 Football is back, it's party all day here in LA, special guest including a Super Bowl champ whose name rhymes with Shmerick, Schmettle it all kicks off, now happy game day. Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm ready for war, I'm destined for greatness that's where to my hobby that leave, I'm up on the scene I told you I'm up on the scene, yeah, I'm ready for war, I'm ready for war tonight, I'm ready to set it as code, set it as code tonight. Football is back. Welcome to Up in Addams, I'm Kay Adams. Lots of guests, yes, Shmerik Shmetal. And Brian, do you know who that is? I sure do. No you don't, it's hard. It was a tough clue. He likes ice cream Sundays, he's got a long beard and he's part of our Fanduola family. That's right, Eric Weddell. We'll be stopping by the show in a bit. We are getting set for the Buffalo Bills. Taken on the L.A. Rams right here in my new home in Los Angeles where I don't have air conditioning or internet or a car, but I have football and that's why I'm back for my extended vacation. Listen, I got a lot of thoughts about this game and there's so many question marks, right? I was on Safari, I've talked about it, you've all seen the pictures on Instagram. And while I was there, I won't lie. I have said I am plugged, but I thought about football a lot, right? Each group's goal in like a lion's pride, these different groups, survive in advance. Each tries to, you know, they hold their turf, they're trying to advance, they're trying to stay safe to hunt and inevitably to attack, that's what lions do. The prides in the Serengeti are not dissimilar to our NFL teams, there's one that's the most badass, the strongest, the most feared not to be messed with, that my friends is the L.A. Rams team. They're coming off months of easy livin', being on top, getting fat, sleeping all day. They want every fight, they are untouchable, but here, today on NFL Kickoff Day, the 2022 season, hours from now, everything might change, everything might go poof. There is news even this morning of their top male lion, former lion, Matthew Stafford, if you will, him being less than 100%, chef they're saying surgery, chef they're saying surgery on that elbow, that much under-reported elbow, the most under-reported elbow in all of NFL history, I do believe. Listen, the point is no pride stays on top forever and they are always tested when vulnerable. Tonight's gonna be incredible. I cannot wait, I'm going to the game if you see me. Let's hang out. Is this Buffalo blue or Rams blue? Stay tuned. Yeah, it looks a little ramy, he says. We'll see how it shakes out. We have that loaded Super Bowl bound anointed squad going into championship territory and trying to make their play for king of the jungle. That's just what happening. Sean McVeigh, these are things I'm lookin' at. Great out the gate, undefeated in opening games. No Odell, enter Allen Robinson. Novon Miller, he's on the other squad playing tonight. Enter Bobby Wagner, no Whitworth on that side as well. For the Bills, no Brian Dable. What, no one's concerned about this? No one, nobody's really talking about that either as far as I see. No Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley, you might say, well they weren't, you know, stud wide receiver ones or are we joking? Cole Beasley especially and Emmanuel Sanders played a pivotal role in Josh Allen's football life over the past three years. So I'm excited for the continued emergence we saw in the playoffs of course of Gabe Davis. I'm trying to make sure it's Gabe, not Gabriel. I get it, I got the memo. And Isaiah McKinsey, a lot of pressure on him to shine. To me this game though comes down to can the Buffalo Bills stop the Rams passing attack? Can they keep it under control? No Trey White is huge, I've said it all week. I'm already bored of saying it. He's used all over, right? Buffalo has young corners, the safeties will help of course, but that's the thing that I'm most looking at. So to fill in some of our holes and to get information, I really wanted to bring in people who are with those teams day in, day out. Well I'm out on safari, we've got two of the best in the game who are together somehow. I am not kidding, we're welcoming in now Jordan Rod Rieg and we're welcoming in Catherine Fitzgerald respectively. Jordan of course for the athletic covers the Rams day in, day out and Catherine does the same with the bill side of things for the Buffalo News. Ladies, I reached out to both, or I had my producers reach out to both of you and somehow you are together, explain. Well we go way back, we're really good friends for years and years and years and unfortunately we generally live on the opposite sides of the country but a game like this was an opportunity for us to get together and just have a great time and just make sure that we keep that friendship strong. So did you, Catherine, Catherine did you both get, sorry, please go ahead. No you're so good. I think the moment the schedule came out we're like, okay, so I'll see you this day, I'll come in from the airport, let's hang. I picked her up with a Lunchable in the car, you know, it's all good. Like a pizza Lunchable or we're talking like Cheddar and Ham. Using crackers, you know, elevated. Elegant, elegant, the charcuterie of children, of course. Catherine, did you guys get like the same email from us within five minutes of each other and say, wow, this is weird? Well, I texted Jordan like, hey, I think I'll have to be up kind of early, is that okay? And she's like, oh, I'll be up as well and I was like, okay, cool, it's for this and that's what we found out. That is amazing, I love it, but I kind of want you to fight during this segment. So let's get Catherine to, you know, you're not the home team and you're not the Super Bowl champion. So respectfully, Chris Collins, worth yourself out of the frame here and let's dig into things on the Ram side with Jordan Rodriguez. You're such a talented writer and you go into the nitty gritty and I'm just so obsessed with you and I'm so happy you're here. And tonight, you know, we've got Stafford versus Alan we're gonna see obviously a quarterback display. The lingering elbow issue, to me seems alarming, talk to me. You know, I think anytime a quarterback has any sort of issue with an arm, you're always gonna be concerned, you're always gonna be worried, but you know, the procedure, you know, he had won a single procedure as far as I know, as far as I'm aware. And it was early in March and it was non-surgical. And so that's kind of the nuance here in terms of what Matthew Stafford has been going through. He didn't throw through the spring and he kind of had this elevated ramp up period through the summer and through training camp. This is something the team is going to be managing all year. It's something they managed all year last year, as you know, okay. And the difference here is with a truncated off season and the expectation of a very, very long season, the team wanted to control every possible variable that it possibly could through the part that they actually can control before things get chaotic and crazy as they tend to do in Ram's land. So yes, this is something that will always be something that they're managing and looking at until a more permanent fix is possible. But as far as Matthew Stafford is concerned, you know, I watch him throw every single day and he's throwing it all around the yard. He's got the same zip to it, he's accurate. So obviously we won't know what we don't know until the week comes when it's clearly, you know, maybe an issue, but for now he's feeling healthy, he's ready to go. He says no limitations and, you know, procedurally, all those things happened early in the spring. It's so true. And, you know, Kelly Stafford posted a picture. I think that's how the world sort of found out about this going on. And then now we're finding out that it was a surgery. Whenever you hear that, it's a quarterback who's got a lot of miles on him, that arm. It's something to be concerned about. Not in this game though, right? I'm not even looking at that tonight. If that's a problem tonight that we have huge grave concerns, it's totally not even something I'm thinking about out the gate. It's just those pivotal games down the season. But if it was a deal that was managed last year, there's no reason that can't happen. Again, they won the Super Bowl. The question is, can they do it again? This is almost haunting them going into this matchup. Yeah, it's interesting. This is, I think they, as you know, they are eerily good at compartmentalizing, right? I think all football teams are that way in a sense. But there was an immediate effort as soon as they sort of stumbled off of the parade buses back early in the spring, that this was going to be put behind them. The ring ceremony was what it was. And players really contributed in the design of that. And that was really fun for them. But there's been this sense of leave 2021 behind and forward into 2022. And honestly, I thought that was going to be a cliche. I thought I'd walk into the BOTAs in the spring and just hear a bunch of coach speak in that regard. But these guys are actually living it. And I think the new additions of Alan Robinson and Bobby Wagner bring a little more of that fire. Plus the fact that some guys who are injured want that chance to go win a title. And I think that's been a big difference maker here. Alan Robinson, I mean, think about his NFL journey, what it would mean to him to be on a championship team, just a contending team with a great quarterback. And he will bring that hunger to the locker room. You're right. Now, I am the president. I don't know if you know this, Jordan, the absolute president of the Bobby Wagner fan club. I in fact will be at, I'll drive to Canton from LA and I will be there whenever that day comes. And he's being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He is incredible. Is it true that he was named team captain after just a couple of months being there in LA? And what's his impact on the team? Absolutely. And that was really striking. You know, everyone knows Bobby Wagner. Everybody sort of speaks about him with that reverence and that awe as he deserves because he's a special player and a special person. But at the same time, team captain in his first season, coming into a team that is absolutely loaded with star players. And for players to vote him, team captain really was significant and showed the impact he's had already. Bobby told me that the first thing that he wanted to do stepping on campus in Thousand Oaks was to learn everybody. And Kay, you know that when he says something like that, that means a heck of a lot more than your typical sort of, yeah, I want to get to know my teammates as friends and people. Like he's really made an effort to dig in and really understand. He sits with different position groups and stretching lines every day. He's in business meetings. Like it's just, it's been a fantastic experience, I think for all of them and to really look at him as a person and for him to see them. He's in business meetings. Oh yeah, he's involved in this organization, tip to toe. He is genuinely investing in how this team works, not just why it works. And Ann, you're talking about, let's not pretend he's some veteran that's gonna come in there and just like be good for the locker room in the building. He's still one of the best players in the national football league. He had 170 tackles last year. He missed almost two absolute full games at the end of the season, which I warned everybody about. Good morning, football. It's just even last at Bobby Wagner to see Alex Uniform maybe this week. And that's what happened. So I think he's still got a lot to give as he was racking up those tackles left and right. All right, we wanna bring in Catherine, but I know that you did, you're very, you have a lot of access to Jaylen Ramsey. Like your work over at the athletic is amazing. He of course, speaking of procedures, had something done, I think to his shoulder over the off season. That's a little adversity he's facing. You know, we had Darius Butler call him the best quarterback in the league. He'll be certainly busy tonight trying to contain that bill's offense. What should we know about him going into the season? Yeah, you know, I was really fortunate that he sat down with me and gave me the time to really go in depth on who he is, not just what he has contributed on the football field and not just how he's known as a player. Because I think sometimes the understanding of him externally is different than the understanding of who he actually is and what he's actually about. So Jaylen going really in depth on his why and his understanding and recognition of his own adverse moments and his own times of growth and process. That has been really, really fascinating. This is a two time now team captain, speaking of captains. That's a player vote. And I think that if you're looking from the outside in and you're seeing, you know, the signature trash talk and the ethos of being a cornerback in the national football league, you think, oh, that's all that guy is. And really he's been so much more to this team and in so many ways from the veterans to the young players that he's taken under his wing. Yes, that shoulder was an issue, had surgery in the summer. But he's expected to be a full go. He's sort of ramped up and taken it easy in through training camp, did a little coaching, was walking around on the sideline with a play card, calling the defense. So that was pretty fun to watch. Pretty fun to watch and pretty scary for Stefan Diggs who doesn't do so well when he's locked up. And it sounds like Jaylen wants to be that unavoidable force out there on the field. And he should be on digs all night. Diggs just two catches for nine yards. One touchdown in two games when he's meeting and hanging out with his friend Jaylen Ramsey. All right, let's bring in your friend, Catherine. Of course, he was joining us talking Buffalo News, All Things Buffalo. Catherine Fitzgerald, we appreciate you so much. You guys, this is hilarious. This is absolutely hilarious. Tell me this, how are the bills handling the fact that every person in the world is picking them to win the Super Bowl? They were underdogs and I love that for them. Yeah, I think they really leaned into that role previously of we're the underdogs, we have so much to prove. It matches the culture of Buffalo too of, let's show everyone why this place matters. So now they have to flip out of it to be people are predicting us to win. I think within the organization, they've handled it really well. A lot of people have pointed to Josh Allen as he's the one who steadies us. It starts with him, obviously all players and coaches trying to steady these expectations, but Allen's really one that so many people in the locker room veterans included have mentioned as he's helping us navigate this. Yeah, and they went all in on Von Miller, right? Let's just talk about it. They're saying they wanna be underdogs and have the mentality, well, you don't spend six years, over a hundred million on a guy and then draft a bunch of pass rushers as well to sort of shore up maybe some of their only weaknesses that they're telling you we're going to go win the Super Bowl and we're going to get there and get it done. So what is his impact been already and what should it be tonight? Yeah, it's been so fun to watch. I was lucky this summer to get to go to his pass rush summit where he brought in Bill's defense events too and seeing how he's already getting to know them kind of what Jordan was saying to the Bobby Wagner of how do you get to know people outside of football as well? He'll use examples of like, sure, I need to know what they like, what they don't like, I need to know their food allergies, their kids' names, their pets' names, all these little details to then organically know your teammates better as he's bringing a really great resume to Buffalo too. But I think it's been fun to see just how he's gotten to know this team really quickly, bringing those guys out to Vegas, almost as soon as he got to Buffalo, hitting the group text like, hey guys, come join me in Vegas for actual football things too, it's going to be great. And they're soaking in so much when you look at Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham, AJF, Vanessa, they're really benefiting and I'm excited too to see what it does for Ed Oliver. He says it basically instantly impacts him on the field. I think this week he was saying, Vaughn gives me advice, I put it in the bank, I'm good to go. Which really quick, terrifying for other teams. Sounds like they should just go out and win the Super Bowl and everybody picking them is not wrong. It's easy to pick them because they're loaded, they're so great, they've got the quarterback. You know, I'm trying to say they lose day well, maybe that's weird, but obviously, like Josh Allen's, you know, he's in the league, he's not a new kid who's like hopping from offensive coordinator, offensive coordinator. But I also keep, I'm just at nausea, I'm like broken record talking about Trey White. And then I don't know if it's just because I like love him and he's one of my favorite characters in the national football league. But to me, it's a bit, sorry, they're talking in my ear. Katherine, I apologize. Am I overplaying the Tredavious White part of this or what is it, you know, the loss of him obviously is going to change things, especially when you have such young guys in the secondary. No, I think it's definitely something to watch. They were hopeful that maybe he could be ready this season, but I think at a certain point of training camp that seemed less likely. They did mention this week, it finally gave them clarity to once he was on puppy, like, okay, we know these rookies are gonna be more involved right away. I thought it was really interesting to see some of the little things they did to prepare guys during camp. They had Kyler Elam and boxing gloves to keep him from grabbing as much during plays. I think anyone on this defense gets an earful from some of these wide receivers. So just that mental aspect of having a Stefan Diggs chirping at you all practice, you know, those things go a long way too, but for sure, this is a really hard challenge right away for this team. And then going through these next few weeks without Trey is something they'll have to figure out pretty quickly. Yeah, do you think that they, one last one on offense, I heard Josh Allen sort of, I didn't hear him outwardly say it, but you sort of, you know, with Ken Dorsey now hinted that they'll run more. I have always been banging the table for like, let's run more. Like I'll go through a table. If you guys just, you know, give Devin Singletary some more work to balance things out a little bit. Do you have a feeling that that's where it's going? I would maybe have a table just like ready in case for that. I don't think it'll super flip to that, but you always want to be prepared with a table for that. They do all last season kind of towards the end, they were saying, we know we're never going to totally flip this offense's identity, but we need to just have something a little bit better as far as the running game to let Josh be more dynamic, to keep defenses on their toes. And Devin Singletary, I think that last third or so of the season, just the way they got him the ball a bit more really helped unlock this offense. And that's something they want to carry over. I'm interested to see how they use this group of running backs with, you know, really different skill sets. As Ken Dorsey also gets to put his touches on the offense, I think it's something to watch. But again, they know what Josh Allen can do. So it's not going to totally be away from that. Just anything to keep them spicy. Keep it spicy. Now, you two are going to the game together. Do we need to hire people, do I need to come there and sit between the two of you as I'm wearing neutral blue? Like what's the story both of you? Oh, it's, you know, we're carpooling, you know, efficiency in Los Angeles, especially with the traffic. We will be carpooling, but you know, there might be some debate on the way, especially if we get stuck on the 405. I would love to, I don't even know, I couldn't tell you one thing about the 405. I know nothing about it at all, but maybe I would love to find you guys at the game. Is that possible? We love that. Just come see us and we'll have snacks. Okay, snacks. I'll have beers. It'll be great. Jordan Rodney with the athletic covering the Rams side of things. And Catherine Fitzgerald with the Buffalo News covering the Super Bowl champion future Rams. I don't know. I'm so excited for both of you to exciting teams kicking off the season. Enjoy every minute, guys. Thanks, Kate. We'll be back. Hey, Eric Weddles on the show. Love him. I asked him to bring a Super Bowl wing. He better have not forgotten it. You won't. Okay, got it. All right, coming up, fantasy sleepers that just might save your season and the Bills yet to show up in LA for Thursday, the Bills Mafia. Oh my gosh. That's a lot of beer. Look at the synergy. I didn't even know that was coming. Bills Mafia taking over Hermosa Beach. It's Hermosa or is it Hermosa? Hermosa. Great. Where is that? In the South Bay. In the South Bay. I don't know where the 405. Look, a just geography lesson for Los Angeles. I love it. All right. I don't know anything about Los Angeles or traffic, but I do know about fantasy football time for you. You up? Hey, you up. I think that's like a sexual connotation nerve. We'll talk about the name of that segment. But I'm gonna hit you with sleepers. That was the tag. Let's go Kirk cousins. I'm feeling the Vikings as you know, I think they make the playoffs. He finished as the 11th ranked fantasy quarterback last year or QB won over 4,000 yards, 33 tugs, and just seven interceptions. I thought it was really impressive and impressive. And that was by the way, before offensive minded king, Kevin O'Connell. I think their Rams-esque offense is gonna happen. The chemistry that is going to take place is going to be pretty, pretty incredible and takes it to another level. The talent around him is absurd. Jefferson, Fielin, Dalvin at the back, KJ Osborne, Earth Smith Jr. I love him. I'm so excited for him to be back and healthy. I was excited about him last season. So, yo, cousins, you have everything you can possibly want at your disposal. Light it up. Okay, let's go to wide receiver. A juju, a sneeta, a shooster. He gets forgotten about because of the injury last year, but he is one season or root from a 97 catch season with Big Ben doing his weekend at Bernie's impression. All right. Big Ben was being carried all over the field and juju still killed it. Can you imagine what he's gonna look like with Patrick Mahomes in this wide open offense out of the slot in the middle of the field while teams are all keying in on one Travis Kelsey? Listen, juju has had a real interesting career path, right? The Antonio Brown shade, the TikTok dances. I feel truly that they've pushed him into this place that he has now massively underrated. Listen, he's probably not putting up a hundred and eleven catches for 1400 yards like he did in the sophomore season next to Brown, but I could easily see him go for 90 plus, 1200 plus yards, and eight plus touchdowns, which would make him an absolute PPR stud. I'm gonna try this again with Ron Dale Moore. I love him. We saw flashes during his rookie season, 54 catches, not bad, not as good as I thought it would be. I expect that to change in a big way. Christian Kerr got paid. He left, he gone, and then team leading 103 targets and 982 yards go with him. All of that to me means that Ron Dale Moore is going to have a great season. He's got blazing speed, he's super shifty, and you got Kyla Murray, Cliff Kingsbury offense. Don't let it drag when the fantasy playoffs come around. That's all I ask you. I think he's one of the best values in this draft. All right, let's go into Colcomet, shall we please? Let's do it. The former second round pick quietly racked up 60 catches for over 600 yards last year, even in what was a, how do I put this lightly, dysfunctional Bears offense. Listen, this season Fields is going to get more comfortable. I think he'll be great, and then to continue to build chemistry. I think he's primed to crack the top 12 at tight end, a nice sleeper there. And with the State of the Bears receiving core right now, can he not be the main option out there for Justin? I expect a ton of volume. All right, and last but not least, let's do it. Yeah, don't sleep on Colcomet. He's, yeah, I like him a lot. All right, we're going to give you one that everyone's talking about, but I'll buy a little, I'll buy some shares of this. Why not Pierce? Damon Pierce with the Texans, breakout star of this pre-season, won the job in the Texan backfield with his running style. Really, everybody was talking about him. He's pretty punishing. It's downhill. He looked so impressive. And you can't talk me out of the fact that he's going to get the bulk load of the work for Houston. Rex Burkhead, the only other guy out there, and I've tried enough to make Rex Burkhead happen in fantasy. It just doesn't work. So whenever you get a chance to get a young running back, defined role, plenty of volume, you got to go all in, and you got to grab him. So I can't wait to see him take the field in week one. There's my fantasy spiel for you. You up. What are we doing, guys? You up. All right, keep tweeting the show. I want predictions. The more specific you get on your game one, kickoff prediction, the better. And we're going to get some predictions on that, the Super Bowl. I want to see the ring. Don't show it yet. Eric Wettel! Don't show it. All right, don't even show after this. Woo! Our next guest, I mean, looking at that footage, is insane. You spent a combined 13 seasons with the Chargers, the Ravens, and the Rams before you decided to hang it up, and then you gloriously unhung it up and un-retired to become a Super Bowl champion. Please welcome the newest member of the Upp and Ems family, two-time champion of the Upp and Ems family, the Upp and Ems family of the Upp and Ems family of the Upp and Ems family of the Upp and Ems family of the Upp and Ems family of the Upp and Ems family of the Upp and Ems All-Pro Safety and Super Bowl Champion, Eric Wettel, how are you? I'm doing great. Okay, great to see you. So great to see you. You'll be coming on every week, no perfect day, then today, of course, to talk about sort of everything that's been going on, but I got to talk about the ring because we asked you for a little show and tell. I have not seen it yet, show me this bad boy. Yeah, let me show you. It's right by my office, there you go. Does it open up? Is it got a pop-top or something? Yeah. Oh, that is insanity. Now, when you look at that, when you look at that, your decision to return from retirement was a fairytale ending, how it all went down, all of that. What's the story? How did that all go down? Holy smokes, I try to keep it short. A lot of emotional rollercoaster over a six hour period and to, I just got done interviewing at the local high school with the athletic director to take over this upcoming season in January. And I see a missed call from Raheem Morris, the defense coordinator. And I call him back, I thought it was odd and we're shooting the breeze and he eventually asks, you're not fattening out of shape, are you? I kind of chuckled and thought to myself, well, I'm definitely not, but I'm not the same guy was two years ago. And then he asked, you think you'd give us 15, 20 snaps Monday night, this was Tuesday afternoon. And I'm like, what? I seriously like, am I the best option you guys could think of? And at the end of the day, so many things happen for a reason and you look back over the course of 15 years, 13 years playing and then two years retired and then obviously coming back. Everything happens for a reason sometimes and to come back to this moment and to join a squad that was on the brink of something special and to add a little energy, little passion and a little something this old man could muster up in the playoffs, resulting in a Super Bowl win which we're entrenched in history now. And then you hung it up again, I think we'll get to all of that. We'll get to that. We'll get to that. We'll get to that in a little bit. I wanna talk about this year's Rams. You were with them up close and personal, of course. It's so incredible and so emotional. And Sean Payton used the word exhausting that I thought was really interesting earlier to speak to describe the path of trying to get back after the highs and lows. And then of course the highs of winning the Super Bowl throughout the off season. A lot of Super Bowl predictions out there, my friend, not a lot of them have the Rams winning it. There's of course the hangover, everyone talks about that. What's your forecast for them this year? I think there is as talented and as deep as they were last year and over the past couple of years. The thing that I stressed to Sean after everything came down and the high of winning the Super Bowl is just giving the guys freedom, giving the guys time away, right? It's a long season that they went through from mid-July all the way to mid-February. And just to get their minds off football and get their bodies recharged. And you still want that drive. You still want that focus and the persistence of excellence, right? That's what they preach, we not me. And the way to do that is to let them get away. So they did that. And I think they're geared up to defend our title, man. Like, I love that we're kind of going under the radar. We. We. Yeah, I'm so far to them. Yeah, hey, until there's a new champion, I'm part of that defending champion team. So we each week, yes, we are defending our title. My name's in there. Yeah. I was in there starting and helping that team win. So then what does Von Miller say? Because he's going up against that, you know, like, he's still playing and he's on a different team. So hopefully he won't create too much heavy. It's early on the season. He'll probably be filling his way through it, not be going 100%. Probably say that for the playoffs. So we should be good. We should be able to handle them tonight. What do you think the Rams will miss most about not having Von Miller there? It's, you know, you get around special guys that are elite, that are Hall of Fame type guys, man. They're so unique. They're so special. And more so what they bring to on the field. It's the leadership. It's the how they bring guys together, how they're, you know, the personalities are contagious, the energy, their passion that every great player I've been around loves football. They love the grind. They love practice. They love competing. And I think they'll miss that. But, you know, it was before Von got their AD, Jalen, they have guys in leadership roles. They added B-Wag. Love him. So I think they'll miss that aspect. But it's time for those guys to take over in that special leadership role. And seeing AD two years removed from my last year, seeing how much he's grown, how more vocal he is with his teammates. It was just an incredible ride. And obviously, you can't replace what he did on the field. But I think they'll be fine. The culture, the team, in that aspect, they have the leadership to hold the grounds and move forward. So specifically tonight, and as a safety, and you have so much experience, and you're the best person to ask this to, what is it like and get as specific as possible to go up against an offense that's led by Josh Allen? Well, you know, I played him when he was a rookie when I was in Baltimore. And he had his struggles. But there were moments in that game where you're just like, man, this guy's a big dude. I remember him scampering for like 20, 25 yards on us in the fourth quarter. And you saw glimpses. And the thing that presents so many problems and issues as a defense is you could have a great call. You can have a great coverage. You can have a free runner at the quarterback. And he could just make you miss. He could just throw you down, extend the play, and either run or throw it. And it's just, it's hard enough to cover for three, four seconds. And then now you're extending the play and trying to guard those, the receivers they got and the tight end in the system. It's not easy. What's it like trying to tackle him? You know, with bigger dudes, honestly, I felt like they're easier to tackle than the little quick, shifty, muscle, you know, big dudes that can run you over or juke you. So with him, it's kind of just understanding where your help is and using the sideline. If you're on the sideline, don't let him cut back, crush your base. And when you wrap up, just hold on for dear life and know that your teammates are running for you. Like at the end of the day, you just got to get him down. It doesn't matter if you get ran over, trucked, trampled. If you get him down, you live to find another day. That's the goal at the end of the day. Yeah, survive in advance. And I'm asking you this, and we'll get your pick before we finish, because I want to transition into a shifty guy who's hard to bring down, one that, you know, you played against Josh Allen and Josh Allen was a rookie. You played with Lamar Jackson, right? Yeah. When he was a rookie. And then you got got by him, let's just be honest, because you were so honest about it. Did I? Did we all? That was a, that might have been the biggest destruction of a game I've ever been a part of at any level when the Ravens destroyed our souls. Okay, talk to me about this. It was a regular season game. And listen, like players are honest and open up, but these quotes are, they're hilarious, but terrifying. We got our faces peeled off. You admitted that you didn't know, you, Eric Weddle, you don't know where the ball was. You don't know who had the ball. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, I don't want to ask you, like, here's what I want to ask you. Because everyone's, you know, we all know how great he is. You played with him, his rookie season. You faced him, his MVP season. What have you noticed about his growth as a player that I think the Ravens should consider when they're talking about giving him this deal? Well, I mean, he's a winner at the end of the day. That speaks volumes above any stat, any throw, any run, he leads and he's a winner. So that's hard to replace if you're looking into the future of the most important position, what he's done on the field is second to none, the wins and losses. And obviously the element of how he's played over the course of the last, you know, four years is just impressive. And he brings so much to the table, both throwing and running. You know, I don't, I don't get the whole, he's gotta throw from the pocket and he's gotta do this and he's gotta do that. Lamar just needs to be Lamar. Because we've seen when he does that and they surround him with the right system and the right players and let him be him, he's one of one. And there's no denying that. And it puts defenses in a very base vanilla defense having to cover all these different things. So I think- But basically, okay, so I don't, the one of one I like, but I also don't like it, right? Cause we have to, how do we pay him? How do we, he gets put into his own category. You have all the great quarterbacks and Lamar is just sort of doing his own thing. You didn't know where the ball was, Eric Weddle. Let's remember, no, seriously, let's remember you in that game. Is Lamar Jackson one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League? Of course, when he's healthy, when he's healthy and playing the style of football that he wants, that he needs to play, that means running and throwing, right? Like, if I'm Lamar and I'm Lamar's coach, I'm playing Lamar that is the best version of Lamar. I'm not trying to morph him and do something that maybe isn't him, you know? Obviously, you gotta get consistent and throwing outside the numbers and consistent vertical throws. And when defenses get tight in the fourth quarter and especially tight in the playoffs, you have to be able to make those timing throws, right? But at the end of the day, I'm not trying to change Lamar. So when you're talking about contracts and what do you value him as, that's between obviously Lamar and the Ravens. And I know they value him at the highest aspect. We're sorry, we're coming up against the gun here and I want to get more out of some of your predictions, but I just see, I have seen him grow. I have seen him grow even as far as progress as a passer. I've seen that every year. I've seen his deep ball is better. I've seen him reading defenses better year in year out. And that comes with those wins. And I just hope the Ravens are considering that. What's in your best guess, what happens here with Lamar this season? Yeah, I mean, I don't think that by any means the Ravens don't value Lamar as one of the top guys in this league. And it's just Lamar probably thinks he's valued at this and the Ravens aren't there. And so they'll either agree to make it happen or they won't and he'll play it this year. And then going in next year, they'll try to negotiate it again. If they can't, they'll just franchise them and move on from there. So it's not like he's not gonna play. He's gonna get out there. He's gonna have a great year this year. High expectations for the Ravens, obviously. So we'll see what happens. Who wins tonight? The Rams. Oh! Oh, your lights are out. Oh! Just go for it. You're still on, you're still on though. Oh boy, go for it. Yeah, Rams, there's obviously a lot of talk about the Bills rightfully so. They got a deep talented roster, great coaching staff. But it's hard to go against the champ and it's hard to go against the king of the mountain. And I think losing their two corners on defense and the inexperience there going against this offense is gonna be a tough challenge. They can manage the game, manage the ebbs and flows and the emotions of just coming back as the defending champs and play our game. I don't see why we can't win tonight, which I expect them to do so. I do too, Shamek. They undefeated in season opener. So they've got the advantage. They're at home, they're hot. The elbow thing everyone started talking about. It was very, you know, not talked about in the media world, which is weird because we love to latch on to everything and like take every little bit of juice out of it. In that locker room last year, as it's been, we all now know that it was something that was affecting him that he worked through, which is incredible that he won a Super Bowl and the elbow wasn't 100%, just completely incredible. How large did that play in the locker room? Like, was it talked about? Was it ever, you know, how big did that loom in that locker room for the season? Because it's so much adversity to go through. It's amazing. Yeah, you know, I was only around Matt for, you know, five weeks and he was in a lot of pain every day. No one's denying that. He's been, he said that last season was a trying year. But one thing I know about Matt is he's one of the toughest dudes I've ever been around. And as a team, you know, no matter what goes on throughout the week, how many throws he does or doesn't throw, how many reps he does and doesn't get, he's gonna come out there and be great on Sundays for you. I love that. There's no denying that. There's no denying his preparation. He's in there with Cooper at 530 and they're there till the end of the night. Like, they're gonna be on their Ps and Qs. They're gonna know ins and outs of what the adjustments are, what it's our checks, what's our protections, all the stuff that goes into it. And the last thing you're worried about is the elbow. He's gonna push through any type of pain. He did it the last season, the entire season, led us to a Super Bowl. It may not be different, maybe a long season, but that's reality. After week one, everyone's hurt, everyone's banged up. You're just managing your body at that point to try to get you so ready to play on Sunday. Yeah, just so it happens down the stretch, of course, they wanna repeat a Super Bowl champions. They're built to win again and that elbow is something we're all gonna be keeping our eye on. Quickly, you went to Florida, I understand a little Conrad told me this, to see Utah versus Florida last Saturday night. But on Friday, you got to watch your buddy play against my favorite NFL player of all time, Phillip Rivers? No, so my buddy moved out there and he has three boys and his oldest is... Go ahead. We're a working show, Eric, we don't know. I saw that, I saw a flash up and I was trying to read it mid-sentence. My buddy's oldest son is a senior at St. Michael's High School, where Phillip coaches. So I was able to go out there and watch them play and catch up with Phil and see the boys play. So it was a great weekend, other than my youths not pulling through when they had the game won. So a little bounce back, long season. So what are you, are you driving the kids to school? Like what is your day filled with now? Yes, waking up about six-ish, wake my oldest up, get her ready, take her to, it's kind of like a Bible study class at seven before high school starts. And then come back, then I take the little girl to elementary, then I come back and then I take my second son, he's in seventh grade, my only son, but the second in line. And I take him at eight and I'm back here about 815. Honeydews, taxi service, make dinner, coach 14-year football, take over the high school in January and come along with you every Thursday. What is the Honeydew list today? I must know, what's on the list? I got to take out the trash, I got to, you know, I vacuumed yesterday, so that's good. I got to make sure everything's ready for this weekend because I'm going up to the University of Utah for the Hall of Fame. I'm getting inducted to the Hall of Fame up there, so pretty, pretty sweet. Congratulations, that's amazing. But got to make sure my team and the coaches understand they got the play sheet and audibles and checks for my little 14-year team this upcoming Saturday, so lots to do. Everyone in the studio is cracking up that you're vacuuming and I just really hope you have a minivan. It's very Mrs. Doubtfire of you and I love it. Eric Weddle, you are amazing, great insight, appreciate you answering the questions and I'm just so, so happy to have you on the show. Thank you. That's going to be a great, can't wait. A Hall of Famer already. All right, Eric Weddle. Edub said our title, we will see him week 14. No, are there odds on Fandal that Eric Weddle comes back? My little two to one odds, he's back. Bye, Eric. I need a car, I need this car. Take a free shot at Big Prizes Courty, a GMC, and Fandal will just answer questions about this week's action on the gridiron. How thirsty am I that I'm like, GMC, give me, send me a car. I couldn't park it, but if you can, you want some of this action. Listen, the higher you'll move up the mountain to win prizes to win if you get your picks in for the GMC Sierra Mountain Climber before kickoff, okay? It's your chance to reach the summit and win a share of $10,000 in prizes. Visit Fandal.com for more. All right, I've been gone for a while, I've been dishing out the hot predictions for the season, a little, you know, season set or for you. Let's take a look. I've done, I think, three all week. I couldn't think of 10. So we're just going with the random number of nine, but here are my first six, Herbert wins MVP. Derek Carr has the best season of his career lead to league in passing, but I don't know if it matters, we'll see. Vikings make the playoffs with the offensive king, Kevin O'Connell, James Winston, wins comeback player of the year. Yes, Michael Thomas stays healthy and they're good with Dennis Allen. A.G. Brown, consider the best off season move. The Eagles take the NFC East. That's what I think. A.G. Brown's going to be a stud and help Jalen take the leap in Lamar Jackson, pulls a flacco, doesn't do his contract, plays it out, lights the world on fire, pulls a flacco and gets paid. So for my final installment of the season, I'm going to give you a couple of more and here we're going to start with, okay, yeah, but what is an AFC team that's never won the Super Bowl wins the Super Bowl that you're looking at them, right? The Browns, the Texans, the Jags, the Bengals, the Titans, the Chargers and the Bills, a team that's never won. Listen, I'm just going to say this right here. The Bills obviously the trendy pick, but you've got contenders there, right? You've got the Chargers who I think will have a better chance, honestly, than the Bills will. The Bengals, all my love to you, hopefully you can do it. It's really one of those three teams and I'm going to take this as a step for the Brian Barton cover your ears. I know you're a mega Bills fan. Everybody's picking the Bills. I can't pick the Bills because I love the underdog. We can come back on camera now. I just love, I love the underdog and I think that, you know, the Bills are pretending to still have that. You're pretending to be an underdog. You're not really, do you understand? You're the favorite. No, you can't, you plead, you play Vaughn Miller, $120 million for six years. You got the best quarterback in the league potentially in Josh Allen. You're not playing around. You're no underdog. So I'm going to say somebody else wins the Super Bowl. Okay, second one, Mitchell Chibisky I think starts every game this season. I'm not kidding. I think he starts every game for the Steelers. I want you to look at Mitchell Chibisky's numbers up against Big Ben over the past several years. If you take a look at it and there's a lot of negativity, of course, surrounding our guy, Mitchell Chibisky and what he's played. And it's all because Patrick Mahomes was drafted ahead of him. But listen, that doesn't matter. That's totally irrelevant at this point. He's proven to be a capable starter. He's got nausea, Harris. He's got a top tier defense. And if you look at those numbers from the last three seasons and starting quarterbacks they're nearly identical. Chibisky with even a slighter edge in the passer rating. So we love that. Steelers, if they're able to pick up what they did last year, and I think that they do because Mitchell Chibisky will at least be performing at the level of Ben Ralfersberger. He's sad for a year. Nobody's talking about that. He got to sit and learn. Like I love quarterbacks to do and watch what Josh Allen did to learn from Brian Dable, to have the osmosis of a functioning team. I love that. So I'm gonna go ahead and say he takes and keeps the job. And I love that for the Steelers fans winning season under Tomlin yet again, maybe a playoff for it. And you get to let Pickett sort of sit and marinate and develop. Last but not least, Darius Butler. Just play it. I'm with him. I'm with you, Butler. Go. I'm a lifelong myself. I'm a lifelong Dolphins fan, a Dolphan. And to and maybe our guy, right? He drafted him top five. The pick before Justin Herbert. So the pressure's always there on him. But now the team is behind him. Tyreek Hill came over and he's been singing his praises from day one. Maybe a little too far at times but singing his praises from day one. Tyreek Waddle, creative coach, revamped run game that should be running all over the field, including this week against the Patriots. So I don't think can handle the speed of what's gonna go on there with Miami. I think he shuts everyone the hell up. I love Tua. I believe in him. Let's go. All right, we're here just a couple seconds until the end of the show. Enjoy the game tonight. I'll be there at SoFi. So come find me and Buffalo Bill's fans. I'm sorry, but we're not even done with the show. We apparently have another segment. Okay, so I'm gonna go.