 I want predictions. The more specific you get on your game one kickoff prediction, the better. And we're gonna get some predictions on that, the Super Bowl. I wanna see the ring, don't show it yet. Eric Wettel, don't show it. All right, don't even show after this. Woo! Can't turn it up, hey, we're fighting the time. You, it's never enough, I ain't done with the shots. I'm all of my zone, I'm all of control, I'm all of control, I'm whipping the sauce, I'm out of the cars, bringing it home. Turn it up, turn it up. 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 unretired to become a Super Bowl champion. Please welcome the newest member of the Up and Adams family, two-time all pro safety and Super Bowl champion, Eric Wettel, how are you? I'm doing great, hey, 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, it's got a pop top or something? 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 roller coaster 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? And I kind of chuckled and thought to myself, well, I'm definitely not, but I'm not the same guy I was two years ago. And then he asked, you think he'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 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, a little passion and a little something this old man could muster up in the playoffs results 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 that. Definitely re-retired, re-retired baby. 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 Champagne used the word exhausting that I thought was really interesting earlier this week to describe the path of trying to get back after the highs and lows and then of course the highs of winning a 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 like 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 in a sense. 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. I was in there starting and helping that team win. So then what does Von Miller say? Cause he's going up against that, you know, like, No, he's still playing and he's on a different team. So hopefully he won't create too much havoc. It's early on the season. He'll probably be filling his way through it, not be going a hundred percent. Probably save 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've bring to on the field. It's, 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, 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 had 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 much, so many problems and issues as the defense is you could, 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 and the system, it's not easy. What's it like trying to tackle him? You know, I was bigger dudes. Honestly, I felt like they're easier to tackle than the little quick, shifty muscle, 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 them 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 them down. It doesn't matter if you get ran over, trucked, trampled, if you get them down and 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 and let's just be honest because you were so honest about it. Did I? Did we all? That was a, 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 that. It was a regular, it was a regular season game. And listen, like players are honest and open 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 of volumes above any stat, any throw, any run, he leads and he's a winner. So that's, 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 done, 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. Yeah. 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 they see, 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've all the great quarterbacks and Lamar is just sort of doing his own thing. You didn't know where the ball was, Eric Wettel. 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 wanna get more of some of your predictions, but I just, 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 do you, 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? 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 5.30 and they're there till the end of the night. Like they're gonna be on their P's and Q's. 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 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 yourself 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 at 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, Philip 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... I saw that, I saw a flash up when I was trying to read mid sentence. My buddy's oldest son is a senior at St. Michael's High School, where Philip 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 win. So a little bounce back, long season. So what do you do? Are you driving the kids to school? Like what is your day filled with now? Yes, waking up about six-ish, I 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 girls 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 coming on 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 view 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. Oh, are there odds on Fandle that Eric Weddle comes back? My little two to one odds, he's back. Bye, Eric.