January 5, 2024 • 37 mins
In the fourth hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain chat with Chris Petersen about the Huskies playing in the National Championship on Monday, then talk to Mike Florio from PFT about Michael Penix and some NFL, then we hear UW’s Texas win montage again.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Joining us right now on the radioshow The Last Man to take the Dogs
to a Final four. Chris Petersonwith us on the show Coach, how
are you couldn't be doing any better? Fellas, couldn't be doing any better?
This is awesome, man, thisis really incredible what's happening on Mott
Lake right now? You know,it's it's emotional. There's a lot of
(00:20):
reflection going on, you know herein Jalen Polkia talking yesterday about how this
is for the generations of fan basesthat have come before this one. Just
kind of reflect if you can,on the job that Camden de Bor has
done in the two years he's beenhere, and the job this team has
done to get to fourteen to zeroin this point so far. I'm sorry,
(00:41):
that's that's actually kind of a funnyquestion, because I mean, what
is there to say, you know, I mean, it really it couldn't
have been any better, Like itjust can't. I mean, when you
come in, you know, whenyou come into someplace new, there's just
always going to be that transition period, and there really wasn't much of that.
(01:03):
You know, It's just and Iwill say this, you know,
so much of it goes to Kaylinand that staff that he put together.
I think they're you know, notonly fabulous coaches, but wonderful people most
importantly, right, And I thinkthat that's what those kids felt, because
(01:26):
here's the thing. I just reallybelieve that. And it's just so rare
what's going on in college football rightnow, but I just really believe all
the things that those kids have beenthrough is one of the main reasons that
they are playing for a national championship. Every the special teams that I've been
(01:49):
on in thirty three years of coachingand then ten years probably is well fifteen
years of like as an athlete playingthings, I've probably been on on a
handful that I would call gold standardteams. And one of the threads is
you have to go through some reallyhard, difficult stuff. It's almost like
(02:13):
the hero's journey, and you comeback out of it if you can hang
in there, and that's part ofwhat makes you so good. And I
think, after me stepping away andthey're going through with Jimmy and then here
comes Caitlin, the third guy,so many of almost all of them stayed
(02:35):
and they all wanted to leave.I know that. And the fact that
they hung in there and stayed.That was so hard for him, especially
in the day, in this dayand age in college football, with transferring
like that, that's almost the coolthing to do. That For some reason,
they trusted the whole thing and hungin there and really hit the ground
(02:59):
running as well as you could.Right, even though they lost the two
games, but the first year losethe two games that you know, I
mean, the transition has been justspectacular. And then here we are today,
Well, we were looking at ityesterday, coach. There's just a
ton of your guys on this teamfrom both the twenty nineteen class, your
twenty eighteen class has a few guys. And how much does that factor into
(03:21):
where this team is? We havenine sixty year players on this team.
It's a grown man team. Howmuch does that factor in where they are
right now? Yeah, there's noquestion at all factors in that. You
have a six year quarterback. Youknow that wasn't there it came from but
look at this hard stuff that he'sbeen through. Right, So here's a
guy that came from outside, buthe's been through as much verst year as
(03:44):
anybody and he's a six year guy. So now you're talking about some kids
that has stayed the course, thathas persevered through all this adversity. Like
that's the thing that I don't thinkeverybody realizes. The Michael Pennix is,
you know, everybody knows this story, but I don't think people realize how
difficult that was for him to staythe course. And I can go down
(04:06):
the list on all the kids thatwe're gonna we're talking about that are there
doing great things for you, Dub. Everybody's got their their adversity story where
it'd be like I didn't know ifI was gonna make it. I didn't
know if I could keep going.And so you couple that with some maturity
what you're talking about, Dick,you know, with these six year kids,
(04:27):
and it's just awesome. I mean, you know, Rome and Jalen
and Roger Rose and Guard all thosekids that like we've recruited for so long
and then I stepped away and thenthey still you know, trust you,
Dub and enough to come there andjust to I mean just to hear all
that and know what they went throughand had the conversations that I had stepping
out of it, and then it'sjust it's phenomenal. It's awesome. So
(04:51):
I have a lot of emotions,great ones, you know, right now
watching this whole thing. Well shouldand I hope that you take a lot
of pride in the role that youplayed in this man. Honestly, there's
a ton of guys that you guysbrought in. The foundation that you put
down is still kind of, youknow, in the effect today. But
give us a thought on this gameon Monday night, because Dick and I
(05:15):
have been surmising and I was talkingto John Jansen, who's a former Michigan
a ligneman who's now on their broadcastChris about you know, the Big Ten.
There's only one team in the entireconference in the top fifty in the
country in yards per game, andthat's Ohio State. So is Michigan facing
great defenses or are they facing badoffenses? And how much of a little
bit of a shock to the systemwill there be for the Wolverines when they
(05:36):
go up against Michael Pennix and companyon Monday night. Yeah, there's no
question there's going to be a shockto Michigan system. They haven't seen an
offense like this without question. Nowon the flip side, yeah, if
I'm being honest, Washington hasn't seenan offense like they're going to see either
(05:57):
they can run the ball. Thetwo things that jump out to me,
there's a couple of things that jumpout to me about both these programs and
both these teams. They know whothey are. They play to their identity.
Washington's gonna pass protect the heck outof Michael Pennis. They're not gonna
have seen that type of pass protection. Couple with how elusive and how good
(06:19):
and crafty he is in the pocketget rid of the ball. They haven't
seen that, so that's gonna bedifferent for him. But on the flip
side, you know, Washington hasn'tseen someone that's gonna continue to stay after
the run game. No matter howthey hold up, they are gonna keep
pounding well into the fourth quarter becausethat's usually when things happen. So it's
(06:39):
a contrast and styles. The otherthing that jumps out to me about these
guys is these are two super battletested teams. I mean, the adversity
of Michigan has gone through not havingyour head coach for the first three games
and the last three games, andyou don't flinch. You just roll and
all the stuff surrounding that program.Players are like whatever, bet bring it
(07:02):
on. And then the thing thatwhat you know, Washington, that every
game they play somehow has some sortof like closeness controversy. There's no blowouts.
So I think these are also thetwo most adversity tested, battle tested
teams, and so it's I think, I really do think you have the
two best teams in the country andneither one of them are a SEC teams
(07:26):
coach and Alabama's now been out fora couple of years. Is this a
one off? Or will ni Land the Portal kind of continue to even
the playing field a bit and takeaway of the SEC dominance the next few
years. Yeah, that's a that'sa good question. I will say this
that the Portal, no question,has leveled the playing field out West,
(07:53):
and I think we felt that preseasonwith how everybody was saying that PAC twelves
the best conference. Now, well, why is that? We'll look at
some of these players that they havenow, the Cana Williams, the Michael
Pennix, the Bonnix, just thepip of the Iceberg here and so,
yes, you know that has donesome things. But I will say this
(08:13):
you know, those SEC schools arestill recruiting these high school kids and the
Michigans at an elite level in theOhio states as well, at an elite
level. And I just again,you know, hey, I think everybody's
figuring this out as they go.But when I look at this as a
far from afar, I still thinkthat the great programs are going to build
(08:37):
this thing through the high school ranks, and they're going to take eight to
ten players in an ideal world transfersto supplement. I think it's we talked
about this before. I know it'sI think it's very similar to the pro
Bodel How about this, like AlGeorgia, who you know, even though
he lost that last game, thatmight be the next best team in this
conversation, right, I don't thinkthey had a transfer last year. They
(09:00):
just they just lived with their highschool kids because they recruit the best of
the best, and they're the bestrecruiting, you know, program in the
country right now. And so I'msure that'll change a little bit for those
guys as well. But those reallygood programs I think are going to stay
where they develop those those really goodhigh school kids through the ranks. Well,
Chris Peterson's with us as we getready for a monster game on Monday
(09:24):
night. We'll be on the airat twelve thirty live from the stadium,
kick off at four forty five.Heading down Sunday morning, get their Sunday
afternoon to wrap up the season,maybe with a first national championship in thirty
three years. And I really wantyou to put your coaching hat on,
your schematic hat on, coach,get into the weeds on this. If
you're going up against that Michigan defenseand you're trying to protect from Michael Pennix,
(09:46):
and I've set up myself a coupleof times. If they protect the
way they've done against Oregon and Texas, I think the Washington Huskies win the
game on Monday night. So getinto the weeds and tell us schematically what
you really need to see, whatyou want to see from these guys on
offense against that great defense. Yeah, I think you're I think you're hitting
the nail on the head. Ido think it starts with, uh,
(10:11):
you know, the pass protection ofyou dub and you know, I think
what was really interesting was how Alabamacould not pass protect at all. So
Michigan has some stuff there. Nowthey will I think that jesse mentor their
defensive quarter I think is outstanding,so he will know how to attack protections.
(10:31):
He will be going after the weaknessis now Again, this is going
to be a fabulous chess match betweenhim and Grubb because Grubb knows that too,
and so they will not They willmix protections and they're not going to
stay in the same protection that they'vebeen all the time in third downs or
in second and longs. Like theyboth know that. So it's an interesting
(10:52):
chess match. And the really reallyelite coaches will make those not halftime adjustments,
but in between series adjustments, andI think he got two of those
type approaches that can do that.So I do think it's going to be
interesting to just continue to watch thispass protection because you have one of them.
You know, Alabama's protection is alittle bit different. They've struggled a
(11:15):
little bit all year long with that. But Jaalen Milroe got him out of
so many things by being the mostathletic on the field. But I think
what jumped out is that didn't matter, like they had such a great plan,
he couldn't escape that. But MichaelPenis doesn't get a hold on the
ball like that, Like if hefeels that that ball's coming out, so
(11:35):
that whole thing is gonna be isgonna be fabulous. I think if you're
Michigan, I think if you're Michigan, you need to what needs to happen,
because if you Dove's offenses on thefield too much, you might slow
him down load, but you're notstopping them. They're gonna score their points.
Michigan, I know, is hopingto play their game, which is
(11:56):
they run the ball, they holdthe ball, they eat clock, they
score on long drives, and thenthey give you the ball and then hope
for you know three and out hereand there, you know, fiving out
those type of things, and that'sreally what needs to happen. Like I
think Michigan's offense is going to bereally responsible as well of helping Michigan Michigan
(12:20):
defense out by possessing the ball.It's almost like what you dubbed the Oregon
in that championship game. They justsat bow knicks on the sideline and just
they just you know, got coldand just took them out of their rhythm.
Michigan, Yeah, exactly. Sothat's going to be fabulous. I
mean, Michigan's defense I think isas you know, probably as good as
(12:43):
anything that that you dub a scene. But Michigan hasn't seen this type of
pass game at all. I dothink the Dylan Johnson is a big factor
here, Like they have to runthe ball, like that's one of the
things that they do so nice.It's all about throwing deep shots all those
types of things. But they doenough in that run game that you just
(13:05):
cannot pin your ears back or you'regonna get gashed in that run game.
Well, six sacks and ten tacklesfor loss in that Alabama game for Michigan,
primarily coming off the blitz. Imean they blitzed on forty three percent
of Alabama snaps. Do you thinkthey'll be able to blitz Washington successfully or
can I just you know, hitcheckdowns, hit guys over the middle real
quick if he sees that extra guycompany. Yeah, yeah, I think
(13:28):
they're gonna have to really be strategic, you know, and and and and
they're gonna break down you dub youknow the last I don't know, probably
the last I don't know, fouror five games that they played, and
they may stick another. They're gonnaalso look at the U dub in Arizona
State game to see what happened there. So those are gonna be big factors
(13:50):
into their game plan, and thenthey're gonna figure out how does that factor
into what we do? Well,they're not gonna Michigan's not gonna go change
a bunch of stuff because Arizona Statehad success with this type of thing.
If it's not already in their packageand they've done it, you know,
there might be a wrinkl or two. But at this point, it's all
about your identity. What do wedo best, and that's what you're gonna
(14:13):
get on both sides of this.So, yeah, it's gonna be fascinating.
I can't wait to see this chessmatch. I mean, I'm uh,
softie. I feel a little bitlike you, Like you see,
I'm patient, like it's gonna begreat a couple of days or whatever.
It's like, I don't want tosee this thing right now play out.
Yeah, welcome to my world,baby, Congratulations on life. I appreciate
(14:35):
that, but I have a lotmore. I have a lot more compassion
for you now, softy, becauseI'm always going what is now? I
kind of feel what you feel.This is a miserable world to be living
in. By the way, it'sabout time, about time they started figuring
out what the heck I'm going throughin my life. Except he does it
every Saturday, every Saturday. Butthis is different. I mean, Chris,
I've been telling Dick and anybody who'lllisten that I'll just be driving down
(14:58):
the road and just start crying,just tearing up about what this team has
done. And the thing that's crazyto me is that they've won twenty one
games in a row. They're fourteenand oh and yet they have to win
another game to claim the national title. This is almost impossible to pull off.
I think it's the hardest thing todo in sports to win a college
football playoff national championship, and theseguys are on the cusp of doing it.
(15:22):
Yeah, there's no right, You'reright, it is crazy. I
mean, do what he was thelongest wind streak in college from It's like,
whoa wow. But you know,I think kind of you know,
you say you're talking about tearing upand what this means and all these things.
See, I felt this for along time, you know, in
all the places that I had beenbefore, and then certainly at U dub
(15:43):
and you know, I know whenwe're talking about the recruiting and everybody's like,
we're got a draft, but youknow, offence around the state and
I'm just kind of going the peoplenot know, like in times of Chance
you've got drawing and fens around anywherelike that. Those days are old,
although you understand them of your backyard, and people would feel like, well,
they're not working hard enough to keepthese guys and you know, and
(16:06):
that was always our priority, waslike, hey, let's start with these
good guys that are you know,proximity is the number one predictor of you
know, getting a recruit. Soif there's somebody good and they've always been
about the Huskies, this is inour favor. But what I've always felt
like, you know, you havea good season, or you have two
good seasons, that's great, Butto really make your mark, this has
(16:30):
to happen for a handful of years. So these kids that are ten,
eleven and twelve that are seeing thistype of stuff when they get in high
school and they you know, happento have some talent and they have the
path and then all of a sudden, the Huskies are like, now,
this is when they want to comebecause they've seen this going. When they
see it growing up, everything changes. And so not only kids in your
(16:55):
backyard, there might be some kidsheck in Michigan to watch this game for
whatever reason. I'm not about Michigan. I'm about Dub and this kid turned.
So these are important, important times. And you know Caitlin and those
guys, they're gonna be built forthe long haul and they're gonna be good
for a long time. And sothat's exciting about that. I think that's
gonna help recruiting as much as anything. Yep, Hey, coach, real
(17:18):
quick. I know we got abreak here, but what's your plan for
the game? Is sitting with theMucky MUCKs and the suite, you're gonna
be with us in the press boxsideline with Troy Dannon stands with the fans.
What's your plan for the game Mondaynight? I don't have exactly my
plan. I'll be there, butI promise you this, I'm going where
I can be bothered the least andjust focus on the game. So I
(17:42):
will not be on the sideline.I certainly won't be with you where I'm
tucked away where I can just watchthis game, watch the strategy, and
feel the passion and the energy ofthis historic time. I love it,
all right, hey, enjoy it. And honestly, I know we like
(18:03):
to kind of bust each other's chopsa little bit here, But thank you
from everybody who's a Husky fan forthe role that you played and getting this
done. Man, So enjoy iton Monday, Happy New Year, and
we'll talk to you next coach.Yeah, I appreciate you, guys,
and I just want to stay backlike it's not any one thing. It's
not any one person came it willbe the first to say that, you
know, like the stuff that whateverlittle stuff we did when I was there,
(18:25):
you know, it's the fans,it's that stadium, it's your guys'
passion, like it ruled over onein life. You can't do it alone.
And so just like you know onMonday night, they can't do it
alone. And I know Husky Nationsshowing up loud and proud, and it's
gonna be fun to to, youknow, have everybody be part of this
thing, no doubt. All right, let's bring it home. Go dogs.
We'll see you down there, coach. Thank you, ro Dogs go
(18:48):
love it. Chris Peterson with us, We're gonna break Mike Florio Pro Football
Talk dot com. What does hethink the NFL thinks of Michael Pennix.
We'll find out next right here ona Friday night at ninety three three KJRFM,
It's time for a weekly conversation withPro Football Talks Mike Florio, brought
to you by Simply Seattle. Tiredof buying and repping the same old Seattle
sports gear everyone else has. Forthe best Storm, Seahawks, Mariners,
(19:11):
Kraken, Rainiers, Sounders, andnot to mention, the largest Sonics collection
in the world, check out simplySeattle dot com. Now with Mike Florio.
Here's Softy and dick. Alrighty,boys and Girls, here we go
a special edition of our segment withMike Florio. Big thanks to our friends
at simply Seattle dot com. Allthe National Championship gear you can stomach available
(19:33):
right now on the website at simplySeattle dot com. Here he is,
Boys and Girls normally with us onWednesdays at three ten, but a crazy
week for everybody. The King ofall NFL media from the NFL at NBC
Pro Footballtalk dot Com. Our buddyMichael Florio, Michael, how are you
Palell? Hello? Happy New Year? How's everybody? I hope everyone has
(19:53):
a great twenty four except you Buttholes. And when I say Buttholes, that
only means one take. Dick isexempt. Yeah, I get it.
That's fine. Hey, you knowwhat, I am an animal lover.
I have three dogs myself. How'syour dog doing? Man, She's fine,
she's fine. You know the problemwhen a dog's sick, they can't
tell you what's wrong. Yeah,and that is very frustrating. So she's
(20:15):
fine. Well, we're glad tohear that. Did you, by the
way, fighting? He was fightingthe vacuum earlier and the vacuum was winning.
Hey, you know what, DJdoes the exact same thing. It's
ridiculous. Did you happen to havea chance to watch the semi final Sugar
Bowl Washington, Texas? Michael PENNOCKXquarterback for you, Dub. I'm curious
your thoughts on him and if you'veheard anything from NFL scouts GMS about this
(20:38):
guy. I haven't because I haven'tgone looking and I haven't paid attention yet
because that's an after the season thing. One of the realities of scouting in
the NFL. The coaches get involvedafter the season, and once the coaches
get involved, things can change.So that is something that will be front
burner after the regular season ends andafter for each of the fourteen team that
(21:00):
make it the postseason. They putthe hay in the bar and I sit
up and watched all that game,and I was glad. I did until
my alarm went off the next morningbecause Tuesday it was a very long day
and I feel like I'm still catchingup from it. But that's the price
we pay to watch an exciting game. It felt like it was inevitable that
Texas was going to win because theyhad that ridiculous, nonsensical final opportunity to
(21:23):
drive down the field and they did. And I still don't know where the
football went. On the last play, the guy comes up and it's not
as gloves and I never saw theball. I don't know if he threw
it into someone's mouth. I don'tknow where that ball is. But the
bottom line is receiver didn't have it. Washington won an exciting game, and
it all just happened so fast,and it was great for Washington. To
(21:45):
show resilience once it feels like andyou know that feeling anybody that's ever competed
in anything, whether it's ping pong, football or all things in between,
when you feel it slipping away andthere's nothing you can do about it,
that's a horrible feeling. To winafter that happened, it's pretty impressive,
no question about it. Well,partially because the Huskies are in the national
(22:06):
Championship and partially because the Seahawks havebeen eminently mediocre. There's a very little
buzz in this town right now fora team that could make the playoffs with
a win and just a little bitof help this weekend. Will what happens
this weekend to the Hawks Mike haveany impact on what they do this offseason.
Well, it could have an impacton what they do at quarterback because
(22:27):
they have the ability to move onfrom Gino Smith if and when they choose
to do so. The trigger forhis next guaranteed payment is the fifth day
of the league year, so theyjust have to sit back and wait and
see what their options are. Makingthe playoffs, I think is the kind
of thing that saves jobs. It'sthe kind of things that takes heat off
(22:49):
of a hot situation. But Iwould suspect they're in a whole lot of
buzz because anybody that makes it inthe playoffs is a low end. The
wild card is stepping into the buzzsawbetween the Cowboys. If you have to
go to Dallas, and I don'tSeattle played a good game there and almost
took it, But you go tothe playoffs in Dallas, that's a different
(23:10):
thing altogether. And ultimately, somebody'sgot to go to San Francisco and win,
and anyone other than the Baltimore Ravensand pulling that off. Unfortunately for
the Ravens, if there's a rematch, they won't have to go back there.
Hey, Mike, how much trouble? Uh? You have a law
background, obviously. How much troubleis Aaron Rodgers in for his Jimmy Kimmel
comments? And do you think theJets will do anything about it? I'm
(23:33):
not sure that Rogers went far enoughto create defamation liability. When you're dealing
with a public figure, the baris higher. And he never came out
and said directly that Jimmy Kimmel's onthe Epstein client list or associate list or
whatever that thing is, but heimplied it pretty strongly, and Kim will
never said he was suing. Now, basically, if you keep it up,
(23:57):
you are going to get yourself intolitigation. And the more intriguing side
of this, and I don't thinkthe jetscare one way or the other,
The more intriguing side of this isthe fight that it sparked within ESPN,
ABC Disney, with Jimmy Kimmel beingvery upset. He's an important star in
the ABC and Disney constellation. PatMcAfee quickly and abruptly apologized, we're still
(24:18):
waiting to hear from Aaron Rodgers.ESPN finally broke their silence today. And
I think the most fascinating thing.I haven't written about this yet because I
was just working out, but PatMcAfee went public on a show today accusing
ESPN executive Norby Williamson of trying tosabotage his show. And it just feels
like that's the kind of thing whereyou're pulled a pin on a grenade and
it's going to blow at some point, and who knows what and what you
(24:41):
know and where the fallout is goingto be. But it just feels like
there's a shelf life on that relationship, and it's going to be accelerated by
what Rogers said and how ESPN's dealtwith the aftermath. What was the point
of the Aaron Rodgers narrative all yearlong that he was going to play when
he never was going to play.It just seems like a seventeen week waste
(25:03):
of time for everybody. Look atme, Look at me, Hey,
everybody look at me. What thehell are you looking at? We see
that with so many athletes and celebritiesnow. They want attention on their terms,
and they get mad when they getattention. They don't like, Hey,
everybody check me out. Oh yeah, you're an idiot. Oh shut
up, leave me alone. Wellwait a minute, you wanted us to
(25:26):
check you out. And that's theway he is. Who else has had
a Week one injury and hung aroundthe whole year? Remember when Tom Brady
towards ACL Week one two thousand,Aprinard Poler came in low, came in
hot, never heard from him again. All we heard was updates about his
health. He had a horrible infectionthat year. All we heard was second
and third hand. We never heardfrom him. He wasn't in the meeting,
(25:47):
he wasn't in the public eye,and that's where the Jets sold their
soul on this one. They basicallyallowed Rogers to do whatever he wanted to
do. Now, I fully suspectin the second year of the relationship,
they will rip his assistant GM powersand they will tell him you can have
a seat at the table, butwe are not just going to sign your
friends and former teammates, because youwant people here that make you comfortable.
(26:10):
So there will be I think,the difference in the relationship. But at
the same time, they signed thatthat warrant when they traded for him,
and they want the upside and theycan tolerate the downside. The problem is
this year they got zero upside andit was all downside. Mike, I
gotta tell you, the internet saysI should pay attention to what's happening with
Justin Fields in Chicago because Justin Fieldsfollowed the Seahawks on ig the other day.
(26:33):
So you tell me what is thefuture for Justin Fields in Chicago after
this season? You know it's funny. This week, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon
was asked about whether Kyler Murray's thestarting quarterback next year. And he said,
no doubt. Matt Eberflus, thecoach of the Bears, was asked
about Justin Fields, and he gavea much more measured and equivocal response.
(26:55):
And that's surprising. The Bears havebeen playing very well, and the metaphor
I've been isn't for fields. Andthis is something I say all the time.
When it comes to draft picks,they're lottery tickets. And with fields,
you're still scratching off that last littlebit of silver metallic paint. You
don't know whether it's a winner ornot, so why do you throw it
back for another lottery ticket? Afterwe saw this year what happened with Bryce
(27:15):
Young, the first overall pick inthe draft, and I think that's one
thing that teams overlook as well.When you take a quarterback first overall,
it's one thing to do that.Then there are other circumstances that put even
more pressure on a twenty one totwenty two year old kid, like trading
up from nine and mortgaging your futureso you can go get that guy,
or throwing back a Justin Field andthen he goes on to play somewhere else
(27:40):
and you've got an apples to applescomparison between this kid that has to develop
and Justin Fields who goes somewhere elseand becomes a superstar. I just think
that their best move would be tradedown, get more lottery tickets, build
the team around Justin Fields, andif it doesn't work after next year or
two, hell, maybe one ofthose first rounds tis you acquire when you
(28:00):
do this trade is going to dowhat last year's first round pick that you
got them. The Panthers did giveyou the first overall pick. Again,
Mike, We've gotten six days andI'm still thoroughly confused as to what happened
in the Lions Cowboys game. Sowho was trying to confuse whom? Were
the officials right? Were they wrong? Give us the breakdown. This is
very simple, and I wish theLions would just own it. I think
(28:22):
the Lions liked the idea that itpissed off their team and pissed off their
fans. They have this righteous indignationthat they think, maybe we'll get them
some jump balls if there's a rematchbetween the Lions and the Cowboys and there's
close calls and it's kind of likeworking the rest during a game. This
is working the rest in advance tothe next game. This to me was
very simple. They and they admitthis. Dan Tampba's admitted it twice this
(28:44):
week. They wanted to confuse theCowboys as to which of three tackles was
eligible. Was a shell game.Where's the you know, when you do
the shell game, where's the whatare they putting their little ball or little
chip? Where's the chip? Theywere trying to make the Cowboys think the
guy who is the jumbo package tightend Dan Skipper, who the week before
against the Vikings reported as eligible sixtimes he runs out onto the field,
(29:07):
Does he go to the line ofscrimmage. No, he goes straight to
Brad Allen, the referee, samething that he would always do when he
reports is eligible. So he runstoward Brad Allen. Two other tackles,
Penny Sewell and Taylor Decker, approachAllen from a different direction. Allan sees
Skipper coming in. Now we've neverseen a clear look at Skipper coming in
to see whether or not he brushedthe front of his jersey. That's what
(29:30):
you're supposed to do when you're reportingis eligible, because it's a very mechanical,
simple thing. You're wearing an ineligiblenumber. You're going to line up
in an eligible spot and maybe catcha pass. You've got to report as
eligible because your number says you're not. The only other alternative is put on
a different jersey. So they weretrying to take this very mechanical, simple
process confuse the Cowboys by playing thisshell game, and they did it so
(29:52):
well it confused Brad Allen now nowand they want to blame Brad Allen for
it. You know what, thisis different than presnap coverage, disguise on
defense or other things aimed, youknow, within the confines of football.
Is confusing the opponent. They're takinga very simple mechanical approach here, and
(30:15):
they're trying to turn it into astrategy if managing to blow up in their
faces. And I wish they wouldjust say that. And the one last
point I want to make because thishas been something that's never been drilled down
upon, and I think I knowthe answer. When Dan Campbell complains we
went over this with the officials beforethe game, I guarantee you he did
not go over with the officials.We're going to run this shell game,
and we're going to try to confusethe Cowboys as to who's really eligible,
(30:36):
and will you go along with this? On that Dean Blandino told me there's
no way an official would have gonealong with a plan like that where there's
a deliberate attempt to confuse the defenseas to who's eligible. Mike, great
stuff, appreciate you being flexible.Give the dog a pop pump for us,
and we'll talk in a week,buddy, Thank you. Pass Mike
Florio with us. We're going tobreak when we come back, before we
(30:59):
wrap it up for the week,before we sign off, and before we
take off for Houston, we're gonnago back to New Orleans, Louisiana one
more time. Next on ninety threeto three KJRFM, the National Championship,
your exclusive home for the Huskies runfor the National Championship. Monday night at
four thirty is Sports Radio ninety threepoint three KJRFM, Now back to Sufian
(31:22):
Dick. All right, boys andgirls, we are back. Got a
busy Friday night right here on ninetythree to three KJRFM. Don't forget Monday
twelve thirty we are live from NRGStadium in Houston for the National Championship Game.
Washington and Michigan for everything. DickFane, how do you feel baby
(31:47):
about Monday night? Man? Ifeel better every day, which worries me.
Yeah, the more not. Themore I think about it, the
more I watch tape on Michigan,the more I think about the matchups.
I've gone from very worried five daysago to now I feel like we have
the better football team. Well,how about we do this before we get
(32:10):
ahead to Monday. Let's go backand take a few minutes and recap the
greatness of Monday night in New Orleans, Washington's win over Texas in the Sugar
Bowl. First down for Washington andits own twenty one yard line. Pennis
out of the shotgun takes a snaplooking to throw after a play action Faith
time in the pocket guns at deepdown field for Jalen Bulk cut it at
(32:31):
the forty five to forty great sideline, spits past the man thirty ankley left
side twenty Pulk inside the ten wrestledown inside the five. Big play Jay
Pete gives the Huskies first and goalinside the five. A massive game on
the play, first and goal atthe two yard line, handoff, Dylan
(32:52):
Johnson powers his way across the line, waiting for the signal suck touchdown Washington
and the Huskies strike first. Whenyou were out of the shock of the
three, guy two said on firstand ten, So I'm very about yard
snapped to Ewers Husky's rush four.You were snapped. So he goes down.
(33:13):
Raylan Trice gobbled him up. Phenomenaljob by Brayln Trice with the seventeenth
sack of his career, and QueenYouwers had absolutely no time at all.
He goes down for a loss ofsix. Husky said, two into the
boundary too wide to the right,A Doon Jay McMillan either have caught a
pass yet, so far as Penixgoes out of the gun, he'll motion
(33:34):
Villan Johnson bars upfield as well.Pennix, under pressure, eludes it hires
over the middle of tyle. Romandonsay, but Russell thirty five thirty and wrestled
down to the twenty six yard line. A game of twenty four for roma
O doonsay aus Pedix is gonna gounder center here Parker Brielsford on second down
offset I for the Huskies two intothe boundary. They motioned Roma doonsay hand
(33:55):
off to full back Dylan Johnson,who walks into the end one a design
run and Dylan Johnson went his secondtouchdown run of the day and his sixteenth
of the season, the twenty seventhof his career. In the Huskies punchback,
it's thirteen to seven. Dogs takesa shotgun stat Texas rushes four steps
(34:15):
up with the pocket to lose fireshim fastball and it's a packed away bottle
a con touchdown. Jalen paulk Areyou kidding me? Jalen Pols bolts onto
the football. He was deflicted byMalik Muhammed and Jalen pulk big playing JP
Husky's taking twenty to fourteen leave.He would just send it up do itself.
(34:36):
I'm gonna catches thing twice. Chaffedto Fennix play day. Pedix holds
Buyers basketball con Jay Nck touchdown Washingtona basketball in nineteen yards right down the
middle of the field. Jalen mcmellanholds it in What a beautiful catch fight.
J mack who was so clutch thepack Golf Championship game with nine receptions,
(34:58):
his fourth touchdown catch the year,and the Huskies reclaimed the lead in
the Sugar Bowl. Yours steps upin the pocket, hit by braylen Joys
and tromped at the thirty eight yardline. The second secon today for the
Husky All American his thirtyfl and it'sgonna be second and thirteen for Texas.
Second down, four to go,four, fifteen to go in the Sugar
(35:20):
Bowl, Huskies by six. They'vegot it at the Texas forty three.
Pennix looking to throw, blobs itup the left side, cartoons a cot
inside the fifteen hod of bounds atthe eleven rome. Oh dooms ay,
and the Huskies are in the redzone. So now Brady Gross, who's
hit two field goals already today,will try in the third. He missed
(35:40):
one from twenty seven yards. Goodplacement, kick is on the way and
over Randy. It's throw. TheHuskies get three more with two forty to
play, It's Washington thirty seven,Texas twenty eighth. Can the Dogs defense
get the stop? One fourth andeleven. Yours takes a shot, good
snap, he's back the past.Muccia coming does a bad We're going after
(36:07):
the Lusha. Jackson knuts the ballalive. The Huskies are headed to Houston.
Boom Cody letty Nay said, Olas, you'll send Susity, baby lex
and away in Washington's headed to Houstonto play the Michigan Wall the Leeds for
(36:30):
the first National Timpion tip since nineteenninety one. Well that was a special
moment, Dick, But it's timeto have one more special moment Monday night
in New Orleans. Baby fired upto be going down there. You're going
down there, We're all going downthere. Kick off at four forty five,
(36:52):
pregame at twelve thirty, which meansthe next time we talk to you,
we'll be on the air from Houstonfor the now National Championship game.
Go Dogs and we'll see them Mondayat twelve thirty from Houston right here on
ninety three three KJRFM.
Joining us right now on the radioshow The Last Man to take the Dogs
to a Final four. Chris Petersonwith us on the show Coach, how
are you couldn't be doing any better? Fellas, couldn't be doing any better?
This is awesome, man, thisis really incredible what's happening on Mott
Lake right now? You know,it's it's emotional. There's a lot of
(00:20):
reflection going on, you know herein Jalen Polkia talking yesterday about how this
is for the generations of fan basesthat have come before this one. Just
kind of reflect if you can,on the job that Camden de Bor has
done in the two years he's beenhere, and the job this team has
done to get to fourteen to zeroin this point so far. I'm sorry,
(00:41):
that's that's actually kind of a funnyquestion, because I mean, what
is there to say, you know, I mean, it really it couldn't
have been any better, Like itjust can't. I mean, when you
come in, you know, whenyou come into someplace new, there's just
always going to be that transition period, and there really wasn't much of that.
(01:03):
You know, It's just and Iwill say this, you know,
so much of it goes to Kaylinand that staff that he put together.
I think they're you know, notonly fabulous coaches, but wonderful people most
importantly, right, And I thinkthat that's what those kids felt, because
(01:26):
here's the thing. I just reallybelieve that. And it's just so rare
what's going on in college football rightnow, but I just really believe all
the things that those kids have beenthrough is one of the main reasons that
they are playing for a national championship. Every the special teams that I've been
(01:49):
on in thirty three years of coachingand then ten years probably is well fifteen
years of like as an athlete playingthings, I've probably been on on a
handful that I would call gold standardteams. And one of the threads is
you have to go through some reallyhard, difficult stuff. It's almost like
(02:13):
the hero's journey, and you comeback out of it if you can hang
in there, and that's part ofwhat makes you so good. And I
think, after me stepping away andthey're going through with Jimmy and then here
comes Caitlin, the third guy,so many of almost all of them stayed
(02:35):
and they all wanted to leave.I know that. And the fact that
they hung in there and stayed.That was so hard for him, especially
in the day, in this dayand age in college football, with transferring
like that, that's almost the coolthing to do. That For some reason,
they trusted the whole thing and hungin there and really hit the ground
(02:59):
running as well as you could.Right, even though they lost the two
games, but the first year losethe two games that you know, I
mean, the transition has been justspectacular. And then here we are today,
Well, we were looking at ityesterday, coach. There's just a
ton of your guys on this teamfrom both the twenty nineteen class, your
twenty eighteen class has a few guys. And how much does that factor into
(03:21):
where this team is? We havenine sixty year players on this team.
It's a grown man team. Howmuch does that factor in where they are
right now? Yeah, there's noquestion at all factors in that. You
have a six year quarterback. Youknow that wasn't there it came from but
look at this hard stuff that he'sbeen through. Right, So here's a
guy that came from outside, buthe's been through as much verst year as
(03:44):
anybody and he's a six year guy. So now you're talking about some kids
that has stayed the course, thathas persevered through all this adversity. Like
that's the thing that I don't thinkeverybody realizes. The Michael Pennix is,
you know, everybody knows this story, but I don't think people realize how
difficult that was for him to staythe course. And I can go down
(04:06):
the list on all the kids thatwe're gonna we're talking about that are there
doing great things for you, Dub. Everybody's got their their adversity story where
it'd be like I didn't know ifI was gonna make it. I didn't
know if I could keep going.And so you couple that with some maturity
what you're talking about, Dick,you know, with these six year kids,
(04:27):
and it's just awesome. I mean, you know, Rome and Jalen
and Roger Rose and Guard all thosekids that like we've recruited for so long
and then I stepped away and thenthey still you know, trust you,
Dub and enough to come there andjust to I mean just to hear all
that and know what they went throughand had the conversations that I had stepping
out of it, and then it'sjust it's phenomenal. It's awesome. So
(04:51):
I have a lot of emotions,great ones, you know, right now
watching this whole thing. Well shouldand I hope that you take a lot
of pride in the role that youplayed in this man. Honestly, there's
a ton of guys that you guysbrought in. The foundation that you put
down is still kind of, youknow, in the effect today. But
give us a thought on this gameon Monday night, because Dick and I
(05:15):
have been surmising and I was talkingto John Jansen, who's a former Michigan
a ligneman who's now on their broadcastChris about you know, the Big Ten.
There's only one team in the entireconference in the top fifty in the
country in yards per game, andthat's Ohio State. So is Michigan facing
great defenses or are they facing badoffenses? And how much of a little
bit of a shock to the systemwill there be for the Wolverines when they
(05:36):
go up against Michael Pennix and companyon Monday night. Yeah, there's no
question there's going to be a shockto Michigan system. They haven't seen an
offense like this without question. Nowon the flip side, yeah, if
I'm being honest, Washington hasn't seenan offense like they're going to see either
(05:57):
they can run the ball. Thetwo things that jump out to me,
there's a couple of things that jumpout to me about both these programs and
both these teams. They know whothey are. They play to their identity.
Washington's gonna pass protect the heck outof Michael Pennis. They're not gonna
have seen that type of pass protection. Couple with how elusive and how good
(06:19):
and crafty he is in the pocketget rid of the ball. They haven't
seen that, so that's gonna bedifferent for him. But on the flip
side, you know, Washington hasn'tseen someone that's gonna continue to stay after
the run game. No matter howthey hold up, they are gonna keep
pounding well into the fourth quarter becausethat's usually when things happen. So it's
(06:39):
a contrast and styles. The otherthing that jumps out to me about these
guys is these are two super battletested teams. I mean, the adversity
of Michigan has gone through not havingyour head coach for the first three games
and the last three games, andyou don't flinch. You just roll and
all the stuff surrounding that program.Players are like whatever, bet bring it
(07:02):
on. And then the thing thatwhat you know, Washington, that every
game they play somehow has some sortof like closeness controversy. There's no blowouts.
So I think these are also thetwo most adversity tested, battle tested
teams, and so it's I think, I really do think you have the
two best teams in the country andneither one of them are a SEC teams
(07:26):
coach and Alabama's now been out fora couple of years. Is this a
one off? Or will ni Land the Portal kind of continue to even
the playing field a bit and takeaway of the SEC dominance the next few
years. Yeah, that's a that'sa good question. I will say this
that the Portal, no question,has leveled the playing field out West,
(07:53):
and I think we felt that preseasonwith how everybody was saying that PAC twelves
the best conference. Now, well, why is that? We'll look at
some of these players that they havenow, the Cana Williams, the Michael
Pennix, the Bonnix, just thepip of the Iceberg here and so,
yes, you know that has donesome things. But I will say this
(08:13):
you know, those SEC schools arestill recruiting these high school kids and the
Michigans at an elite level in theOhio states as well, at an elite
level. And I just again,you know, hey, I think everybody's
figuring this out as they go.But when I look at this as a
far from afar, I still thinkthat the great programs are going to build
(08:37):
this thing through the high school ranks, and they're going to take eight to
ten players in an ideal world transfersto supplement. I think it's we talked
about this before. I know it'sI think it's very similar to the pro
Bodel How about this, like AlGeorgia, who you know, even though
he lost that last game, thatmight be the next best team in this
conversation, right, I don't thinkthey had a transfer last year. They
(09:00):
just they just lived with their highschool kids because they recruit the best of
the best, and they're the bestrecruiting, you know, program in the
country right now. And so I'msure that'll change a little bit for those
guys as well. But those reallygood programs I think are going to stay
where they develop those those really goodhigh school kids through the ranks. Well,
Chris Peterson's with us as we getready for a monster game on Monday
(09:24):
night. We'll be on the airat twelve thirty live from the stadium,
kick off at four forty five.Heading down Sunday morning, get their Sunday
afternoon to wrap up the season,maybe with a first national championship in thirty
three years. And I really wantyou to put your coaching hat on,
your schematic hat on, coach,get into the weeds on this. If
you're going up against that Michigan defenseand you're trying to protect from Michael Pennix,
(09:46):
and I've set up myself a coupleof times. If they protect the
way they've done against Oregon and Texas, I think the Washington Huskies win the
game on Monday night. So getinto the weeds and tell us schematically what
you really need to see, whatyou want to see from these guys on
offense against that great defense. Yeah, I think you're I think you're hitting
the nail on the head. Ido think it starts with, uh,
(10:11):
you know, the pass protection ofyou dub and you know, I think
what was really interesting was how Alabamacould not pass protect at all. So
Michigan has some stuff there. Nowthey will I think that jesse mentor their
defensive quarter I think is outstanding,so he will know how to attack protections.
(10:31):
He will be going after the weaknessis now Again, this is going
to be a fabulous chess match betweenhim and Grubb because Grubb knows that too,
and so they will not They willmix protections and they're not going to
stay in the same protection that they'vebeen all the time in third downs or
in second and longs. Like theyboth know that. So it's an interesting
(10:52):
chess match. And the really reallyelite coaches will make those not halftime adjustments,
but in between series adjustments, andI think he got two of those
type approaches that can do that.So I do think it's going to be
interesting to just continue to watch thispass protection because you have one of them.
You know, Alabama's protection is alittle bit different. They've struggled a
(11:15):
little bit all year long with that. But Jaalen Milroe got him out of
so many things by being the mostathletic on the field. But I think
what jumped out is that didn't matter, like they had such a great plan,
he couldn't escape that. But MichaelPenis doesn't get a hold on the
ball like that, Like if hefeels that that ball's coming out, so
(11:35):
that whole thing is gonna be isgonna be fabulous. I think if you're
Michigan, I think if you're Michigan, you need to what needs to happen,
because if you Dove's offenses on thefield too much, you might slow
him down load, but you're notstopping them. They're gonna score their points.
Michigan, I know, is hopingto play their game, which is
(11:56):
they run the ball, they holdthe ball, they eat clock, they
score on long drives, and thenthey give you the ball and then hope
for you know three and out hereand there, you know, fiving out
those type of things, and that'sreally what needs to happen. Like I
think Michigan's offense is going to bereally responsible as well of helping Michigan Michigan
(12:20):
defense out by possessing the ball.It's almost like what you dubbed the Oregon
in that championship game. They justsat bow knicks on the sideline and just
they just you know, got coldand just took them out of their rhythm.
Michigan, Yeah, exactly. Sothat's going to be fabulous. I
mean, Michigan's defense I think isas you know, probably as good as
(12:43):
anything that that you dub a scene. But Michigan hasn't seen this type of
pass game at all. I dothink the Dylan Johnson is a big factor
here, Like they have to runthe ball, like that's one of the
things that they do so nice.It's all about throwing deep shots all those
types of things. But they doenough in that run game that you just
(13:05):
cannot pin your ears back or you'regonna get gashed in that run game.
Well, six sacks and ten tacklesfor loss in that Alabama game for Michigan,
primarily coming off the blitz. Imean they blitzed on forty three percent
of Alabama snaps. Do you thinkthey'll be able to blitz Washington successfully or
can I just you know, hitcheckdowns, hit guys over the middle real
quick if he sees that extra guycompany. Yeah, yeah, I think
(13:28):
they're gonna have to really be strategic, you know, and and and and
they're gonna break down you dub youknow the last I don't know, probably
the last I don't know, fouror five games that they played, and
they may stick another. They're gonnaalso look at the U dub in Arizona
State game to see what happened there. So those are gonna be big factors
(13:50):
into their game plan, and thenthey're gonna figure out how does that factor
into what we do? Well,they're not gonna Michigan's not gonna go change
a bunch of stuff because Arizona Statehad success with this type of thing.
If it's not already in their packageand they've done it, you know,
there might be a wrinkl or two. But at this point, it's all
about your identity. What do wedo best, and that's what you're gonna
(14:13):
get on both sides of this.So, yeah, it's gonna be fascinating.
I can't wait to see this chessmatch. I mean, I'm uh,
softie. I feel a little bitlike you, Like you see,
I'm patient, like it's gonna begreat a couple of days or whatever.
It's like, I don't want tosee this thing right now play out.
Yeah, welcome to my world,baby, Congratulations on life. I appreciate
(14:35):
that, but I have a lotmore. I have a lot more compassion
for you now, softy, becauseI'm always going what is now? I
kind of feel what you feel.This is a miserable world to be living
in. By the way, it'sabout time, about time they started figuring
out what the heck I'm going throughin my life. Except he does it
every Saturday, every Saturday. Butthis is different. I mean, Chris,
I've been telling Dick and anybody who'lllisten that I'll just be driving down
(14:58):
the road and just start crying,just tearing up about what this team has
done. And the thing that's crazyto me is that they've won twenty one
games in a row. They're fourteenand oh and yet they have to win
another game to claim the national title. This is almost impossible to pull off.
I think it's the hardest thing todo in sports to win a college
football playoff national championship, and theseguys are on the cusp of doing it.
(15:22):
Yeah, there's no right, You'reright, it is crazy. I
mean, do what he was thelongest wind streak in college from It's like,
whoa wow. But you know,I think kind of you know,
you say you're talking about tearing upand what this means and all these things.
See, I felt this for along time, you know, in
all the places that I had beenbefore, and then certainly at U dub
(15:43):
and you know, I know whenwe're talking about the recruiting and everybody's like,
we're got a draft, but youknow, offence around the state and
I'm just kind of going the peoplenot know, like in times of Chance
you've got drawing and fens around anywherelike that. Those days are old,
although you understand them of your backyard, and people would feel like, well,
they're not working hard enough to keepthese guys and you know, and
(16:06):
that was always our priority, waslike, hey, let's start with these
good guys that are you know,proximity is the number one predictor of you
know, getting a recruit. Soif there's somebody good and they've always been
about the Huskies, this is inour favor. But what I've always felt
like, you know, you havea good season, or you have two
good seasons, that's great, Butto really make your mark, this has
(16:30):
to happen for a handful of years. So these kids that are ten,
eleven and twelve that are seeing thistype of stuff when they get in high
school and they you know, happento have some talent and they have the
path and then all of a sudden, the Huskies are like, now,
this is when they want to comebecause they've seen this going. When they
see it growing up, everything changes. And so not only kids in your
(16:55):
backyard, there might be some kidsheck in Michigan to watch this game for
whatever reason. I'm not about Michigan. I'm about Dub and this kid turned.
So these are important, important times. And you know Caitlin and those
guys, they're gonna be built forthe long haul and they're gonna be good
for a long time. And sothat's exciting about that. I think that's
gonna help recruiting as much as anything. Yep, Hey, coach, real
(17:18):
quick. I know we got abreak here, but what's your plan for
the game? Is sitting with theMucky MUCKs and the suite, you're gonna
be with us in the press boxsideline with Troy Dannon stands with the fans.
What's your plan for the game Mondaynight? I don't have exactly my
plan. I'll be there, butI promise you this, I'm going where
I can be bothered the least andjust focus on the game. So I
(17:42):
will not be on the sideline.I certainly won't be with you where I'm
tucked away where I can just watchthis game, watch the strategy, and
feel the passion and the energy ofthis historic time. I love it,
all right, hey, enjoy it. And honestly, I know we like
(18:03):
to kind of bust each other's chopsa little bit here, But thank you
from everybody who's a Husky fan forthe role that you played and getting this
done. Man, So enjoy iton Monday, Happy New Year, and
we'll talk to you next coach.Yeah, I appreciate you, guys,
and I just want to stay backlike it's not any one thing. It's
not any one person came it willbe the first to say that, you
know, like the stuff that whateverlittle stuff we did when I was there,
(18:25):
you know, it's the fans,it's that stadium, it's your guys'
passion, like it ruled over onein life. You can't do it alone.
And so just like you know onMonday night, they can't do it
alone. And I know Husky Nationsshowing up loud and proud, and it's
gonna be fun to to, youknow, have everybody be part of this
thing, no doubt. All right, let's bring it home. Go dogs.
We'll see you down there, coach. Thank you, ro Dogs go
(18:48):
love it. Chris Peterson with us, We're gonna break Mike Florio Pro Football
Talk dot com. What does hethink the NFL thinks of Michael Pennix.
We'll find out next right here ona Friday night at ninety three three KJRFM,
It's time for a weekly conversation withPro Football Talks Mike Florio, brought
to you by Simply Seattle. Tiredof buying and repping the same old Seattle
sports gear everyone else has. Forthe best Storm, Seahawks, Mariners,
(19:11):
Kraken, Rainiers, Sounders, andnot to mention, the largest Sonics collection
in the world, check out simplySeattle dot com. Now with Mike Florio.
Here's Softy and dick. Alrighty,boys and Girls, here we go
a special edition of our segment withMike Florio. Big thanks to our friends
at simply Seattle dot com. Allthe National Championship gear you can stomach available
(19:33):
right now on the website at simplySeattle dot com. Here he is,
Boys and Girls normally with us onWednesdays at three ten, but a crazy
week for everybody. The King ofall NFL media from the NFL at NBC
Pro Footballtalk dot Com. Our buddyMichael Florio, Michael, how are you
Palell? Hello? Happy New Year? How's everybody? I hope everyone has
(19:53):
a great twenty four except you Buttholes. And when I say Buttholes, that
only means one take. Dick isexempt. Yeah, I get it.
That's fine. Hey, you knowwhat, I am an animal lover.
I have three dogs myself. How'syour dog doing? Man, She's fine,
she's fine. You know the problemwhen a dog's sick, they can't
tell you what's wrong. Yeah,and that is very frustrating. So she's
(20:15):
fine. Well, we're glad tohear that. Did you, by the
way, fighting? He was fightingthe vacuum earlier and the vacuum was winning.
Hey, you know what, DJdoes the exact same thing. It's
ridiculous. Did you happen to havea chance to watch the semi final Sugar
Bowl Washington, Texas? Michael PENNOCKXquarterback for you, Dub. I'm curious
your thoughts on him and if you'veheard anything from NFL scouts GMS about this
(20:38):
guy. I haven't because I haven'tgone looking and I haven't paid attention yet
because that's an after the season thing. One of the realities of scouting in
the NFL. The coaches get involvedafter the season, and once the coaches
get involved, things can change.So that is something that will be front
burner after the regular season ends andafter for each of the fourteen team that
(21:00):
make it the postseason. They putthe hay in the bar and I sit
up and watched all that game,and I was glad. I did until
my alarm went off the next morningbecause Tuesday it was a very long day
and I feel like I'm still catchingup from it. But that's the price
we pay to watch an exciting game. It felt like it was inevitable that
Texas was going to win because theyhad that ridiculous, nonsensical final opportunity to
(21:23):
drive down the field and they did. And I still don't know where the
football went. On the last play, the guy comes up and it's not
as gloves and I never saw theball. I don't know if he threw
it into someone's mouth. I don'tknow where that ball is. But the
bottom line is receiver didn't have it. Washington won an exciting game, and
it all just happened so fast,and it was great for Washington. To
(21:45):
show resilience once it feels like andyou know that feeling anybody that's ever competed
in anything, whether it's ping pong, football or all things in between,
when you feel it slipping away andthere's nothing you can do about it,
that's a horrible feeling. To winafter that happened, it's pretty impressive,
no question about it. Well,partially because the Huskies are in the national
(22:06):
Championship and partially because the Seahawks havebeen eminently mediocre. There's a very little
buzz in this town right now fora team that could make the playoffs with
a win and just a little bitof help this weekend. Will what happens
this weekend to the Hawks Mike haveany impact on what they do this offseason.
Well, it could have an impacton what they do at quarterback because
(22:27):
they have the ability to move onfrom Gino Smith if and when they choose
to do so. The trigger forhis next guaranteed payment is the fifth day
of the league year, so theyjust have to sit back and wait and
see what their options are. Makingthe playoffs, I think is the kind
of thing that saves jobs. It'sthe kind of things that takes heat off
(22:49):
of a hot situation. But Iwould suspect they're in a whole lot of
buzz because anybody that makes it inthe playoffs is a low end. The
wild card is stepping into the buzzsawbetween the Cowboys. If you have to
go to Dallas, and I don'tSeattle played a good game there and almost
took it, But you go tothe playoffs in Dallas, that's a different
(23:10):
thing altogether. And ultimately, somebody'sgot to go to San Francisco and win,
and anyone other than the Baltimore Ravensand pulling that off. Unfortunately for
the Ravens, if there's a rematch, they won't have to go back there.
Hey, Mike, how much trouble? Uh? You have a law
background, obviously. How much troubleis Aaron Rodgers in for his Jimmy Kimmel
comments? And do you think theJets will do anything about it? I'm
(23:33):
not sure that Rogers went far enoughto create defamation liability. When you're dealing
with a public figure, the baris higher. And he never came out
and said directly that Jimmy Kimmel's onthe Epstein client list or associate list or
whatever that thing is, but heimplied it pretty strongly, and Kim will
never said he was suing. Now, basically, if you keep it up,
(23:57):
you are going to get yourself intolitigation. And the more intriguing side
of this, and I don't thinkthe jetscare one way or the other,
The more intriguing side of this isthe fight that it sparked within ESPN,
ABC Disney, with Jimmy Kimmel beingvery upset. He's an important star in
the ABC and Disney constellation. PatMcAfee quickly and abruptly apologized, we're still
(24:18):
waiting to hear from Aaron Rodgers.ESPN finally broke their silence today. And
I think the most fascinating thing.I haven't written about this yet because I
was just working out, but PatMcAfee went public on a show today accusing
ESPN executive Norby Williamson of trying tosabotage his show. And it just feels
like that's the kind of thing whereyou're pulled a pin on a grenade and
it's going to blow at some point, and who knows what and what you
(24:41):
know and where the fallout is goingto be. But it just feels like
there's a shelf life on that relationship, and it's going to be accelerated by
what Rogers said and how ESPN's dealtwith the aftermath. What was the point
of the Aaron Rodgers narrative all yearlong that he was going to play when
he never was going to play.It just seems like a seventeen week waste
(25:03):
of time for everybody. Look atme, Look at me, Hey,
everybody look at me. What thehell are you looking at? We see
that with so many athletes and celebritiesnow. They want attention on their terms,
and they get mad when they getattention. They don't like, Hey,
everybody check me out. Oh yeah, you're an idiot. Oh shut
up, leave me alone. Wellwait a minute, you wanted us to
(25:26):
check you out. And that's theway he is. Who else has had
a Week one injury and hung aroundthe whole year? Remember when Tom Brady
towards ACL Week one two thousand,Aprinard Poler came in low, came in
hot, never heard from him again. All we heard was updates about his
health. He had a horrible infectionthat year. All we heard was second
and third hand. We never heardfrom him. He wasn't in the meeting,
(25:47):
he wasn't in the public eye,and that's where the Jets sold their
soul on this one. They basicallyallowed Rogers to do whatever he wanted to
do. Now, I fully suspectin the second year of the relationship,
they will rip his assistant GM powersand they will tell him you can have
a seat at the table, butwe are not just going to sign your
friends and former teammates, because youwant people here that make you comfortable.
(26:10):
So there will be I think,the difference in the relationship. But at
the same time, they signed thatthat warrant when they traded for him,
and they want the upside and theycan tolerate the downside. The problem is
this year they got zero upside andit was all downside. Mike, I
gotta tell you, the internet saysI should pay attention to what's happening with
Justin Fields in Chicago because Justin Fieldsfollowed the Seahawks on ig the other day.
(26:33):
So you tell me what is thefuture for Justin Fields in Chicago after
this season? You know it's funny. This week, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon
was asked about whether Kyler Murray's thestarting quarterback next year. And he said,
no doubt. Matt Eberflus, thecoach of the Bears, was asked
about Justin Fields, and he gavea much more measured and equivocal response.
(26:55):
And that's surprising. The Bears havebeen playing very well, and the metaphor
I've been isn't for fields. Andthis is something I say all the time.
When it comes to draft picks,they're lottery tickets. And with fields,
you're still scratching off that last littlebit of silver metallic paint. You
don't know whether it's a winner ornot, so why do you throw it
back for another lottery ticket? Afterwe saw this year what happened with Bryce
(27:15):
Young, the first overall pick inthe draft, and I think that's one
thing that teams overlook as well.When you take a quarterback first overall,
it's one thing to do that.Then there are other circumstances that put even
more pressure on a twenty one totwenty two year old kid, like trading
up from nine and mortgaging your futureso you can go get that guy,
or throwing back a Justin Field andthen he goes on to play somewhere else
(27:40):
and you've got an apples to applescomparison between this kid that has to develop
and Justin Fields who goes somewhere elseand becomes a superstar. I just think
that their best move would be tradedown, get more lottery tickets, build
the team around Justin Fields, andif it doesn't work after next year or
two, hell, maybe one ofthose first rounds tis you acquire when you
(28:00):
do this trade is going to dowhat last year's first round pick that you
got them. The Panthers did giveyou the first overall pick. Again,
Mike, We've gotten six days andI'm still thoroughly confused as to what happened
in the Lions Cowboys game. Sowho was trying to confuse whom? Were
the officials right? Were they wrong? Give us the breakdown. This is
very simple, and I wish theLions would just own it. I think
(28:22):
the Lions liked the idea that itpissed off their team and pissed off their
fans. They have this righteous indignationthat they think, maybe we'll get them
some jump balls if there's a rematchbetween the Lions and the Cowboys and there's
close calls and it's kind of likeworking the rest during a game. This
is working the rest in advance tothe next game. This to me was
very simple. They and they admitthis. Dan Tampba's admitted it twice this
(28:44):
week. They wanted to confuse theCowboys as to which of three tackles was
eligible. Was a shell game.Where's the you know, when you do
the shell game, where's the whatare they putting their little ball or little
chip? Where's the chip? Theywere trying to make the Cowboys think the
guy who is the jumbo package tightend Dan Skipper, who the week before
against the Vikings reported as eligible sixtimes he runs out onto the field,
(29:07):
Does he go to the line ofscrimmage. No, he goes straight to
Brad Allen, the referee, samething that he would always do when he
reports is eligible. So he runstoward Brad Allen. Two other tackles,
Penny Sewell and Taylor Decker, approachAllen from a different direction. Allan sees
Skipper coming in. Now we've neverseen a clear look at Skipper coming in
to see whether or not he brushedthe front of his jersey. That's what
(29:30):
you're supposed to do when you're reportingis eligible, because it's a very mechanical,
simple thing. You're wearing an ineligiblenumber. You're going to line up
in an eligible spot and maybe catcha pass. You've got to report as
eligible because your number says you're not. The only other alternative is put on
a different jersey. So they weretrying to take this very mechanical, simple
process confuse the Cowboys by playing thisshell game, and they did it so
(29:52):
well it confused Brad Allen now nowand they want to blame Brad Allen for
it. You know what, thisis different than presnap coverage, disguise on
defense or other things aimed, youknow, within the confines of football.
Is confusing the opponent. They're takinga very simple mechanical approach here, and
(30:15):
they're trying to turn it into astrategy if managing to blow up in their
faces. And I wish they wouldjust say that. And the one last
point I want to make because thishas been something that's never been drilled down
upon, and I think I knowthe answer. When Dan Campbell complains we
went over this with the officials beforethe game, I guarantee you he did
not go over with the officials.We're going to run this shell game,
and we're going to try to confusethe Cowboys as to who's really eligible,
(30:36):
and will you go along with this? On that Dean Blandino told me there's
no way an official would have gonealong with a plan like that where there's
a deliberate attempt to confuse the defenseas to who's eligible. Mike, great
stuff, appreciate you being flexible.Give the dog a pop pump for us,
and we'll talk in a week,buddy, Thank you. Pass Mike
Florio with us. We're going tobreak when we come back, before we
(30:59):
wrap it up for the week,before we sign off, and before we
take off for Houston, we're gonnago back to New Orleans, Louisiana one
more time. Next on ninety threeto three KJRFM, the National Championship,
your exclusive home for the Huskies runfor the National Championship. Monday night at
four thirty is Sports Radio ninety threepoint three KJRFM, Now back to Sufian
(31:22):
Dick. All right, boys andgirls, we are back. Got a
busy Friday night right here on ninetythree to three KJRFM. Don't forget Monday
twelve thirty we are live from NRGStadium in Houston for the National Championship Game.
Washington and Michigan for everything. DickFane, how do you feel baby
(31:47):
about Monday night? Man? Ifeel better every day, which worries me.
Yeah, the more not. Themore I think about it, the
more I watch tape on Michigan,the more I think about the matchups.
I've gone from very worried five daysago to now I feel like we have
the better football team. Well,how about we do this before we get
(32:10):
ahead to Monday. Let's go backand take a few minutes and recap the
greatness of Monday night in New Orleans, Washington's win over Texas in the Sugar
Bowl. First down for Washington andits own twenty one yard line. Pennis
out of the shotgun takes a snaplooking to throw after a play action Faith
time in the pocket guns at deepdown field for Jalen Bulk cut it at
(32:31):
the forty five to forty great sideline, spits past the man thirty ankley left
side twenty Pulk inside the ten wrestledown inside the five. Big play Jay
Pete gives the Huskies first and goalinside the five. A massive game on
the play, first and goal atthe two yard line, handoff, Dylan
(32:52):
Johnson powers his way across the line, waiting for the signal suck touchdown Washington
and the Huskies strike first. Whenyou were out of the shock of the
three, guy two said on firstand ten, So I'm very about yard
snapped to Ewers Husky's rush four.You were snapped. So he goes down.
(33:13):
Raylan Trice gobbled him up. Phenomenaljob by Brayln Trice with the seventeenth
sack of his career, and QueenYouwers had absolutely no time at all.
He goes down for a loss ofsix. Husky said, two into the
boundary too wide to the right,A Doon Jay McMillan either have caught a
pass yet, so far as Penixgoes out of the gun, he'll motion
(33:34):
Villan Johnson bars upfield as well.Pennix, under pressure, eludes it hires
over the middle of tyle. Romandonsay, but Russell thirty five thirty and wrestled
down to the twenty six yard line. A game of twenty four for roma
O doonsay aus Pedix is gonna gounder center here Parker Brielsford on second down
offset I for the Huskies two intothe boundary. They motioned Roma doonsay hand
(33:55):
off to full back Dylan Johnson,who walks into the end one a design
run and Dylan Johnson went his secondtouchdown run of the day and his sixteenth
of the season, the twenty seventhof his career. In the Huskies punchback,
it's thirteen to seven. Dogs takesa shotgun stat Texas rushes four steps
(34:15):
up with the pocket to lose fireshim fastball and it's a packed away bottle
a con touchdown. Jalen paulk Areyou kidding me? Jalen Pols bolts onto
the football. He was deflicted byMalik Muhammed and Jalen pulk big playing JP
Husky's taking twenty to fourteen leave.He would just send it up do itself.
(34:36):
I'm gonna catches thing twice. Chaffedto Fennix play day. Pedix holds
Buyers basketball con Jay Nck touchdown Washingtona basketball in nineteen yards right down the
middle of the field. Jalen mcmellanholds it in What a beautiful catch fight.
J mack who was so clutch thepack Golf Championship game with nine receptions,
(34:58):
his fourth touchdown catch the year,and the Huskies reclaimed the lead in
the Sugar Bowl. Yours steps upin the pocket, hit by braylen Joys
and tromped at the thirty eight yardline. The second secon today for the
Husky All American his thirtyfl and it'sgonna be second and thirteen for Texas.
Second down, four to go,four, fifteen to go in the Sugar
(35:20):
Bowl, Huskies by six. They'vegot it at the Texas forty three.
Pennix looking to throw, blobs itup the left side, cartoons a cot
inside the fifteen hod of bounds atthe eleven rome. Oh dooms ay,
and the Huskies are in the redzone. So now Brady Gross, who's
hit two field goals already today,will try in the third. He missed
(35:40):
one from twenty seven yards. Goodplacement, kick is on the way and
over Randy. It's throw. TheHuskies get three more with two forty to
play, It's Washington thirty seven,Texas twenty eighth. Can the Dogs defense
get the stop? One fourth andeleven. Yours takes a shot, good
snap, he's back the past.Muccia coming does a bad We're going after
(36:07):
the Lusha. Jackson knuts the ballalive. The Huskies are headed to Houston.
Boom Cody letty Nay said, Olas, you'll send Susity, baby lex
and away in Washington's headed to Houstonto play the Michigan Wall the Leeds for
(36:30):
the first National Timpion tip since nineteenninety one. Well that was a special
moment, Dick, But it's timeto have one more special moment Monday night
in New Orleans. Baby fired upto be going down there. You're going
down there, We're all going downthere. Kick off at four forty five,
(36:52):
pregame at twelve thirty, which meansthe next time we talk to you,
we'll be on the air from Houstonfor the now National Championship game.
Go Dogs and we'll see them Mondayat twelve thirty from Houston right here on
ninety three three KJRFM.
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.