Best Of Query & Company - Thursday 7/31/25

Today’s Best of Features:

(00:00-19:11) – Tony Stewart joins Jake Query in studio to discuss the upcoming NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park at the end of the next month, tries to explain what it is like drag racing with the NHRA, comments on FOX Sports acquiring one-third of Penske Entertainment, and his adjustment to fatherhood.

(19:11-39:08) – Longtime Indianapolis writer, Bob Kravitz, joins Query & Company to weigh in on where things are at between Anthony Richardson vs Daniel Jones in training camp. Bob comments on the improvement he has seen mechanically from Richardson, resulting in the short to intermediate passing game improvement. Plus, he discusses the FOX Sports and Penske Entertainment partnership.

(39:08-58:54) – The Athletic’s Zak Keefer joins Jake Query to discuss his latest article on Anthony Richardson. He discusses with Jake how the Colts mishandled the start of Anthony Richardson’s career, reveals what Richardson worked on this offseason to try and improve his accuracy in the short to intermediate passing game, shares what he got used to with the Colts that aren’t the same with other teams that he visits during training camp, and identifies Detroit as a franchise that he gained a lot of respect since becoming a national reporter.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
He is quickly emerging his way up to the top
for top fuel dragsters in the NHR, just forty eight
points out of the championship that he is chasing, which
would be because Tony Stewart, you've won a championship and
every single thing you've ever strapped into, right.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
We've been fortunate enough to win a lot. I don't
know about everything, but we've given it a shot.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
It's good to see and I wanted to get to
this and I just think this is brilliant. And I
don't say that a lot about people from Columbus, but
you know I will hear it right rightfully, so you know.
So the US Nationals, which for those that have never been,
I think it just as an absolute bucket list item
in Indy, especially you know when under the lights, when
the I mean, it's awesome. It touches every sense and

(00:42):
I love everything about it. And when I knew that
you were coming in town to talk about it, I thought, well,
wait a minute. The US Nationals is always like around
Labor Day this year August twenty seventh until September first,
and I love the fact that you had the wherewithal
to say, yeah, but we got to let people know
about it well in advance so people can play for it,
which is so much smarter than just like, hey, it's
going to be tomorrow and people already have their weekend plan. Right.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
So that's what that's what I've been telling Josh over here.
That's that's why we're here today. You're really spot on.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
I mean no, honestly because I and I get that
from and this is what I like about it. I
think it shows that Tony Stewart is a racer, but
yet you you still have the mindset of Tony Stewart.
The kid is a race fan, right, I mean this
mother too.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
I mean I have a dirt track, so I mean
we we think about that from our standpoint of promoting
our races as well. So it is it's nice to
come in early and talk about it, especially knowing it's
a holiday weekend so everybody's making plans. Is kind of
the last rah before summer's over. And and but it is,
you know, going to Indy for US Nationals. I mean,
that's that's the Daytona five hundred, it's the super Bowl,

(01:48):
it's the Indy five hundred for drag racing. So it's
our biggest race of the year, and for me it's
a home home race obviously, so it means that much
more to me. But yeah, I you know how having
the opportunity to start on Friday night with a night
qualify and run, there's nothing better than watching nitro cars,
the funny cars and the top fuel cars run at

(02:10):
night and seeing the flames.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Out the night arc is unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
It is insane. So I always like the night qualifying
sessions and then we got you know, two more days
of qualifying after that, so it's definitely an awesome weekend.
And you know, it's it's just that marquee event that
you circle it on your calendar every year, not because
it's a home event, but because it's the biggest race
for NHI during the season and that's the one you
want to win.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
What fascinates me is this, you know, on the air,
so Tony Stewart, you're in a situation where and I
remember the last time we talked, I think even you know,
when you first got into these cars, I don't know
that anybody, including maybe even you, knew how long you
would be running in the top fuel in NHRA. And
yet here you are and in this year, you've already
you know, you've already got two wins on the year,

(02:55):
you've advanced past round one and I think ten of
your eleven weekends, So so you know what you're doing, right,
But that's not to say that you always knew what
you were doing. So how much for this were you
enticed by the learning of it and the having to
chase something that was outside your comfort zone, which I'm
assuming it's been a long time since you were out

(03:15):
of your comfort zone.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, you're spot on. It was exactly that way. I
think kind of one of the variables that really helped
draw me into it was my wife Leah. And you know,
during COVID's when we met, I started going to her
races when Nhi was able to start racing again. She
had went to my sprint car races before that, and
so she asked a lot of questions about the dirt
track side, and obviously when I started going to the

(03:38):
races with her, I had lots of questions, and every
week I had more and more, and it led to
going down to Frank Holley's driving school in Florida and
then next thing you know, I'm testing her car, which
was The dumbest thing I've ever done in my entire
career was go from a school car that runs two
hundred and twenty miles an hour to getting in a
three hundred and thirty mile an hour car. I was

(03:58):
definitely not ready for that and not prepared for it.
But you know, I ran a year in the top
alcohol dragster category with the McPhillips family, and they raised
sound of Indianapolis here, and you know that got me
a lot more used to what I was doing. And
I still had the opportunity to test once in a
while in Leah's carr when they needed me, and that

(04:19):
got me ready to to win to site when Leah
decided she was ready to start a family when she
got pregnant, and I was the guy that that stepped in.
And I'm just the replacement driver. So this I'm this
guy with NASCAR and IndyCar credentials, but I'm the replacement driver.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
So parents now for eight months, right.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, it seems like eight years, right.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
I remember the last time we talked to you. I
think sleeping at night was like one of your concerns, right.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
And it's continued to be a concern. It's still a concern.
I'm I like talking to people that sleep through the
night and go, tell me what it's like, because I
can't even remember what it's like to sleep through the night.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
Well, and listen, I'm old now, so I hardly do right.
But but with that said, because that what was kind
of the game plan, right, We'll wait and see once
the family starts how long I will be in this.
Do you have a better feel or read now on
what that outlook is.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
I'm in the same mode that Lea's fans are. Lia's
fans are asking when is she getting back in the car,
and I'm sitting on the side in the seat that
I really like being in right now and going I
wonder when she wants her car back, but it is
literally her decision, Honestly, it's whenever she wants to. She's
already been in the car this year in a test session,

(05:31):
and I have a feeling after watching her take her
helmet off and the smile she had on her face,
I have a feeling I'm a short term tenant at
this point.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Well, but at this point you're chasing a championship, so
you gotta carry that out, right.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
She most definitely will let me finish the season out
for sure because of the points, and there's bonuses that
go with that, and that affects the crew guys bonuses
at the end of the year. So a driver swap
mid season in this scenario is not advantageous for anybody.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Which you've raced everything, right, I mean, whether we're talking
about you know, us X on dirt, whether we're talking
about IndyCar, whether we're talking about you know, cup cars,
which one of them, if any, is the closest to
the learning curve of getting in the top fuel dragster.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
I you know, somebody asked me a similar question last
weekend when we were at Sonoma, and I said, ninety
to ninety five percent of the skills that made me
really good at what I did with sprint cars and
IndyCar and NASCAR, put it in a box. Tape the
box up, put save, and shove it off in a corner.
Because you don't use ninety to twenty five percent of it.

(06:38):
It's a different skill set, but there are some variables
that do pertain and transfer over and it's actually things
that have helped me be good. And you know, anytime
that we have to pedal the car, for example, on
race day it spins the tires, you got to get
the tire caught back up and then roll back into
the gas real slow to not get the tire spinning again.

(07:00):
That is something that other drivers have said, I'm really
good at already, and that's.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Not be the best at it a long time since
you've set in the cockpit and not been, you know,
immediately the best at it.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Right Well, you wouldn't think that that's something that was
going to be a variable in the equation. But because
of what I did in dirt track racing and learning
how to catch the tire and keep it from spinning. Uh,
if it does turn the tire loose, I've been really
good at catching it, getting the tire caught up, and
getting back in the gas and have won some rounds
that way. So to hear your peers that you're racing
against say he's really good at that, I don't know

(07:34):
that I'm the judge of that, but you know, reaction
time is probably the biggest thing for the drivers, and
I was fifth and average last year, and to me
that was a huge win because you had Tony Schumacher,
who's an eight time world champion. We were just ahead
of him, there were a lot of other drivers that
have around around drag racing a lot longer than me
that that we were out performing on the reaction time side.

(07:56):
But there's four drivers ahead of us that were still
trying to catch and we're still trying to catch them.
But we're closing in a little bit this year. But
it's it's hard because it's not like you go outside
and you make lapse and practice that. I mean, it's
like Guido Antonelli, that's Ron KapS crew chief said. He said,
reaction time is exactly that. It's how your brain reacts

(08:17):
to seeing that light coming on and you hit in
the gas pedal. So it's hard to train for that.
I'm sure there's probably better ways to accomplish it, but
I just haven't found them yet.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
You know, you strike me Tony Stewart. Tony Stewart our
guest here in studio. And of course, as we mentioned,
forty eight points out from getting that top Fuel, taking
the top spot top Fuel. Big part of that's going
to be at the US Nationals coming up on August
twenty seventh, that runs till September. First, you're a foight guy,
and by that I mean you're a guy that you
got about a thirty second window before you're ready to

(08:47):
grab a wrench if you have to. Right with this
particular sport, is it the most mechanically inclined that a
driver needs to be of anything that you've been in
in terms of so much of to me, and I'm
just giving you an outsider perspective, and I know it's
the case in every form of motorsports, but people forget

(09:09):
what a team sport it is. But in this particular one,
when you're there and you're going that speed, everything has
to be perfect and so much of that goes to
the men and women that are preparing that car for you.
Is that the case? Are you as cognitive as aware
of that as any time in your career? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (09:25):
Absolutely, I mean especially when you if you watch us
on Sundays and even during qualifying. I mean will have
two runs normally on each day of qualifying, and when
that car comes back and the cadence and the procedure
those guys, watching them tear the motor down and literally
having it reassembled in forty minutes and ready to fire
up is amazing to me. If I can tell you

(09:48):
this though, if I grab a wrench in that pit area.
Every crew guy watches me because they're scared to death
for me to touch the risk car of the rent
right now. But it's super important. Every one of them
is specialized their field. So whether it's the guy that's
assembling the pistons and rods and he puts those in
the motor, or if it's the guy that's building the heads,
putting the valve springs and the valves in them, all

(10:09):
these different things. They have to be really good at
what they do because you know, nitromethane is a very
volatile fuel and if things go wrong in a nitrocar,
it goes wrong big and theyre's big booms, big explosions,
big pops when it goes wrong. So you have to
trust that these guys are absolutely doing it the right way.

(10:30):
But to watch them do an assembly in forty minutes
is just insane.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
And you know, Tony, one of the cool things for
folks that go out You know, if you're gonna go
out there and you're gonna stop buy and you're gonna
see the nhr A US Nationals, you get to see
all of it. Yeah, I mean, you get your ticket
and you're walking around and I mean you're walking right
there and you're seeing people taking apart engines and putting
it right back together. And I mean it's you're not
seeing it from you know, the jay stand, you're right there.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, And I think that's one of the best things
that NHR has to offer. I think that's why I
tell people it's fun to watch it on TV. It's
ten times better to go to the racetrack and be
able to walk around, walk into pit area.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
And when we say.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
Feel it, it's not reach out and touch it, feel it.
But when those cars go by, I mean, our motors
make almost twelve thousand horsepower now, and when that car
goes by, the concussion from the exhaust, you feel it
in your body. And then you can't explain that to
somebody what that's like. But it's really been fun the
last two years for me, coming from indie car and

(11:31):
NASCAR and dirt track racing. We've had all these fans
start coming to drag races for the first time and
you catch them at the end of the day and
you say, what do you think? And the most common
response is we had no idea. That has been the
most common response. They're like we've watched it on TV,
but until you get down there and you smell the fumes,
you see the burnouts, you physically watch these cars go

(11:53):
down the track in person, you cannot describe it to
somebody and they love it. And it's like I tell everybody,
if you're a NASCAR fan and you can still watch
NASCAR and watch drag racing, same with indy cars, same
with dirt tracks. Doesn't mean you have to give up
one to do the other. But it's really cool to
see fans come out for the first time and enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
You are a businessman, Tony Stewart. I mean in addition
to racing. Obviously you own the team. I mean all
you have to do is look at the partners you have.
You're doing a Dodge paint scheme for this, particularly the
weekend for the US Nationals. Fans voted on it. You've
got Mobile I on board, You've got direct connection to
Vance Auto Parts, You've got a ton of partners.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
Okay, the best media guy, I know. You realize you
do a better job at hit my partners than I do.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Well, Hey, you know, I mean I got to hit
I got this the only time I hit the curb
Curve dot com by the way, right, Although I will
say if if you and your wife can survive the
fact that you're sharing a car, it's like when my
girlfriend and I went to Ireland and I had to
drive the car and she was a pastor in Ireland
with me. If you can survive that as a couple,
you can survive anything.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Right. Keep in mind, I think we get away with
that because we don't have to ride with each other.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
In that car. That's correct.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
If one was driving and the other was, I don't
think we would survive one round with each other, right.

Speaker 1 (12:59):
You're probably right.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
But so with the business aspect of it, I wanted
your thoughts on this because there was big business moves
in motorsports today and I'm sure you heard.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
I've heard, but I don't know anything about it.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
But go ahead.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
So Fox YEP, Fox Television or Fox Broadcasting now has
purchased one third of the Penske Entertainment Group, meaning that
they now have a one third ownership in the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway, the Indy Car Series, and IMS productions. Your
reaction is somebody who has obviously been a part of
really all of those things.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
Like I said, I'm hearing it today as well for
the first time, and don't really know the details. We've
been doing the car wash so to speak, this week
or today, But I think it's I think it's a
huge move obviously. I mean, that's a massive move that
we've never seen. I don't think you've ever seen a
broadcast partner become a part owner in not only a series,
but and I didn't know the Speedway was part of

(13:51):
it as well, So for Fox to have part ownership
in the Speedway, I think that is massive at this point.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
And I would assume, I mean, listen, I'm no rocket
scientist by any stretch, but for example, and I'd have
to look at the contracts, and I know you would too,
but you know clearly the T and T partnership with
cup Racing at the Speedway, I would think that has
to come to an end, right if you would assume. So,
I mean, do you do you see it? As you're

(14:19):
a promoter, and I think at times, Tony IndyCar itself,
you know, any promotion you can get for that series
is important. Can a television partner be an adequate promoter
above and beyond just promoting within their own network and
stepping outside of.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
That, I definitely think so. I think this is a
scenario where, like I said, just knowing the little bit
I know about it so far, if you've got a
broadcast partner that is now part owner of a series,
they're going to work even harder to promote that. They
have all the other programming that they're going to have
on the channel, but now being an owner in it,
they have skin in the game, so they are going

(14:58):
to put even more effort than they would have before.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
Did TV when you were racing Cup, did you ever
feel that TV was too involved, just in terms of
whether it be the schedule, whether it be the format,
et cetera. Was there ever an overstep?

Speaker 2 (15:14):
I think that was probably the only time I can
think of a scenario where that came into play was
the stage racing, And that was literally what I was
told at the time, was because TV was asking for
five percent more viewership time of the race. So what
fans were doing is they were watching the first twenty
five percent of the race. They were going and mowing

(15:36):
their yard, going and get lunch and coming back and
watching the last twenty five percent of it. I don't
know what the significance of it was, but getting five
percent more time, and I'm assuming it's in AD dollars
made a huge difference to network. And that's what the
stage racing was all about, was just to try to
gain five percent more viewership.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
And I can't recall some part of my ignorance here
that you were still racing that or not. Yes, So
how did it change as a driver.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
The wait minut I say that I was not. I
was still an owner, but you were still an owner.
So I was still an owner, but I wasn't a
driver in that.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
And so did you? I mean, did you enjoy the
strategy and the new strategy? Ever? Did you find it hokey?

Speaker 2 (16:14):
It wasn't traditional by any means, But I think as
time goes on, you have to find ways to somewhat
so to speak, reinvent. You can't just keep doing the
same trick over and over. The purest and the traditionalists
didn't like it, and there's a ton of people that
don't like the stage racing, but it does create unique

(16:35):
situations and scenarios where guys needing needing points sometimes would
stay out and take a chance, and guys that we're
in a good place in points, come in, get tires
before the pits closed at the end of a segment,
and come back out. They might finish twelfth, but then
when the pit cycle comes after that caution comes out
at the end of the stage, then they got the

(16:55):
lead back. So I think it did create some unique
situations and scenarios that the fans could grasp onto. But
you know, talking to a lot of the fans, it
just wasn't as well received as we all thought it
would be.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
Okay, lastly, because I know you got a lunch to
get to, so we'll let you run.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
But I when I'm a fat kid, I like food,
you know what I said, And I'm a fat kid.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
I like you.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yeah, you know what. Actually you look like you're not
as much as as the last time I saw you,
though I like you.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
You realize why, I got an eight month old son
that now crawls, so you can't even turn around and
blink without him being halfway across the room.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
So you're just chasing all that extra twenty minutes. You're
not eating, you're sleeping right, you're you're you can't tired
d But I want to give you the chance here
August twenty seventh until September. First is the US Nationals.
I love it. I've been to it many times. I
think it's a must. But from your standpoint, I want
you to use that microphone to tell the listeners of
Indianapolis why they need to be there.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
I think starts Friday night. Friday night's our first run
under the lights. Like you and I mentioned earlier, I
mean you're looking at four foot to five foot tall
flames coming out of each side of the motoris or
going down the racetrack. It is incredible sensation. And see
these cars at night as amazing. Two more days of qualifying.
Funny Car has the call out this weekend, so.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
You got a race with them right as well?

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Right, yeah, yeah, we're there and and then obviously Monday
is the race is so you know, to be able
to come out and see this. And like you said,
every ticket gets you everywhere but the starting line. You
can't get that at a NASCAR race. You can't go
to the D five hundred and and just buy a
ticket to the stands and be able to walk in
the garage area and see the cars and drivers like that.

(18:28):
But not only can you go see and build these
motors The cars do warm ups in the pits, and
you can smell it, you can hear it, you can
feel it. It's just an experience that it's hard to explain.
But like I said, every time we've had new fans
that have followed other forms of motorsports and they've came
for the first time. They love it and they're hooked
on it.

Speaker 1 (18:46):
It's like a kiss concert except for the music's good.
That's the best way to say, right, and.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
We'll paint Josh's face up like Gene Simmons and creating
through the through the garage.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
All right, yeah, all right, Hey, it's always good to
see it. Tony, appreciate the time. August twenty seven. In
September one, US Nationals definitely want to be there for it.
Look for the dodge that Tony Stewart is running in
the top fuel standpoint. Appreciate the time. It is always
good seeing you, Matt, you too. From one big start
of the next. Tony Stewart into Bob kravitzs Bob Kravitz

(19:15):
of course, Bob Kravitz dot Com, where you can read
his work. I thought Bob had one of the you know,
every once in a while, and rich Nie is another
guy that comes to mind on this. I have always
said that when I was in television and we would
be in the scrum where you're all sitting around and
everybody's firing questions, rich Nie is the guy that more
often than not would ask a question, and I would think,

(19:36):
to myself, that's a great question. I wish I'd thought
of that, And Bob Kravitz will send a tweeter or post,
and I will think to myself, it is a great point,
and I wish I'd thought of that, And Bob came
up with one to start camp an observation that I
think is spot on, and that is Bob, I thought
you made an interesting observation about the fact that there

(19:58):
seems to be this about Fai from the Colts on
the way they're handling Anthony Richardson. So if you could
go back to your original observation and then carry that
into do you feel they have done the correct about face?

Speaker 4 (20:13):
Well, I mean, you know, originally they I mean they
were they were quick to give Anthony the job after
just one preseason game, and I thought that was probably
the late owner who had a big say in that.
Now they're talking about being patient with.

Speaker 5 (20:34):
In fact, Zach Keefer has a story.

Speaker 4 (20:37):
In The Athletic I think it ran today about how
they're going to be more patient with with Anthony. I
just think it's really important that they commit to whoever
they're gonna go with. I think it's going to be Anthony.
I think it should be I think that Jones has

(20:59):
got to thoroughly outplay him in the preseason. We'll learn
a lot more after they go to Baltimore and start
playing some preseason games. But it's clear that from the.

Speaker 5 (21:11):
Very start they probably should.

Speaker 4 (21:14):
Have made Anthony Waite, you know, for a one year,
given in that year to learn, and you know, there's
a guy with thirteen starts in college, so to think
that he's going to be ready for the big time
is fool already.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
Do you think, Bob that Anthony Richardson? I mean, you know, look,
hindsight's always twenty twenty, right. But with that said, do
you think Anthony Richardson in terms of wishing that he
could have been given more time? Is that because he
needed to more physically tweak himself to play quarterback or
emotionally tweak himself to play quarterback.

Speaker 4 (21:53):
I think I think it's more of a mental thing.
I think he had to learn how to be a
CEO of organization as a quarterback. I just don't think
he was ready. I mean thirteen. Yeah, Look, he's got
the physical tools, there's no question. You know, they've done
a lot of work on his footwork, on his vision,

(22:19):
everything else.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
But no, I.

Speaker 4 (22:24):
Think it was more of a mental issue with him
be getting ready. And again after thirteen starts, what do
you expects.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Do you think that Anthony Richardson Bob and I guess
it's a two part question. Do you think he truly
understood what was required to be an NFL quarterback? And
do you think he understands it now?

Speaker 4 (22:48):
I think he understands it now based on some of
his responses to questions. Again, the key for story is
quite good. He talks with Anthony a bit. I think
he understands that, you know, he was handed everything like
right away because of his natural his you know, physical talent.

(23:12):
I think he understands now, But at the time, no,
he had no earthly clue. I think that getting benched.

Speaker 5 (23:20):
Last year was a wake up call.

Speaker 4 (23:22):
And if it's not, then they've got bigger problems than
we thought.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
Bob. I have said, Bob Kravitz is our guest. At
the beginning of like when he was signed, I had
this feeling that Daniel Jones was going to be the
Week one starter. Okay, now I'm not saying that I'm
sticking by that, but I believe this, and I want
you to tell me if this makes sense. It's what
I've said on the show. If Daniel Jones is starting

(23:47):
week one, it is far more likely that is simply
because Anthony Richardson didn't win the job, not because Daniel
Jones did. Does that make sense?

Speaker 4 (23:58):
Yeah, I think I think this is all in It's
all in Anthony's hands at this point, you know. I
I think, you know, for Jones to beat him out, Uh,
he's got to be wretched, and so far he hasn't been.
He's been he's been decent.

Speaker 3 (24:16):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (24:17):
The last couple of days and pads, I went to
one practice and I read up on the other. On
the other ones, he's looked quite good. And he's throwing
the ball well on the move. He's he's making the
the intermediate, the layup, the layups he's making.

Speaker 5 (24:37):
So I see.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
Growth, Uh, I more more than anything, I see growth.
And in just his his approach and his professionalism. I think,
I you know, it was it was a bad scene
for him last year, but I think that has a
chance to be a real inflection point in his career.

(25:01):
If it's not, then they've got bigger problems than we
all thought.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
And here's the thing, Bob, and I think it's important
to point this out for people. And look, it's not
like I know him well, that would be totally unfair
of me to say, but I do think that people
should at least understand that while we can talk about
Anthony Richardson in terms of his maturity or his dedication,

(25:24):
there is no body of work that I'm aware or
nor any evidence that he's a bad guy, you know
what I mean. I think he might have been an
immature guy. I don't think he's a bad guy.

Speaker 4 (25:33):
No, I agree completely. I mean, he's a sweetheart of
a guy. I mean, there's there's no question the way
he deals with us, the way he deals with fans,
the way he deals with teammates. I mean, I think
everybody's rooting for him. Nothing against Daniel Jones, you know,
seems to be a you know, fine enough human being.

(25:55):
But I think people are rooting for Anthony because he
I think he's just immature. I mean, I think back
to my twenties and my god, you know, I mean
to think that if that age to be given the
sun the moon and be.

Speaker 5 (26:13):
Asked to navigate that at the age.

Speaker 4 (26:17):
Of twenty two twenty three, I couldn't have done it.
I'd have been a disaster. So, you know, I just
think when you've only got thirteen games of experience, you know,
I mean, you can't expect that the guy is going
to come going to come into the scene, onto the scene,

(26:38):
ready made to go, you know. And it's it's been
a struggle for him, clearly, but hopefully hopefully last year.
He hopefully after last year his head screwed on, right.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
Bob, Do you see also the same growth or the
same tweak that you see from one year to the
ex have seen out of Anthony Richardson?

Speaker 3 (27:02):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (27:02):
In any way? Have you seen the same in terms
of approach from Shane Stikeen.

Speaker 5 (27:09):
Boy, that's a that's a good question. This is me.

Speaker 4 (27:15):
Holding off on an answer because I can't come up
with one, you know, No, I I think it's basically
the same thing with Stikeen. Honestly, I mean, what what
do you have in mind there with your thought?

Speaker 3 (27:28):
Brother?

Speaker 1 (27:29):
I think it's hard to say, because he is very
and I'll give Stikeen credit in this regard. He's very
rehearsed in the thing, you know, in the answers that
he gives. He's kind of generic right in that form.
But and it's hard to know now whether his approach
from a coaching standpoint is different because we're only seeing
you know, an hour of practice, right, But it does

(27:51):
seem like it was the first time, like with Anthony Richardson.
And I'm going to use that not to hyper in
on that subject or that that, but I think he's
been a little bit more transparent in areas that he
at once or expects more out of guys. And I
feel like he was more of a quote players coach
when he first got here.

Speaker 4 (28:13):
Yeah, I guess there's some truth to that. I mean,
he's working these guys hard. It's a more physical camp,
which I think will benefit everybody, including the quarterbacks. But
you know, I think that first, I think the first
year there were just trying to get Anthony up and running.

(28:34):
I think the competition is really at the center of
what's going on at this camp? And I do think
you know, now with.

Speaker 5 (28:44):
Pads, we got a better idea of what.

Speaker 4 (28:47):
We're looking at. And I think going to Baltimore against
an elite team, we'll find out a whole hell of
a lot more.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Bob Kravits is our guest. You can read his work
at Bob Kravitz dot com. Bob, I guess last thing
before we move. I got a couple of other things I
want to ask you about, but on the Colts front,
and I've asked this really of everybody we've talked to.
I look at it and I get it. I get
the fact that this is the NFLPA and the collective

(29:15):
bargaining agreement and it's all been agreed upon. I get it.
But is there part of you or does it just
make us old that I'm still and I assume you
are as well, almost incredulous, incredulous to the fact that
you get out there at eleven thirty and you're like,
they're done for the day, and that's it.

Speaker 4 (29:30):
I know. I remember going up to Greeley, Colorado for
Broncos camp and they would have well over one hundred
players there.

Speaker 5 (29:42):
They would do two days.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
Guys were dying. I mean, not dying, but guys, yeah,
you know, I mean, you know, back then, drinking water
was a sign of weakness. I mean it was insane.
It was just nuts. But yeah, yeah, I mean they don't.
You know, I hear a more physical camp and I'm like, how,

(30:06):
you know, I mean, they're still not hitting anybody? Really,
I mean, no, it's it's it's interesting. It's not what
it used to be. I remember Dan Reeves talking about
how the game had changed and how training camp had
made players soft, and you know, I think that's probably

(30:29):
one of the reasons we see so many injuries early
in the season, because guys aren't aren't physically ready to go.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
So, Bob, when I was in college, you know, my
freshman year, I went to University Kansas. Two my good
buddies were both from Cherry Creek, which you're probably familiar with.
It's a you know, a big school in Denver, Carmal.
So we go back. Yeah, it's the Karmel. So we
go back to Denver for a weekend. Right, We're hanging
out at my buddy's house and it's like two thirty
in the morning, and one of them gets a brilliant

(30:57):
idea that a girl he went to high school with
who's at the University of North in Colorado, in Greeley, Colorado.
He thinks he might have a shot at her, so
we decide to road trip. It's like forty minutes, forty
five minutes, I think. We go to Greeley, Colorado at
like three point fifteen in the morning to hang out
while he goes and tries to like throw a Hail
Mary for this girl he went to high school with.
We get there, we're all excited for him, We're wishing

(31:17):
him the best, we're giving him the Godspeed speech. He
walks in and it turns out she's got a new
boyfriend she met at the University of Northern Colorado and Greeley, Colorado.
And we turned around and immediately went back. And I'm
thinking that my experience in Greeley, Colorado probably even still
was better than a lot of the guys that were
trying out for the Broncos.

Speaker 5 (31:33):
Right, Oh, absolutely it was. It was brutal back in
the day.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
I mean too a days every day, every single day
they did to a day's injury. I mean, now you're
at the university exactly.

Speaker 5 (31:49):
Let me tell you Greeley.

Speaker 4 (31:50):
Is it's not typical Colorado.

Speaker 3 (31:54):
Correct, it's not beautiful.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Correct, it's not.

Speaker 5 (31:57):
It's not a beautiful filled with beautiful.

Speaker 4 (32:00):
Out and vistas. The truth of the matter is it
kind of thinks Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
No, it's it's a fun drive to make back when
a guy just wants to listen to the cure and
like Christopher Cross at four o'clock in the morning, it
needs to be consulted. Real fun times, right, That's that's
a good time. Hey, Bob, what do you make of
before we let you go? Bob Kravitz, our guest. I
just talked to Tony Stewart about it, but I wanted
your opinion as well. I know it's all new news
to all of us. What, if anything, was your reaction

(32:25):
to now seeing that the Fox Television Group is a
one third owner of the Penske Entertainment Corporation, which is
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar.

Speaker 4 (32:39):
Well, I don't have a lot of deep thoughts on
it because I'm just kind of getting up to speed
like everybody else. But it sounds like a great deal.
I mean, it sounds like, you know, like you know,
they're gonna.

Speaker 5 (32:53):
Work well together. You've got your your.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
Media, you know, lined up. I mean, I think the
contracts to what twenty six or twenty seven, and it's
going to go quite a bit longer now.

Speaker 5 (33:09):
I think it's a good deal for everybody, for.

Speaker 4 (33:11):
Fox, for Penske.

Speaker 5 (33:16):
Did what did Stewart have to say?

Speaker 1 (33:20):
Well, Tony was saying that, you know the same thing,
Like he's a promoter, so you know, he's like, I
know what it means to promote races. And the television
partner is going to have a financial stake in it
now right, it's going to be in their best interest
to make sure as many people know about this as possible.
I'll tell you one of the things, Bob, as I've
kind of let this settle in a little bit. A
couple of years ago, we were all asked to submit

(33:42):
who we thought would be a good broadcast or a
good title sponsor for IndyCar before NTT became the sponsor.
And at that time, and this was about eight years ago,
and I said, you know, you're starting to see more
live sports and streaming, and at that time, I was
motivated by the fact that I had seen a New
York Jets Buffalo Bill's game was being carried live on Twitter.

(34:02):
This was like eight years ago, and I thought about
the fact that IMS Productions is owned by the Speedway.
They have television edit bays, they have television cameras, it's
a production company. And now knowing that Fox is getting
ready to launch and thank you to somebody who sent
this to me, but I had forgotten this. The Fox
Television group is getting ready to launch an app that

(34:25):
is their version of the one Stop Shopping You know
that everything right here for you. And I think probably
knowing that this means that they have an ownership within
IMS Productions, it is going to allow them to do
their own reality programming to promote the series itself, like
you've seen with Formula one and et cetera. But they

(34:47):
now have ownership stake and the group that is putting
that all together. So it makes sense to me that
that means that eventually, perhaps all IndyCar events move to
an app and move to stream, which to people over
fifty sounds totally foreign, and people under thirty it sounds
totally normal. And that's the demo Bob that they've got

(35:09):
to go after.

Speaker 4 (35:10):
Yeah, I agree completely, Yeah, it's in the media. We've
got to change along with the times, and I think
that that's probably the way they're going to go. I
think it's a good deal for everybody. I think it's
a great deal for Indie car and for Penske.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
You're going to be out of practice tonight.

Speaker 4 (35:34):
I'm thinking about it. I'm actually doing a I'm talking
for a documentary this afternoon on the twenty thirteen Colts
Chiefs comeback game, the forty five forty.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
Four that was the Superman game, right.

Speaker 4 (35:53):
Andrew Luck Superman game. That's that's what everybody remembers. So
I actually watched the game again this warning, just to
you know, get my memory going. And so I'll probably
do that and I'll probably head on up to practice.

Speaker 5 (36:10):
I'll be curious to see if Carly talks because this.

Speaker 4 (36:14):
Is when this is when Jim always used to talk.
So I got to find out if she'll be made
available for us.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
Listen, if she does talk and you've got a chance
to talk to her, Bob, you can put your bid
in on the house, right.

Speaker 4 (36:28):
I see that it's only what twelve million?

Speaker 1 (36:31):
That's right? Yeah? I mean yeah, I got that second
mortgage on your home. You're good to go, right.

Speaker 4 (36:37):
Oh, not a problem. I'm as good as moved in.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
I think it's got up. One of the houses he
has has a full ice skating rink in it too, Yeah,
which is perfect for you.

Speaker 5 (36:47):
Right because of a full Yeah. He used to ask me.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
To come over and be a goaltender for his grandson
and I said thanks, but no thanks because the kid
would probably light me up.

Speaker 1 (37:01):
Are you were a goaltender like all the way through? Right?

Speaker 3 (37:04):
I was? I was.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
I was a goaltender from the very start, and I
played till I was probably in my early fifties. Okay,
when Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
So let me ask you this before I let you go.
I don't think I've I've asked you this before. I
can't recall when when I go to hockey games, and
this is going to show my naivete about hockey. And
I really enjoy hockey. I think live hockey is super
fun to watch. It doesn't mean I totally understand everything
going on because I didn't grow up with it, right,
But I see a lot of times where the goalie

(37:37):
as his team and everything is taking place at the
other end of the ice. Well, grab his stick and
bang it like three times on the ice? Is he
what is that meaning is that calling for a shift change?
Is it sending out what exactly is going on? Or
is he just bored?

Speaker 4 (37:53):
No, it's usually you bang your stick on the ice
when your team is in uh power play or is shorthanded.
You're letting your bench know that the penalty time is up.
And uh so, yeah, you're just letting them know that
the time is up on the penalty and they need

(38:14):
to be aware aware of that.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
So it's a goaltender. Is the goaltender almost like a
safety in football, and the fact that because they're the
last line of defense, they're also in charge of kind
of overseeing some things.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
Very much like a catcher in baseball. I mean, you
can you control a lot more than you think. You
think you're just sitting there waiting for the next puck
to hit you in the face. But not necessarily the truth,
it's not.

Speaker 5 (38:41):
Necessarily the way it goes.

Speaker 4 (38:42):
No, you you've got you've got to know the game
and the ebbs and flows the game, and uh yeah,
that's what that's all about.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Eddie. You're a catcher, right, that's right. You're basically the
goaltender of baseball. Exactly. See the things with this program,
this is what we do, We educate and entertain on
the show. Bob appreciate it as always. All right, Hi buddy, Hey,
Jeb Kravitz, our friend Bob Kravitz dot com, where you
can read his work. Colts Practicing tonight Grand Park in Westfield.

(39:11):
Zach Kiefer is still a go to when it comes
to the Colts, despite the fact that his responsibilities go
to all teams within the National Football League and his
writing with the Athletic But he did have a very
interesting piece recently about Anthony Richardson and he. But that being,
Zach joins us on the program. Now, Zach, how are you.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
I'm good, Jake, how are you doing?

Speaker 1 (39:34):
I can't complain, man, you know, it's it's the polar
vortex outside. I don't know if you noticed that. It's
like seventy It's dropped sixty two degrees in two days.
So that's good, right, Jake.

Speaker 3 (39:41):
I'm in Ashburn, Virginia right now, so at least it's
not ninety five degrees like it was. What Tuesday when
I was in Westfield.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
Okay, now hold on now before we let me guess this. Yeah,
the other day in Westfield, by the way, one hundred
and twenty one degrees, a new record. Okay, So Ashbourn, Virginia.
Don't tell me because I like guessing games. Are you
Are you there on an NFL assignment?

Speaker 3 (40:01):
Zach? Yes?

Speaker 1 (40:03):
Okay, So are you there for a training camp?

Speaker 3 (40:06):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Okay, I'm going to guess that Ashburn, Virginia. There would
be two that jump out immediately as possibilities, but I'll
go with the obvious and say the Washington commanders.

Speaker 3 (40:17):
Yes, sir, Okay, you're correct.

Speaker 1 (40:19):
How far is that from DC?

Speaker 5 (40:22):
Man?

Speaker 3 (40:22):
It's it's a pain. Like I used to complain about
the drive up to Anderson for Colts camp. This was
like forty five minutes this morning. I'm staying right by
Reagan in downtown Arlington, and to get out to Ashburn
where the team practices, it was like forty five minutes.
And Dan Quinn, the head coach, spoke at seven thirty
this morning, so I don't mind the early morning. But
it was an early morning.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Yeah, that's early. Listen. I remember covering the rams and
being in Macomb, Illinois, and to get there you had
to actually take a left at Neptune. I mean it
was you know what I mean, it was like where
in the world, are we?

Speaker 3 (40:54):
Yeah, I've had that thought a lot lately.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
So let's get to this in terms of your article
with Anthony Richardson. And you know, I thought it was
interesting because there has been so much speculation about the
workouts that he's done, who he has worked out with,
and where things stand with the Indianapolis Colts. You were
around him, you spent time around him, Zach, what did

(41:17):
you learn?

Speaker 3 (41:19):
Yeah? I came away more impressed than I thought I
would be, And I don't want to get ahead of
myself by any means, because nothing really matters right now,
right like anything they say, it doesn't matter what anything
Richardson does on the field this season. If he does
end up being the starter of that's what matters. But
you know, I asked him, what when you walked off
the field after the last game of last season, which

(41:41):
was a chaotic, disappointing season for him. We don't need
to relive that, you know what you tell yourself? And
he said that I can't be slacky anymore. And that
gave me pause because if you didn't get it in
year two, what's going to change? And then he explained it,
and I walked away impressed because of the second part
of that answer, and look, if the light doesn't come

(42:02):
on this year. The surprising part to me is that
Chris Ballad is willing to wait until year four. Then
they're not going to jump the gun on this. He
doesn't want Anthony Richardson going to a different team in
the future and flourishing with that team. So the Colts
are going to be patient. But with Anthony Richardson, he
talked a lot about his footwork, and he talked about
a lot about accountability and how even if it's not

(42:23):
his fault that something went wrong, it is his fault
that something went wrong. That's just what quarterbacks have to
accept with that position. So for me, I'm not a
guy that's around Anthony Richardson every day like the beat writers.
But I will say this, I've never walked away from
a conversation more convinced. It's July thirty and everyone's going
to say everything rosy right now, And what really matters

(42:45):
is what they do on the field.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
When you say get it, do you mean getting it
mentally or getting it physically?

Speaker 3 (42:55):
He said last year he knew the offense. He said
this year he's starting to mask the offense. So there's that, right,
and guys learn at different clips. I'm working on this
big quarterback project about why young quarterbacks struggle and so
many and we're not talking about the Peyton Mannings of
the world and Andrew lux and et cetera. But Bruce
Arius told me that young quarterbacks takes three years to

(43:18):
learn the NFL offenses that they're given, like three years,
like this is his third year. And the other reality
is they screwed this up. The Colts did. They screwed
this up. Part of this is on the player, but
a lot of this is on the organization. They rushed
him onto the field and almost the worst thing that
happened was that he played well those first couple of
games as a rookie, Right, he played pretty well. They

(43:40):
had that Rams come back, they beat the Texans by
double vigits, Like, he played really well before he got hurt.
Then they signed Jonathan Taylor because they thought they had
the quarterback in place. But here's what happened. Richardson got hurt.
And when you're hurt, you're not around the team. And
when you're not around the team, as a young quarterback,
you don't build those daily habits that you need to
build as a young quarterback. Like a lot of quarterbacks

(44:01):
told me this over the years, like you need to
know what a Monday looks like, what a Tuesday looks like.
Richardson did not know that. And again I'm not excusing him,
like this is on him. He needs to figure this
stuff out. But what they should have done is they
should have started Gardner Minshew, which he ended up playing. Anyway,
they should have started Minshew. They should have had Richardson
become his shadow. He would have learned what the work
week looks like, and then they could have maybe started

(44:22):
him in year two or year three. But they didn't,
and everything was set back. Right, so last year he
becomes his starter. It's his team. He plays well, he
plays poorly, but he doesn't have those habits. He doesn't
have a work week down. And that really blew up
in their face because he wasn't preparing the right way.
The team was getting frustrated, some players were getting frustrated,
and so they benched it. And so almost this year

(44:43):
it feels like they're restarting the whole cycle.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
Zach, would you think that or when you say that,
the Colts start, you know, I think we all can
say they started him too early, right, do you believe
that the greater damage there was giving him a false
entitlement or was it letting his confidence get rattled because
then it didn't go well.

Speaker 3 (45:07):
I don't think he's a guy who loses confidence. I mean,
with you, if you were built like that. And these
are some of the things that Anthony Richardson has said.
And again I don't want to sound like everybody else here,
but he's a good kid. Like he's a genuinely good kid.
And I have conversations with plenty of athletes where I
walk away and I'm like, eh, I don't really like
that guy. I like andthy Ridgarson. He's a good kid.

(45:28):
He's respectful, he seems to get it. But he said
early on after his first year, like the NFL is
not that hard. It's not that much harder than college.
That's complete bs. It is absolutely that hard. And last
year it was the tap out thing. He said he
was tired, and maybe he was, but the optics of that,
you just have to know, is the starting quarterback that
you just don't say that, you just don't say it

(45:49):
at the podium. That's going to follow him for a
while when you tap out of a game because you're
tired divisional opponent on the road in a close game.
So I just think he's green. He's just naive to this.
And I think more time learning the system, learning the process,
learning the building, learning the job, like literally learning the job,
would have benefited him a little bit more. But again,

(46:10):
here we are, and it's going to be fascinating to
see if he can strain together some consistency because when
I asked Daniel Jones, like, you know what had Shange
said can tell you about what is going to win
this job? And Daniel Jones is not the most interesting
quote in the world, but he said, look, the coaches
told us they're going to go with the guy they
can trust. So as of right now, based on the

(46:30):
body of evidence in the past, you would think that
would be Daniel Jones. The day I was at campt
Richardson looked a little bit better. It's early August, right,
we got a long way to go. But I wonder
how this shakes out, because that's the biggest gap that
Anthony Richardson has to clear, has to close, right He
has to show that he can be way more consistent,
because right now it can go based on the body

(46:51):
of work that both have produced in the NFL. Jones
hasn't beat in that category, you.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
Know, Zach. Let's be real here, Zach, if you grate
it on the curve of me being doubled the age,
I am pretty much built like that, don't you think?

Speaker 3 (47:03):
You know?

Speaker 1 (47:03):
Relatively? You know, I mean, come on, you know, I
mean like I got I got news for you. I mean,
we're looking at, you know, over a half century here. Uh,
this kind of sculpting, you know, come on, I'm the
ar of the radio world. Not really. I mean you
see J and B. Now he's in great shape, Zach,
keith for joining us from what's happening.

Speaker 3 (47:23):
He is in great shape, by the way. I know.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
I'm telling you, man, Premier weight loss. They hooked him
up and they do the whole doctor deal. I mean, he
looks great.

Speaker 3 (47:30):
I haven't seen you. I haven't seen you running through
minting Keesler Man, what you've.

Speaker 1 (47:33):
Been I've been busy this time of year. I'm not.
I've never Here's the thing. I never run outside though,
right I'm an indoor runner. But this time of year,
because I'm traveling all over the place doing racing stuff,
it's the winter time, and I only run in the
winner in the gym. Truth be told to keep my
energy level up. That has nothing to do with the
vanity of looking this sexy.

Speaker 3 (47:50):
You know you don't have to try.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
That's exactly right, That's exactly right, Zach. You had mentioned
that you think the Colts have some regret over the
way they handled Richardson. Do you just simply mean and
handing him the keys too early?

Speaker 3 (48:05):
Yeah? And those are those are not my opinions, those
are those are facts. That's what Chris Faller gave me
explicitly in its stated article. He said, look, well, he
just didn't have the understanding professionally of how to play
and then how to prepare. It's just it's black and white.
They rushed him out there too quickly and look easy
to fall to the trappings of talent, right, Like Jim

(48:26):
Mersey was one of the people in the building saying
he needs to play. And I understand the argument at
the time, right, he hadn't played very much in college.
He needed to play. And I'm not trying to plug
this story again, but I'm working on a big quarterback
story about the bad habits you can develop if you
play too soon. And Alex Smith was unbelievable in my
conversations with him, and he says, the thing I look

(48:47):
for is is footwork. Like you could see it last
season with Caleb Williams. He was being sped up. His
feet were a mess. He was indecisive, and then he
would just miss easy checkdowns and how many easy checkdowns
as Anthony richards in this That's one of the first
things that Anthony Richardson mentioned to me when we asked him,
like what he was working on was his base with
his feet. And I know this is boring technical quarterback stuff,

(49:09):
but I find it fascinating. He said, Look like, if
I get my base nice and wide, then I know
where the ball is going to go. I have more
control over the ball. And he says if I don't,
if my feet is narrow, I miss. And everybody out
there listening knows what he means by miss, because he
misses high. That's his miss. It's been way too frequent,
a couple of weeks, a couple of years in his career,

(49:31):
and you know those are a little thing. So if
you're out the camp and you see the quarterbacks warming
up on the side, you will see Anthony Richardson repping that,
repping his bass, trying to widen his stands. But again,
you know, another thing I talked to Jim Bob Cooter,
the oppensive coordinator, about, is like, can a quarterback develop touch?
So many quarterbacks over the year just had it right.

(49:52):
You can practice. But the thing is that he said
that was really fascinating was a lot of guys will
get through high school, college and get a lot of
attention and win a lot of games because of their
arms strength. Right, Richardson's part of that. Right, he can
run all over the field. We know that you can
throw it a mile, we know that, but you get
to this league and the windows are smaller and you

(50:13):
need to touch right. You need those intermediate throws, you
need to hit those short brokes, the layups for lack
of a better phrase, And that's where he's got to
get better at. So that's going to come down the
fundamentals and everything we've seen so far. I mean, on
target percentage last year was fifty eight percent. Fifty eight
was by far the lowest in the league. I mean,

(50:33):
Jones is usually at seventy percent. One year with the Giants,
he was at eighty one. So that's that's the gap
I was talking about. She's trying to narrow, you know,
he's trying to simplify things, widen his base to get
better at those types of throws. But that's going to
be the difference in this when we watch the preseason games.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
Zach, since you have love, Zach Keeper is our guest.
With the Athletic, you were, you know, obviously a Colts
feature and beat writer during your time here at both
The Indie Star and then the Athletic, and you were
esoteric to Indianapolis to the Colts. You now are an
NFL writer where you are going around and doing features,

(51:10):
whether it be on a player or a particular team
or a camp. You know, I know you've done it
in Miami. You're now in Washington. So when you look
around at different franchises, and I know I've asked you
this before, but it's worth revisiting because you've got another
year under your belt of looking at the league in
a much bigger lens. When you do that, it is

(51:31):
illuminated to you the areas where the Colts are different
than other franchises, where.

Speaker 3 (51:40):
It's much more of a family business. Right like that
jumps out at me. And I don't just say that
because of recent events, but the culture and ursay family business,
and you feel that and it feels small in a
good way, if that makes sense. It feels like their
little pocket of the train camp world at that farm

(52:02):
up in Westfield. And I bounced around to I don't know,
fifteen or twenty training camps over the last couple of years,
and all of them are sort of their own adventure,
right in terms of getting there and parking and getting
through the fans and getting to the media area and
watching practice. All of that kind of runs right parallel, right,
They're all kind of the same. But the Colt stop
is refreshing, not because I know a lot of people,

(52:24):
but because it is the Colts kind of ways. It
feels smaller, it feels simpler, it feels unnecessarily complicated, and
I kind of appreciate that more now that I've ventured out.
I cannot tell you how good of a cult, like
how good to set up the Colts have a training camp,
for the fans, for the media, for everybody. It is
just such a sceneless operation that is not to be overlooked.

(52:46):
And then again, you know, like there are times when
I bounce around the league and go to a bunch
of stadiums and come back to Lucas Sayler, and I'm like,
this is just an absolutely gorgeous stadium. And I hope
I didn't take for granted going there every Sunday for
however many years. But it's little things. It's players, it's
it's the fact that the cults are more accountable. And
by that, I mean Chris Baller comes out and says,

(53:07):
I screwed it up. That's not something you hear in
every city, and he has to a degree. Jim Mersey,
when he was alive, would come out and own it,
and he would talk to the fans. You always knew
where he stood. You always knew where he stood right
or wrong, and you never questioned whether he was in
this to win, like some owners are just kind of
in this for the paychecks. Jim Mersay desperately wanted to win.

(53:28):
And so there's little things like that that I got
accustomed to covering the colts that are not the same
when you bounce around and and and venture across the league.
And I do appreciate those things more now in my
spot that I'm currently at.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
What franchise did you gain a lot of respect for
and not named Indianapolis for maybe some of the same reasons.

Speaker 3 (53:51):
Good question. Detroit is my answer. And I went there
last year. It's been a week when they were a
couple of weeks away from the playoff, and you know
how you just go through a locker room. I always
felt like the locker room was the one place that
teams can't lie. It's the one place where a pr
BS won't sit through. Right, Like I can go talk

(54:12):
to players, I can ask them questions, I can talk
to coaches, and at the podium you can hear one
thing and that's whatever. But like when you go to
a locker room, like the locker room's real. And I
walked out of there after a week and I felt
like I got it, Like I get why they believe
in Dan Campbell. He might be cheesy at the podium,
but they freaking love that guy. And the players showed
me why. They told me stories that made me understand that.

(54:35):
And it was really cool because not that long ago
they were an absolute dunster fire and they did it
the right way, and they did it when nobody believed
they could do it, and there was no shortcut and
there was no secret, and there was no huge free
agent signing that changed everything. I mean, they traded for
Jared Goff and everyone thought he was going to last
a year and a half and be run out of town,
and they became one of the best teams in the league.

(54:57):
And kind of seeing how they did it and talking
to all their players was like, this is literally the
coolest thing about football was being in that locker room
and understanding why they did it. And then conversely, you know,
last year, James Boyd, my colleague and I wrote a
story about why the Colts were falling apart again and
it was a very very different locker room. There was
a lot of players that didn't believe in the direction

(55:17):
of the team, that were questioning some of the decisions
that were made and that we're tired of losing. And
the quote that we got from an anonymous player literally said,
if you look around the league at the teams that win,
like the Chiefs and the Lions, you can see why
they win. So it's not that difficult to tell why
some teams win and why some teams don't.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
Do you think the Colts those same players last year
that said and I'm paraphrasing, this is a franchise with
no direction. Do you believe that they now feel that
direction is there?

Speaker 3 (55:51):
Well, it's July thirty first, Jake. Everybody believes that they're
in the right direction. Look around the league. Every single
quote you're going to read is the players in the
best shape of the life, the coach believes and everything.

Speaker 1 (56:01):
Guys are flying around making plays.

Speaker 3 (56:03):
Right, It's I'm just yeah, I just tune it out.
But to answer your question, everything's going to come down
to the quarterback. This is a good roster, it's a
pretty good team. They could win the division. Not a
great division, they could absolutely win the division. It's going
to come down to if they get consistent quarterback play.
And I am still vious on that front.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
Okay, so with that, and I know we got to
let you run here in a minute, Zach, But when
you talk about exactly that, the Colts, in your opinion,
the Colts ceiling is what even if they're to win
the division, they're they're their ceiling is is what record
and like what slot, like like let's say a year
from now they're drafting where.

Speaker 3 (56:48):
Yeah, I mean, like it's if everything goes right, there's
still like the sixth best team in the conference, right right, Like,
I mean, I just can't.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
Like such a hard run to get out of right
the city.

Speaker 3 (56:57):
Yeah, I mean, Denver has a really really good defense
and they have the guy at quarterback. And when you
don't have the guy at quarterback, there's a ceiling. And
there's a ceiling with Daniel Jones, and that's why the
Giants decided to move on from him. And I think
that's the tantalizing thing for the fan base right now, right, like,
where does the fan base want this quarterback competition to go? Right?
They are desperate for Anthony richards to figure it out

(57:19):
because his ceiling is so much higher. I don't know
if that happens. I don't know if it happens in
a year. But with Daniel Jones, I think that's a
guy that coaches trust a little bit more. I mean,
the Coats were not a bad team last year. They
went eight to nine, and if they wouldn't have turned
the ball over so many times, and Richardson was a
part of a lot of that, they probably win a
couple of more of those games and they're probably playing
in a playoff game, so it just depends on what

(57:41):
they want. But you know the options are there. Now
is the time to dream, right because it's August and
nothing hasn't you know, no one's lost the game yet.
But I just can't see them leaps frogby any teams
in the AFC that are really, really good, with the
exception of maybe Houston, Like I think they could sneak
past you, but again, I need to see I need

(58:02):
to see real consistent quarterback in play.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
Zach, I hate saying this, but I'll say it again.
I've said it on the show. They can win the division,
you are correct, but the AFC South is the junk
drawer of divisions, right, It's the division. You open it
up and there's like a roll of scotch tape that's
been there forever, you know, a bottle opener, a cassette
tape you forgot about, and you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (58:27):
Yeah, I think does that matter to them? You know, like,
of course they'll take it and run with it, because
I've never done it under this TM.

Speaker 1 (58:36):
Yeah that's true, all right, Zach. Will let you get now.
You said Ashbourn Virginia, Is that right?

Speaker 3 (58:41):
Yes, sir? Heading to Tampa soon.

Speaker 1 (58:43):
Well, enjoy Tampa. It'll be like it was here yesterday,
and then it'll be sixty five the next day. All right,
Zack appreciate it as always, Zach Keeper from the Athletic.

Speaker 3 (58:51):
You're the best place.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
Jake appreciate it, Zach Keeper joining us on the program.