FOOTBALL AMERICA: The Things that Matter w/ Greg Olsen

Previously on Football America.

Dave, I'm a disgusting individual

because I am so excited for the preseason.

Me too, Mina Kimes.

I just want everybody to be careful about reading too much or anything into them because they matter exactly as much as Zach Wilson's turquoise jersey number.

Preseason games are a month-long lie for your eyes, don't you know?

I know I keep saying it, but they're the NFL version of a Civil War reenactment.

They only look real.

Well, unless you believe Skylar Thompson's three touchdown performance over the weekend means the Steelers can now cut Aaron Rodgers.

The only thing that really matters is whether the guys who be on the field when the games start to matter get hurt during these games that don't matter.

And yeah, I know the preseason games do matter for the guys on the fringe, but that's what scrimmages are for.

If football players needed preseason games, how come they don't play them in college?

Listen, football, however, you want a football, but with the season, the actual season I'm talking about, now on the near horizon, I want to focus on the things that do matter, or at least will come January.

Like this matters.

If you're looking for a team that might make a deep playoff run, how about this?

Since the year 2000, QBs in their first six seasons have started 26 Super Bowls.

After that, QBs have only started 14.

In other words, it's no myth you don't need to just have a franchise QB.

You want him before he gets the team crushing $50 or $60 million second deal.

And in a related matter, just five guys this century have gotten to their first Super Bowl after their sixth season.

You know what this tells me?

It's not just the money that changes, it's the increased sense of pressure.

You see, I've long believed pro football players are human beings.

Sure, more confident and talented than the rest of us, but human just the same.

As such, they're susceptible to the feelings related with failing in the big spot when they're the ones who are supposed to be the difference makers.

It's the curse of SPOSTA.

And now here we have Lamar and Josh who haven't gotten to the big game.

And no, I didn't say yet, because one or both of them might never get there.

In fact, 21st-century history is kind of against them, like I just told you.

It's going to be like they're pregnant for the next four months.

We're just waiting to see if they get the birth to the Super Bowl.

And I mean, like, BE, obviously, not BI.

Can't have babies.

Weirdo.

So, the months of September through December probably don't matter that much to these guys, which means we should be careful about reading too much or anything into them.

So, I guess their regular seasons are like preseason games.

Start the show.

Hi and hello, football Americans, and great thanks for checking out episode one of Football America, Mina Kimes Dynamite, the Fuentes Brothers Dynamite, Bradley with the news.

Insightful, at the very least.

Go into YouTube if you would be a deer.

Subscribe to Football America with the exclamation point.

Leave us a comment or better yet, a question so we can have a back and forth Q ⁇ A.

I would love to be able to do a midweek Q ⁇ A with my fellow football Americans as we press on towards the kickoff here.

Speaking of which, episode two starts now.

That makes it the Matt Ryan, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Sertan 2 episode.

I think Jalen Hurts is probably the greatest number two in pro football history.

But right now, let's jump into some over-unders.

We got to figure out season long who's going to go over, who's going to go under, and joining us to do it.

how about this we've got mike ryan let's get into it shall we but i do have a question uh uh coming off of episode one you ended episode one by saying it's been a thin slice of heaven right um right is that a personal preference i've never heard that saying before i've heard a slice of heaven before but a thin slice is that like a personal preference and what are we talking about no facts of pies or pies

first of all thank you for being a listener that that's very kind i i want to be a gentleman and have a good sense of manners.

That actually is stolen from John Lovitz in a league of their own.

He leaves the women that he has recruited and dropped off at Wrigley Field, and his goodbye to them is, well, ladies, it's been a thin slice of heaven.

That's where that one comes from.

All right.

Do you know what he meant by it?

I'm not quite sure what was in Lovitz's head at the time, but I have a question about what's in your head.

I just finished belly aching about people leaning in a little bit too hard.

I also don't care if that's what you love about football and this is sort of your methadone as we run up towards the real thing in September, so be it.

The thing that caught my eye beyond, I mean, I just don't really care much about the individual performances.

I don't think that they ultimately really decide whether or not a kid is going to be a starting player.

What caught my eye, and I know it does yours, Mike, is the uniforms.

I don't think we'll see a worse uniform matchup all season long than the Chiefs in their red pants and red hats at the Cardinals wearing their red jerseys and red pants.

Too much.

Oh,

that's disgusting.

AFC South is pretty good for some bad uniform matchups, though, especially with the Jaguars, their proclivity to wear the dark pants.

There's a couple of like all blues versus just the white tops with the Jaguars Texans there.

The last Hall of Fame game that we had was like one of the worst ones of all time, too.

There's two shades of blue.

You can't, yeah, they clash.

That's it.

Yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

When the Texans are on the road at Chicago, not even the turf is playing nice with you at that point.

It is just an assault on the eyes.

That's another underrated part about the aesthetics game when it comes to the NFL.

It's not just the jerseys.

The turf, the weather outside, has a lot to do with it.

You know what, Mike?

You and me need to carve out some time, maybe even every week once we get into this season for a little fashion corner.

I know it's not everybody's bally wick, but it is yours and mine.

We like talking about uniforms.

So let's make a point to do that, right?

That's great.

I wish I knew what a bally wick was.

But also.

I've just heard it.

It seems like it would apply here.

I don't know for sure.

What did you make of the Chicago Bears Virginia Hallis McCasky patch that is adorning their chest at the moment?

It is a massive memorial patch.

I haven't seen a memorial patch that big in quite some time.

I don't think ever.

I don't know if this is disrespectful to the dead, but I think the worst thing you can do is the big black armband because then it is omnipresent in every shot.

And if you make a deep playoff run, then it's always like, oh, yeah, somebody died that year, and

you can never get too far away from it.

In fact, it's funny that the Bears would screw it up because the George S.

Hallis that is still there to this day is the coolest enduring

homage to one of the OGs of pro football.

All right, listen,

let's stop with this.

I said we'll do a fashion corner at a later date.

Right now, let's get into some over-unders.

Mike Ryan, seed control to Mike F.

Let's start it off with some over-unders.

I do want to say before we get going, though, here, I am standing by.

Update.

I told you last week, and I will update it as

news unfolds here during the season.

I'm going to stay with my Super Bowl 60 pick for this week.

Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers.

You can get that exact matchup at 4-1.

And now, Mike F, let's get into some season-long over-unders.

A bally wick is actually one sphere of operations or particular area of influence.

It's also the jurisdiction of a bailiff.

I don't know what any of those words mean.

Me neither.

Anyway, Buffalo Bills, under 11.5 wins, you can get it at plus 145 with our partners, DraftKings, on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Does a guest go first?

Yes.

I like you two.

11.5 wins.

For a courteous show.

Thank you.

Well, I just want to make sure I'm decisive.

I want to be Tom Brady, releasing the ball quick.

Quick reads.

I like the Buffalo Bills Bills a lot this year.

There's a weird kinship that I have with the Buffalo Bills franchise because being a legacy Browns fan, no longer a Browns fan.

I remember when the Bills invited displaced Browns fans into Ralph Wilson Stadium to say, hey, let's commiserate.

You like bad football.

We can be that for you.

So I have always liked the Bills.

I loved their fan base.

I loved going to a game over there.

As soon as I saw the red helmets being back, and this is one of the rare places that Dave and I disagree, more proof of concept for Fashion Corner.

I think it pops.

I think that red helmet with the blue tops, I think it pops.

I like the Buffalo Bills for all those other reasons.

Also, they've done so much suffering, not just forever, but this core group has done the suffering.

I think they're going to win the AFC, so I'm going to take the over on that.

And I like the division in which they can get fat off of some flat tracks.

Boy, I haven't really considered that fact.

We associate the Buffalo Bills with sorrow, high-end sorrow.

It's not like they're irrelevant, a bum team like the Jets.

They're good a lot.

And now the Josh Allen era is starting to take on a kind of stink that is familiar for Buffalo fans who experienced the K-Gun era there, although Jim Kelly got the Super Bowls.

I don't know if you heard about that.

The Red Hats, I don't like.

Mina Kimes

picked the same thing you did, which is

the Bills and Lions are America's two true teams.

Forget about what the Cowboys allege themselves to be to Football America.

So yes, a Lions and Bills Super Bowl would be grand for any objective football fan.

Here's an interesting thing about the Bills, though.

They pretty consistently in this era get the double-digit wins and have done so for at least the last five years.

The last four results, they have gone

11 wins, then 13 wins, then 11 wins, then 13 wins.

That means that this is the year for them to win only 11 games.

I'm going under and the payout is plus 145.

Gino, what's next?

Lions miss the playoffs.

Ooh,

I don't know how you could do that.

Now,

I don't think that they're going to make the Super Bowl.

I know that they've also done a fair amount of suffering.

I have questions about how they're going to respond with their offensive coordinator.

Now, I do think Ben Johnson got a little too much credit, and people like to sleep on Dan Campbell.

I also subscribe to the theory that Dan Campbell's a lot smarter than he lets on because he likes people kind of underestimating him.

But

I think they make the playoffs.

I think they falter once again, and it may come at the hands of a division rival over there.

I am really bullish on the Green Bay Packers.

I took some futures on the Green Bay Packers.

I took Jordan Love to win MVP.

I think that they come out of the NFC.

So that's a miserable pick, too.

Yes, but

it would be a real surprise.

It would mean that Goff got either hurt or fell off the face of the earth, which we've seen happen before.

After a Super Bowl run, we were all worried about Jared Goff's career.

So it's possible, but I think missing the playoffs is a row to hoe, and I would not like to take that under.

Well, they're built at the line of scrimmage, are the Lions, and they like to bully teams around, and they've lost two of their vets from the offensive line.

So I think that's an issue.

I disagree with you about Ben Johnson.

I think he was the not-so-secret sauce that made that team go.

I don't think in week one it's going to reveal itself.

I think it's going to be a slow bleed with him and Aaron Glenn being elsewhere.

And I think the Lions are going to get vaguely worse as the season goes along, not unlike the Philadelphia Eagles did in between their two Super Bowl runs.

Plus 145, once again, is your payout.

I don't know if I can go that far, but I am with you about the Packers.

I think they're going to end up winning that division.

I haven't made a final decision just yet, but I am leaning that way in the NFC North.

Mike, how say you?

What's next?

Falcons over nine and a half wins.

Whew, this one's tough.

I hate trying to handicap the NFC South.

And I do think that that division,

the whole thing about it was people would go from last to first a lot.

It's always hard to predict.

If there is a team that I think can surprise, I usually love the trend of the team that finishes strong to close out the year.

And it felt like Carolina did that.

It was also,

it lined up with Bryce Young seemingly growing to twice the size that he was prior to the benching.

So someone should probably look into that.

But I can't quite get there.

Atlanta does carry itself like a franchise that truly believes in Michael Pennix.

It's weird, the Kirk Cousins thing that exists there.

I like the weapons around him, and we know from his time at Washington, Michael Pennix will air it out.

This one's right.

This one's a stay away from me, but the nature of the game isn't stay away.

I got to go over or under.

I will

very carefully say under here.

All right, if you go over, that's where the juice is, plus 225 on that.

And I will say, first of all, with Kirk Cousins, we need some odds on his next team.

Circle the L.A.

Rams.

This is a big week.

Matthew Stafford apparently tracking towards good health, but I don't know if that's a smokescreen.

And if Matthew Stafford can't go with a team that a lot of people think has a Super Bowl run in them this year, obviously it's a drop-off from Stafford from Cousins, but I think that's the best available they could possibly do at this point.

So be on the lookout for Cousins to the Rams.

That might be a possibility.

As far as the division they're in, you got to be aware of the neighborhood and look at who the Falcons go up against.

They have four games against the atrocious Saints and the potentially potentially bad Carolina Panthers.

If they win three of those games, well, now they're pretty far along the way to getting to double-digit wins.

I like this team.

I got a little over my skis a year ago with where they were.

I think this year they arrive a little bit and they have a real chance to win the division, even with the Buccaneers, because Tampa Bay's defense is going to be lousy this year.

Maybe Michael Pennix and Bajan and the rest of the Cats make a lot of hay when they hook up against each other.

What's next?

And Dave, you want to talk about over-unders?

That first week one total, Bucs against the Falcons.

I think that's at Mercedes-Benz.

Those two teams teamed up for some fun ones.

Both quarterbacks like to air it out and take chances down the field.

That might be an over just on a game total.

All right, so we're going to stay with the wins totals here, and I'm going to throw this one right back at Dave because this is a plant by you, obviously.

Steelers, over-under, nine and a half wins.

And make sure you read this correctly.

They didn't say eight and a half, they said nine and a half.

Well, I said nine and a half because you can get it at eight and a half as well, but DraftKings allows you to move that number around to your liking, and it is to my liking to get some juice attached to it.

Plus 130, I'll say it a million times.

I'm concerned about the offensive line, the development of the tackle specifically.

There aren't a ton of holes here.

Obviously, their quarterback is long in the tooth.

For the millionth time, Mike Tomlin is the greatest full-of-raiser of the millennium.

There's no reason to think that the Steelers who got the double digits a year ago aren't going to do the same with Aaron Rodgers, the future Hall of Famer, no matter how diminished he is.

Of course, I'm going to double digit wins and over the nine and a half.

Plus 130 will be my reward.

Mike, how say you?

I agree on everything.

Even though I'll readily admit that I don't have wild expectations for Aaron Rodgers, I think he does present an upgrade over what they had before, although the stats kind of tell you something different.

Russell Wilson, the problem with Russell Wilson was they didn't trust him to air it out.

You saw from even the playoff game, once he started airing it out, there were some rewards over there.

I think Mike Tomlin's going to trust Aaron Rodgers a little bit more.

I am curious to see which middling receiver he decides to turn into an all-pro by force-feeding them.

We know that they have DK Metcalf, but who's going to be the guy that becomes the old mediocre talent that Aaron Rodgers falls in love with?

That's actually been, you know, self-sabotaging, whether it be an offensive coordinator or a guy that even demands come on the roster, like a Randall Cobb.

Alan Lazard.

Who's going to be the the Alan Lazards of the world?

Who's going to be.

Anyone but Alan Lazard, please.

Who is going to be the guy that ascends for the Pittsburgh Steelers?

But on the macro level, Dave.

Watch out for Roman Wilson to answer your question.

Year two, year one was basically a redshirt.

He was hurt for the majority of it.

So yeah, watch out for him.

And Calvin Austin is a burner, but he's tiny.

So I think those would be your two primary best bets.

I don't know how they get there, but I agree with you.

They get there.

All right, we're going to skip ahead a a little bit here.

A couple more.

Yeah, that's it.

Yeah, I want to make sure we get this one in for Mike.

Marvin Harrison Jr.

over

975 and a half yards.

Mike has history with this player, history with this pick.

Mike, what do you think this year?

Man, what a bad nickname this guy has.

It should be Miata Marv.

How are you called Maserati Marv and you're slow?

And to help with that speed, he's gained about 25 pounds of muscle.

It's historically really worked for the franchise when the Ohio State wide receiver decides to gain 25 pounds of muscle.

Look at the David Boston callback.

I don't know what's going on.

I see videos of him getting shut down by seventh-round draft picks.

I was so wrong, Dave.

This was my stone-cold lead pipelock, Marvin Harrison, the receiving yards over.

And by the way, we were in play still towards the end of the end of the season, despite him looking lousy.

We all believed you.

I totally believe.

Dude, I locked that one in.

I have PTSD when a Buckeye decides to gain 25 pounds of muscle for the Arizona Cardinals franchise.

I'm out on this guy.

I'm capitulating.

I'm out on Mazam Yadamarv.

Yeah, he embarrassed you, and now you're going to show him by not keeping him in his sophomore year.

You know, a dozen, 15 years ago, it used to always be with wide receivers getting to the NFL.

It takes till year three till they really arrive.

Then rookie started the breakthrough.

I think we're in the sweet spot here.

This is a legit talent, Marvin Harrison Jr., obviously.

Good situation for him.

Obviously, I think he is going to.

And I think we're still getting used to collectively the idea that there are not 16 regular season games.

Rather, there are 17.

And so if you're a halfway decent pass catcher in today's NFL, you should get to four figures.

I say he finally does it.

Well, finally does it.

He didn't do it this season, doesn't it?

Two years into it.

He's a career bust.

Yeah, I think he'll get it this year.

Believe me, I was hanging on to that 17th game

theory only because of Marvin Harrison's struggles last year.

But I do think Arizona makes it to the playoffs this year.

I think they're undervalued in the market.

I think they're feisty.

Kyler Murray was a great quarterback to have when you were chasing points.

The back door was seemingly always open.

I like this team.

I think they got a sneaky amount of talent and they could even survive Marvin Harrison disappointing yet again.

Well, you know, there are questions at least about the Niners.

And if Matthew Stafford can't go there, I mean, it's not insane to say that you think the NFC West is in plane, is in play for these Cardinals.

But Mike, dynamite stuff.

Thank you so much for joining us here today.

Let's put a pin in that idea.

The fashion corner, you and me, will put our heads together and tell everybody what looks good and what doesn't look good.

Also, for the next time we do some over-unders, let's figure out who the odds-on-favorite is to win a head coach fight.

I think it comes down to Dan Campbell.

Dan Campbell's the only answer.

Well, but

Raymond Raven.

No, dude, McVay, too.

McVay's got some guns on him.

I remember him from.

He's a little guy.

You know what?

They're wood classes for a reason.

That's true, but he's probably feisty.

You know, he's

I think Mike Tomlin figures out a way to come ahead.

That's a good idea.

He always does.

He's always going to find a way to leave the building alive.

The rivalries, the marching band, the upsets.

I should really work in the grilled Bratwurst, too.

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Hey, fun fact about your old pal Dave.

I like beer.

Summer may be winding down, but there's still time to get out in the backyard and do some barbecuing.

And while we might all have different techniques on the grill, one thing's for sure, nothing pairs with it better than a Miller Light, the go-to beer to fill up the cooler since 1975.

Miller's clean, refreshing finish is the perfect accompaniment to a burger or a wiener.

And with only 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces, you won't be weighed down before you get to your second plate, something that's near and dear to my heart.

Not as close as the third plate is, but still.

Nothing refreshes me more on a hot day than the iconic taste of Miller Light, the original light beer from 1975, and still iconic 50 years later.

Miller's brewed for taste, simply put, it just hits different, especially at the grill surrounded by pals.

Miller Light, great taste, 96 calories.

Go to millerlight.com/slash FBA to find delivery options near you.

Or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer.

By the way, I just did this and I got me 236 packs ready to go in the fridge.

Cheers to 50 years of Miller time.

Celebrate responsibly.

Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

Good times with Mike.

I like that new segment, The Fashion Corner.

But right now, let's do a little QB Tinder.

And I'm not trying to sound like a square, but I do need someone to explain how Tinder works exactly and how this will impact this discussion about pro football quarterbacks.

What's going on here, Gino?

Let's toss it over to the single guy, why don't we?

Yeah, so QB Tinder, for all you guys that are on dating apps, you know, for those of you who aren't, you get a quarterback, you look at him, you might be attracted, you might not be.

There might be something that draws you in, something you don't want.

You swipe right when you want them, you swipe left when you don't.

So we're going to start this one off with Shadur Sanders, Browns' starting quarterback.

Gino?

Yeah.

He

enjoys turning obscure football programs into national contenders, living off of his dad's fame.

Had a highly impressive showing in the Browns' first preseason game, Dave.

What do you think?

Listen, because I don't want to be a Johnny Cumb lately here.

I told you Shadur was going to be the starter.

As soon as they drafted him within a week, I declared that's going to be your starter.

It's got to be him.

And if it's not, then it's got to be Dylan Gabriel.

And at worst, it's got to be Kenny Pickett.

The idea that they would run with Joe Flacco here at 40 years old, what that gets you is zero, unless you think that Joe Flacco can land you in the Super Bowl, which obviously he cannot.

At worst, you must treat 2025, if you're the Browns, as a redshirt year to see if you have the answer at quarterback.

And if not, dip back into the draft.

They're set up in terms of draft picks to do that in 2026, but maybe they find the answer ahead of time.

In Shadur, he did look good.

I do think he is an NFL starting quarterback.

I think,

ironic or otherwise, the Dion

aspect of it hurt the situation rather than helped it when you generally would think, oh, his old man, Hall of Famer?

Man, that can only help things was his college coach.

In this case, I think it put a weird sort of stink on Shadur,

and we were incapable of seeing clearly who this guy was.

How say you?

Yeah, he's definitely suffering for his dad's sins, I think.

I thought he was a steal in the draft.

When you get a first round, a first-round talent, basically.

in the fifth round, you almost had to take him.

Like I said before, the Dylan Gabriel pick kind of mucks all this up because now it's like, oh, what do we do with Dylan Gabriel?

If they would have picked anybody else but Dylan Gabriel and just took Shadur in the fifth round, it's like a home run draft for the for the Browns.

I think that's a great point.

Our perception also is negatively impacted by the Dylan Gabriel draft pick before they took Shadur.

I think we would see this a little more clearly if they had taken Shadur where they took Dylan Gabriel.

And it does beg the question, why did they do that?

I still don't have the answer there, but I think Gino and or Mike, I'm swiping right.

Is that because I'm saying yes on Shadur?

Big swipe right for me.

So I'm swiping right.

Yeah, Gino, what about you?

I'm swiping right as well.

I I cannot unsee that second touchdown throw.

He's perfect.

He's fading to the left, over the defender, into the quarter of the end zone.

That's an NFL throw.

And I know a lot of people will say, oh, you know, it's a preseason game, not the best defenders.

The placement on that ball is perfect.

Doesn't matter who's defending him.

Perfect ball.

But we're going to move on now to a guy.

I also think for what it matters, the situation, he's been steeped in it for his entire life.

I don't think he's going to be overwhelmed by being, you know, a starting quarterback in the first week of his pro career either.

I think, you know, obviously he's used to this sort of pressure and attention.

Anyway, continue.

Yeah, so we're going to move on to a guy who not known for maybe throwing a football the best.

I know it's a guy that Geno loves.

We're going to go New York Jets starting quarterback, Justin Fields.

Swiping right, swiping left.

I'm going to swipe right on this, and I do like Geno and Jets quarterback, and we're not talking about Geno Smith here.

I

do like Justin Fields.

I have gone on the record repeatedly as saying that, of course, this Pittsburgh Steelers should have kept Justin Fields, but they abandoned the chance of re-signing him when they decided to roll with old man Russell Wilson, despite Justin Fields getting the team off.

Maybe not by his personal statistics, but the team's record indicated you should have stuck with him.

And then, once the team really started to struggle in December, it was clear: if you want to keep Justin Fields as your bridge quarterback in 2025 and maybe into 2026, you better turn back to him.

He's going to leave you if you don't.

That's exactly the way it went.

I think the Jets win this one as the result of that.

I don't think Justin Fields is headed to the Hall of Fame.

I do think the contract they have with him as Aaron Glenn builds things there to his liking in New York, this is a guy, like I say,

different, different guy, but back to Geno Smith.

Those are two great bridge options this year and into next year.

I do enjoy following Genos from Miami.

It's kind of my thing.

Justin Fields, on the other hand, he's really athletic, man.

He's really

got a bunch of tools.

He's got a cannon for an arm.

He can run.

He's one of only two quarterbacks to put up an 1,100-yard rushing season.

I mean, with that much talent, you just got to keep giving him chances.

And now he's got his college receiver, his best bud from college, Garrett Wilson.

I think both of them are going to have great seasons.

I'm sweeping right.

Yeah, and also, I do think, don't react too much, Dave, to what we saw in the first week of preseason, but they did seem like they cut him loose a little bit more than the Steelers were willing to a year ago.

And like you say, obviously his greatest virtue as a football player is running the ball.

If you let him do that, he's a big dude.

He's not Michael Vick-sized or Russell Wilson.

He's a big guy to try and get down to the ground.

If the Jets do the obvious and let him run with the ball, I think he's going to have a nice year there.

And in a related matter, bet his rush totals on the over this season.

Next.

You mentioned the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We're going to move on to everybody's not-so-maybe-so favorite 41-year-old ayahuasca drinking conspiracy theorist, Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Swiping right, swiping left, Dave.

Well, listen, you know, I am a Steelers fan if it hasn't come up quite yet, but that is what I am.

And for me, the Aaron Rodgers-led Steelers are sort of like, am I still a Steelers fan?

Of course, I like the James Bond franchise, but this is sort of like when they had,

what was the guy's name, Timothy Dalton playing, playing.

You know, it's like, I'm not as excited about the Timothy Dalton as James Bond movies as I am, say, the Sean Connery ones.

I think you're picking up what I'm laying down there.

I don't think he's capable, based on the history of guys that age, of being the difference maker that gets them over the hump.

I do think he is walking into a pretty good situation so long as

the two offensive tackles hold up for him.

I think this team is double.

double.

I mean, I already have said it, double-digit win team.

So as far as that goes, I will give it a

under,

I think I'll give it a swipe to the right.

Am I doing that right?

I don't know.

I'm not excited about it.

Well, you convinced me.

I will also swipe to the right because I've known you for a few weeks now, and you are right about quarterbacks in their 40s, traditionally not the greatest.

We have what, Tom Brady, Brett Farr, maybe one other guy here and there to really do it after they turn 40.

But I have faith in Mike Tomlin.

He has good talent around him.

The defense is special.

I think that he will succeed because maybe they won't ask him to do as much as they did with the Jets.

The Jets kind of needed him to carry everything, and then he had to carry it the season after losing a leg.

So I'm probably going to swipe right just because Dave has convinced me and Mike Tomlin's really good at his job.

What about you, Gino?

I'm swiping right because are we really going to do Mason Rudolph again?

Really?

Mason Rudolph.

Again,

Skylar Thompson, anyone?

Oh, Dave, Dave, don't be fooled.

Don't be fooled by Skylar Thompson.

He's a preseason.

He's a preseason guy.

We've been through that.

Oh, dude.

He had us all fooled.

We're like, this is the guy.

Forget Tua.

We have this guy from Kansas State.

He's going to be great.

Seven

pick for

a second.

Mike,

what that I've said has made you think that I am now suddenly a Skylar Thompson guy?

No, of course I'm not.

The thing that's weird with Rodgers that you mentioned, Gino, that's super weird, is this like, he's, oh, he's a first ballot Hall of Famer.

There's so much for everybody to learn from.

He's so great.

All that kind of stuff.

And yet yet everything you hear is like, we brought in Aaron and we're just asking him to play football.

Like he doesn't have to worry about the front office

or anything else.

He doesn't have to worry about inflation.

Like, I mean.

Don't you want your starting quarterback, the field general, to be interacting with his teammates on the field a little bit?

It seems like they're setting him up in a weird spot.

Like, we don't want any of the weirdness, but of course, it's not that he doesn't get along in the locker room with the players.

That's a straw, man, that I've heard a lot of people floating like, well, early returns don't see any sort of discord being created by Aaron Rodgers in the locker room.

That's not the level that he makes problems.

It's that he reaches up into the front office and messes with things, gets involved with personnel.

You saw what happened in Green Bay.

You saw what happened in New York.

That's my concern: him reaching beyond playing quarterback and messing with the rest of it.

That, that, you know, that's where I might swipe left.

As long as he keeps that stuff tamped down, I'm cool with it.

Moving on to our final quarterback, last and definitely probably the least, New York football giant Jackson Dart.

I think probably the best name for a quarterback in the league, but would you swipe left?

Would you swipe right?

Gino.

Legendary name.

I'm swiping right just because of the name.

I don't know anything about this.

He also said the right bullshit at the end of the game where he's like, oh, my performance was mid when, you know, his coach asked him, you know, everybody loves that.

Oh, no matter how good he did, I was okay.

It could get better.

People love that stuff.

Yeah.

I saw him play a few random games in college.

Once when he was back at USC early on in his career, when he turned up at Old Miss last year or the last few years, I had no idea he was there.

I was like, oh, look, it's Jackson Dart.

He's sneaky athletic.

It's probably good that they don't plan on him seeing the field all year.

And if they don't plan on letting him see the field this year, then he probably will have a different coach next year.

Does he have amnesia, Mike?

Gino, I mean, like,

they always,

I mean, even Patrick Mahomes, who's the one example of like, well, they're just going to let him red shirt this year.

They played him in in his rookie season at the back end of the year.

Of course, Jackson Dart is going to play at some point.

Russell Wilson is not enough of a panacea at age 37 now to make you ignore that.

I mean, Russell Wilson is going to play like 37 year old Russell Wilson.

And therefore, people are going to start to call for the kid who they use the first round draft pick on to see what they have before the 2026 draft arrives.

I'm going to swipe left here for now.

I wish there were a pause button because I do need to see something from this guy.

I think the most important thing that you touch on, I don't know why you called it sneaky athleticism.

I don't know what's sneaky about it.

He can run.

He's a good runner.

That's the thing that is going to help.

All young quarterbacks, and by the way, it's a good fantasy note too.

Rookie quarterbacks, even though it is not what you want your actual quarterback to be doing is taking off at the first sign of trouble.

In fantasy terms, that's exactly what you want because he's going to house a lot of balls that veteran quarterbacks aren't.

He's going to make yards for your fantasy team.

What he's going to do for the actual New York football giants, murkier.

So I'm going to swipe left for now.

I do like the kid, and I do think my favorite football team should have taken him with him sitting there on the board in the first round.

I don't give a shit about any of that.

I just care about my relation with you because I know if I'm cool with you, that's all that matters.

That's the beauty of our connection, too.

I'll be here for you for anything.

That's the reality.

Will you ask me anything from now to the rest of my life because you've been available to me?

This time will come and go and the articles will come and go, but the only people that need to be cool are me and you.

That goes double for me.

This is a guy who once sat down and took a shave with me in Indianapolis.

He once took a chandelier from me at NFL Honors on the red carpet.

A lot of guys would have said, no, no, he carried that chandelier all the way.

He is also a legend of the you, one of the eight or so best NFL tight ends in the history of people, probably tight ends in general, now generally regarded as the greatest football analyst around and is the creator of Youth Inc.

It started out as just a podcast.

Now it's multi-platform, merch available, all sorts of stuff for you to consume there, including what you just heard, some sound with his first interview on the new look, Youth Inc., his sit-down with Tom Brady, his one-time rival, I guess.

It's our old pal, Greg Olson.

What's happening, man?

How are you?

Yeah, it's great to see you.

It's been a long time.

I need one of those good shaves.

It's been a while.

Okay, listen, I'm on my way.

As soon as we wrap up here, go, we'll go under the razor once again.

Love it, man.

It's good to see you.

What a pleasure.

What a pleasure.

And

let's start with what you were talking about with Brady there and, you know, the transition from football player into broadcaster.

I don't know if this matters to you, but I'm curious how you consider yourself at this point.

Are you in your brain a football tight end or are you a broadcaster?

That's a great, that's a great question.

I think right now my identity, aside from like my personal stuff as like a parent and a husband and all that, I think probably my professional identity is like

youth sports coach

slash commentator, and then like NFL, former NFL athletes, probably like the next ring because I by far spend more time now.

Obviously, I love calling the games, working with Fox, you know.

doing that in the fall is has been awesome since I retired, but I probably spend more time on a daily, you know, on a, on an annual basis, more days of my life coaching youth sports.

So I'd probably identify as a broadcaster, youth sports coach, and then former NFL player.

That's probably my order of operations.

So it doesn't matter to you because a weird trick that happens, and it cuts both ways with guys who go into the broadcast booth, Charles Barkley, I assume to a giant swath of his viewers, don't really know much about his playing career.

Does it matter to you that anybody knows what you you did when you actually were wearing the helmet?

I'll be honest, I actually think it's better.

Like for me personally,

and again, I don't sit here with a Hall of Fame jacket and all that, so it's easy for me to,

though.

Listen, I just want to say, I'm not trying to fallate you or anything.

You are comfortably in the top 10 of all the relevant statistical categories over the course of your career.

There is a case for you to get a gold jacket.

Well, I appreciate it.

I'll have you on my bid, on my bid, on the committee.

But I actually take great pride in that a lot of people know me more, care about me more, like me more, whatever it is, have more appreciation for my career as a broadcaster now than they did when I was a player.

Like that doesn't hurt my feelings.

I feel very comfortable with my career, what I accomplished 14 years, what I did.

When I retired, there was only a couple, to your point, There's like four guys in the history that had ever caught more balls and yards than I did.

Like I felt very comfortable what I did on the field.

But if people appreciate and recognize me more now as an analyst and as a broadcaster, I take great pride in that.

Like I, when I step into the booth to call games and provide insight, I don't need to remind people about my former career.

Like my career as a player is over.

Like I don't need to bring it up anytime I get a chance or bring it into my broadcast.

Like I'm going to tell you, yes, my experiences matter.

My perspectives as a former player matter, but like I'm all in just being calling today's NFL football game, whether it's similar or different from what I experienced, doesn't really matter.

It's important that I connect with the viewer, what they're seeing, why they're seeing it, and how can we bring that into a really interesting way.

So I'm comfortable that if people think I'm a better broadcaster than I was a football player, like that doesn't hurt my feelings.

Well, you and Brady go back and forth, and I guess the crux of the alleged rivalry and you kind of quell that.

I don't like that.

As somebody who likes conflict, I don't like to be in the conflict.

I like to perpetuate other people's conflict.

So, so, yeah.

So, to try and do that, a lot of it is who gets the best game,

the perceived best game of the week and Super Bowls and all of that.

Is it deep down because it's easier to call the biggest game because you know all the points of reference and you know everything everybody's talking about?

You have to get more in the weeds if it's a bum game, right?

Yeah, the better, the better the quality of the game from a competitive level,

you're better off calling.

The idea is to call the best two teams in the league, right?

You want to call the Super Bowl every year because not only is it a fun game, the energy, there are tons of good players.

Like that goes without saying.

On the other end, you're actually better off as a commentator calling a game of two equally bad teams.

Where it gets really bad is when you have one really good and one really bad, and you know by the third quarter, you're going to be a talk, you're going to be doing talk radio.

37 to 2.

That's 27 minutes left in this one.

You want parity.

People think we cheer for teams.

We don't.

We cheer for close games.

We want the ball within one possession and the team losing in the fourth quarter has the ball late.

Like, that's what every commentator dreams about.

That's the games that matter.

Those are the games that you can do your best work.

So, yes, you want to call the best games, but you want to call competitive games on the biggest spotlight, on the biggest stage, to as many as to the biggest audience humanly possible.

And every week, every package, it varies.

But that's ultimately the goal of every commentator and broadcaster and uh i think if you asked all of them i think everyone pretty much have the same have the same idea there's nothing worse than calling blowouts um i'd rather call a 10-7 game coming up on you think i know you have big cat coming up um that will definitely be good also you have little cat bryce young what is your thought on him carolina panther and all of that people care about your opinion what you think as an alumnus of that

i think Dave Canalis has them going in a really good direction.

You know, I got to know Dave.

I spent a year in Seattle with Dave.

He was actually in the tight end room with me.

So we worked intimately together and got to know each other.

And I really like Dave.

His energy, his charisma.

I think he's got a good offensive mind.

I think him and Dan Morgan's.

Clip that out.

Clip that out, producers, when he says Dave has a lot of charisma and everything else.

He may as well be talking about Dave.

I want something about you.

There's so many Dave's.

Yeah.

Just every Dave I know.

You know, but

you get get to the point where you say, okay, how are they going to continue to build this thing around Bryce?

And last year, it was all up front.

They drafted Leguette, and they're really trying to build that offense around him.

And then they had some struggles on defense.

All right.

Well, now this year in free agency and the draft, they added a lot of guys up front.

They're still a little thin in the back, though, other than JC Horn.

So I think overall, from where they were at this time last year to where they are now, I think the confidence in the building, I think the confidence around the building, I think is significantly higher.

I think there's a lot of faith and trust in Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis and the direction they're building this in.

And of course, there's a huge, a huge focus in magnifying on Bryce.

Is Bryce going to pick up where he left off the back half of the stretch, or is he going to get off to a slow start like he had last year?

I think the expectation, it's going to be more of the former.

He's going to pick up a little bit closer to where he left off, which was playing really good winning football.

If he can be that, as they build the roster around him in a, what is a relatively weak NFC South division,

i think they have an opportunity there's a lot of wins on that schedule i i agree with you that if you look around the neighborhood it's a little soft in the uh in the nfc south that could be the team that comes out of nowhere that not many people are talking about quarterback though obviously number one in the qb league 30 000 foot view as you try to analyze these teams give me your take on win play show one two three after quarterback which is obviously by far and away the most important position essential positions as somebody who was the only guy on that 2015 Carolina Panthers team who could actually catch the passes of Cam Newton.

No disrespect,

Philly Brown.

You were pretty good too.

But you were the number one pass catcher for that team.

What are the key positions that you absolutely got to have if you want to make a Super Bowl run?

One, two, three.

No quarterbacks gone.

QB is number one clear.

All right.

So we're going two, three, and four in SES.

Right.

The positions of value in the NFL, and you can look at where teams draft and you can look at teams who are assigning free agency and where guys get paid the most.

You have to affect the passing game either offensively or defensively, right?

So quarterback is by far, number one, by far the most important.

Number two, you have to be able to rush the passer.

You have to be able to have elite players on the edge that can get after the quarterback.

If you can't rush the passer and disrupt these really good quarterbacks in the NFL, you put a lot of stress on your secondary to cover all day long.

So if I had to take the quarterback avenue, I would say rush the passer, offensive taple, pass protection, and then I would say secondary players mostly on the perimeter corners.

Cause if you can't protect your quarterback, rush the quarterback and defend the pass, you have zero chance in the NFL in today's modern game.

Boy, that's great.

And

I happen to agree with you.

The high-end number one pass catcher is kind of a luxury item and not essential over the course of this millennium to winning Super Bowls.

Only recently, Tyreek Hill and

Cooper Cup and guys like that.

You know what's interesting to me as I was kind of looking at things, and I know obviously you love talking about the U.

Isn't it weird that the U is considered quarterback U, and yet No QB from the U has ever won a Super Bowl?

In fact, there is one quarterback from Miami who has won a Super Bowl, multiple at that.

Do you know who that is?

I don't.

It's Ben Rothesberger.

He's from the other Miami.

But

that's not the U.

That's the other Miami.

That's the one with the Lombardies.

Fair.

But when I lived in Chicago, you know, first time in the Midwest, I get drafted from Miami to Chicago and, you know, in that part of the country, it was the first time that it even dawned on me.

People are like, oh, where'd you go to college?

Like, oh, I went to Miami.

And they're like, Ohio?

Like, what?

It's like, when you think of Miami, no offense to people from Ohio.

I love Ohio, but like when you hear the word Miami,

everyone, like, you don't think of Florida, I guess, to people in the Midwest, but that was like shocking to me that people even like questioned Miami was like Ohio, then Florida, but Rothesberger does have a Super Bowl, so that's fair.

Okay, so back to back to Brady.

Just a couple of things.

You were playing very nice with him, I thought.

First of all, to review, you could definitely beat him up.

yeah he's known as handsome but so are you so that's a wash right sure okay and i would rather have no statue in existence of me than the one that they just unveiled up there in foxborough how say you He's much better suited to be in those commercials and on yacht than me.

I would say he's in better shape relative to his playing days than I am into my playing days.

That's just reality.

I'm not too vain to admit that.

Um,

I'm not beating Tom Brady up.

That's not happening, but you could, though.

I'm just saying it, it exists.

The possibility exists.

I'll let the pundits debate that.

Okay.

Let me say this about Tom in all seriousness, because there's been so much speculation and rumor about like our rivalry, but now at Fox and didn't, let me just say this, and as clear as I can,

I didn't know Tom overly at a personal level very much until he came to Fox.

You know, so call it 18 months ago.

We, you know, we'd say hi to each other before and after games.

We texted quickly.

We actually talk about it on the pod about

we tried to connect and play in that 2020 season.

I got let go from the Panthers.

He was moving on from New England and trying to figure out the timing of free agency.

It didn't end up working.

Obviously, he went to Tampa and I went to Seattle.

So we had some professional interactions over the years of our careers because we overlapped so long.

But when he came and joined Fox and we were first, you know, jumped on a phone call to just kind of break the ice and talk from day one,

everything you know about Tom as the competitor, Tom, his accomplishments, the Super Bowl, the greatest of all time, all those things.

I would say I've gotten a more appreciation of Tom, the person, by just having conversations with him at a personal level and as dads of teenage daughters and what that whole thing's like and best places to travel with your kids.

And like the conversations that we have had in the beginning, they were about broadcasting and they were about NFL and they were about new offensive coordinators and just kind of comparing notes and comparing congression, how we both see the game and, you know, preparation for games and what to expect in the booth and whatnot.

But our conversations for the last year have been anything but.

They've been on parenting.

They've been on the challenges of raising daughters and boys and,

you know, just the challenges of just life in general.

And I'll tell you, I've had, I have such an appreciation for just who he is as a guy, just

for someone who's so accomplished and so famous and so everything.

When you sit around with him, he's just a regular guy who's genuinely interested in your life as much as you are into his.

And I think that's something that maybe is easier said than done for someone like him.

And that's just the truth.

That's not me trying to be nice.

That couldn't have been nicer.

Again, we talk about on the pod, but just coming on my pod for an hour and a half to talk about youth sports and parenting and all that was amazing sent a video to my football team last year without even an ask like he's just a genuinely good person and it's easy to see why people throughout 20 years in the locker room gravitated and followed him and he was the unquestioned leader of the one of the greatest dynasties in nfl history yeah it's a paradox you'll want from a distance to not like him because he has it all and we you know we we kind of want to resent that and like i say feels above the law on some level but there has never been a bad story from anybody who interacts with him about what a nice man, what a fun guy to be around.

And he can chug a beer faster than that.

And it's authentic.

And I'll tell you

because I've seen him when there's no cameras, there's no expectations of how to treat people.

And

it's the same all the time.

Well, let me just return that back to you and or pay it forward or whatever it's called.

You know, Tom Brady, you can do stuff for Tom Brady.

And so there's mutual benefit there on some level.

Not saying it's not authentic.

Greg Greg Olson can get nothing from Dave Damaschek, but you've always been nothing but nice and fun and generous with your time and your sense of humor and everything else.

Youth Inc.

is the place to go.

Just take a second here and tell everybody what's going on.

It's me and a whole list of other content creators.

We got Laura Champ, Lauren Chamberlain, the all, you know, the historically great women softball player who runs our softball channel.

And John Isner, you know, the you know, one of the top tennis players of the last American tennis players of the last couple of decades is our tennis ambassador and coach rack who famously plays for the savannah bananas and is one of the top social media um creators in the world of uh of youth baseball he's our he's our baseball analyst um so we have all these really cool people that are really passionate about about creating both interesting and also entertaining and informative content around youth sports and we build those out both vertically and horizontally and then obviously i i run our anchor conversations with some of our big guests obviously tom being the first um sat down with malcolm gladwell who's, you know, mentioned that earlier.

Big Hat, you mentioned from Barstool, just as a dad and as a public figure.

Ryan Day, national champion on the heels of national championships, C.J.

Stroud, on and on and on.

And people from all across different aspects of different sport, both mental health, sports psychology, performance coaches, and everything.

And then the other side of that, so our consumer brand, you know, aware is that element of the content.

And then the other side is for anyone who's ever gone to watch their kid or tried to buy their kids, you know, t-shirt with their kids' school on it or travel ball club.

The hoodies don't go down to your wrists.

It's not the same clothes you and I would wear on a Wednesday afternoon to lunch with your buddies on a Saturday morning or a Friday night at your kids' baseball or football game.

And so we're creating a little bit more of that model now for the youth sports, kind of streamlining and consolidating fanware, teamwear, high-level premium products that you can you can proudly represent of your kids youth sports experience, club team, school team, travel ball, whatever that looks like.

You're the tops, Greg Olson.

We thank you so much for the time, pal.

Best wishes with this and have a great football season.

We'll be watching you wherever you're tuned in, whichever game you're at.

We'll certainly have the sound up on that one.

I appreciate you, Dave.

It's always good to see you, man.

There he goes.

A bow at the end of another grand episode, episode two, now in the books.

We already are looking forward to yapping with you next week.

To help set us up with that, make sure you leave us a comment in the YouTube section.

Subscribe to the show.

We appreciate all the feedback we've gotten to this point.

We thank Greg Olson for joining us today.

More to come next week.

Until then, thanks so much, Football Americans.

It's been a thin slice of heaven.

Hey, fun fact about your old pal, Dave.

I like beer.

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