The Andy Pullen Show.
We got to go after this with everything we got.
They're going to come with everything they got.
I'll start off by saying I'm bored.
I'm broke and I'm back.
The Andy Pullen Show on ESPN 630 starts right now.
And I'm at the tell Rex Minton is working with us today
that we need to have Tina Turner songs coming back
from break every time.
So we got the thumbs up on those already on top.
Good.
Thank you.
How are you learning radio?
Very good.
Very good.
You're old enough to know Tina Turner is, right?
Barely.
Barely.
Yeah.
She was a man.
If you put her in athletic terms, she was Michael Jordan.
You know, you can argue whether she's the greatest
performer of all time.
But I don't think you could argue that anyone ever gave you
more on stage than Tina Turner did.
Wow.
One of life and overcoming what she did, which was all part
of what her persona was all about.
It was so, so graphically shown in the movie,
What's Love Got to Do with it, which came out 30 years ago
about how she broke away from the abuse of her husband, Ike
Turner, and so much a part of her story.
And in the Washington Post today,
there's a really nice appreciation of Tina Turner
by Chris Richards, who's been writing about rock and roll
for a long time.
And he described her voice as the sound of someone
who knows pain.
That is so well put.
And we'll look back on that on her life a little bit later on.
I want to get to what happened with OTAs yesterday.
They're trying to downplay the idea
that Chase Young is a no show.
OK, if you want to do that, you can.
Tim Legler said something I thought very interesting
about LeBron James.
And we'll get to that coming up in this hour.
And in the next hour, Scott Abraham of ABC 7
will join me.
He was out at Ashburn yesterday.
I keep wanting to say Red Skin's Park.
I guess I'll never get over that.
But it is Ashburn now and whatever they call it.
But it was funny, when it opened, it was called Red Skin Park.
And I think it was because of George Michael.
I think George Michael always called it Red Skin's Park.
And so they just said, OK, it's Red Skin's Park.
And now, of course, that name is gone.
And I just say Ashburn.
I don't know what the corporate name on it is now.
But we'll get to what was said yesterday out there.
And Scott's reaction to what he heard from the players
and the coaches.
And in the next hour, it was 48 years ago today
that the Washington bullets, who had the best regular season
record in the NBA, and who were favored going into the finals
against the Golden State Warriors,
were swept out of the finals.
It was their second appearance.
They had been there in 1971 and were swept by Lou Alsinder
in the Milwaukee Bucks.
And they got swept by Rick Barry and the Golden State Warriors
48 years ago today.
And we will look back on that in the next hour as well.
I think this is an out for the new owners.
You probably heard about this yesterday.
It was first reported by Pro Football Talk.
The US Patent and Trademark Office
has denied the commander's trademark request
for Washington commanders, noting that the name is likely
to be confused with an existing trademark
and prior applications that were filed before the team
tried to register its mark.
Now, is this going to hold?
No, I mean, they have three months to respond.
And legal experts are saying they'll
be able to get through this.
But if I'm the Josh Harris group, I say, hm, OK, well,
what we'll do is we'll just go back to Washington football
team. And if we come up with a new name, fine.
If we don't, maybe people will get used to Washington football
team, as I did.
And I would have been quite satisfied
had they stayed with that.
But instead, they go through this whole marketing thing.
And Jason writes that, oh, we got thousands and thousands
of submissions.
And you know, there's so much legal work
that you have to go through on this.
It takes two years to get this done.
And what did they come up with?
They came up with a name that most fans went, eh.
And they trotted it out with this schlocky ceremony
with Dan Snyder and Tanya Snyder and Letterman's jackets.
It was, eh, you know, like everything they do,
very, very sloppy.
And I don't think the name has really
been embraced by the fan base.
I don't see a lot of commanders gear rolling around town.
What about you, Rex?
You see your friends embracing this name?
No.
No.
Everybody.
Callo does.
Mike Callo, yeah.
Mike Callo, who works with Bram Weinstein
and I guess he's our program director here.
He's a gear guy.
So he likes to buy gear.
And you'll see him in all different types
of nationals, hats, and jerseys.
That's his thing.
He's a collector of those things.
So I can see that.
But I think, I mean, has he said that to you
that he really likes the name?
No, I don't think he even does.
I think he just-
No, he buys the gear.
But that may be for collecting purposes, for reselling.
I don't think, yeah.
And I walk around town, you see a few things.
And you see a lot of these shirts with that W.
And that logo is actually OK.
It's a blah.
It's so blah, but you could stay with Washington football
team and stay with that logo.
So anyway, there's talk of this confusion
with other names, including the commander's classic, which
has been going on forever between Air Force and Army.
And with all this legal work that Jason Wright kept telling us
about, about what an arduous process it was
to check into everything, they didn't check into something
as obvious as that, that's Army and Air Force.
That's not some hidden name that's like in Pocatella, Idaho.
That's the commander's classic.
And the US Patent and Trademark Office said, no, no,
there's going to be confusion with that.
Now, there are some names that have been put out by a squatter.
His name is Martin McCauley.
He's a Virginia-based man.
He's put out a whole bunch of trademark ones
so that he can be bought out.
I don't know what it costs to register a trademark,
but he's done a lot of that.
And so he came up with Washington Space Commanders,
Washington Wolf Commanders.
These were all filed in August of 2021, which was,
I guess, a year into the renaming process.
So the Patent Office said the team
needs to add a disclaimer for Washington
since trademarks can't solely claim geography.
Interesting.
Anyway, the team put out a statement
and said, we will respond, we're confident,
our registration will be issued.
They have three months to do all that.
And also, Josh Gerben, who's a trade attorney
and not affiliated with the commanders,
said the initial denial for Washington
likely won't be a problem.
In the long term, he said, issues were workable,
noting that the name of a college football game
is different from a professional football team,
and the team could challenge the validity
of McCauley's application.
So they get through this.
But I would say, once again, if I am the new owner of the team,
if Josh Harris is approved, I say, OK, well,
we're going to listen to what the US trademark
and Patent Office said here.
And we're going to abide by that.
And we're going to trash this name, which nobody likes anyway.
And we're going to go back to Washington football team.
And as we get our feet wet as owners,
we'll deal with that down the line, maybe a year or two
from now, about changing the name and getting a name that people
will feel better about than commanders.
And the image for me, as a fan of this team for close to 60
years, the image for me of commanders is 2222 with Dan
and Tanya Snyder in those dopey Letterman's jackets.
That's it for me.
So that's what I think of with the name.
So if they went back to Washington football team,
that would be just peachy keen with me.
That would be absolutely fine.
All right, let's get to what happened in Ashburn yesterday.
And once again, Chase Young was a no-show.
Montez Sweatt was a no-show, both going into the final years
of their contracts of less significance, I think,
because he may not even be on the team this year.
Charles Leno could be a cap cut depending
on how these rookie offensive linemen work out.
He wasn't there.
And Ron Rivera played that down saying, well,
he knows this West Coast offense that Eric B.
Enemy is bringing in.
He played in it in Chicago.
And once again, these are voluntary.
So this was the first response from Rivera
yesterday about the no-shows.
Well, you always would like to have all your guys here.
But again, it's volunteering.
We understand that.
And the nice thing though is, I've
been in contact with them.
They're working out.
They're progressing themselves ready to go.
And when it all comes down to it,
we'll see them when they have to be here.
OK.
Stick with the voluntary thing.
I think that's OK with Leno.
You could deal with that.
And even Sweatt, to some extent.
But Chase Young is in a proof-it year.
He has had half of one good season, his rookie year.
He was not good at all in his second year,
got hurt halfway through, and spent most of last year
injured before he finally came back.
And the team has said to him, man, we haven't seen enough out
of you.
So we're not going to guarantee that fifth year.
Well, we're going to wait on that.
So if he wants to get paid either here or someplace else,
he's got to have a hell of a year.
And what he's doing here, I don't think, is helping his case.
This is more from Rivera about the two of them
being out yesterday.
Have you had any conversations with Chase
since the fifth year option?
And just generally, mentally, how's he doing?
Well, just from what I've gotten in our text messages
and conversations, you're like, hey, he gets it.
He understands, and he's going to go out.
And I really believe he's going to come in and give us
everything he's got.
I don't disagree with Jack's message
that I believe Julie Donaldson was interviewing him.
And he came out and said, this is about production-based business.
And you have to produce.
And if you want to look at a great example, that's what D'Rond did.
Our intent is to keep our guys, guys that produce for us.
We want them to be around.
We want them to be part of what we're doing.
And so that's pretty much just been the message.
And I believe he's adapted to it very nicely.
And he's working hard.
I'm excited to see him when he has to be here.
So again, he's been on top of things.
In 2021, when Chase and Montes weren't here for the off-season workouts,
it may have slowed some of the implementation of skimmer things like that.
How do you avoid that happening?
And what's your concern that that could happen again?
I'm not as concerned just because these guys are a little bit older,
a little bit more veteran.
And when they get here, they'll just jump right in.
They did come for the first week.
They did get a lot of the installation stuff originally
that we're going to do.
But defensively, I know this much.
We'll go through this installation process three times during this period.
From when we start phase one all the way till we get to the mini camp.
And then we'll go through it again.
We'll get the training camp.
So a lot of it will be redundant at some point.
But to get it all would have been nice.
But again, this is voluntary.
So where we are is pretty much working with the guys that are here.
I want to like something a little bit stronger.
In a prove it year.
He's in a season where he has to show that what he showed in the second half
of his rookie year is what we're going to see for him the rest of the way.
And for Rivera to continue to make excuses for him, it's voluntary.
Yeah, it is voluntary.
That's what the NFL Players Association has been able to negotiate.
I think it's foolishness, really.
I mean, if you're going to have work out, you might as well have the team there.
I don't understand the voluntary part of it.
But for some guys, it may not matter.
It matters for Chase Young.
He has not played a lot of football in his three seasons that he's been here.
He's been hurt for more than half of it.
And he needs to show and also he needs to show that he's got leadership here.
Well, clearly he's not the leader of the team and he's not the leader of the defense.
That's Jonathan Allen.
And Jonathan Allen talked to reporters yesterday about this, about these two guys being out.
He's not going to stab him in the back.
No question about that.
But I think you can read between the lines a little bit on what Allen says about Young
and Sweat.
I don't think it's a big deal.
I remember talking to Trent Williams.
And at the end of the day, as long as they come ready to play when they get back, that's
all that matters.
These are the value in missing...
Like no one obviously wants them this time, but when you have a contract situation to
go through those steps of missing time, is there to create leverage?
Is it just simple as injury prevention?
What's kind of the value of missing?
One thing I'll say is football is a great game, but a terrible business.
And that's what sometimes is hard for the fans to understand that yes, it's a game, but
it's a business.
And the business side can get nasty.
I mean, you guys remember when I was going through my contract, I had to take some time
off for myself.
So I get it.
You know what I mean?
At the end of the day, we're all just trying to take care of our families.
And Chase got to do what's best for him first.
So I mean, every situation is different.
You can't really put a standard.
So if it's beneficial to miss it, if it's not.
But again, for me personally, as long as Chase and Sweat come back ready to play when season
starts, that's all I can ever ask for.
I might have followed up with, well, what are you doing here?
If it's not that big of a deal, if just ready to play when September comes, what I show
up, I think because he's a leader.
And if Chase Young wants to prove that he was worthy of being the number two pick of
the draft and wants to get that big second contract, I would be there.
This is more from Allen on the expectations for Young.
And listen to what he says at the end of this.
This is about 30 seconds.
Well, I'll say this about expectations.
Expectations just lead to disappointment.
That's why I have no expectations for myself.
I just have a standard that I try to play to.
And as long as I meet that standard, regardless of the outcome, I can live with myself.
So at the end of the day, only Chase knows.
Only Chase knows.
And my job is to make his life easier and his job is to make my life easier and our
jobs to make everybody's life easier.
So I mean, me saying what the expectations are really don't mean nothing because if I
could talk about how great he's going to do in all this, but he's got to go out there
and play football, which I'm sure he's going to do.
So I think including me, we'll see.
We'll see.
And this addresses what Ron Rivera said, quoting Jekyll Rio.
He's got to produce out there.
So by not showing up, he's not helping his case.
This is Terry McCluren, who is the men's of all men's on the team.
And with all that, he did sit out last year.
He was in a situation.
He was not a first round pick.
So he was going into the last year of his rookie deal and he wanted an extension before
stepping on the field and did not show up at off-season workouts and did not show up
at the mandatory mini-cap.
He got the contract that he wanted.
He's a leader.
He continues to lead.
And so this is his overall outlook on this, having gone through it to a great extent last
year.
Yeah, I think it's a good question.
I think each guy is different.
You know, last year, obviously, I had things going on with my contract and that was certain
things that have to be taken care of.
I know we all want to be out here and putting our best foot forward.
But when I was out last year, I had the support of all my guys.
It was on me to make sure I came back and was ready.
I feel like we're all pros at this level.
So if you missed that time during the OTAs, I think there's still time for you to come
back and be prepared for the season.
I didn't feel like I really had a drop off last year.
You know, I kind of missed some time with Carson.
But I was able to feel like I was in shape when I got back and was ready to go.
So I trust those guys that aren't here, that they're going to be back and ready to go
when that time is to come.
But each guy's situation is different.
And you know, we all understand that this is a business as much as this football.
No.
Is it just, you know, you don't show up to avoid injury or is there actual leverage
that can be created by your absence?
I don't know it's as much leverage, but I mean, I think some guys in contract situations,
you know, if you don't have a contract or solidify future, you possibly come out here
and get hurt and I could put your future in jeopardy.
That's just what it is.
You know, but I think the guys that come out here and participate, you give it, you give
it your all.
Like, I'm out here giving them all.
I know our other guys out here giving their all.
And as a team, we support the guys that aren't here, whatever reason that is.
And we trust that they're going to be, continue to be pros like they've been and come back
ready when they're ready.
Now you did hear him say that he missed some time with Carson.
Remember during the season, Carson once was terrible and it was a stupid idea to bring
him in here.
It was a stupid idea to trade draft picks to get him.
But he was going more to the other receivers because he hadn't spent a lot of time working
with McClure.
Now you got to overcome that if you're a quarterback making $28 million a year.
He did not.
But you know, I don't know if you downplay it that much.
I understand you got the backs of your teammates who aren't there.
But missing off season workouts may have hurt, may have hurt last year.
They weren't going to win with Carson Wentz.
You know, it's not like Terry McClure and not showing up for the off season workouts cost
them a playoff berth.
You know, the quarterback did.
He stunk.
But you know, I think that they have these workouts for a reason.
And if you're going to have them, again, the idea of making them voluntary is ridiculous.
That's just a deal that they made with the players.
But if you're going to have them, make them work.
If you're going to be a team that's going to contend this year for the playoffs and maybe
go further, got to show up for these things.
And Terry McClure is there.
Jonathan Allen is there and Chase Young and Montez Sweatt are not coming up in the next
hour.
Scott Abraham will join me.
He was in Ashburn yesterday as OTAs continued without some big names, including Chase Young
and Montez Sweatt.
We'll talk about the atmosphere there.
And also it was 48 years ago today that the then Washington bullets were swept in the
finals by the Golden State Warriors, a shocker of shockers will get to more on that as we
continue with the Andy Poland show, ESPN 630.
The Andy Poland show.
We've got to go after this and everything we got.
They're going to come with everything they got.
I'll start off by saying I'm bored.
I'm broke and I'm back.
The Andy Poland show on ESPN 630 starts right now.
Tony's out today.
And boy, this would be a day that he'd want to be here talking about Tina Turner.
We're looking forward to tomorrow where he may have some things to say.
They hit it briefly on PTI last night, but I know what a great fan he is of Tina Turner
and we'll play some of her songs coming back.
Scott Abraham of ABC 7 will join me in about 20 minutes.
He was out in Ashburn yesterday as there is supposedly a new energy out there.
Some of it related to Eric B. Enemy who's bringing it.
And there's an interesting thought on him too on B. Enemy about that they are pushing
him to become a head coach and Ron Rivera kind of even alluded to that yesterday in saying
that when you name him what is an assistant head coach, it's not just a title.
And I don't know if this is orchestrated or anything, but Rivera keeps talking about
roster building.
Could there conceivably be?
I mean, they've had no success.
So I don't know how you could do this, but could you after this year see a scenario where
Rivera moves up to the front office and becomes the general manager?
Because his drafts have been okay, free agent signings.
And he becomes the general manager and B. Enemy is the head coach.
Nah, I don't think so, but you know, it's just interesting to watch what's going on out
there and how they are the selling of B. Enemy.
We've heard more about him in two months than we heard about Scott Turner in three years.
Right?
I mean, that seems to be where their heads are at, but how B. Enemy is going to make
this huge difference, which seems odd for a head coach is probably a lame duck going
into his fourth year.
He's probably not going to be back after this year.
This was Ian Rappaport yesterday on the Dan Patrick Show about the sale and where it's
at.
And if Ian Rappaport and NFO Network, if you're one of those, you're going to be a
little nervous about the sale getting done.
This is what Rappaport says is being talked about in league circles.
This was kind of interesting, the shape that this took.
So those, all this consternation, debate and discussion was Dan Santa gonna sell, and then
he finds a buyer, and then they have an agreement in principle.
Then they have a signed agreement, exclusive agreement with Josh Harris to buy the team
and his partners to buy the team.
And it's basically done.
I get to Minnesota and people are asking me like, is the sale going to go through?
The league has some issues.
And I'm like, yeah, I mean, they're definitely working through some things.
It's a much more sprawling group than I think the league is used to.
There's maybe a little more debt than the league would like, but no one has suggested
to me at all ever that it's not going through.
I mean, this thing is going to happen.
So it was nice.
So you get to all that.
And then Roger Goodell took a podium yesterday midway through the day and says, yes, he anticipates
a sale going through.
And to me, it was kind of like, okay, like went through this whole thing, this big journey.
The deal is it may be perfect.
You can still massage.
You can still add more money, add more cash, essentially if that's what the league does
want.
But like Josh Harris, as expected, be the new owner of the commanders.
And you know, I do believe that is absolutely happening.
Is the NFL done with Daniel Snyder?
Uh, will be.
Will be.
I mean, if you're asking me, do I think he would be able to get another team, I would
break confidently say probably not.
Well, no, the investigation does that.
Are they, do they still press on with the investigation?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, you know, the marriage of white investigation is ongoing.
Um, all of the legal things, you know, I haven't really sensed any alteration, like
it's not like, okay, he's no longer an owner here, so like pack your stuff up and let's
go.
Like I didn't get that sense.
I think it's going to be done to completion.
And like, there are some reasons for that.
One, like if dance night or did, you know, have the workplace where it seems, if there
were the financial, if there was some financial improprieties, you know, if, if something was
wrong, you'd like to know was wrong, you know, like the people that were wrong about it to
be held responsible.
Perhaps there could be legal things that stem from this, civil or legal.
You certainly like to find that out.
If that is true, um, you just want to find out like what was Dan Snyder doing.
Um, and I do think those will go to completion and we'll sort of see, you know, what becomes
of it after that.
Hmm.
Well, the, the league has said they're going to release the marriage of white investigation.
There's been some reporting that Snyder is working behind the scenes to try and prevent
that from coming out.
The team has denied that that's happening.
Who knows?
But I think the big thing is we want the day where there's a press conference and Josh
Harris is smiling and he's the owner of the team and Dan Snyder is nowhere to be seen after
that happens.
It'd be interesting what, whatever comes out of the, the marriage of white investigation.
I think the league is going to soften it as much as they can and Snyder has not cooperated
with it.
And I don't know if he's going to be required to.
I don't think Mary Joe White has subpoena power and they have tried and tried and tried and
I, I, I can't imagine there's any benefit for him to, to do this.
You know, he's going to say, what am I going to lose my team?
I'm already losing my team.
So I don't know how big of a thing that's going to be when it happens as for the, the
deal that's in place and his rap report says, don't worry, it's going to get done.
Jonathan Allen talking to reporters yesterday, uh, and this addresses the new energy feel
out there, uh, was asked about this.
Well, this is, you know, basically a weight off your shoulders now that we know the team
is going to be sold.
Um, you know, honestly, for the players, it doesn't change much.
I mean, I've been saying this and I know people probably didn't believe me, but from
a player standpoint, we're focused on the season, man.
And, you know, of course, Dan, sider owned into team, we had to answer questions about
it, but it really didn't affect us as much as people may think at the end of the day,
I get paid to play double teams and rush the passer, whoever signed my paychecks.
That doesn't affect how I'm going to do my job.
So it just makes it so we don't have to answer those questions, no more, but for the defense
and the D line, it doesn't change anything for us.
Do you think that's related to it or is it something different?
I definitely, I definitely do, you know, because of fans, honestly, are probably more
affected than I was.
You know, I know a lot of fans were unhappy with how things were run.
So just to see the energy from the fans is no, it's exciting, man.
This is the great city.
And I know that once once we get things going and rolling, this season will be on fire.
So I'm excited.
Now, remember this, the ceiling organization that Jonathan Allen is played for.
He came from the Cadillac of college programs.
He played for Nick Saban at Alabama.
He comes here.
He doesn't really have anything to compare it to.
You know, he didn't play with the Patriots.
He didn't play with the Packers.
He didn't play with the Steelers.
So his only comparison is the dance night or era under different coaches, where he had
Jay Gruden his first year and now has had Ron Rivera.
And it's, you know, it's, it's just different than, than any other player who actually was
a, with a real team instead of a team like this.
So when he says it doesn't affect him, he got like Alex Smith saying who played with
three other two other teams played with, with San Francisco and played with Kansas City,
two very good organizations, especially Kansas City, planned for Andy Reed.
He said about the Snyder influence and, and affecting the team.
He said, how could it not?
So you know, this, this is, I don't know if there's going to be a marked difference in
it, but I think the players will look at it like, okay, this is a fresh start.
The fans are optimistic.
It's a, it's a different feel, a different vibe than what we've had under Dan Snyder.
And I think that, that Allen really doesn't have a great comparison on this because this
is the only place he's been.
Sam Howell, this is all about Sam Howell this year, right?
What, what Sam Howell is going to do, the selling of Sam Howell and Rivera talking yesterday
about the improvement that he's seen from the last time he was on the field, playing
all of one game.
Remember this, he's only played one game.
He's added off season to work with Bienemy and now he's at these optional team activities,
the off season workouts.
This is what he's seen from Sam Howell.
Well, you know, one of the things that we talked about last year, you guys are asking
about him and his growth and development.
We talk about footwork and stuff like that.
And you really see the, the improvement in those details.
You really do.
He's got a great sense and feel for, for what coach Bienemy wants.
And in fact, all the quarterbacks too.
And I think having Jacoby, you know, out here pushing, pushing him and working with him
at the same time has been a really good thing because you do see his growth.
Okay.
Bienemy is, is, is happy with him.
It's happy with what he's seen so far.
This is Terry McCluren.
Same subject.
How to say him how look?
Sam has always had a quiet poise about him.
He's a really smart player and quarterback.
He doesn't make too many mistakes when he's out there.
And you can tell he's getting more comfortable, comfortable being in a leader in a vocal role.
You know, I think, uh, he'd be in the offensive staff, really put a lot of, um, onus on him
to come out and take control of the huddle, so get, make, make sure the splits are right.
And he's running the show and I think he's doing a really good job of that.
And he's doing a good job of communicating with us and just his play on the field.
You know, the ball comes out his hand really, really well.
And he has a good feel of where we are so far.
So we're just going to, going to continue to try to build with him and give him as much
confidence as possible.
Talk that up as a will see situation.
You know, I think that just because he played against a, a Dallas team that was, I don't
think fully engaged, you know, the, the Cowboys needed to win that game for sure to have any
chance, but they also needed the Giants to beat the Eagles and the Eagles had everything
to play for because they wanted that first round by and the Giants had already decided
there wasn't anything worth playing for.
So they, they, they've mentioned all their guys.
They, they played all their backup guys.
There really wasn't much chance.
And I think the Cowboys knew that and they got the Cowboys team that I saw that, that
they're basing all this great Sam Hall play on, eh, not really sure.
I don't, I don't think it's, I think it's a lot different playing them, let's say in
November than it would be in January of last year, early January when they played that
game.
So, you know, it's going to be proof of for Sam Hall once we get to, to sub middle of September,
not even the exhibition games.
And he looked pretty good playing the exhibition games last year, but I don't think you can
tell a whole lot from that.
How many August heroes have we had around here, right?
Babe Loffenberg forever a hero never took a regular season snap for Washington was unbelievable
in the preseason.
There've been other guys over the years and yeah, Sam Hall has played a game, but I think
it's, you know, you have to look at that in a little different way than maybe they're
trying to sell it to us as he beat the Dallas Cowboys with a cowboy team that was going
to the playoffs.
Yeah, they were going to the playoffs, but realistically they didn't have a lot to play
for that day because again, you needed the Giants to win in Philadelphia, plan backups
against a highly motivated team that wound up in the Super Bowl.
Remember that this was interesting yesterday from Patrick Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes, who
in the summer of 2020 signed a 10 year extension worth $450 million said it's not about the
money.
Now, his annual pay is now seventh among the league quarterbacks, seventh.
That's the richest deal, 450 million, but in the NFL, it's not baseball, it's not basketball,
it's not hockey, it's not all guaranteed.
And there are off ramps for Kansas City on this and now they certainly don't want one,
but six other quarterbacks, including Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Jalen Hertz, Lamar
Jackson and likely Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert will all go past him.
And he said, I've always said I worry about legacy and winning rings more than making money
at the moment.
We'll see what's going on around the league, but at the same time, I'll never do anything
that's going to hurt us from keeping the great players around me.
So it's kind of teetering around that line.
Now, I don't know if you read Andrew Brandt, Andrew Brandt, former front office executive
at the Packers and writes for SI.com, but he's been writing this for a while.
He says, this is so overrated where quarterbacks take less money to have players around them.
He said, there's a difference between cash and the salary cap.
And the salary cap is how you manage it, it's how you push bonus money into other years.
It really doesn't have a lot to do with how much a quarterback is making per year.
And he said, Tom Brady is baffling to him because he took a lot less money than he could have
taken and it would not have hurt them with the salary cap.
You know, that's why they pay these guys to look at these numbers.
They don't look at it like we as fans and the league is happy to feed us that crap.
They want us to think, oh, look at that.
They can't get that quarterback because they don't have the salary cap room.
He says, that's a bunch of junk.
He says, that's, that's a bunch of nonsense.
And look, the chiefs are aware of this.
General manager Brett Veats said that the chiefs would look into sweetening Mahomes contract.
He didn't give a timetable, but the deal runs through 2031.
And Mahomes said, it's not about being the highest paid guy.
It's not about making a ton of money.
I've made enough money where I'll be set for the rest of my life.
But at the same time, you got to find that line where you're making a good amount of
money, but you're still keeping a lot of great players around you so you can win these super
bulls and you'll be able to compete in these games.
He's bought this and, and Brett, who knows this from the other side.
I mean, he's not just, he's just not speculating on this.
He's done this from the other side of the table.
And he's saying that's, that's not so.
It doesn't work that way.
And also you got to look at it from a home standpoint.
He's making a lot of commercials now.
He's, he's, he's making a ton of money and endorsements.
Lamar Jackson for what he did with his contract and he's being patted on the back by some
because he was his own agent.
He didn't have to pay an agent, saved himself maybe about $7 million when all was said and
done with the contract.
See him with any endorsements?
Not really.
No.
And, and you know, maybe you look at it this way now, Patrick Mahomes has one, two super
bulls.
So that has, has a lot to do with it.
But, but in, in the long run of these, of these deals, it's, it's not necessarily amount,
amount of cash that you take from the team, but it's about, you know, what you do with
your career and, and whether you win or not.
And, you know, in the case of Brady, because he's the greatest winner of all time, he's
going to be in position one day, I think to buy a team.
He's already part owner of the Raiders.
I think he's going to be the first former NFL player to buy a team, much like Michael
Jordan became the first NBA player to buy a team.
And it's a lot more money in the NFL.
I understand that.
We're seeing how you can do creative financing here with Josh Harris putting up only about
30% of the team.
So I look at what, what Mahomes is saying here and he gets it.
You know, he's, he's not going to create a big stir and say, Hey, look at me.
I've won two super bulls and I'm the seventh highest paid quarterback in the league.
That's not how he rolls.
But he understands the bigger picture of this.
And I don't even know if he, he necessarily believes this stuff about taking less money
so he can have great players around him.
That was sold to him very well by the Kansas city chiefs, but that's, that's really not
the way it works.
You know, the Packers last year went into the season paying Aaron Rodgers $50 million.
They didn't go into the season thinking to themselves, yeah, we're paying the quarterback
50 million, but we can't afford to put anybody around him.
Nah, it's not really the way it works.
And, and, and Mahomes, I thought, I thought my God, you know, $450 million.
I think there's even some incentives that could push it up closer to 500.
Well, it's going to cripple the team.
No, it's not.
That's why they were so anxious to do it.
That's, that's why they wanted to, to put it out there that way.
So yeah, good for Mahomes for, for saying the right things.
I think he really gets it.
Um, you know, he's been everything you could have possibly hoped for and to think that
he spent the first year of his career on the bench, you know, that's, and maybe that's
another, another thing that has helped them along the way, learning from Alex Smith as
he did.
Coming up, Scott Abraham from ABC seven will join me.
We'll talk about what went on in Ashburn yesterday and this, this whole feel of new
energy.
What's that all about?
Stay with us.
It's the Andy Poland show ESPN six 30 and for Tony today, roll until noon and it's always
pleasure to talk to Scott Abraham of ABC seven who's always on the scene out on the scene
yesterday in Ashburn as the commanders continue voluntary off season workouts, which, uh,
which we will get to it.
It is not mandatory as Ron Rivera reminded us time and time again, but they are missing.
I think one very key player and we'll get to all of that.
Um, by the way, Scott, what is the name of the park now?
I keep calling it Ashburn.
Does it have some kind of corporate name on it?
Uh, yes, you're going to ask me.
Uh, is it a Nova?
No, is it something?
Yes.
So they're advertising not working out too well.
Yeah, it's like Ortho, Ortho, Virginia or something.
Ortho Virginia?
Okay.
Yeah, but really a household name.
Yeah.
I mean, I, I, if most of my life I've called it Red Skin's Park and obviously that was
removed a few years ago and I just say Ashburn now, but I guess it does have a.
And honestly, Andy, I just still refer to it as commander steam headquarters.
I don't even say, yeah, the sponsorship.
Yeah, I mean, we could get into trademark issues with a, with a restaurant in New Orleans,
we could maybe call it commander's palace.
Huh?
What do you think?
Hey, not too bad.
I don't know.
I don't know how, uh, palatial, uh, it is though.
Yeah.
Oh, that's another story that's, uh, it said, that's more work for the new owners and more
money to fix up, uh, antiquated facilities.
Uh, a lot of the talk yesterday was new energy and, and it seems to be it's either Eric
B.
Enemy screaming at everybody on the field or ding dong the witches dead.
Dance sider is out.
What, which do you think is a bigger factor in this new energy?
I think it's definitely E.B.
Uh, just, you know, when I asked Antonio Gibson about E.B.
He just immediately lit up.
Um, I can tell a lot of these offensive guys are just so happy to have it's night and day
difference from Scott Turner to E.B.
In terms of how they carry themselves on the field, like Scott Turner was like a mouse
out there.
You could barely hear him.
You know, he was never animated.
E.B.
Is just the opposite.
It's so vocal, you know, using some curse words, getting after it with, with his offensive
players, if he's not happy.
And I think the players are really responding to that.
So, uh, it's been good.
Okay.
So they're, they're happy about that.
Um, the bigger issue for me is the fact that Chase Young is, is not there.
And whenever asked about it and this, this is what he's done now for two years now, uh,
Ron Rivera has said, well, you know, they're voluntary.
We'd like to have him here, but he's not here for, for him in particular, not necessarily
Montez Sweatt or Charles Leno, who's, who's supposedly knows the offense and all that
and, and may not even be on the team this year.
He could be a cap cut.
But for a guy who's got to prove it situation, the team said you still need to prove it to
us.
He only played three games last year, missed half of the season before.
It would seem to me if, if you're in a prove it situation, you show up and I know the players
are all saying the right thing, but you got to be thinking, if you're a teammate, what's
he doing here?
He was the number two pick of the draft.
He wants to be a leader.
He wants to be a guy who gets paid and he's not showing up for this.
Andy, I think it's optically just not a very good look.
And we've, we've talked about this at Nogdian with Chase, just as it seemed like he's really
invested and, you know, I think you and I are kind of caught from the same clock, what
about little old school mentality?
And you look at Deron Payne, you look at Cam Curl, very similar situations, Andy.
Deron Payne last year wanted a new contract.
He still showed up at OTA, Jeff didn't compete in the team drills, but he was there with
his teammates.
You look at this year, Cam Curl, he wants a new contract.
He's in the final year of his contract.
What's he doing?
No, he's not at home.
He's at team headquarters with his teammates going through individual drills, sitting out
for team drills, but he's there.
There's a presence there.
There's a right way of doing things and then there's the head scratching way of doing things.
I don't get it.
I don't know why Chase Young is not there, at least optically going through the motions,
whatever.
I think it's a mistake and I'm not, you know, part of his marketing or agent, but I just,
you know, from a fan perspective, I think they're frustrated with Chase Young and they're,
he wants to be a leader.
He's that number two, picking the draft.
Kind of got to act like it.
And, you know, maybe his feelings are hurt that they didn't pick up his fifth year option.
How are you going to respond to that?
Are you going to wallow and self pity?
Are you going to stay home, be away from your teammates?
Or are you going to dig in like Duran Payne did at a career year in Duran Payne got paid?
That's the way, in my opinion, again, probably old school mentality that I'd go about doing
it.
No, I think I think you're 100% right on that.
And even if they wanted to, as I understand the rules, even if they decided, oh, we made
a mistake, we didn't give them the fifth year option.
Now we're going to do it.
The window's closed, isn't it?
I mean, they really can't do anything about that at this point.
Yeah, the window's closed.
Yeah, the deadline was May, I think early May.
Yeah.
So I don't know what he intends to gain by this because they really, if they want us
to give them a new contract, it'll have to be at the end of the season.
Or I guess they could negotiate it towards the end of the season.
But there's no really a reason to do that.
How about the Montez sweat part of this?
I know he's in the same situation, but do you think they're united in a way that if they
think they both hold out, it strengthens their cases?
I can see that narrative totally.
I know they're very close and they always chop it up and are near each other in the locker
room.
And obviously they are maybe are buying to death to hip together on this and digging
in together.
And Montez sweat, the little difference there with face young is at least he's had some
production.
He's been one of the bright spots in the defensive line the last couple of years.
Pretty much, he's had some injury issues, but for the most part he's been out there available.
Aside from that big rookie year, unfortunately Chase hasn't been able to stay healthy and
stay on the field.
And that's the big difference right now.
If you're going to ask me who are you going to keep because you can't keep everybody, you
locked up Alan, you locked up Payne and now it's between Chase Young and Montez sweat.
Andy, right now on May 25th, I would go with Montez sweat.
Yeah, yeah, I mean best of best ability is availability and he can play.
You know, but yeah, I mean, you're right about the closeness between the two of them.
This time, not last year, but the year before the two of them were chirping about setting
the record for duo for sacks for a season.
That was the year after the rookie year.
Yeah.
It was training camp going into their second year.
Yeah, and what did it get a sack and a half out of young before he got hurt and what it
sweat had for five that year at most.
So came up a little short, Andy.
They sure did.
We're talking to Scott Abraham of ABC seven, the quarterback, the selling of the quarterback,
which is, which is an annual rite of spring around here this time last year.
Oh, Carson Wentz, they love him.
They played golf.
They all like him.
Carson Wentz came over my house with his daughters and gee, he's a really good dad.
Well, that didn't work.
So now we are having the selling of Sam Howell.
Oh, Sam Howell, he knows he's a leader.
He's out there.
He's he's learned the system.
What's your sense of how and how strong he is for the starting job going into this season?
You make me laugh.
It sounds like you've experienced this multiple multiple times covering this key, man.
Yes, sir.
Yeah, I mean, okay.
So yeah, you've seen all the tweets.
You've seen all the reports and write up.
Yes, he looked good.
He was accurate, you know, on the move, you know, thrown very well.
He got intercepted on his red zone drills by Percy Butler.
He's vocal, you know, he's he's correcting alignment.
So if he's not happy with the way that the splits or the guys are lined up, he he corrects
them and he doesn't, you know, he doesn't snap the ball.
He makes sure everybody's doing the right thing in the right position.
Okay, he's great.
He's great.
All right, but it's not week one.
It's not week two.
It's not, you know, big time opposing defense coming at you and trying to take your head
off.
So small sample size.
Yeah, you saw some glimpses of what he did in Dallas.
So, you know, he did it in the practice field yesterday.
I I'm okay with Sam Howell right now, but talk to me in week four.
That's what I keep telling people.
It's such a small sample size.
They're saying all the right things.
He's doing all the right things.
He's young.
He's going to make mistakes.
He's going to grow, but he has better arm strength and a Taylor Heinekey.
Capability can use his leg.
So the jury's still out.
But as you know, how things happen in this town with quarterbacks, just just just give
it a little bit.
Yeah, give it some time.
Yeah, I know this that the enemy right now is is saying all the positive things.
And that's with his quarterbacks working out in shorts.
And this is a guy who had for the last four years, arguably the best quarterback in the
game and on his way to being one of the greats of all time in Patrick Bajolms.
He's now got a quarterback who's completed 11 passes in the NFL.
I'm going to be very interested to see when he throws a couple of stupid picks who and
the animated Eric B. enemy, how he how he responds to all that, aren't you?
Of course, and it's quite the difference from my homes to Sam Howell and I will counter
that by saying you don't have a Travis Travis Kelsey either and Travis Kelsey was the robin
to the Batman that is a patch of my home.
So a very different dynamic offensively here for Washington compared to Casey.
But that's why they brought in Eric B. enemy because they believe he can help this offense,
jumpstart this office, Cam Currow was even saying in his little press conference just
about the differences of EBS, he said that they're trying to take the top off, which is
a lot different than they did last year during practices and OTAs.
And he said that's a positive that the offense is trying new things and trying to open it
up.
So even there is a big difference compared to Scott Turner of they're trying to hit that
beat ball, the big chunk play, so it's going to be a process for both for E.B. for Sam
Howell for the entire offense.
I'll tell you this though, the player I'm really excited about offensively.
Do you want to take a guess or do you want me to tell you?
Everybody's always excited about Terry McCluren, but who?
No Antonio Gibson, I really think he's going to be that Swiss Army knife type of guy and
E.B. being that running back is going to utilize A.G. in more of a receiving role.
You know, line them up in the slot, line them up in various situations.
I think he's going to be a very strong dual threat running back in this offense.
You'll have Brian Robinson still as the master of the pounder in between the tackles, but
I'm really excited to see how E.B. uses Antonio Gibson this year.
He's talking to Antonio after practice yesterday.
He mentioned about a new energy.
He mentioned about Eric Bienamines, what he's doing with the offense, and he knows this
is a big year for himself.
He verbally said he was not happy with the way things went with him personally, statistically
last year.
And I think he focused and motivated that he could have a big year.
Well, one statistic that he improved on was turnovers.
And if he hadn't...
Hey, he's playing, that's rough.
He wouldn't be here.
So he's still here because of that.
But yes, that's a very good point because as we all know, he was a college receiver.
And so they can make better use of him out of the backfield, which is born.
By the way, I don't know if this has even been asked.
Do we know if the enemy is going to be up in the press box or on the sidelines during
the games?
Do we know that?
That is not that, but I'm going to store that away in my brain for next week.
So we'll keep you updated on that because that's a great point because remember Scott Turner
last year he kind of smashed, we went from the field to the booth back to the field.
So I would guess that he's going to be on the field because he's usually been right next
to Andy Reid on those cut-off shots of the sidelines during their games last year.
So that's my bet that he'd stay on the field.
But we'll get to the bottom of that.
Well, two things on that.
One, Andy Reid's an offensive coach.
So that would make sense.
And Andy Reid supposedly had final say on all things.
And that's one of the reasons he's been stepped up here.
But also because he is so animated and because you're going to have a rookie quarterback,
do you really want a sideline shot of Eric B. Enemy throwing his headset across the field?
See, I think if I'm Rivera, given he's this animated guy, right?
I mean, you're totally different than Scott Turner.
You don't want that look on your sideline.
Let him, let him trash the press box up and up there when he's, when he's angry about
a play.
But for that, Ken Dorsey, the Buffalo Bills last year, when he was in the booth and he
was just going nuts around the headset.
But I will counter that a little bit with Eric B. Enemy having that new title of Assistant
Head Coach.
So I feel like part of the process of being that head coach, Assistant Head Coach, is
to be in the mix, to be in all facets of what's going on on the field.
So I think that's another kind of wrinkle and element and layer with that Assistant
Head Coach title that makes me believe he's going to be on the field, Andy.
And that is a perfect segue to what I was going to ask you about because this was asked
to Rivera at the end of the news conference yesterday about, you know, maybe are you pushing,
you know, him a little bit towards being a head coach by naming him Assistant Head Coach?
He said, it's not just a title.
He's giving him responsibility.
And you tie that in with Rivera saying over and over during the off season that he's roster
building.
I wonder if he's making a case.
Now I don't know how you do this with new ownership and three mediocre years to make
a case for yourself to become the general manager.
But is he thinking maybe there's a segue where he moves up to the front office and the enemy
becomes the coach after next season?
Andy, I didn't think of that.
But you know what?
I mean, it's not far set, but I'm still in the belief though that this new ownership,
they're going to go through that evaluation period and make their decisions in January,
February.
I just think any footprint or fingerprint left behind by Dan Snyder, they don't want
that.
So they kind of want to eradicate everything that has a Dan Snyder hire or whatnot.
So if they struggle to hear Mr. playoffs, unfortunately, I think Ron and the majority
of that staff front office will be gone no matter, you know, any selling point.
Just from a pure business perspective, and I go back to this, I harp on and over and
over again.
If I'm building a $6 billion plus asset business, I'm going to bring in the people I trust that
I know, and especially in this situation where this fan base was just so sick of Dan Snyder,
anything connected to Dan Snyder, you don't want to part of this franchise once you take
over.
So it's business and unfortunately probably a lot of good people, a lot of people that
are very kind and very nice might lose their job just based on productivity, not winning
and just a new ownership wanting to bring in their people.
Okay.
What's the rest of the schedule for this off season stuff?
What are they doing the rest of the way here?
So they got another round of OTAs on Wednesday, which will be the 31st and probably same time
frame.
And then there is, let me go to June here.
There's veteran mini camp.
So next week is another round of OTAs at the 31st and then veteran mini camp starts on
Tuesday, June 6th and then the 7th and then usually he gives them off that third day.
So you'll have back to back week here coming up where you should, the veteran mini camp
Andy is not voluntary, right?
So that's when you should expect everybody to be there.
This month says that's when the whole team will be there together.
That's going to be the big couple of days, the 6th and 7th of June coming up.
Okay.
And then that's it, right?
That's until training camp once they break the mini camp?
Yep.
So you traditionally, he gives them that third day off of veteran mini camp.
So they should be done on Wednesday, June 7th and then they come back for training camp.
Very good.
Good to talk to you.
Thanks so much, Scott.
Andy, appreciate your guy.
Thank you.
That's Scott Abraham, ABC 7.
And it's a little different from the days when we had these big celebrity sports casters
in town with big staffs.
These guys and gals, women, excuse me, they're out there reporting as well as doing their
anchoring and Scott does a great job.
And he's out there for all of that at whatever the facility is called.
How about Commander's Palace?
I like that.
Commander's Palace.
Thanks to Scott Abraham for coming on today.
Thanks to Rex Minterne for running the show.
Thanks to all of you who listened.
Tony is coming back tomorrow.
And I will see you back here tomorrow at 9 a.m.