Greg Cote Laid Off By The Miami Herland | Local Hour

mob land from the underworld of guy richie hits paramount plus september 18th the harrigans are back betting it all on black with a reckless uncivil war dangerous odds and fractured loyalties put their criminal fortune all on the line with enemies on all sides harry the fixer leaves nothing to chance to make the family whole starring tom hardy pierce brosnan and helen mirren let chaos reign stream mob land season 2 september 18th on paramount plus hey it's roy and i want to talk to you about blinds i had one set of blinds that drove me crazy every single morning one little gap would let in a laser beam of sunlight that hit me right in the face and when i tried to roll them up one side would always go higher than the other i lived with it that way longer than i should have because replacing blinds felt like a whole project blinds.com makes it easy you can customize window coverings for any room you want to use blinds.com makes it easy you can customize window coverings for any room order free samples delivered right to your door and even add professional installation at checkout whether you want to handle everything yourself or have licensed and vetted professionals measure and install them you decide how much help you need and if you're not sure what style works for you you can book a free consultation with one of the award-winning design experts without pushy salespeople or awkward in-home visits everything is backed by blinds.com's 100 satisfaction guarantee right now blinds.com is giving dan levitar show listeners an exclusive 50 off when you spend 500 just use code data checkout limit time offer rules and restrictions apply see blinds.com for details my favorite part of the football season is the confidence everybody has before a kickoff zazlo already knows how the game is going to end tony has studied every possible matchup and chris cody is convinced his fantasy team is unbeatable then the game starts everything immediately goes off the rails and suddenly nobody remembers making any of those predictions that's why a legendary game day starts with a game day with an ice cold miller light whether i'm at a tailgate watching with friends or settling in for a full saturday of college football miller light is the beer i can depend on it's crisp refreshing and has a clean finish that hits perfectly during a hot south florida game day miller light is the original light beer with great taste and beer lovers have trusted it for more than 50 years make game day legendary go to miller light.com slash dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some miller light pretty much anywhere they sell beer game time is miller time celebrate responsibly miller brewing company milwaukee wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces oh my we've waited for so long we're so damn excited that we put it in a song don't need no check downs give me big hits and quarterbacks keep your fantasy team from falling off the track football is back whether on the ground or through the air when the chips are down and you throw a prayer when your team is primed and on the hunt it's fourth and ten you refuse to part when the shoulder pads and helmets crack that's how you know that football is back jack let me hear you say football is back jack this high is wild and out of control and we're gonna ride it every week till we reach the super bowl don't need no check downs give me big hits and quarterbacks if you say this game's the best i'll say it's a gag football is back football is back jack football is back i have way too much to say about this game i have way too much to talk about today and i've been a little infected by greg cody in that i have about 35 or 30 or 25 unique observations that are unique about football to this show and exclusive to this show but i have forgotten a few they're disorganized they're ostensibly ranked but not ranked in an order that's discernible to me and so i'm gonna get to all of those thoughts during the show today but i'm going to get to all of those thoughts during the show today i'm a little bit worried that i'm going to forget some and zazlo i legitimately on this uh on this monday don't know where to start when it comes to the number of things that we have because it's not just football and it's not just the rare college football game that might have been bigger and better than all of the pro games it's rare that we start with a saturday game after you've had a sunday and that one o'clock sunday but we've got greg cody being let go by the miami herald which made me uh really sad and angry we've got steve ballmer strategically after saying you know his lawyer was saying witch hunt and he was saying that everything was unfair and he was going to use every available means uh you have steve ballmer purposely during football releasing yeah never mind about all that i accept all the penalties so that no one in sports can cover it today because i'm gonna guess that it gets swallowed today by everything that's being covered today when was that released was that was that in the middle of the night was that like during cowboys giants last night i think i noticed it around like 11 30 last night but in steve ballmer's meager defense he started typing that out on thursday what do you make of the timing of that one uh zazlo that steve ballmer is uh like there are a number of things that were interesting about uh everything that happened there one of the things that was interesting that was underreported is kawai basically at the very end just betraying ballmer to save himself and putting ballmer in a position where he couldn't go to arbitration because kawai negotiated through the players union and made it so that ballmer's only move was to go through the court and the nba knew he wasn't going to go through the courts because if he goes through the courts then he's inviting all sorts of shit from aspiration and a bunch of people suing him that he doesn't want so ballmer got boxed in the most powerful richest owner in sports because i make those things synonymous if you're the richest owner in sports that makes you the most powerful owner in sports the richest owner in sports had to lay down his sword and did so with timing that you you noticed what he was doing there releasing that on a sunday night he could have done it at any point in the last week has been totally quiet and then releases it uh with a rare sunday night news dump because he knows football is going to swallow yeah which didn't work on us yeah steve might have worked on another show you're not scheduling that for 11 p.m on a sunday night would work nope game was there we're doing three hours on it nope what do you expect we're done with the subject as soon as zaz is done talking about it we led with it this is a low character guy steve ballmer like clearly like he he cheated with with the clippers he refuses to take any of the blame he went on national television on espn and denied everything and now with this statement he's still actually denying it because his sincere regret wasn't about things that he did his sincere regret he says in it is the distraction that everything is caused with the fans and the clipper family and all that he's low character steve ball i have talked to a few owners who are just stunned he didn't settle that he could have avoided all of this like he really could have this would have been much quieter it would have been a smaller penalty a quieter penalty and it wouldn't have had the punctuation be the embarrassment of him saying all over the place i deny it i deny it i deny it and it's not and nothing that he seems to have said is true uh moving on to greg cody what were your thoughts when you guys heard the news that greg cody after 54 years had been uh laid off by the miami herald i was actually surprised like maybe you would say oh you shouldn't be surprised that you know dave hyde got laid off you know a couple months ago everybody's getting laid off but i was surprised because greg has told us that he has been approached before about taking a package you know and and he hasn't wanted to do that he's wanted to keep working so i i actually was surprised that he was let go he wasn't given a choice here's the headline there was uh there was much rappy cack in our streets uh locally because uh a lot of people were upset on his behalf he was not given the punctuation that he deserves the respect the dignity that he deserves and you see in this headline uh that he uh you know he was laid off by the miami herland after four years of being laid off by the miami herland 54 years with the paper you love watching that kid play for man city uh chris cody uh when uh and how did you hear the news from your father that he had been let go and i talked to him a few times today and your father has this habit of emotions get to him late he's a bit repressed so he was a bit in shock and not knowing quite how to digest something that he wasn't expecting but i've been begging him to leave there for about three or four years because i don't think he wants to still be at panthers games at midnight on a thursday in the middle of the of the regular season writing about something that he personally doesn't care about that much. Yeah, it was strange. He found out Thursday, and I went to lunch with him Thursday afternoon, and he didn't tell me. And then I got home from lunch, saw the Michelle Kaufman stuff, call him, and he's like, yeah, I just didn't want to tell you yet. No, I know. It was honestly one of the saddest moments of it, the realization of that he didn't want to. We were at lunch for an hour, and it was on his birthday. He had got the call in the morning, so that made me sad. And happy birthday to him. I don't care. Good luck. But I think I agree with what you're saying, and I think my mom, I think, is happy about this decision. My dad, now that it's happened, has said this was going to be his last football season, but he'd never said that before. So it's one of those things that now that this decision's been made for him, he's kind of hindsight saying, this was going to be my last season anyways. Did you give him advice, or it's like, I know how it feels? Well, I did tell him that he's trying to, like, with this episode, that's fine. It's out right now of The Greg Cody Show. He's trying to come for my laid-off podcast, which is our number one downloads of all time. And I told him, it's not, sorry, buddy. You're going to get some downloads today, but you're not going to get Chris Cody laid-off downloads. Is there a right way to do some of what it is that we're talking about? Because they did give him a severance package, okay? So it wasn't just simply laid off. But it was, there are three details here that are super stinky and show no credit. I don't have any corporate awareness of something that needs to be warmer than it is cold. And I don't know which is the most egregious of the three offenses that I'm about to give you. One, as soon as the football season starts. He's been doing picks for 36 years. He's, it's just, as soon as the football season starts, you're hitting him in the head. Two, his birthday, which is just unfathomable. And then three, the guy delivering the news is the Chief Revenue Officer for McClatchy, someone Greg Cody has never spoken to. Before. Like which, what's the right way, what is the correct way to do this when you're letting someone go after 54 years? And thank you for mentioning Michelle Kaufman, Chris, because she is and was a pioneer in this market. And there were 30 people let go. And it made me sad for a number of reasons, because the dinosaur that is falling to its knees with a groan isn't just Greg Cody. It's sports sections. It's local journalism. It's journalism in general. It's newspapers. It's the Miami Herald. Like all of it is extinguished. They took out the entire Spanish section of the Miami Herald. And Michelle Kaufman has a tremendous legacy, not just with her work, but also at the University of Miami. Taught a lot of great media people as well. You are angry or just surprised? Because a lot of people were also angry. But if, I don't even blame the Miami Herald. I blame McClatchy for not doing a better job. I blame McClatchy for not doing a better job of protecting journalism, about doing some of the things that are needed to protect journalism. But Bezos isn't protecting journalism with the Washington Post. The billionaire who owns the LA Times isn't doing it. So it's all collapsing and closing in. And if you have to cut costs, you're going to get rid of the 72-year-old guy. I don't know what the answer is, but clearly at this point, you can't pay for the Herald subscription now. It's gotten you nothing. Maybe you've been paying for it, and they still got rid of people. Why would anyone pay for it? We had this discussion before, and I don't want to sound cold at all. I love Greg, and Greg was a big part of my childhood growing up. I stopped reading after the Marino. Those big media types have had the opportunity to traffic in the names that the Herald or Herland helped them build, and Greg has done exactly that with his podcast. It is a little outsized. Mailmen did not have microphones. Postal service workers did not have microphones. This is what happens in American industry. As technology advances, it's going to happen to a lot of other people. And fortunately for people like Greg that we have the opportunity with our platform to pay rightful tribute, but they're part of those things that are of a bygone era. The details, though, on the correct way to do this, because you can acknowledge everything that Mike Ryan is saying about a bygone era and not do it on his birthday, not do it on the start of the football season. You should have done it the day after. Make him sweat. And also not do it with the chief revenue officer for McClatchy doing it, a deliverer of bad news, which is the only kind the Miami Herald is able to make these days. Those are by design, though. Have someone that you've never met before, some soulless suit, and you can just like shake your fist at the entity, "I gave all this time like that. And that's part of the CRO's job." Was it on a Zoom or just like strictly phone call? Phone call, phone call. Yeah. I mean, at least it wasn't an AI agent. It's just like that combination of like, "Oh, this guy is so sad to be telling me this, but he tells so many people." Like, so this is such a, like he practiced being sad so many times. Okay, so that detail, by the way, is another one that I didn't mention by phone. I mean, let's have, let's pour one out for this guy who's going to lose his job in three years, at least, because AI is going to start taking care of letting people go. Do you really want to knock on your door, though, like from McClatchy? Like, I honestly, I think I'd prefer a phone call. Hi, nice to meet you. If someone knocks on my door, I'm like, do I have to answer this? I want somebody that I work with to deliver the news. They're all fired, too. I want, how would you guys feel? Barry Jackson going to tell them? How would any of you guys feel if you were laid off and the person who told you was not someone you had ever seen before? Here, how would any of you feel? That's 54 years, man. That's that is he's worked at the Herald longer than any of you have been alive. It's gross. It's gross. But that's that's I at least had met the person that called me at ESPN. I think I had gone to lunch with them like once. I'm not going to say your name. But it should be somebody, you know, it shouldn't. It shouldn't be put it on the pole at Levitard show. Is AI going to be the one laying you off instead of a person? Person in three years at Levitard? It's already begun. That's already a service like the George Clooney character type like that. That is an extinct species or at least going to be. My favorite part of the football season is the confidence everybody has before a kickoff. Zazzle already knows how the game is going to end. Tony has studied every possible matchup and Chris Cody is convinced his fantasy team is unbeatable. Then the game starts everything immediately goes off the rails and suddenly nobody remembers making any of those predictions. That's why a legendary game day starts with an ice-cold Miller Lite. Whether I'm at a tailgate watching with friends or settling in for a full Saturday of college football. Miller Lite is the beer. I can depend on it's crisp refreshing and has a clean finish that hits perfectly during a hot South Florida game day. Miller Lite is the original light beer with great taste and beer. Lovers have trusted it for more than 50 years make game day legendary go to Miller Lite.com slash and find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere. They sell beer game time is Miller time celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. It's Roy and I want to talk to you about blinds. I had one set of blinds that drove me crazy every single morning. One little gap would let in a laser beam of sunlight that hit me right in the face. And when I tried to roll them up one side would always go higher than the other I live with it. That way longer than I should have because replacing blinds felt like a whole project. Blinds.com makes it easy. You can customize window coverings for any room or the free samples delivered right to your door and even add professional installation at checkout. Whether you want to handle everything yourself or have licensed and vetted professionals measure and install them. You decide how much help you need and if you're not sure what style works for you. You can book a free consultation with one of the award-winning design experts without pushy salespeople or awkward in-home visits. Everything is backed by blinds.com. 100% satisfaction guarantee. Right now blinds.com is giving Dan Levitar show listeners an exclusive $50 off when you spend $500 or more. Just use code DAN at checkout. Limit time offer. Rules and restrictions apply see blinds.com for details. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. You know what's interesting? We spent a lot of time reading reviews before. Well, you know buy a new TV pick a restaurant, but when it comes to taking care of ourselves, we don't always do the same thing. That's one of the reasons why people like what BetterHelp is doing instead of just telling you people like it. They're showing you you can visit betterhelp.com/reviews and see real customer feedback that's updated every day. BetterHelp has an average live therapy session rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on more than 1.7 million client session reviews. More than 6 million people have used BetterHelp globally. And if you decide to get started, they match you with a therapist. Based on your needs. If it isn't the right fit, you can switch therapist at any time. See the reviews. See what stands out and see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit betterhelp.com/dlb. That's betterhelp.com/dlb. Down Levitar. Can't trade Marino. Nice hat. It's what he's most known for. It's like I'm holding. - Greg Cody. They were 9-2, but it's Marino. And then the next time we saw Marino, after Greg Cody traded him, he threw for five touchdowns. And he was Dan the Man on the cover of Sports Illustrated. You can't trade Marino. Nice hat, asshole. This is the Dan Levitas show. You guys say, you guys allege, and I do not believe the allegation that there is interesting stuff to talk about from that Dolphins game. So get it out of your system now so that I can get to my 25, 30, 35, totally exclusive, unique to this show football observations from the weekend. I don't know, I guess I've been traumatized from the last few years with Tua that I liked watching Malik Willis run around. I liked watching him run out of that pocket and not get, I mean, he got sacked a bunch, but when he wasn't getting sacked and he ran away from the pressure, I enjoyed that. When he decided to take on the defender at the goal line instead of sliding short of the first down and he got a touchdown. I'm going to enjoy watching Malik Willis, hoping that he develops into a guy that could be the quarterback of this team. And I know the wide receiver corps are slim, but Caleb Douglas. Yep. Interesting. Yep. Caleb Douglas was getting open all game long. I enjoyed that. Now there were some things I didn't enjoy. The defensive line is very pathetic. All right. That was the weakness to me. Very pathetic. Chop Robinson. Let me tell you something about Chop Robinson. He's a bum. Chop Robinson is a total bum. Looking at our rookies yesterday put into perspective how bad Chop Robinson is. Third year. First round pick. Third year. This guy routinely does nothing. And you know what? If you ever needed more proof that what these reporters, okay, at Dolphins training camp, when they give you the reports and they tell you who's playing well and they keep telling you how Chop Robinson is shining and holy shit. He's primed for a breakout year. This guy is a bum. I wouldn't take it out on the reporters. It's really tough when it's a bad football team to evaluate talent on a practice field. Really tough. So Jeremy just made a face when Tony was talking and I think it's because Tony described the room of receivers as a corpse. He said wide receiver corpse I didn't. I didn't jump on him. I was trying to have restraint but sometimes my face can't. It was also a half P. He knew what was happening. He said corpse. Corpse. Jeremy, we have not talked or I have not talked with you about the fact that you are no longer going to be working with the heat as part of the local shake up where the heat broadcasters all of a sudden going to be on local 10. Boy, how about that novel that Jeremy put out? His statement was somehow longer than Balmer's. Wild. I didn't see the statement. I like my jobs. What was the statement? It was mostly just being grateful. I'm not going to tell you to shut up. Pull up his statement. Honestly the last sentence he kind of summarizes it all. You just need that last sentence. All in all, thanks. It's not what I said. But yeah pretty much. You know, it was a lot of fun. I will miss seeing you on mute. Thanks. What was your most memorable moment? Was it eating, licking the cheese off of your fingers during a could have been that could have been being caught. Doing the fist pump at the end of the game by the NBA TV. Really, let's be real. It was it was the hoisting babies moment. I mean that's that's the one that really stood out for me. NBA finals over in that building when they were playing in the other building. Yep. That was my first season. So, you know continued growth throughout the broadcast. But when the best moment is in the first season, you know, maybe maybe there's a reason I'm not there anymore. I don't think that that's the reason. No, it's definitely not. It's not because of your performance. It's because you licked your fingers on air in a way that was wildly embarrassing. Well, it's mostly working with you people. I mean, that certainly didn't help. Mike probably has 85% to do with it. I took pride in that. Yeah. That's it. The rest of you have any Dolphin thoughts? Because my only Dolphin thought is I felt really bad for Chris Myers and Mark Schlereth at this point in their careers that they had to watch all of that, that they had to go out there. They usually get that assignment. I know. They get it. They're the CRO of letting go of Greg Cody. We are going to have a lot of Schlereth this season. Go ahead and give me your thoughts because I told you Kirk Cousins tried to give them the game. He made a couple of plays where you're like what are you doing? What is that? You're allowing them to get back into the football game and the Dolphins could do nothing with it. They missed a field goal. They don't score on the return and they can't get the final seven yards from the offense either. It was totally going to be like I was ready to say this is a game they had that long return. Okay, we score a touchdown here. We're down one score going into the fourth quarter or maybe it was the early fourth quarter. They were so going to be in the game and what was it like five straight possessions when they were down 27-13 where just the offense did nothing. Nothing like a Kirk Cousins game where he throws at least one globito. A balloon where all of a sudden it's like fluttering in a way that you've never seen a ball flutter before and it happened while they were on the goal line and it was like a pass that like it was like almost like a knuckleball like went this way went that way Oh incomplete. He's he's one of the worst QBs they're going to face this year when you look at the schedule. I mean you got the Niners next then the Chiefs the Vikings. Okay Kyler Murray, whatever, but then Bengals Jets, which is a game that the Dolphins will obviously not be favored in if Kyler Murray plays in that one. It looks like that concussion was pretty serious speaking of bad quarterback play Kim Ward. I don't know if you guys are going to be done with him. But the Titans can ruin him and if he is good, I've seen it like Tony in flashes, but the Titans look like they don't have much of anything to beat anyone and that will wreck a young quarterback. I don't know you know in the watching of things as you guys and we eviscerate Drake May because 29 games in if you're not situated with the right skill guys the right offensive line the right coach you could be as talented as Caleb Williams and before you get to looking like he looked yesterday you could get short-circuited. I've told you guys before that David Carr not Derek Carr at Fresno State is the best college quarterback I've ever seen and he was ruined by the Texans because he got sacked 55 some odd times and you just can't play football that way. without it wrecking your confidence Kim Ward. Why would he have any confidence right now that he can play professional football this bit I should say NFL football because it's all professional football at a good enough level. Yeah, I you mentioned Caleb Williams and that's what I'm holding on to right now. It's not just that the organization is bad though. That is like they were bad from the jump and make terrible signings like Wanda Robinson Tony Pollard. These guys are going to help Bob Salah and Brian Dable. It's a nightmare situation of a bunch of people that aren't aren't good enough that being said he has to play better and my only hope is either he gets the right coach that partners up with him the way that Caleb Williams did or he needs a change of scenery. I don't think he's going to be in Tennessee next year. I think they're going to be so bad next year's class is so good. You obviously have the Manning ties in that state. They look like a team is going to be picking a top the draft again and at that point he becomes expendable. The issue is to like it's not going to get any better. They have one of the worst rated old lines. There are their weapons are not good. Their coaching isn't good. It's like Malik Willis was in this system a couple years ago goes to Green Bay revitalize his career. Are we going to see the same with camp when you mentioned Caleb Williams so because Ben Johnson is has been talking about I want to have the best offense in the history of the sport Caleb Williams the skill guys he had last year were great. They're better this year. Ben Johnson is obviously great, but the best thing about that team. They've got the best offensive line in football. It's it's the best one that that you're going to see all season and now I combine all those things and what do you get? What you get is a Caleb Williams. That's so confident that he's decided that I'm going to go to Cole Comet across my body double teamed in the corner of the end zone. That's Comet. That's like I know people like him, but he's not your best. He's not your best receiver and the moment that they started all their healthy receivers last year Cole Comet all of a sudden wasn't getting the football at all. What the Bears did yesterday is totally insane. It's just that that you don't see that game in professional football. Ben Johnson's going for it. Here's my observation number 30. Ben Johnson went for it from his own 21 yard line in the second quarter. What is that? They should never punt. If they could score that many points they should never punt. Just go for four downs. If you don't get it, you give up the score, whatever. The problem with building your team with that identity is that you play at soldier field and that can undo you, especially even if they have home field. It can undo you, but you forget the fourth down play that he had against the Rams in the playoffs in the Colts. I don't think anyone can forget that. Also to Cole Comet. Can I do an impression of fantasy owners yesterday watching Comet score a touchdown? This is what they look like. Yeah! That's not Colston Loveland? Damn it! What the hell? Zero catches? Everyone told me Colston Loveland, number three tight end this season. this season, zero catches, get it together. Let me play this sound after the game mic'd up. This is not usually sound you hear from a quarterback who has just scored 175 points while talking to the opposing coach. Caleb Williams telling him he has a great defense? Canales should have punched him in the face. Why would he say that? I believe, I think he also said, that's going to be the worst we look all season long. Didn't C.J. Stroud do that to Caleb Williams a couple of years ago? Now he's returning the favor to Canales. Who had the wherewithal, by the way? Put it on the poll. Did Dave Canales have the wherewithal? He did. They were fighting. I was honestly as impressed with the Panthers yesterday as I was with anyone. The offense. He's right. They got some players. That team. Before the season, I was big on Saints to win that division. I changed my mind. Panthers winning that division. You're a co-cad? Co-cad stand up. Dan, why would Caleb Williams say that to him? Because it's just wandering around and you're just sort of. Great defense. It's small talk. It's basically the awkward small talk at a cocktail party with someone you don't want to be stuck in a corner with. You just throw out a great defense out there because he's wandering around saying that to everybody. Can I just see that again to see if he's got a sinister smile on his face? Because the Bears are cocky. Their coach is cocky. You don't go for it second quarter, fourth down on your own 21-yard line and tell everybody before the season, yeah, going for being the best offense ever unless you're cocky. And I'm telling you, Mike, when it comes to Cam Ward, the importance of having all of those things. It's not one of them that Caleb Williams has. Like, obviously, he's got a skill set that everyone says is special. You can see that it's a special skill set. But his skill guys are also special. His coach is special. And his offensive line is special. Let's play it one more time. I want to see it. Oh, man. Great job. Yeah, great job. Great defense, man. No, you've got to freeze that. Hold on. That's genuine. No, no. Freeze it. Freeze it a second afterward. Stop. I'm going to play it one more time. Freeze it. And he side-eyes him. And he's got a smirk on his face. I think this might be sarcasm. This might be a low-key insult. Let's see him right after he's done saying great defense. All right, Brown Hall, man. Great job. Yeah, great job. Great defense, man. Freeze it. No, you're a little slow. Let's try it again. Stop. Let's try it again. Let's do it again. Let's try it again. Oh, I could have missed that. Great job. Yeah, great job. Great defense, man. There. There it is. A little more. A little more. A little more. For me, that's the one. Because his lip goes up like a. Probably that's a face that you make when you made a mistake. I shouldn't have said that. Yeah, you shouldn't have said that. That is actually exactly where you should freeze it. Yeah, right. Shouldn't have said. He knows what he's doing there. He definitely said it on purpose. Matter of fact, I'll bet he said to one of his teammates, yo, you don't think I'll go up to Canales and tell him he's got good defense? I'm going to shroud him. I'm going to shroud Dave Canales, even though he had the wherewithal. You don't think I'll do it? All right. You know when a waiter comes up to you and is like, hey, enjoy the food, and you're like, you too. You're like, oh, I'm an idiot. Have a good game, you too. Wait, no, I don't play the game. He has a good running game. He's got a good offensive line. He's got great skill help. He's got the best offensive mind in football. So maybe the hope that I'm holding out for for Cam Ward to turn into Caleb Williams, that seems pretty dystopian. And I just don't think it's going to work out over there. And also, Cam just has to do a better job of depersonalizing programming himself for Miami Cam Ward and getting the ball out quick. And he is trying to put the team on his shoulders the way that he did with Wazoo, and he's holding on to the ball too long. And I don't know who he's going to throw the ball to, but it's a bad scene over there. I'm really worried for his pro career. They shouldn't have let go of Derrick Henry. He's good. Tony, you know that moment at a party or a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks? I know it well. It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy. Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony, he usually walks in with Cuervo. I walk in like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night. It has that effect on people. It does. You usually take the credit for it. But again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering, keep it Cuervo. Keep it Cuervo, baby. Now you can watch ESPN College Game Day and select live college football games on Disney+. Let's go! All day, every Sunday. Every Saturday at no extra cost for Disney Plus subscribers. Saddle up! Now there's something for every kind of fan. Select live college football games are now on Disney+. It's going to be wild! A limited sampling of content from ESPN is now available to all Disney Plus subscribers. Upgrade to a plan that includes ESPN to access the full ESPN on Disney Plus experience. Terms apply. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses, setup required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. I mean, trotting Madonna out there, I don't know what the hell she was doing. And then what's this, this, this boy band KPS, KBS, what's their name? I have no idea. I have no idea who that is. There's BTS. Jonathan Saslo. Isn't this the big, this is the biggest band in the world. That's right. Get out of here. Not bigger than Pearl Jam. This is the Dan Levitar Show. Uh, that was observation number 29 from me, exclusive to this program. Derrick Henry, that's number 29. Uh, 28 is Carson Wentz. Hmm. Hey, that's my gimmick. I didn't know. I didn't know that Carson Wentz was going to be the one brought into the game. If something happened to Kyler Murray, I did not think that news. Yeah. McCarthy was third. I, I just, I missed that. I missed that news. And so when Carson Wentz came out there and was the same Carson Wentz that he is when he has six months of rest and isn't just a torso of falling apart parts, like when he has an entire off season to not be injured because they keep spiking him into the turf, like a, like a javelin all season. He gets blown up. Oh my God. I mean, he gets, he gets rocked. Nobody, I, Justin Herbert can get rocked as well because of how big he is. And, and some of these guys are a lot larger than you think they are. Carson Wentz included, but because of how large he is, he thinks he's larger than they are and he's not. He goes, he goes flying like Robert Griffin, the third and Tua, and he's bigger than those guys, but Justin Jefferson helps and Justin Jefferson playing like he knows JJ McCarthy is a snap away. So he's going to do everything in hell to make sure that doesn't happen. Doesn't happen. Helps. If we would have the, like the funniest sacks of the last two seasons, I feel like Justin Herbert has to be like eight of them or it's just like three defenders, defenders just running at them. Uh, the Packers are going to have some issues because, uh, Josh Jacobs, uh, is an issue. And because, uh, Micah Parsons, you traded a lot to get to him and he's not going to be around the first four games of the season. So the Vikings backup quarterback is all of a sudden putting 39 on you while Matt LaFleur says, he knows you're not going to be around the first four games of the season. So the Vikings backup quarterback is all of a sudden putting 39 on you while Matt LaFleur says he knows you're not going to be around the first four games of the season. Josh Jacobs' character. Dan, this, this made me, I don't know. I know I've, I've gotten up on this soapbox before. Let me play this for you. All right. So LaFleur, this is a couple of days ago before the game. And LaFleur, of course, has asked, you know, Josh Jacobs, do you expect to see him, you know, and listen to how LaFleur answers it. How do you feel about Josh? Uh, no. Why not? Well, because I know that I know the guy and I know the character of the guy. So I've said it many times. And unfortunately, situations occur in life and it's just an unfortunate situation. What, what is the, I guess, rationale for keeping him on the team if he's found guilty? Yeah, I'm not, guys, I'm not going to get into any of this until the league completes their investigation. Situations occur in life. Dan, you know, like, like beating up women. It's a situation. It occurs in life. And I'm, I'm stunned that he got in front of a microphone and said, when you know the NFL is trying to get their hands on that video, video, which may very well be the exact same as Ray Rice. You know, they're trying to get their hands on that video. And the head coach, the Packers, is willing to get up in front of a camera and say, I know this guy's character. What the are we doing? I mean, and again, like, I'm, I'm on my soapbox about it. I don't understand how, you know, and it's not just NFL players, but we've got to stand up for what's right. We've got to say something. Well, when is somebody going to ask somebody else why you beat up women? I just, I couldn't believe Matt LaFleur got up there. Explaining the behavior, not excusing it. He's not just doing that for Jacobs. He's doing that because when you say you've got to stand up for something, what those guys stand up for is they stand up for their players. Until you can't. You can't stand up for him anymore. And again, I'm not excusing what he's doing there. I'm just telling you why he is doing it. And he shouldn't do it before the investigation is complete because it runs the risk of making him look really foolish. But can you guys get to me what and why it's a soapbox? Why does someone stand on a soapbox? I don't know that. Are we still, are we still making soapboxes? That much I'm unaware of. But the reason that it's called a soapbox, of course, is because people, when giving. an impromptu speech, often about a political subject, used to stand on wooden crates in those Those wooden crates were used for shipping soap or other dry goods. Yeah. Stay tuned to next hour of our show where we describe the plight of the soapbox maker for 20 minutes. Exclusive, unique commentary to our show. I think I'm on number 27. I'm not totally sure. Is Chris Olave about to make the giant Lego helmet cool? Through just his performance. Because none of the cool guys are willing to wear the giant protective helmet that doesn't look as sleek and good as the other helmets. I mean, Dobbs had like four touchdowns on a primetime game and it still looked a little goofy. I will say that one of the observations that I had was the Guardian Helmet 2.0 looks a little bit better. Looks a little bit cleaner. So I have the problem with the helmets with flint in them. You know, pewter and gold, that's a tricky color. And then I was like, all right, this looks good. And then I saw what Olave was rocking, which is four times the size of any I've ever seen. He looked like Wes Welker. Do you remember when Wes Welker had the extra big helmet before the Guardian Cap? It was like this big. I had a couple thoughts on my Cuban brethren, on our Cuban brethren, Chris Olave, who wears the Cuban flag on Hispanic Heritage. Came out of the game four different times for four different ailments. Had cramps, so he took his socks off. Was playing in the game with no socks on. Had the Guardian Cap helmet. You got blister like that, Tony. Come on. Don't tell me. Tell him. And then had the Guardian helmet. It's like, how much can we do? Also went 10 for 182 in a game that they had 400 yards of offense in the second half. I had to look in the mirror because in the first quarter when I see him, I immediately regretted drafting him. I said it to the people I was with. I was like, I instantly, just by seeing that helmet, regret having him on my team. 10 for 180, I'm kind of back having him on my team. Tyler's shock is good. Go ahead and doubt Matthew Barry at your own peril on this stuff because he didn't. Devontae Smith and Kirsten Loveland. No, he missed a couple. But he got most. He got most of them. He got, look, Parker Washington got all his numbers early. He's special. Matthew Barry made that look easy this weekend except for in that Lions-Saints game, a lot of people are falling in love with shock. And I wanted to ask you, we're going to have Brian Hartline on, the USF coach, with us for a second because I thought he had the ballsiest coaching move of the entire weekend. And it's a weekend where Ben Johnson is going for it in the second quarter, you know, on fourth down from his own 21 yard. And you've got in the Saints game, they're going for two in overtime to win it. But you guys are aware now, right? This is going to be seen a little bit with the Chargers and their defense and their defensive coordinator. You guys are aware now that all of the love of Dan Campbell and all of the Dan Campbell talk, he was really aided by his coordinator there. That offense doesn't look nearly like it used to. What Ben Johnson can do with golf, he can do more with Caleb Williams. Those are two very different. Number one, overall picks. Caleb Williams adds an element that Jared Goff does not have when he runs around with the football. And to be fair, Jared Goff is doing a lot of the offense for the Lions right now. Drew Petsik, who's over in Arizona, is now the offensive coordinator for the Lions. But yeah, you have a play caller of a generation in Ben Johnson walking out the door. You got to try to do as much as you can. Gibbs went crazy yesterday, too. Number 26. A lot of punching of the football yesterday. Oh, my God. Stingley did it to James Cook. Knocked the ball out very well. Dan, one of the guys in the Bears-Panthers game got punched in the head. It was Luther Burden. He got punched in the head. I can't believe we're still OK. How am I the only one? Like, I sent out the tweet yesterday, and everybody makes fun of me. How am I the only one that doesn't think it's OK for players to go around punching each other in the head? How is that allowed? Because the reward is you get the football. Everybody wants the football. Why is it allowed? Why is it allowed? Because everybody wants the football. Everybody wants the football, and until you ban it, people are going to do the things that knock the football out. That's the leading rusher in the league. Stingley is really good, and that is the leading rusher in the league getting the ball knocked out because everyone's running around punching. You want to ban the punch? Tony, if I ask a referee, are you allowed to punch a player in the head during the field of play, the referee's just going to say, yes, that's allowed? No, go for the ball. Observation number 26. 25 here. I'm going to have a few of them from that Bills-Texans game. I just will never get over the fact that the margins are so thin in that sport that Josh Allen is hero today for throwing that great game-winning touchdown. And the play before it, Lasseter in the end zone drops a flutter ball interception that would have been the easiest interception of the entire weekend. I see you. Avatar Fire and Ash. Is now streaming on Disney+. It's the film critics are calling the best Avatar yet. Go, go, go, go, go. A true epic and completely jaw-dropping. This is the only pure thing in this world. Return to Pandora on Disney+. It will be an adventure for the whole family. And watch the Oscar-winning phenomenon at home. This is sick. Avatar Fire and Ash. Now streaming on Disney+. Rated PG-13.