. They've finished in the back of the
(24:49):
end zone, that is in the upper echelon of numbers
where you want to be in the National Football League.
And that I think is another again, not finished product,
not anything like that, but another progression, another stepping stone
in the growth of this offense, and you know, in
the in the growth of young Kenny Pickett as well too,
exactly exactly. So you know, I'm looking at this and going,
(25:11):
all right, so You've got the conversions going, how many
how many double digit drives did we have the other night?
We had one, two, three, four or five? Five out
of the nine were double digit drives. You know, it's
well even if you take away the one with the
interception that was a kneel down, so five of right,
five of eight we're double digits. I mean, that's that's fantastic.
(25:35):
Can we can Can anybody sit here and go, hey, actually,
way to go? Can we throw some flowers at real
quick before we do well? If I'm looking at this
as well, one of those drives was the end of
the half in the first half as well, too, right,
so it's five seven, so it's really five of seven. Yeah, man,
my mass skills are just hot this morning. Man. That's
that Syracuse edumacation would have been great. Like touch always
(25:58):
used to say, not a ten in class. That's because
you know, your worst class was geography. You couldn't find
your class. You and I. Well, if you and I
both had done in comment next time, next time. You
see my father asked him about it. Oh yeah, you
might might have been ready to pull me out after
my my brains freshman year. I got you, so we
(26:18):
got right. Now we're converting the the Ravens game, they
converted of their third downs and now, uh in the
red zone converting to touchdowns? Are scoring? Right? Is scoring
your touchdowns? It's touchdowns? So yeah, not just that's that's
touchdown percentage in the red zone. All right. So with
(26:38):
all that, I think it's time to say, hey, mc
cann is doing a pretty dead come good job. You
got a young quarterback or rookie quarterback that who has
made eleven starts and he's already got three fourth quarter comebacks.
You know, Uh, that's not bad. That's that's doing something right,
doing something right. And I think that's that's a lot
(27:00):
of times Wolf, I think people think when you when
you bring up these positives that you know again that
maybe you're talking about the Steelers offense like they're suddenly
you know, the Bills are the Chiefs or something like that.
That's not what you and I are saying. What we
had been telling people all season long, and particularly at
two and six when everyone was mashing the let's fire
everybody in tank the season button is you gotta give.
(27:22):
He just had to give some time and give some patience.
And we know as NFL fans that's the worst thing
to hear because you only get to watch your team
play seventeen times this season, right, and that's it, and
you want your wins, and you want them now, and
you want the instant gratification. And we've been pretty fortunate,
pretty spoiled here in Pittsburgh over the years that we
haven't had to be patient very often. As of late,
we have been in win now mode and contention mode
(27:44):
for the better part of two decades, thanks to, you know,
in large part, having that Hall of Fame franchise quarterback
that we're all optimistic that we can have here once
again with Kenny Pickett, but you needed to give him time.
You need to give the young offense time around him.
You needed to give uh, Matt Cannon and all the coaches,
Mike Sullivan time as they're working with multiple quarterbacks, both
new to the roster. One yes, a veteran, but still
(28:06):
new to the roster, the other a rookie getting his
first taste of of NFL action and weekend and week
out in preparation and all those different things. I didn't
say you had I'm not saying you had to enjoy
it right well, but it was if you were being realistic.
I think it was to be expected in a sense,
when you lose a guy like Ben Roethlisberger, you're going
to take a little bit of a step back. It's
(28:28):
just natural. Can When you lose a guy like Ben Roethlisberger,
you're going to take a little bit of a step back.
Look at the flux that the cults have been and
since they lost their Hall of Fame quarterback, the Saints,
I know, it's a smaller sample size, and the Patriots
since they lost their Hall of Fame quarterbacks. You know,
there are the rare exceptions of going to Brett Farve
(28:49):
to Aaron Rodgers. But that very rarely happens, all right,
most of the time, you gotta have a little bit
of patience. And if you were somebody who was patient
and willing, I think you're you're getting the payback years
as now. You know, again, not where we want to be,
but you're playing a meaningful game week eighteen of the season.
I think all of us would have signed up for
(29:09):
that at at two and six that, you know, thank
you for bringing us back to our reference point. You know,
reference points are so big, you know, because once you
do it, you sit there and go, well, I've seen
this before, I've done this before, I've been here before,
and you have that reference point by which you can
launch forward and move forward. You look at the the
rushing offense here. Now you've got this superb performance against
(29:33):
a good, very good, tough Ravens defense that was third
in the NFL before the game started, and you can
you pulled off for the first time the biggest rushing
total since what right, I mean, it's unbelievable. You know,
you've got almost two hundred yards when everybody says, oh,
you can't even make one hundred yards, and yet um,
you know these guys are moving in the right direction.
(29:55):
And that's the point at two and six, Like you said,
when everybody was for you know, let's taking, which never
happens here. You're never gonna do that here. That's just
not part of the culture. But the fact of the
matter is you say, well, let's slug it out. That's
let's stay after, let's get, let's get. You know, we're
back to the w's putting those w stacking those ws.
(30:16):
And I love that because that's the fighting spirit that
this city embraces, this community embraces that this this football
um team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, has lived up to their
entire lives. Even even when they were no good, Hey,
they still played to win. He played hard. You know.
It's like they say, it was always a pyrrhic victory.
(30:37):
You know, you lose the battle, you lose. You win
the battle, but lose the war, you know, because they're
physically going after people and banging, but there you're losing
people along the way. I remember Andy Russell telling me
about Ernie Stautner and how he broke bones in his
hand and it was coming through his skin and he
just duct taped it up and played the rest. Oh
(31:01):
my gosh, that's like unbelievable. Duct tape, duct tape of
all things. Man, you kid me, definitely goodness. Oh my
hope you put at least a little cloth or something
underneath that duct that rip the hairs right off your
(31:21):
wrists there, I tell you, oh man. But it does
speak to this offense is going in the right direction.
They're experiencing more success on first and second downs that
gets them to those makeable third and fours and less
uh situations. That's what you're looking for. That's it's a
constant upgrading of the offense. And the defense has coming
(31:42):
along too and doing the things that they need to
do to be that dominant defense that Mike Tomlin talked
about at the beginning of the year. That was set back.
When you lose a defensive player of the year. Hello,
you know what I mean, when you lose that sort
of magnitude of performer. And we all know and have
heard stats of of what happens t J. Watts in
the lineup and when t J. Watt isn't in the
(32:03):
lineup one twelve and one without him in the last
three seasons, perfect perfect, right. Well, I'm not I'm not
a guy either, But I can hold on. Let me
crunch the numbers here. I think that's not great. Let
me crry the one on that. Yeah, that would be
about dead last in the NFL. If you have played
(32:25):
that out over seventeen game season, he might get that high.
Pick that some of the some of the tankers wanted
out there. Well, let's tell you what. Let's let's go
to break here, and when we come back, we're gonna
talk about is it Kenny Cool, is it Kenny Magic
or is it the Sun Dance Kid just doing what
the Sun Dance Kid does. He's better when he moves
(32:46):
all this is more. SNR is in the Locker Room
(33:13):
with Wolf and Starks on ESPN Pittsburgh against Steelers Nation Radio,
presented by your Neighborhood Forward Store. The F one fifty
is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pick it
in the gun etis a set third at the tent,
gets the snap, he looks chased out of the pocket,
steps out of the tackle, Crowser for the gold line
(33:35):
touch down. Nachie Harris Rodgie from ten yards out and
pick it didna hood to make that flight possible and
the Steelers jump ahead. Up Bolimore. So I've heard Kenny Cool,
I've heard whodin you? So we got Kenny Magic? Or
is it the sun Dance Kid and Kenny Move? Can
(33:56):
I move? What the hell you mean? Move? I think
it's a Sun Dance Kid there, buddy, what do you
think West? I'm with you, Wolf, I mean, I'm I'm
all about unique nicknames, right. I don't like the low
(34:18):
Hanging Fruit, you know, I don't know that made my
whole career on that in broadcast. I see, I don't
think like I think Kenny Cool or Kenny Magic. I mean,
those are those are standard nicknames. Your your creativity here.
Kenny's better when he moves? What's that remind me of? Oh,
Sundance Kid? Boom? There you go? You know it's like, well,
(34:39):
if can I can I be honest with you now
that he is formerly of this parish and now with
the Chicago Bills. Are our departed brethren, Chase Claypool, Chicago
Bills or Bears? Sorry, you can tell we've been all
over the place that one, the Chicago Bears. This is
what happens when you hang out with me too long. Well,
(35:00):
to be fair, they had to stay in Chicago for
Christmas after they beat the Bears, you know, because the
flight situation with the weather and Buffalo, so maybe they
were the Buffalo Bears there the Chicago Bills for for
about twenty four hours or so. Um. But Chase Claypool,
all right, I could say this now that he's gone,
and this wasn't his fault. It was everybody around him.
But I didn't like Maple Tron alright, because it's just
(35:24):
too easy. It's too lazy. You're you're biting off Megatron alright,
which Calvin Johnson was such a unique, such a great player,
such a cool nickname. Can we just leave that alone.
We don't have to repurpose his nickname. And oh, let's
go with Maple because he's Canadian. There was just no
creativity there, right. I love Sundance Kids a nickname for
Kenny Pickett because it requires a little thought into the nickname,
(35:48):
and to me, those are always the best ones. Well,
it's funny because I had a stat here too. In
it they you know, they registered his well he was
thrown while he's running. He had some great stats, you know.
And I can't find the stupid stat of course, because
it would it would be far too easy for me
to quote a stata you left it at some classroom
(36:09):
in Syracuse, exactly. I'm so bad at this. But you know,
here's the thing about you just watch them, you know,
and whether he slides east, west or north, he's south.
He climbing in the pocket there and and moving. I
love the fact that, by golly, we're seeing a little
bit of like, I don't know, maybe call it a
Mahomesian effect, right, you got a little bit of that
(36:30):
mahomes thing. You draw the defense to you, which and
and opens up some sort of window, whether it's in
zone or whether it's man coverage. And you know, you
you create that conflict where do I go after the
quarterback or do I stay with my coverage? And that
creates that conflict that enables players to get open. And
by golly, it's it's starting to there's things that are
(36:52):
happening where you see a great positivity from his ability
to deliver under the gun. Yes, and to me, Wolf,
that is one of those things. You know, there's a
lot when it comes to uh, I think particularly quarterbacks,
which is, you know, such a specialized position in the
National Football League. I think there's a lot that you
can teach, and there's some that just has to come naturally, right,
(37:15):
Like like part of your athleticism just has to come naturally.
You can work on footwork and things like that, absolutely,
but you know, either the sun dance kid or you're not.
You can either move or you can't. In a lot
of instances, you know, they could work on Tom Brady
and Matt Ryan's footwork as much as they want, those
guys were never going to be as mobile as Josh Allen. Right.
It's just athleticism is one of those things. I think
(37:38):
your poise in those moments is one of those things too. Yeah,
you can grow and you can get better the more
you experience it, but you can also be like a
guy that Ben Roethlisberger was, be like the guy that
Kenny Pickett has been here down the stretch for the Steelers,
that you know what, things aren't going our way, It's
time to make a play. We we need just one
(37:59):
more opertunity. Just give me one more opportunity and and
and we'll find a way to get this thing done.
To be comfortable, not only comfortable, but confident in those
moments as well, too, I think that's one of those
things that quarterbacks just they want that big moment where
it's all on the line, or they kind of can
shrink in those moments. And Kenny Pickett clearly is is
(38:19):
the former not the ladder here. And I think you
can date that back to his his collegiate time as
well to find examples of that too. Um. And that is,
like I said, you love to see that, particularly so
early in his career because that's one something to build on,
and two as well, that just feels like that's something
that's ingrained in you as a competitor. You either want
those pressure packed moments and you want to be the
(38:41):
guy with the ball in your hands, or you're kind
of more so the guy in the background who doesn't
want to be at the forefront of everything. You better
be the former if you're going to be a quarterback
in the National Football League. That's a great point and
absolutely well said. You know you think about it, um,
I go all the way back to preseason. Remember when
the crowd was chanting any Kenny Kenny Yes, and it
(39:04):
was like you know Eddie and the Cruisers, you know
they're going you know, And he responded, though, I mean
you saw it early on. We saw evidence of his
ability to manifest all that energy coming from the crowd
and do something with it, you know, lead to the
Steelers in a in a positive way at that point
in time. And we've seen this again in the last
(39:25):
two weeks. He's the first rookie quarterback to throw the
game winning touchdown pass in the last minute of the
game and back to back games in NFL history. I mean,
if that doesn't say something about your ability to be
spectacular in the big moments, I don't know what else does.
And the fact of the matter is with him being
able to get this offense going to the point where
now as we as we just talked about earlier in
(39:47):
the segments, with the conversion rate on third downs, with
the upping of the red zone opportunities for touchdowns, Um,
it's coming on. It's all moving in the right direction.
And so the the ability to keep this momentum going
and start to see the results of that with more
finished drives in the end zone is going to be
so very important. But it's something that this guy embraces.
(40:11):
When Mike talks about the fact that he you know,
he smiles in the face of all this stuff. Uh,
you know, you look at him. He seems to be
enjoying himself. You know, he's having a great time succeeding.
That's the sick of mentality that you need to play
quarterback in this league. Well, I know I wouldn't want that.
I don't want that. It is. It's weird, it's a
(40:31):
it's a different mindset though, like you have to be.
We all know. Well, if everybody you go to dances
growing up, homecoming from whatever, dance, maybe I was just
hanging at the wall. That's that's why you're an offensive lineman, right,
because you want to hang out over in the corner.
You're not in the spotlight because you don't look very good.
(40:52):
I bet you, I bet you if we could go
back in time and we could watch Kenny Pickett at
homecoming or um maybe even at some of those establishments
down in Oakland, you know, on a on a Friday
or Saturday night during the off season. I bet you
Kenny was one of those guys. He's right in the
middle of the dance floor. He's doing all the latest dances.
(41:13):
He's everybody, check this out. I got the moves, pointing
to the different ladies. Come come check out my Mercedes.
Uh you gotta have that. There's there's gotta be some
of that. Like not that you know, I want all
the attention to be about me all the time. But
you've got to enjoy the spotlight in a way too,
you know, You've you've got to enjoy those moments where
all eyes are on you. And again, you know, you
(41:35):
go back to examples from his his collegiate days. You
you can pick some examples here, you know, in his
first handful of NFL starts. That's a good spot to
be this early. And and like I said, I'm I'm convinced.
I think that's one of those it's just a personality thing.
You just have it or you don't. And the best
quarterbacks in the NFL always have it. Think about this
(41:55):
and his three fourth quarter drives that he's led all right,
game winning drives against the Colts, Raiders, and Ravens. Uh
excuse me, pick it as a combined seventeen twenty one
for a hundred and seventy four yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions.
His passer rating is one thirty two point nine. Uh,
that's pretty pretty dead gum good there, Yes that is, yes,
(42:19):
that is you know what I mean. Prior to uh,
those those drives. Pickett was a combined forty four seventy
three for four twelve, no touchdowns, one interception in those games.
His combined passer rating was very uh pedestrian, seventy point one.
All right, now, you put him under the under the pressure,
and all of a sudden, this kid is looking like
(42:40):
a diamond, you know. And look, I know right now
he's no Ben Roethlisberger right now, absolutely not. But you
give him time. And you know that's the whole thing
about it. You look at what Ben did the body
of work, the great Hall of Fame quarterback, and he
did for almost two decades, and in for anybody to
compare Kenny to Ben is just totally unfair. Um, that's
(43:04):
just wrong. Now, what you can compare is his reactions
in some of the big moments, just like Ben. I
will never forget Ben in the a f C Divisional round.
I believe it was against the Colts years and years
ago when he was what his rookie year or second year,
I can't remember which it was dead gumming now, okay,
second year. Yeah, when he was telling jokes with the
(43:27):
Chain gang guys right before he went out as the
crowd is just it's thunderous. It's it's like totally overwhelming.
That amplify that was that was just dirty pool there.
But he's telling jokes moments before he goes out on
the field and I'm looking at him. I'm looking at
him and go get zukes. Ben. Don't you understand the
(43:48):
magnitude the pressure that you're under here, son, You get
it together the moment. You can't let the moment on you.
He did. Oh is he big in that moment? Right?
He goes out and he starts winging the ball all
over the place. Yeah, and that's he was great. People
forget because Ben. Ben didn't have the best Super Bowl
performance against Seattle, and people forget how good he was
(44:09):
against Cincinnati and Indie in Denver in the lead up
to Super Bowls. Like, he didn't play a great super
Bowl game. But they don't get there without his performance
in the three games in the playoffs leading up to
to the to that to that game against the Sea,
especially making the tackle especially. You know, but here's the
thing about it. You see you see little snapshots of
(44:31):
what Ben was uh of Ben and Kenny is what
I'm saying, Little snapshots where he performs under pressure at times,
and I again, there's no need to. You don't have
to live up to anything other than be the very
best of yourself, the very best version that you can be.
But I think Kenny is going to be a very
excellent version of himself. None of you out there start
(44:53):
calling him Big Ken, all right, Yeah, that's creative nicknames only.
That's not gonna fly, that's for sure. All Right, Hey,
let's take a break because we got Alvarro Martin coming
up from our Spanish broadcast team. He's gonna drop in
with his delivery, which only he can do and in
the way he does it. We'll be back with more
S n R.
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