Hard Knocks Detroit Lions: Episode 3 Recap

00:00:00
Speaker 1: There is nothing like winning, man, there was nothing like winning. And I'm telling you right now, it doesn't matter. If it's freaking dominoes, it's page, it's bourey, it's croquet, it's chess, it's preseason ass kicking. It does not matter. Man, Winning is winning, and it feels good Man. We're winning always. Welcome to another edition of the Hard Knocks Podcast, presented by Around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansas and to my left in studio, the tiny box to my tug boat, tug box. She's pro grit AUNTI fragile. She's our airline pilot with zero flight experience, Colleen Wolf, False, that's false. I have almost a private pilot license, and I have multiple hours, and I graduated flight school, my ground school, So you should be the one playing. I don't think so. My fault. Oh, your old man worked as a air traffic controller. Kind of know what's up, Colleen. We're together for episode three of Hard Knocks here in Inglewood at the Chris Westling podcast studio. And how beautiful it is. And uh, I assume if you're listening to this you probably maybe understand that reference. But Dan Campbell was pumped, all right, Dan Campbell's always pumped all times he's come, he's his insanity or his intensity insanity. And uh, but I do I will say like that line, there's always one that stops me in my tracks with Dan Campbell. But when they're looking to get the defensive stop in the week two preseason game against the Colts that they couldn't get the week before, and he's on the sideline and once again I think he's talking into his headset, but kind of just talking to himself. And this is this is how he explains like the reward word for a defensive player that saves the day. This is what Dan. This is what Dan said freeing out turnover. Anybody gets some punched out here and right to fly to the plane, found themselves breaking literally pilot the plane. What a terrifying prize that is? That is that's what you would get if you were you know, David Bloud the week before and you blew the game on a fumble. Oh now, if you want to be on this team, land the damn plane and no one else is on it but you you gotta take off and you gotta land it too. I mean, that is an interesting reward system that Dan Campbell has going on. I just love how excited he gets over everything. I mean, clearly he's talking about like if he wins croquet, is it croquet? I think I think it was because I'm thinking like croquette, which is I think croquette. Crocheting would also maybe be in there, right crow croquette. Let's just go with it. Yeah, he gets so excited about everything he does. You know, any mentioned chess is like Dan's not playing chess, but that that's that doesn't matter. I think what does matter is something we alluded to an episode two. That episode one was all sunshine and rainbows. It was all we are we got great for days, and we love each other and we have fun and all this, and then episode two was a reminder after the meltdown at the end of the preseason game, Oh yeah, but this team went three and fourteen and there are there are a lot of reasons to be excited, but also they have so much work to do. So yes, it's a preseason game. And much loved NFL Films for being able to squeeze drama at a preseason football because I just I struggle with it as part of my job. But like now we see yes, positive feelings winning. This team now has to win. Yeah, so they have NFL Films has the perfect main character to squeeze drama out of the preseason. Dan Campbell is like a dream for Hard Knocks producers. And just think about the fact that if Dan Campbell is getting this excited about winning a preseason game, like, imagine what happens if they go on, Like if they win two in a row in the regular season. I'm Glen's the interim coach exactly, Like, we will have to check on him. He's going to need a life alert bracelet, maybe like a jazzy for the stairs. I don't know, but it could get up, you know. I and this again, I don't want to temper the excitement around the Lions and Dan Campbell. But I was texting with our good friend Handsome Hank, who's a Dolphins fan, and we were talking about Hard Knocks and how Dan Campbell's so fun to watch and he's so energetic and he's just a great guy for a documentary series. But then you're like, is he a head coach though? Is he ultimately an amazing guy on a coaching staff, or is he is he really head coach material. We still have to see that we want it like I need it. When when people now start running out their playoff predictions and as we get closer to the start of regular season, you're gonna see a lot of football experts put the lines in as the second wild card in the NFC because we all want it. I just I don't want to be hurt because I don't want to see him get exposed by a Matt Lafleur or Kevin O'Connell or whoever else he's going to be going up head to head. But maybe that's again going back to episode one, Connie, when I said maybe I had the Metallica kids wrong. I have to stop thinking of him as a meat head because Dan Campbell is more than that. Dan, I I hate to break this to you. You've been doing hard knocks for how long years maybe years, and you still haven't protected yourself from the potential hurt down the road when you start believing in these teams. You like, this team is not going to be that great this year. I mean, they are building, but hopefully they can surprise us. Favorite thing about Dan Campbell well, I mean there's just so many different things because in the beginning of the show when he's using his pants as an analogy that he grabbed the locker. We want to listen to the pants stuff. We gotta get into the pants. Oh no, I don't have the pants and depends, which is similar depends and pants. I get it. Yeah, you want to And then since you brought it up, do you want to just play the depends line? Actually got your depends on this morning. It's vital coming off. You always gotta wor. I'm just saying it's like fully yeah, istt fully beat and Bill Belichick in the super Bowl. No, because they're not going to the super Bowl, not this year at least, but in the beginning of the show. He mean also, like, is he really calling out and Sloni for having a problem or is he's just he's messing with him? Right? His Pallor looked a little off in this episode and Seloni, so I'm wondering if maybe he was under the weather. Also, his hair is much blonder than it used to be. That was just on my radar. It's definitely bunch, all right, that's blond blonde on blonde crime there and I don't sign off on it. No, I mean so back to my point about the pants uh. In the beginning of the episode, Dan Campbell is addressing the whole team in that meeting room and he says that he wanted to get pants um from his locker, but like this is all he had, and then he starts going through this whole analogy and unfurls a pair of pants right like, I don't and I don't know what was in the pantsum powder maybe maybe like baby powder or some sort, but he was essentially saying it was grit. That's we finally figured out where the grits has been stored and in Campbell's locker and his pants I guess, uh yeah. So anyway, like that whole whole scene was about how they just need to clean stuff up and how there's too much dirt and essentially too much dirt in his pants. I believe the dirt was the that how they blew the first preseason game. They blowed that game, they got to get all that dirt out of their pants and move on. So tied to very nicely, and again NFL Films, it seems like they know what they're doing with this. Tied in very nicely. At the end of the episode, where they get the stop on the two point conversion. We'll get to that, we'll get to the preseason takeaways. But you know, I thought that the there's always Hard Knocks episode where you really start to get to know some of the guys on the other end of the roster, UH, the underdogs, and this was a good I thought they did a good job with this because sometimes you could see it in a Hard Knocks season where they're trying to establish a guy and you don't necessarily connect with him, and then you know that person is gonna be involved for the rest of the show. I do. I'm interested in Malcolm Rodriguez, the young linebacker who's um it seems to be finding his way in an unproven positional group. Khalil Pippleton, the wide receiver, uh and Oh being a as A, the Nigerian player who obviously is trying to make it as an offensive lineman. These are three players that, you know, having watched a show enough, I know it's a possibility here that none of them make the final fifty three, and maybe they get on the practice squad. Um so you can get sucked in and think all these guys are gonna be stars. But I thought that all their arcs in this episode were interesting. And I really have to say, Khalil Pimpleton, um if we could start with him. I I thought he showed some gumption. I thought, I like the I like the onions on Pimpleton. It starts with again the w Yeah, the the guys that have to come up in front of the team in the meeting, and and of course you have Hutch who did Billy Jean, who everybody loved, and you had Rodrigo who did a Latin dance of sometimes like a salsa type dance and salsa salsa type dance and they all love that. And then Pimbleton's like, I juggle, and it starts with like, and I just this is something I try to instill my own two young sons. Just don't let people try to not tell you what what to do. Like, so you hear this guy coming in from the background while he's trying to get his balls out to juggle. We don't want to see that exactly. Guess what he told him pipe down And then he said, I'm not singing a song and he juggled. He juggled those balls. Colleen says, listen, I was thinking while I was watching Pimpleton juggle to name to Pimpleton, it is really the whole. It's a sitch. He's overcome a lot. This uniform doesn't fit. Oh my gosh. I've really felt for him in that moment because his uniform did look too big, and like, when I am not comfortable in what I'm wearing, I can't do my job. Like I did a full on wardrobe change on Sunday night when we were doing the preseason show because my pants were too tight after the first show, and I was like, I can't think about anything else other than my pants right now? Where the where? The pants fine before the show and then a little tight before the show, and then when I sat down, I was like, this is untenable, this entire situation. So then I changed my pants and put flip flops on and I was fine. But I was thinking, what would you do if you had to go in front of a team like that as a as a rookie and do some type of talent, Like what would your talent be? Because I have no idea what I would do. I can't bring an ice skating rink into the facility, Like maybe I would do it, sneaker, Maybe I would. I would. I think I think it's and you will get to Josh Adams, the stand up king of Motown later. Um. He pointed out what hutch aiden Hutchinson choosing like a R and B classic type song. Um, like Billy Jean. I would kind of lean toward that direction, a pop song that I could tell the room would connect with, and then I do my best to sing it. That's what I would do personally. I think that's the safest move. But there is there's something noble to me in two thousand twenty two about a young man with a sixty dollars signing bonus juggling juggling tennis balls too, Like I just like it, like teen thousand dollars signing juggling. Liked it. You know that was gritty. I thought that's what it was. It was and so you know, best of luck to him. I do think that Rodrigo doesn't have a shot of getting cut, Like I think that he's definitely going to make the team. The more I want Usually, like we say, with the hard knock seasons, you get more and more excited about the team, and by the end of the season you're like, oh, fifteen and two, let's let's roll. Let's head to the bye round in the playoffs. I think they're linebacker group. It seems like UM an atomic show of sorts. It's dicey, and it seems like Rodrigo has a real chance to get it done. I thought the Obina Obina is a I don't know, because his nickname is Easy, so we can His story is really interesting obviously that he uh from Nigeria, Um played basketball and eventually moved to football. And when he first got to America, which was only like seven or eight years ago, I think he had never even seen like shoulder pads. H to see um that he is now trying to make it. This is the hard knocks. This is a great hard knocks underdog story. And seeing his family, his wife in his and his mother rooting him on that that was nice. It was And you know, the thing that really stood out to me was Hank f really like, why do you have to be so aggressive? It just it was some tough love from the offensive line. He was ragging on Easy for not being a good basketball player when clearly Easy is trying to make this team too. And then when he's screaming at him in front of the whole I guess the position group, saying you know, who are you cheating? And Easy's like clearly doesn't understand like what what he's trying to get at, and so he's like, nobody, I'm not cheating anybody. That felt like a very honest, genuine answer, and he didn't understand what the inference was then, right, and Hank f really just like wasn't reading that at all. He was very Hank fraily like in that style. It felt like you also missed the part where Hank Frehley, to use a Philadelphia legend uh in film, went full Mick and was like women weaken legs and it's just like, come, here's the thing. Like with with Easy, he was kind of either exhausted or dogging it um in the film, you can't Maybe he's learning, I mean, the the eye and the sky doesn't lie and they're watching at all times, and hopefully he grows from that through uh in part addressing down from a coach, because that's part of what sports and football is about. But I think you make a good point that there might have been something lost there um in the connection there so yeah, and then we got to the chippy joint practices. I like that. It's a good transition. Oh, yes, yes, yes, exactly. Alright, listen, Dentalica, we understand that you're excited. We're excited. We're about to get Yeah, dream brother, I just want to curse listening to him every time I hear him, Like, I want to get a beer with him. I want to hang out with him. I feel like he would be such a good time. All right, Sean McVeigh, Dan Campbell matching Wits in December. Do we feel good about it? Oh? I guess so we're matching grit. I feel great about it. I feel great about it. How far does grit take a team and a coaching stuff? That is a good that's a good test. We're gonna we're gonna learn a lot about the Detroit lines. Yea, so they had the joint practices. As you said, Colin, you've been your well traveled in this world of NFL that one of the best practice facilities in the league is at Indianapolis. It's gorgeous. It is, it's very hot, Dreams brod a baby, it was. It's a gorgeous facility. Like I I think that they're doing a great job down there in Westfield, Indiana, very nicely done. So he Campbell, like anything else, it's it's life or death. This is a big deal um these practices, and he wants to show again not just the cults but the world that the Lions aren't going to be pushed around anymore. And it was even funny because I think ninety strong percent of the reason that Dan Campbell's into coaching is like because you could hit other people and beat people up. And he and he gives that speech before the first practice or he's like, listen, if anybody's fighting. If anyone fights, you're gone. Your evaluation is over. And then he's also like, I want to see you guys fighting out there. I don't want you guys to take nothing from nobody. And I imagine if like that's a that's a tough needle to threaten. Okay, So super conflicting messages that Campbell is sending to the team because he says paint your faces, sharpen your spears, which I want to know, like, what what is the stand Campbell seen? So it's like it's all right if you kill somebody, but if anybody fights your evaluations over you all your day is done. And then at one point when we were watching the show, because we all watched the show together this week, we paused it because there was a shot of Campbell in his office and there was a lot of word art, which I really wanted to see. What the word art was behind him? Was that store at the mall in the late nineties, Spencer's No, not Spencer's time to remember now? What was it? It was in that it was hot topic? No, no, it was wow, it's not hot topic. Hot topic is edgy. This was like a um a place you go for motivational post It was like a gift shop. Things remembered? Was that it I don't know, I don't know anyway, this is where he got this stuff. Yeah, and so the one the one word just gave you and you're out of your depth, Donny from Biglebowski, sorry to go full good Man on you. We know all about malls Graver. Uh. One of his word arts in his office was a champion is someone who gets up when he can't. But if you can't get up, like it feels like a conflict, you understand, you know, you understand what it means. Again, that's all great. It is. It's a great situation we had talked about in that practice. Jamal Williams was a star of episode one, wasn't really in episode two Episode three. I came out of the episode like being like that was cool to see Williams. But he was he was like out of his mind in this practice. He was I don't know, like the energy was off before he went into that practice. He played like a guy who's head coach gave a super confusing speech before the practice. He was also like beatboxing at one point, so it was like and then like throwing the ball to a couple of kids in the stands and it was like way over overhoting got a three year old boy. But the way that he was jawing with Zaire Franklin, I mean that was that was a whole storyline, and we saw that whole thing on Twitter and Franklin, Yeah, what was going on? So, like we said, he was, he was drawing constantly in the practice. Mat Williams over everything to the point where it just it felt like it had to be a little bit of a distraction. He was too amped up and uh on Twitter, what did you see there? So NFL Films tweeted like a little teaser clip, nothing like a chippy joint practice popcorn emoji with between Franklin and Jamal Williams and Zaire Franklin quote tweeted the clip and said, only in the league can a bum lose three reps in a row and still yell like he won. Crying face emoji, crying, crying laughing emoji. I hope you're ready to cry about another losing season, Champ and Connie. As you pointed out while we're watching, a well placed bum is way more effective than some type of vitriol in terms of abuse of language. Is like as a sweet spot for me. Yeah. Jamal Williams reply to his amazing sir, I literally made you look stupid in team period when you missed an open field tackle and I ran you in the safety for a touchdown during team period. Please go about your business crying laughing emoji, crying laughing emoji. You're not about that when it's go time. Okay, this is so petty, I am so in for this. Can this episode just be graver reading? But for me, the fact that there was a bum and a sir us I mean that. Thank you thank you, Twitter Gods. Bum is super underutilized, and this was bum was a big word in our house growing up. I don't know. I think it's like kind of a big thing in Philly maybe, or maybe it is just my family. But I'm gonna go circle back to I don't have a lot of Philly knowledge. I'm more North Jersey guy, but I know Rockies. Yeah, my grandmother always used to say to us about our grandfather, he's a bomb. And so that's the first time I learned about it. I love that. Um. One of my favorite moments of unintentional comedy uh this season and maybe in several seasons on Hard Knocks comes via assistant head coach running backs coach Do Staley, who, as we know from the first couple of episodes, loves to be animated and loud and be very involved with practice. Well that becomes a problem when your voice goes on you early in the joint practice. Here's Do stallely dressing down his running backs group after a unimpressive series or two. So you trob to hear you. You gotta ask you, ask you. That's point and that's not the standards, and you like what the cabinet because I don't like you. He wasn't attacking. It wasn't do we have more? I need more. That's not what we're talking about. That's not what we about. So you probabi and tell you right now you're better, especially when you get tired, stop feeling sorry for you. Sell. You gotta play time. You gotta play, coming back with your eyes all big. I can come dealt next you play, You're gonna know. How did the players and none of them like crack the smill. I mean, they're getting dressed down and they're trying to make a football team, but like it was the way how animated and fired up. What he was reminded me of those YouTube videos that took off a couple of years ago, like the NFL. Yeah, well whatever you could plug in whatever it was like used for comedic effect where you saw him all fired up and then it was like a little boy voice on helium and it was just like I couldn't help but laugh and and he was being deadly serious. And they started that quote with him saying I want you to hear me. Hear me good, but literally hear him. Yeah, but I want someone to remix that into a song. You know how people can do that. Any of our listeners can do that. I feel like there's some really good lines in there that you could spin into something great. All Right, let's take a quick break and then we'll get to the rest of the episode. All right, welcome back. Let's move to the back half of the episode. In the big preseason game we talked about, it was a late m a game where again the lines had the lead. They almost let it all slip away on a late touchdown, but then get get the stop um at the end for the first w and uh, what were some takeaways you had from the preseason affair against the Colts. This is a show that is just absolutely filled with outrageous quotes, but this was one of my favorite quotes of the entire show. Okay, so you know, for me, it is yes mean easy. Who is um A Beena's wife? She was going wild the whole time? And I just felt like that was so relatable because if I was exactly what I would sound like if I was watching like John out there, if I was watching any of my close friends like you out there, like I would be screaming just like that. It was my inner monologue during the entirety of COVID just at all times. Big takeaway there, But um, isn't it weird? I've thought about this before in Hard Knocks. But when a family that obviously is incredible family incredibly invested in their son or husband or boyfriend's success on the field and trying to make the team, and when they're on the offensive line, especially like I've been come ring football for years and years and I don't know the I lean on Brian Baldinger and people like that to understand like what a guy's doing. You could tell when a guy's a turnstyle, but the nuances of that position are so fine. But when you're in the two section and the person's career is on the line, that has to be a special kind of like just winging it. In terms of emotional support, are you doing well or you're not doing well? Like who knows she's the most supportive wife ever the way that she was going crazy. I mean, just think about it though, if you're married to someone who's a long snapper, like, how do you well that know? But you do know that, I guess yeah, long snap it snap pretty strap work exactly Like his hand placement was terrible there, it's like you need you almost need baldy next to you. You need a baldy type you do everybody needs a baldy or you just be supportive no matter what I just mean in terms of critical nuance to studying your partners play on the field. Or she's very invested. Maybe they watch tape together. Who knows tae talk. Uh yeah, so that was good. I thought it was interesting in the coverage of the game from NFL Films perspective. Uh, we got to see David blow have a moment at the end of the first half, which was nice because Blouse certainly seems like a nice guy and um, he had to wear it at the end of the previous episode, so showing him get the touchdown passing on a nice throw in the back corner of the end zone at the end of the half. I do wonder when is my boy, Tim Boyle gonna get some run? Maybe the show I mean, listen now, the clock's ticking. And on that subject, no, Jared Golf Golf let me. I want to say that for when you know predictions about it coming up episodes, but I think Tim Boyle deserves some run. Not to mentioned Ben Johnson where is the offensive coordinator of How do we not I think graver? You said at one point we might have seen him like at the edge of a shot, in the side of a frame. Yeah, Like, can we at least give Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator of the Detroit lines, a tiny bit of run in a preseason game before this is over? Right? Because Deuce actually, I mean he's chewing a lot of scenery Aaron Glenn talking, He's getting major segments of the show. You know what. That was so interesting too, because, as you pointed out when we were watching Dan, Deuce had his voice back almost a couple of days later from those joint practices when he had completely was wrap City. Yeah, our boy Sewn Kelly had the good take that he was just banging those lozenges, hammering him yep, tea and honey and lemon, the voices and shutdown mode. I think you've probably been in this boat before it happened to me last year. Um, I've screened at the top of my lungs in my house because gian Carlos Stanton hit a grand slam of Fenway Park and then I woke up the next day my voice is just shot, and I was like, oh, I have like fourteen podcasts coming up this week, So I and I just had to um not talk for two days through the weekend, and then I just croaked my way through the next couple of shows. The scene has completely been deleted from my memory. I don't remember anything that happened from there was There was a croakey Sunday Night pod and then on uh we did a power Rankings taping with Matt money Smith and he was just laughing at me when I admitted my voice was gone. I've only it's only happened to me one time, and it was after my bachelorette party in Vegas and it was my first trip to Vegas, and I lost my voice for a full week and a half. I think I was just screaming for four days. Like, yeah, it sounds like you've ingested something funny enough. I'm going to Vegas this weekend, so we'll see what happened. We'll be careful. UM, all right, what else anything else from the preseason game that you wanted to touch on? UM? I guess the only thing was there was like a funny moment with Aaron Glen on the sideline. UM that had us cracking up, and we were watching him during the game. But it was only one word that he kind of like erupted with and we really play it. It wouldn't really make sense as a drop. It's the mother of all swear words. Yes, so when you watch you'll see um. So that was funny. But yeah, that's it um all right, Now let's move on. Is it time for the Leef Schreiber Quote of the week. I can feel it. It's time, right. Leef Schreiber is not on this show. He's on Hard Knocks. He's not on this show. But thankfully, my longtime friend Jason Zumwalt is a voice artist and he does not I want to make this very clear. He only gets I shoot him the text. He does not know the inflection from Schreiber, and every time it's spot on. Here is the latest edition of the Leef Schreiber Quote of the Week. I'll give a little just context. It's the Colts player or the players for the lines of walking along a blue pathway to Colts practice. This isn't oz. It's day two in Indianapolis, but it is time for the line ends to double down on courage. It's so good. He is so talented. We need a drop for that, just like, uh, that's it's its own section, right, I think we do. I think we need to send Jason Zumwaal some Detroit style pizza by the end of this show. Are we paying him anything for this? I'm working on it. It's just Jason's done a lot of pro bono work for around the NFL over But you know what a kind man. We got him to the super Bowl. Okay, so that's pretty good. Yeah, all right, I mean it was to see the Rams win the super Bowl and he's a die hard Cardinals fans. Maybe we we'll figure something out. Okay, alright, how about before we get to m v p vos, how about some plot line predictions for episode four. Let's yeah, circle back to Goff here, because my first thought he's on the team stone the episode ended, my first thought was, Okay, this is getting awkward. We need to get to Jared Goff. But now, like I thought about it more, it's like, nah, why not attempt the impossible? A Hard Knocks season where the first string quarterback is not involved in any capacity. Well, as we said, the offensive coordinator is also not involved. But for the quarter of the quarterback is usually the main character of the entire team. He especially for one of these shows, the there's a line of Vince Lombardi. I got it from Chris Westley because he said it often that the only problem, if you want to call it, with football is that the rules of football in the sport of its sport itself, is that the quarterback is so disproportionately important to the enterprise that it kind of excused things a little bit. And yet here we are three hours into Hard Knocks out of five hours, and Jared Goff, his entire um impact on the show was hitting Hutch on the shoulder pad and saying to Huch's dad, he's doing great out there. That's it. Listen, the Hard Knocks crew, they've dealt with Jared Goff a lot, and they've probably exhausted a lot of Jared golf like personal storylines and things, and they and they probably as a service to the viewers, they don't want to be repetitive. It's a service. I don't feel like we're missing a lot. But aren't you curious to know if Jared Goff moved to Detroit and also built a little golf course in his backyard there too. I am curious. I don't need a whole I don't you know how I'm gonna press these television They'll they'll just follow one of the characters for the entire hour, and it's like, oh, I don't we actually just all right, I'll let indulge yourself. I don't need like episode four to be fifty eight minutes of Jared Goff, but I would like to check in with Jared Goff, Like where's Jared Goff in? His former number one overall pick. Clearly a bridge quarterback. He's probably not the future, but he's very much the president, and he has obviously a golden opportunity to re establish himself. There is some meat on this narrative bone, maybe even just a wellness check at this point, like Jared, are you okay? How are you doing? Campbell ever talked to you before? Like that would be my first question. Does Dan know your name? That's terrible. I'm still waiting, and I'll continue to say this until it happens, because I've seen so many hard knocks seasons. Um a visit downtown that pays homage to the Detroit music scene, soul, blues, hip hop, garage, rock, something that's got to be coming, right, and cars, that's what I want. Cars. I mean, even the comedian that was in this episode, which we'll touch on it a little bit. Yes, cars need to be involved. Ford is a huge deal there, right, and I think it's come on and it's in the open with the tires and the cars and all of it. So that's got to happen. To say, the Detroit Lions and their OWNERSHROP Group do agree that Ford is a huge deal. It's it's a massive part of the enterprise everybody. Also, I think that coming up we'll see maybe a little Jeffa kuda Um action because we haven't really seen anything from him. So maybe the starting cornerback battle will be a little bit of a storyline to we've in coming up this week. But I will say that even though there's some things that you know, Jamison Williams, who we just learned in the news that you know he's expected to start the season, I believe on the pup list and we knew that because he's coming off the A C. L Um would be interesting just to see this rookie that everyone's so excited about. It is electrifying. Wide receivers rehabs the knee. I don't know if we're going to get that, But in general, I feel like the storytelling. Storytelling in the season has felt fresh while at the same time feeling like hard knocks. So I I don't have any complaints. Um, I don't even I'm not even like a big like, alright, send two players into the city. Guy, I'm not. I'm just saying I'm so used to seeing it, but I'm expecting it and it hasn't happened. I think that's why this season has been so good, because it's not they're not doing things because they have to do it because they've done it before. Because it feels like the viewers are used to it. They're just telling the stories that are there and they're good and they are fresh, and you know, we love this show. But if you want to be fair, there is a criticism from some people that say, sometimes there's a sameness if you watch season after season. So yeah, maybe there's this is a conscious effort to mix it up a little bit. Yeah. I like that. We all got to evolve, everybody. You gotta learn, you gotta grow, you gotta develop, and then maybe you will become an m V P. And remember remember, oh that was your translation at m v P. It's time. Remember this is vector voting, which is what again, I don't know. I forgot every vote counts. Grave Digger will take care of it. There's addition above that was remember you were asking me, what was the third thing I had asked you or we asked for merch got it, asked for Detroit pizza. I believe you're working on it, coming soon. Right, here's the Oh my gosh, I love my shirt. I just got it right before we started this episode. I can't wait to wear it. It's so soft. And the third request I had Graver was addition basic addition, tallying up the votes throughout episode one through five. Yeah, so anyway, um, it's a weighted voting system. Third place vote, second place vote, first place vote, and at the end of the year Graver does the math. We declare the m v P of Hard Knocks. Let's go third place vote starting with Connie. Okay, so third place for me, this week was a little difficult the first two episodes, you know, I think because the first episode was easy for me, and then I think this week was even a little bit more difficult than last week. My third place vote is going to go to Jamal Williams because he was such a character during those joint practices that it was hard to not notice him, and his personality is so big and his energy just pops off the screen. So Jamal Williams for me is third place. It's a good call. I don't have him on my list, but I understand why you did it, because he is its. He makes for entertaining television, and that's the goal here. I was a little annoyed by him, like his antics in the practice were a little much for me, Like I I felt it would though like that him and Franklin, I just wanted to shut up. It was like he was so obsessed with settling scores. But maybe, again, this is a professional athlete, Like this is maybe how he gets juiced and this lets him play at his highest level. I don't know, but yes, I found I watched that with a smile on my face or more than just like a huh, what's going on with this guy? Was the smile turned into a grimace. It was like not a grimace, but more like, uh, what's up with Williams today? Um alright? Third place vote for Jamal Jamal Williams my third place vote, and I think this is someone that's on your list. Is Josh Adams, the Motown king of comedy. Absolutely, yeah, that one. You know, it is very difficult to Uh, that's a tough spot because Adams is going into this room filled with professional athletes and macho guys and they're very much in that mode in terms of competition. Was like, that's a group, that's a family, that's a yeah, and it's like impress us and he has to go there and do it. And damn it did Josh Adams impress him. He slayd, he killed and his set that we watched here there, here's here's one um when he looked over to the number two overall pick and addressed Hutchinson, hud, what's up? What are you going? Just justin Timberlake coming off. It's a big strong if as Adam's coming up on your list. Okay, so we'll hold, we'll hold there. So he's my vote because I just again I respect that he went into that room and won the crowd over and just was funny as well. So the third place vote, Josh Adams, I absolutely loved him, but he was not my second place, who really like so much. I loved him so much. He can't. I mean, at this point, I would never want step on your first place vote. But I never imagined the stand up comic that went into the meeting room. He was my favorite. That was he had so many good lines. I laughed so many times. I'm never not going to see Aidan Hutchinson as justin timber Lake or a backstreet boy coming off the edge like that. He called Dan Campbell like Hulk Hogan. He was so good. He came in, he hooked everybody with the signing votus was two hundred dollars line and like that was it. That was his inn. So I gave him a first place vote. I mean, we'll get to we'll get to the first place. Um. But their second place vote, second place vote, it was between Dan Campbell and Deuce Staley, and I gave it to Dan Campbell. Dan Campbell is just it's so hard to to to beat him because of the presence that he has. The crazy things that he says that don't even make sense, but I still love them and I still remember them. I mean, paint your faces and sharpen your spears like that, what's what are you talking about? Absolutely? Yeah, So he's for me. Winning is everything to him and they finally got to win for him. So it's a big week for him. And I want Dan Campbell to be successful because, you know, as a fan of a downtrodden team, eternally downtrodden team, the Jets, I view the Lions as brethren. I'd love to see it, and they're in the NFC, so they're not my issue anyway. I would love to see the Lions and Dan Campbell rise. But even if it didn't work out, ultimately, Dan Campbell has proven himself as a great kind of teacher of men and a man who loves ball and loves the sport. He's going to be around und NFL for as long as he wants to be around NFL. I've really had he's flying that plane. He is, he is flying the plane. Uh second for me, I'm going to give it to Khalil Pimpleton. Yeah. Again, his name is Khalil Pimpleton. He when he's trying to think what am I gonna do in front of this team, he says, I'm gonna juggle And again, I just thought the gumption It's everything I teach my I try to teach my son's you know, don't do what you think makes you fit in. Just do what you feel you should do and stand strong and just go do it. And then he makes man in this world. Yeah, and he made some plays in the joint practices and I just thought, here's an underdog that I could get behind. Pimp pimp too. Yeah that's right. Oh my gosh. I just caught that because I was like, who's he calling pimp out there? That makes a whole lot of sense. Um, yeah, it's a good one. And um, your so your first is gonna be Josh Adams. Do want to hear josh on Dan Campbell? Yes, all right, let's hear it. Pop. I know that big game we need doing special Dames family. He walked up to me biggest you know, I'm so true. It's also like the little elements of the joke that you know, his routine kills like breaking up the wedge. I just love that, Like he you know, you know who knows ball, Josh Adams. He's really good. He was funny. ALEXANDZELONEI thor, I mean it was just really it was a good set. I enjoyed it. It was great set, so good job, Josh Adams. Um, I do have Dan Campbell with my first place vote for everything we've talked about. It was weird. Did you think it was weird? I know you thought it was weird because we talked about it already before that we started talking to the mics. Did you think it was weird, Connie that when Josh Adams is going off on Dan Campbell in a lighthearted way, but in a pointed way, we never got a reaction shot to Campbell. Yes, And I was watching to see the player's eyes and some of them were like had a little bit of like they were nervous laughing, And I was wondering if they were looking at Campbell because maybe he wasn't happy about it, But I'm sure he he seems like a guy that as take a joke and let's let's just be fair because we are we've been complimenting NFL films and how brilliant they are. If there's an overhead shot of the entire coaching staff pulling back maniacal Dan Campbell trying to race to the front of the stage to beat the comedian uh into the ground, we need to see it. He was sharpening his spear. Yeah, yeah, he's like physically sharpening a spear in the corner while the comedian is uh, lightheartedly insulting him. Yes, we need to see it. I was really wondering about that because they had cutaways of everyone else that he was ripping on unless he wasn't in the room, which doesn't sound like Dan Campbell's style. We need to see how Dan Campbell reacted to that unless he unless it was, you know, a reaction, but they probably would have showed that. But unless they had to take it out or something, unless he didn't love it, and then the lions are like, we don't love it. Oh little conspiracy theory. Alright, So Dan Campbell gets my first play Places vote because again I think he's absolutely so far three episodes and lived up to the hype of what we thought. He's a quote machine, he's high energy, and he's just like he's the sun in this universe. Yeah, he's the straw that stars the drink. All right, that's it for this week. We'll be back next week next Tuesday night for another recap for the penultimate episode of the seventeenth season of Hard Knocks. I can't believe it goes fast, goes fast, and uh, I hope people are sticking with the show to the very end because they think they've built this up and it's going to be a lot of on to see how these underdogs come through the blowhard nations standing up, maybe some more Jared Goff? Can we get one more scream? Yes? Whoa? Oh my god? Loved it all right until next week later