February 6, 2025 • 10 mins
Winning championships together and still good friends outside of being teammates next to Dallas's star running back Emmitt Smith, none other than the Dallas Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston joins 790. Now the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the UFL minor league, Daryl joins the guys alongside his longtime friend and teammate Emmitt in talks of Super Bowl LIX and his experiences throughout his years making Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. With lots of people leaning towards the favorite in Sunday's afternoon showdown, Daryl shares a different point-of-view in regards to the outcome of the game and who may walk away with the trophy in the final game of the season.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Why you're back. This is the Sean Salisbury Show. Get
back at it. We got him, Yeah, I'm here here.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Great. Daryl Johnston, he's the UFL executive vice president of
Football Operations, a longtime NFL player, longtime broadcaster on Fox,
joins us here for a couple of minutes. Great to
have him and Emmett together. That was awesome. As always,
they did that for a lot of years. Man always nice. DJ.
Let me start with the introduction first. You know, all
the success in the NFL, the games you broadcast. If
(00:32):
we're listener, tunes in and says, Okay, what's going to
be different about the UFL and why did you take
this responsibility on.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
From a broadcast perspective, I think there's a lot different
when you talk about the NFL to the UFL.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
We're very transparent with what we do.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I think one of the things that our fans love
the most when they watch our games is the access
that we grant them to one of the questionable calls
during the course of the game. You know, you get
to hear Mike, Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino kind of
work their way through the process with conversations with the
officials on the field and you kind of get to
hear the why this this is the why we're going
(01:08):
to let this play stand, or this is the why
why we're going to change this play. And I think that,
you know, whether our viewers agree or disagree with that decision,
I think the most important thing is they get to
hear the why, and that kind of settles the nerves.
That's been one of the things that the NFL has
had a tough time with this year at different points,
especially there in the AFC Championship game with Kansas City
and Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
When you don't get the clarity of the why.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And I think the Bills fans on that fourth down
would have felt a lot better about that call, even
though they didn't agree with it, if they had the
understanding of the why and our ability to do it
on a small scale with only eight teams in our
league and being able to get Mike and Dean at
all those games and have that quality guy in the
booth to be able to talk through that and overrule
if he has to is a luxury that we've really,
(01:52):
you know, come to enjoy that dialogue back and forth.
You know, we have access on the sidelines, we have
access in the huddle, so we're taking the you are
into some earned spaces, which for me was hard, right
I you know, if you're going to be in an
NFL huddle or a UFL huddle, if you're going to
be on the UFL sideline having a conversation with the coach,
you have to earn that right. And then to see
(02:12):
the reaction from our fans when you bring them into
the earn spaces and they get to be a part
of that or you give them a glimpse of that,
and some of the conversations you know, with our players
and coaches during the course of the game on strategy
and execution is really really entertaining. So I just think
the biggest thing that we have done from a broadcast
standpoint is grant access and bring clarity to some scenarios
(02:35):
that the fans really really appreciate. And there's some things
that we're able to do that would be very, very
challenging for the NFL to do. When you talk about
sixteen games across the landscape each week, you know, without
the bus, you know, playing a role in that.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So you know, it's something.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
That because we can do it, we've we've we've started
to experiment with it and we've let that grow from
year to year and we've really gotten some positive feedback
on how much the fans.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Enjoy it and can't And now you mentioned that, you know,
at this time when the referees hell, we've on this
show this week, people want to talk more about the
referees and they do about the two teams that are
in it because of oh, is it favor? You've heard
it and we've heard it all, all the banter that's
going on.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
But is it?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
We love transparency and I think fans right now in
the NFL field are not getting enough of it. What
would be the difficulty or is it just too old
school to allow people? And you know, we can't let
anybody in the huddle, We can't let our we don't
want transparency.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Why can't the.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
NFL adopt what you guys are doing now because it
sounds like it's a pretty good gig and working for you.
Why not on a bigger version?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
You would think with the technology that they could, But
but technology at some point comes down to the person
in control of that technology, And do you have the
ability to get sixteen people.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Across the NFL.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Uh, you can double up on Sunday night, you could
double up on Monday night.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
You could find some ways around it.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
But can you create consistency just within those sixteen when
it's when it's just Mike and Dean For us, it's
a lot easier to create that can assistency. And they've
worked together for a number of years, so they've been
mentors and influenced by each other, so they see it
the same way probably ninety nine percent of the time.
(04:13):
Can you get to that consistency in the NFL when
you're talking about sixteen different people that would be involved
with that, or can you bring that all the way
back into New York the way that they're doing now
with some of the you know, expedited reviews and things
like that, bringing the information to one isolated point where
you can shrink down that group of key decision makers,
where you could create some consistency across the board. And
(04:35):
the one thing you're going to have trouble with, and
it happens to us from time to time, you know
during the Fox NFL season, is we'll have a situation
in our game and we're trying to get Mike or
Dean to weigh in on it, and he's already involved
in another game, so you could have some crossover there
where you would at least have to have you know,
two to three people that you absolutely trusted in those
(04:56):
situations to make the right call, because that's what it's
going to be down to you. You want to have some
consistency with some of the more challenging calls that we see,
and I think that that's been the frustrating part, and
it's the human air element, right, It's just we've taken
the big mistakes that we saw, you know in seasons past.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I remember growing up.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
You know, you've you've got you know, touchdown catches in
the back corner of the end zone that were ruled
incomplete that when you go back in it with today's
technology and they actually were complete. So we've got things
like that and we can those will always be a
part of the game, but some of the minor details.
Can we get some of that sorted out and get
some consistency there without really you know, impacting or perfecting
because you're always going to have that human air element.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Darryl Johnston, long time fullback, one of the best we've
ever had, Super Bowl champion, long time broadcaster Fox and
now the executive vice president for the UFL, joins us
here on Sports Talk seven to ninety for a couple
more minutes. You know, the Kansas City Chiefs getting in
this game. I think about teams that have been you know, dynasties.
You guys, throw the forty nine Ers into it at
(05:55):
the in our era, the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventies,
the New England Patriots. If the Chiefs pull this off,
are they in the conversation for one of the best
of all time? Even though it's three in a row.
I'm talking about the overall body of work. Where do
you slot them?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I think it's hard to you know, to get to
number one when you talk about those groups. But I
think Kansas City definitely comes into that conversation, and I
think they come into that conversation with a very strong resume.
I think the most impressive thing is five Super Bowls
in the last six years in an era where the
business model is set up to prevent that from happening.
(06:32):
And I think it shows you the greatness of Patrick Mahomes.
And the one similarity that I see between Patrick and
Tom is the ability to win with very different rosters
and really kind of restructuring your offense and winning different
ways from season to season. And both Patrick and Tom
were able to coordinate that and execute that through their careers.
(06:55):
So I think just the fact that Kansas City is
here now for the fifth time in six years is.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
A bold statement.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
They've got an opportunity to do something historical that nobody's
ever done before, which is another huge bold statement. So,
you know, not only does it put them in the conversation,
it really kind of gets them towards the top of
that conversation. You know, has anybody ever been better, you know,
in a stretch than Kansas City?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Darrel.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I'll let you go on this when we come out
of this game on Sunday. The topic on the field
when we're having a conversation, what will the buzz be?
I mean of the winner, what will be the reason
why that team wins the number one reason in this game?
And who will it be?
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I think the buzz is going to be.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
It was impressive to watch Philadelphia adjust during the course
of the game when they shut down Saquon Barkley early
and Jalen was able to get the passing game going
with Devontae Smith and AJ Brown and Dallas Goddard, and
then as Kansas City adjusted, they were able to come
back and then get Saquon rolling again. I think the
(08:04):
impressive thing about both of these teams is how well
they possessed the ball.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I think it's going to be a huge part of
this game.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
How many possessions do you get, how many how productive
are you with those possessions. We were talking about the
top two teams in the NFL with ten plus play drives,
whether that's a scoring drive or just a drive that
takes up time. So you're going to have limited possessions
and I'm really interested to see how does that impact
Nick Sirianni as the coach, you know, into those fourth
(08:30):
down critical decisions where you know, we need to keep
maintaining possession of the ball. Here, we've got to find
a way to get points. You're on that fringe where
you're is it too far for the field goal? Do
we have comp execute this field goal from this distance
or do we want to punt and change field position.
I think those are going to be some of the
critical decisions, you know, right on those cusps of field
(08:51):
goal range, you know, coming into the into the red zone.
You know, do we want to settle for a field
goal here? Do we want to be aggressive and go
for it on fourth down and get a touchdown out
of the strive.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
So those are gonna be some of the key decisions
that happen.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
And I think that's all going to be forced and
generated because these teams are very, very good.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
At possessing the ball.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Do you have one winner?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I'm going Philadelphia, and I'm going Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
You know by ten.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
I'm I'm horrible at predicting things. And this is probably
very selfish on my part. It doesn't want Kansas City
to win three in a row and take the shine
off of our accomplishment of winning three and four years.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
And I love the transparency and the fairness. Man, I
love Hey, why would you want them to win three
in a row and it's another NFC team? Why not
DJ great?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
I have to have I have to have ten points
because we all know what Patrick Mahomes does in one
possession game. I was gonna say, I've got to give
a little bit of a buffer and make it two possessions.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
We don't have a ten point play, but if there
was one, Kansas City find a way to execute it. Man, Hey,
d DJ, great stuff. It's always great to see you
and visit with you, my man, and I appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
I have a great day you too.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That's great. Darryl Moose Johnston. Moose Johnston one of the
great lead blockers, and he did more than that. He
could catch.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
He was smart.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
He's a great broadcast dur and a lot of the
reason in m Itt'll tay every time. The reason why
I Amott Smith's the all time leading rusher, aside from
how good he was. Darryl Johnson in front of him
create and passed for emmittt and that great vision to
maximize its Sports Talk seven ninety eight. But that's what
happens when it's radio Row. We'll get on a quick
break here and come on back.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Sean Salisbury Show.
Why you're back. This is the Sean Salisbury Show. Get
back at it. We got him, Yeah, I'm here here.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Great. Daryl Johnston, he's the UFL executive vice president of
Football Operations, a longtime NFL player, longtime broadcaster on Fox,
joins us here for a couple of minutes. Great to
have him and Emmett together. That was awesome. As always,
they did that for a lot of years. Man always nice. DJ.
Let me start with the introduction first. You know, all
the success in the NFL, the games you broadcast. If
(00:32):
we're listener, tunes in and says, Okay, what's going to
be different about the UFL and why did you take
this responsibility on.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
From a broadcast perspective, I think there's a lot different
when you talk about the NFL to the UFL.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
We're very transparent with what we do.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I think one of the things that our fans love
the most when they watch our games is the access
that we grant them to one of the questionable calls
during the course of the game. You know, you get
to hear Mike, Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino kind of
work their way through the process with conversations with the
officials on the field and you kind of get to
hear the why this this is the why we're going
(01:08):
to let this play stand, or this is the why
why we're going to change this play. And I think that,
you know, whether our viewers agree or disagree with that decision,
I think the most important thing is they get to
hear the why, and that kind of settles the nerves.
That's been one of the things that the NFL has
had a tough time with this year at different points,
especially there in the AFC Championship game with Kansas City
and Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
When you don't get the clarity of the why.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And I think the Bills fans on that fourth down
would have felt a lot better about that call, even
though they didn't agree with it, if they had the
understanding of the why and our ability to do it
on a small scale with only eight teams in our
league and being able to get Mike and Dean at
all those games and have that quality guy in the
booth to be able to talk through that and overrule
if he has to is a luxury that we've really,
(01:52):
you know, come to enjoy that dialogue back and forth.
You know, we have access on the sidelines, we have
access in the huddle, so we're taking the you are
into some earned spaces, which for me was hard, right
I you know, if you're going to be in an
NFL huddle or a UFL huddle, if you're going to
be on the UFL sideline having a conversation with the coach,
you have to earn that right. And then to see
(02:12):
the reaction from our fans when you bring them into
the earn spaces and they get to be a part
of that or you give them a glimpse of that,
and some of the conversations you know, with our players
and coaches during the course of the game on strategy
and execution is really really entertaining. So I just think
the biggest thing that we have done from a broadcast
standpoint is grant access and bring clarity to some scenarios
(02:35):
that the fans really really appreciate. And there's some things
that we're able to do that would be very, very
challenging for the NFL to do. When you talk about
sixteen games across the landscape each week, you know, without
the bus, you know, playing a role in that.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So you know, it's something.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
That because we can do it, we've we've we've started
to experiment with it and we've let that grow from
year to year and we've really gotten some positive feedback
on how much the fans.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Enjoy it and can't And now you mentioned that, you know,
at this time when the referees hell, we've on this
show this week, people want to talk more about the
referees and they do about the two teams that are
in it because of oh, is it favor? You've heard
it and we've heard it all, all the banter that's
going on.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
But is it?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
We love transparency and I think fans right now in
the NFL field are not getting enough of it. What
would be the difficulty or is it just too old
school to allow people? And you know, we can't let
anybody in the huddle, We can't let our we don't
want transparency.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Why can't the.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
NFL adopt what you guys are doing now because it
sounds like it's a pretty good gig and working for you.
Why not on a bigger version?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
You would think with the technology that they could, But
but technology at some point comes down to the person
in control of that technology, And do you have the
ability to get sixteen people.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Across the NFL.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Uh, you can double up on Sunday night, you could
double up on Monday night.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
You could find some ways around it.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
But can you create consistency just within those sixteen when
it's when it's just Mike and Dean For us, it's
a lot easier to create that can assistency. And they've
worked together for a number of years, so they've been
mentors and influenced by each other, so they see it
the same way probably ninety nine percent of the time.
(04:13):
Can you get to that consistency in the NFL when
you're talking about sixteen different people that would be involved
with that, or can you bring that all the way
back into New York the way that they're doing now
with some of the you know, expedited reviews and things
like that, bringing the information to one isolated point where
you can shrink down that group of key decision makers,
where you could create some consistency across the board. And
(04:35):
the one thing you're going to have trouble with, and
it happens to us from time to time, you know
during the Fox NFL season, is we'll have a situation
in our game and we're trying to get Mike or
Dean to weigh in on it, and he's already involved
in another game, so you could have some crossover there
where you would at least have to have you know,
two to three people that you absolutely trusted in those
(04:56):
situations to make the right call, because that's what it's
going to be down to you. You want to have some
consistency with some of the more challenging calls that we see,
and I think that that's been the frustrating part, and
it's the human air element, right, It's just we've taken
the big mistakes that we saw, you know in seasons past.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I remember growing up.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
You know, you've you've got you know, touchdown catches in
the back corner of the end zone that were ruled
incomplete that when you go back in it with today's
technology and they actually were complete. So we've got things
like that and we can those will always be a
part of the game, but some of the minor details.
Can we get some of that sorted out and get
some consistency there without really you know, impacting or perfecting
because you're always going to have that human air element.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Darryl Johnston, long time fullback, one of the best we've
ever had, Super Bowl champion, long time broadcaster Fox and
now the executive vice president for the UFL, joins us
here on Sports Talk seven to ninety for a couple
more minutes. You know, the Kansas City Chiefs getting in
this game. I think about teams that have been you know, dynasties.
You guys, throw the forty nine Ers into it at
(05:55):
the in our era, the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventies,
the New England Patriots. If the Chiefs pull this off,
are they in the conversation for one of the best
of all time? Even though it's three in a row.
I'm talking about the overall body of work. Where do
you slot them?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
I think it's hard to you know, to get to
number one when you talk about those groups. But I
think Kansas City definitely comes into that conversation, and I
think they come into that conversation with a very strong resume.
I think the most impressive thing is five Super Bowls
in the last six years in an era where the
business model is set up to prevent that from happening.
(06:32):
And I think it shows you the greatness of Patrick Mahomes.
And the one similarity that I see between Patrick and
Tom is the ability to win with very different rosters
and really kind of restructuring your offense and winning different
ways from season to season. And both Patrick and Tom
were able to coordinate that and execute that through their careers.
(06:55):
So I think just the fact that Kansas City is
here now for the fifth time in six years is.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
A bold statement.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
They've got an opportunity to do something historical that nobody's
ever done before, which is another huge bold statement. So,
you know, not only does it put them in the conversation,
it really kind of gets them towards the top of
that conversation. You know, has anybody ever been better, you know,
in a stretch than Kansas City?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Darrel.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I'll let you go on this when we come out
of this game on Sunday. The topic on the field
when we're having a conversation, what will the buzz be?
I mean of the winner, what will be the reason
why that team wins the number one reason in this game?
And who will it be?
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I think the buzz is going to be.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
It was impressive to watch Philadelphia adjust during the course
of the game when they shut down Saquon Barkley early
and Jalen was able to get the passing game going
with Devontae Smith and AJ Brown and Dallas Goddard, and
then as Kansas City adjusted, they were able to come
back and then get Saquon rolling again. I think the
(08:04):
impressive thing about both of these teams is how well
they possessed the ball.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I think it's going to be a huge part of
this game.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
How many possessions do you get, how many how productive
are you with those possessions. We were talking about the
top two teams in the NFL with ten plus play drives,
whether that's a scoring drive or just a drive that
takes up time. So you're going to have limited possessions
and I'm really interested to see how does that impact
Nick Sirianni as the coach, you know, into those fourth
(08:30):
down critical decisions where you know, we need to keep
maintaining possession of the ball. Here, we've got to find
a way to get points. You're on that fringe where
you're is it too far for the field goal? Do
we have comp execute this field goal from this distance
or do we want to punt and change field position.
I think those are going to be some of the
critical decisions, you know, right on those cusps of field
(08:51):
goal range, you know, coming into the into the red zone.
You know, do we want to settle for a field
goal here? Do we want to be aggressive and go
for it on fourth down and get a touchdown out
of the strive.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
So those are gonna be some of the key decisions
that happen.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
And I think that's all going to be forced and
generated because these teams are very, very good.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
At possessing the ball.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Do you have one winner?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I'm going Philadelphia, and I'm going Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
You know by ten.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
I'm I'm horrible at predicting things. And this is probably
very selfish on my part. It doesn't want Kansas City
to win three in a row and take the shine
off of our accomplishment of winning three and four years.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
And I love the transparency and the fairness. Man, I
love Hey, why would you want them to win three
in a row and it's another NFC team? Why not
DJ great?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
I have to have I have to have ten points
because we all know what Patrick Mahomes does in one
possession game. I was gonna say, I've got to give
a little bit of a buffer and make it two possessions.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
We don't have a ten point play, but if there
was one, Kansas City find a way to execute it. Man, Hey,
d DJ, great stuff. It's always great to see you
and visit with you, my man, and I appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
I have a great day you too.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That's great. Darryl Moose Johnston. Moose Johnston one of the
great lead blockers, and he did more than that. He
could catch.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
He was smart.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
He's a great broadcast dur and a lot of the
reason in m Itt'll tay every time. The reason why
I Amott Smith's the all time leading rusher, aside from
how good he was. Darryl Johnson in front of him
create and passed for emmittt and that great vision to
maximize its Sports Talk seven ninety eight. But that's what
happens when it's radio Row. We'll get on a quick
break here and come on back.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Sean Salisbury Show.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.