Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Go right out to the kaa common spirit elf hotline.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I didn't bring on my guy, Mike Renolmand.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Who's the record of the College grid Iron Showcase?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Mike, how you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Hey, I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on, Fellas.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
For those who don't know, can you maybe explain what
the College grid Iron Showcase is to start?
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (00:18):
So.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
We're a college all star event based in Fort Worth, Texas.
We just completed our eleventh year. Over the last six years,
we've had six twenty one NFL Draft picks, and our
niche is that, you know, fifth through seventh round, the
priority undrafted free agent type of guy. And you know,
I always like to say, you know, my three year
old son can tell me the top two hundred players
(00:39):
in the draft. You know, after that, you know, that's
where the real fun starts.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
Well, you know, as a guy that wasn't drafted myself,
I wasn't invited to any senior bows or the combine,
but I did cut my teeth in NFL Europe, in
the CFL. For the guys that you are describing, you know,
what do you recommend for those guys whether they come
to what you guys are doing your college Good On
(01:05):
Showcase or anything else. What is your words of encouragement
to those guys to help themselves be seen by NFL evaluators.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah, that's that's a great question. So again it's are
you standing out at the division you're playing at. So,
whether you're a D two, D three, an AI A
All American and you know, I'm excluding fbs and fcs
right now, and I know we live in the day
and age of transfer portal, but if you're at that level,
you have to stand out. You not only have to
(01:36):
be an All conference type of player, you have to
be an All American level type of player. That's what
moves the needle, especially for us in our scouting process,
is that guy taking over the competitions he's at. Because
everyone knows the NFL is a whole different animal, and
it comes to you know, the type of player, the
type of athlete playing at that level.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Talking with right Mike Riddleman from the College Good On Showcase,
a couple of Broncos have come through there. Our guys
who played for the Broncos over the years.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Obviously PJ. Locke was in a tenant.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
There some other guys that people may be familiar with,
to Baston, Joseph Day, young waycou of course, wait minute,
was a plutter here.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, you've hit.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
You've had some some good with Austin Fort who wound
up marrying our own marrying Sydney who worked for the
Broncos as well, was from UH was out there as well.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Trinity Benson, what.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Would you say has has been the most rewarding aspect
of doing this for you?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I think it's just being a being a part of
being a part of a very small litt ark being
a very small small part of the player's journey. You
know U niamed alf Some a great alumni there. Aaron Burr,
who is the starting center for the Miami Dolphins, was
at Texas State, came in six tundred and seventy five
pounds strong as an ox uh just signed a thirty
(02:51):
million dollar free agent contract with the Dolphins last year.
That's awesome. You mentioned the Baston, Joseph Day, Denner Olshawski
fund Sat. He was a dB at the Meiji State
All Conference DV and then also was a catcher on
the baseball team. Then he was signed with the Patriots
as an undrafted free agent and then became an All
(03:11):
pro punt returner. So it's the cool things, the cool
backstories you learn as you go through this process about
the athletes that attend the event. I just think, you know,
that's the most memorable part about it.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
You know so much that happens during this evaluation process.
It's always interesting because I'm one of those types of
guys that if I'm evaluating guy, I'm always going.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
To go back to the film.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
And there's there's certain talent evaluators that they put everything
on the Pro Day so much so that it could
be frustrating for a guy who's either in that top
fifty players or those guys who are looking to be
maybe Day two or do Day three types of players.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
What do you come down on that part?
Speaker 5 (03:57):
Do you put a lot of stock in the film
or do you put a lot of stock into pro Day?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
You must be reading my mind because I just tweeted
out that you shouldn't put so much stock in the
pro Day. And here's why. It's it's a small piece
of the puzzle in the draft evaluation process. You have
the prodas, you have the game film, you have the
combine if the player goes there, you have the background checks,
you're you have the interviews, the top thirty visits. All
(04:23):
that comes into play to pay a picture of this prospect.
So when people put and say, oh, this guy had
a rough proday or this guy had a phenomenal prode, well,
let's not get too high. Let's not get too low
in the prospect because that's just a small piece in
the puzzle. And then down the line, you got to
put all the pieces together see the full effect of
what that prospect could be at the next level.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Talking with Mike Riddleman, the director scouting and player personnel
for the College Great Iron Showcase All Star Game. You
can follow him on Twitter at m rich That's r
I T T CGS. As we as we look at
this process this year, as we look at you know
how scouting, I.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Guess has evolved.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
What is the biggest change from when you guys first
started this to where things are now.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I think you're seeing, well, I mean what we talked
about the transfer portal, because you're seeing a lot of
guys go to the bigger schools if they had the opportunity.
And a prime example that was at CGS this past
year was Joseph Vaughan, who was an inside linebacker at
UCLA didn't play that much, you know, a rotational guy,
special teamer. He went out at his pro day the
(05:30):
other day he vertical leaped forty one and a half inches,
Like that's insane at six to two hundred and thirty pounds.
And this guy was just a rotational player at best,
I mean, but like he was an All conference type
of player at Yale before he transferred. So it's doing
your due diligence, you know, with the transfer portal age.
As Okay, there are some studs that that transferred in
(05:50):
that might not crack the roster where they're at now,
but there were studs before. Those guys can still play
at the NFL or the CFL or the UFL. It's
doing that due jail as a scouting staff now, really
uncovering that, you know, making sure no stone or no
stone is unturned. But you know, I think that's the
biggest thing right now from where it has been the
(06:11):
last couple of years.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
So when when guys come to your great on showcase,
it's not just about you know, the x's and o's,
but do you guys have some kind of thing that
you guys do with the players who kind of prepare
them for the interviews because I think that that is
a key aspect that a lot of people miss out
(06:34):
and now say a lot of people meaning fans, that
they miss out on that part of it because the
exces and o's in the film study is great, but
it's how you answer those questions. So do you guys
have something where you prepared those guys to be able
to answer these questions when they're talking to talent evaluators.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
You know, that's a great question right there. I don't
say we we help prepare them, but we're just upfront
with them, like listen, like you're gonna you're gonna be interviewed.
You might not be interviewed by teams here, but when
you if you have the opportunity to, hey, you know,
showcase yourself in the professional manner, you know, be honest,
be up front, and you know, and then kind of
(07:12):
be what led you to get to this point. You know,
your talent, your your your background, everything like that. But
we we just tell them to be honest and up
front with the evaluators.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Talking with Mike Rudelman from the College Gridiron showcase, as
we're telling them to be upfront with the evaluators. What
kind of evaluators are you guys getting out at the showcase?
The NFL teams, I would assume maybe the UFL guys,
CFL guys like there's more ways to uh to play
pro ball than just the NFL.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Absolutely, absolutely so. We average around one hundred and thirty
one hundred and forty scouts each year, you know, all
thirty two NFL teams, all nine CFL teams. Fun fact
about the CFL with us last year, we had eleven
CFL draft picks and I think three were in the
first round in the in the top you know, five
picks of the first round, which is only nine pics.
We have thirty one alums that are on the active
(08:05):
rosters for the UFL, which is about to start their
season off here they're the Indoor Football League. There's arena football.
I mean, if you want to play professional football, there's
different avenues. And then you know, the more film you
can garner regardless of what you know. If you're the CFL, UFL,
arena ball, that can help you to your goal to
play in the NFL in the long run.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
You know, the Broncos need some running back helps, some
tight end help, still in this draft.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Who Who are some.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Guys that you guys had out there that you suggest
maybe Broncos fans keep an eye on.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
You know, started out with a tight end position. I like,
really like Mark Mahoney from Brown University. You know, tough,
instinctive tight end. You know, we'll willing to do the
dirty work in the blocking game. Another one to keep
an eye on is Mitchell van Vooren. So this is
gonna be an undrafted free agent, you know, type of guy,
mini camp guy. He's from Saint Norbert Division three school.
(08:56):
He was a track athlete at Marquette D one track
athlete at Marquette, then transfer he had one more year
of eligibility left. Wanted to play football, you know. Came
in at six four, two hundred and fifty three pounds, was
actually playing receiver at Saint Norbert. This is athletic ability alone.
He had ten touchdowns. He was the first team All
Conference guy. Another tight end is Sam Pilts from Minnesota
(09:18):
to lose, two time Division two top one hundred player,
the Elite one hundred team All American. Again, that tough,
h gretty type of guy, willing to do the dirty work.
And then running backs, you know Sam Hicks from Aplene,
Christian Amani Marshall from Appalachian State, Howard Russell from Colorado State,
Pueblo D two School, Lawrence the Feely from Florida State.
(09:41):
You know, very versatile player, catching the ball out of battlefield.
You know, you whining him up, but split out wide.
So a lot of depth in this at the running
back and tight end group here.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
You know, it's funny you mentioned the kid from saying, Norbert,
you're the second guy to mention him to me in
this draft process. A mutual friend of ours, Emory Hunt
was was hyping him up when we're up there at
the combine.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
So that was funny.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Funny that that name comes across again, something to keep
our eye on there. You mentioned the running back from
csu Peblo. What can you tell us about him?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
You know again, you know, tough runner, very productive there.
I like this ball skills most of all. And then
you know, a Division two All American, a top one
under elite type of guy. You know, again, it's gonna
be a camp body probably most likely. But again he's
not going to be out of place. You know, I
think he has the vision and the vision be and
then material football and also be a core special teamer
(10:31):
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
But we definitely love those kind of guys around here.
Mike Rittleman from the.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
College Green Iron Showcase. Mike, appreciate you have to get
you back on again here soon.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Absolutely. I appreciate you guys, and you're you guys more
and welcome to come down to the event next year.
It's the first week in January. I love the media
to come down, but love what you guys do.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Well.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
We appreciate the invitation. We'll we'll make it a point
to try and make that. Have you hear that, Dave Tepper,
We got an open invite down there. We need to
get down there. Mike, we appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Awesome. Thanks guys, Take care.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Mike Whittlman, the College Gridiron Showcase a lot a lot
of great players coming through, and I think it's nice
to kind of shine a light on some of these
events that maybe don't get the publicity of the Senior
Bowls Shrine and that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
But there are good players that come through here that
are making the NFL.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
You know.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
That's the one thing that you know, I can appreciate
now opposed to when I came out years ago that
there are all these avenues where players can now find
themselves seen by talent evaluators that go outside the norm
of the East West Shrine Game, the Senior Bowl, right
(11:34):
because everyone's always going to Mobile and that's kind of
perceived as being the premier place to be to kind
of pick up guys.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
But knowing as.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
Though there are more leagues than they were when I play,
and more opportunities that I'm really high and I'm optimistic
for a lot of these players that they get the
chance to continue their dreams of being professional athletes. And
all these guys are not going to be NFL players,
and these guys have a chance to go to the CFL.
But I'll add this for context. Just because it didn't
(12:06):
work out for you the first go round with the
NFL doesn't mean that it will not happen.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Testament.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I am living proof.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
I played in the CFL, I played in the NFL
Europe Hell, I would play in the Walmart parking lot
that they let me just to let people see what
I'm capable of doing. And football then there's nothing. It
is similar to life. And this is why I equate.
I'll always equate the two together, there is no one
reached the pinnacle of success one by themselves and two
(12:38):
without someone willing to.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Give you an opportunity.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
For me, I go back to this when I played
the NFL Europe, I was trying to break into the
league and a young guy who was in charge of
player personnel was there.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
And by the way, his name is George Peyton. Right.
Those chance encounters change your life in so many ways.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Even though I didn't end up making that Bears team,
but that interaction that George and I had, I mean,
to me, that was great.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
And you need.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
Someone to believe in you, someone to give you an opportunity.
That's why man, I love to death Wade Phillips because
Wade saw something in me in Buffalo and gave me
an opportunity. And that's the difference sometimes between success and failure.
Someone's willingness to give you an opportunity to show what
(13:32):
you're capable of doing.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, and you know, Broncos have certainly had a presence
at this event. That's part of the reason I do this.
Parcos have had presence of this event. In twenty nineteen,
Austin Ford, Trinity Benson and PJ.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Locke.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
We're all at the College greatron Showcase. All of course
came to the Broncos. Juwan Johnson was also there, almost
to Bronco here, went back to the Saints Austin Ford
of course, married Sidney Jones from you know from the
Broncos website there, moved on.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
But PJ is still on the team.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Trendy Benson is no longer with the Broncos, but PJ
is still on the team.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And so they certainly the.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Broncos have gone the extra mile to go to these
kinds of events and try to mind for mind for
goals where they can. And so we want to do,
you know, kind of get the fans out there a
little bit extra thing. And Mike's Mike's a friend, and
I'm helping you and I maybe go down to the
maybe go down of the event next year.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
And has fun well for me.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
When I think about scouting, like and he.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
Was talking about Mike was talking about it, when you
look at the top fifty of the top hundred players,
everyone knows who those players are, but it's the players
that are not on the radar that scouts really can
really make a name for themselves.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Getting those types of guys.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
And we know that the Broncos in the past, they've
had a lot of undrafted players make this team. And
George Payton has done a great job over the past
couple of years with some of the younger talent he
brings in. And those guys that are that come from
some of those smaller schools or even big schools who
may not have large names, those individuals end up being
your core special teams.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Got we got to keep an eye on this. Saint
Norbert tight End, Mitchell van Buren. Yeah, two different guys
bringing him up. Yes, and our good buddy Emory Hunt
brought him up.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And Mike, Mike, Emory and I allnoys you, but yeah,
Mike bringing him up unsolicited like that too. He's this
is somebody two people have got out of their way
to mention as a possible.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Brought track athlete.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah, he'd be right now, you were a track at market,
I believe right, Yes, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
These are the type of guys.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
That And I'm gonna go refer back to this because
this is what I know, this is what I've.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Seen, and this is what I've heard.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
I'm gonna refer back to my time with Bill Parcells
and Parcels would always talk about those diamonds in the roughs, right,
those guys who are just lumps of coal, and you
got to polish them and break them down from a
coaching standpoint and turn those guys into diamonds. And when
we look at the NFL Draft, to me, the draft
(15:53):
gets really exciting.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Once you get into that third round and beyond.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Because that's when you're scouting department has to do their homework.
Those are your core guys that make up once again,
not just your special teams unit, but the.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Core of your team.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
So it's gonna be interesting to see the Broncos pick
up any of these players and whether they draft him
or whether they can't invite when.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
We come back and get a chance to react to
that as well.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
As talk a little bit about the Bengals and how
their big deals might advise other teams.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
This is Broncos Country I care way, especially thanks to
Mike Whittelman, the director of scouting and propelayer personnel from
the College grid Iron Showcase for joining us the last second.
You missed any part of that, you go to Broncos
Country dot com, Slash podcast or Revercats your podcast Apple iTunes, Spotify,
the totally free and awesome redesigned iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
We can also get to take It for Granted podcast
as well.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
I get a recent new episode out there with I
Believe Rend and Crystal our very own well our former
own BK.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, doing big things over there, Girl of Sports Now.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Man, their studio is awesome. That is that's it. They
got the coolest looking, uh set up in town. I agree.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So you know, I'm just saying, if we wanted to
do something like that and here, it would not be
a post big reclining chairs.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
No comment.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I'm just I'm just saying if they wanted to, they
don't have to if they wanted to, if the one
does what they can.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Are you went out, Nick, Oh, you're he's gonna comment
off there?
Speaker 5 (17:21):
Well, I was commenting to Grant off air, but I
would say it now, But you were saying, well, you know,
not to say it. But I'm like, well, you've already
said it, You've already put it out there.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well what of the what's the saying? You don't bite
the hand that feeds you?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Oh, I mean you get hungry enough, you'll bite anything like.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Like those wolves trapped in those bear traps.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, six hours, you know, yeah, it was Uh, that's
one of the best.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
YO.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
I was rewatching Brooklyn nine nine and he was talking
about one hundred and twenty six hours and he's like,
he's like, wait, you saw your old leg office.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Is that what happens? I never finished that.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
It's like, oh my god, oh my.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
God, oh miss I missed the Andre Brower.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
May he rest in peace.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Lots going on around the NFL.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
We saw the Cincinnati Bengals paid both receivers. Do you
think that this is a trend that's going to continue
or is this just a fan service for the Cincinnati
Bengals because they sort of, you know, the fans were
sort of adamant that they needed to do that. For me,
I find it difficult to believe that this is going
(18:33):
to catch on because how are you going to construct
a team putting that much money into quarterback and receivers
and not other positions.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
But maybe I'm I've been wrong before. I could be
wrong again.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
It makes it a little difficult and challenging for teams
that don't know how to manage the cap. I hope
this is a growing trend, not to a point where
salaries continue to, I guess, escalate to astronomical numbers, which
will make it really hard to fill the competitive team.
But I like the concept of Joe Burrow knowing as
(19:07):
though listen, he played with Chase in college. He knows
how good he is as a wide receiver and he
wants a continuation of that.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
But also me, in.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
This world of the NFL where all we do is
talk about quarterbacks, either you have one or you don't
have one, Joe Barrow realized that, you know what, it's
not just me by myself. I need other individuals to
help me. So he recognized the fact that what Jamar
Chase can add and what t Higgins can add as well.
(19:36):
And oh, by the way, the Bengals were able to
hold on to Mike Oseeki. And we know that this
is an arms race in the NFL. It's about building
the culture and what team can actually keep their core
group of guys together. That's what makes it so difficult
in this so called free agency.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Type of period.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
So I hope that more players, and more or less
the quarterbacks right who have a lot of power, decide,
you know what, I'm going to use some of my
power to keep the guys together instead of every man
for himself type of attitude.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Right, And I think there there's something to that.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I mean, obviously Joe Burrow uh and his word carries
weight there in Cincinnati. But think about this from the
other perspective for a minute, right, think about this from
from an ownership perspective.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
You're shaky on your head, coach, right, Coaches that that
seat's a little warm.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Your quarterback is essentially running the show at this point.
If he's telling you who to bring back and all that.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Is that too much.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Power for the quarterback to have?
Speaker 5 (20:37):
No, it's not like you know, Joe Burrow is operating
like he's standos like he's Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
No, I mean, please don't go down that right and
Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
And everyone starts to fade away. Is what happened? You
know exactly. I'm just saying, no, you don't want that.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
But not everyone one can handle power. We know that, right,
We've seen that.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
But Joe Burrow is you know, he strikes me as
a guy who understands the game.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
He understands that he.
Speaker 5 (21:10):
Is not Joe Burrow without guys are who are around
him that can help him get to that pinnacle. And
I think what happens is because the league has put
so much on the quarterback and prop to them on
the pedestal that everyone from talent evaluated to owners think
that that's the only position right now, forgetting that he
(21:30):
needs a run game, he needs the offensive line. We
live a dimmer Colorado. What are we constantly talking about
run game and offensive line? So there's not a single
quarterback that ever wins a game by himself. And I
wish more players thought about this because now you take
negotiations out of the hands of the team, right because
now you say, okay, well we want to win.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
We talk.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Players talk all the time, just like owners and gms
talk at the combine all the time.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
So I got the group chat.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
So players with this power and only I'm just saying
quarterbacks can do this. You can't be like the starting
safety and trying to do no could be.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
I'm gonna tell you.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
What if you don't bring back yes, yes right now?
Speaker 5 (22:15):
No, no, no, no, Because I would say more or less
offensive players, because Keith Burns came back to Denver because
Rob Smith went to mister B and Mike Shanahan. So
offensive guys they get a little more, you know, a
little more power than we have the visits.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
So you didn't call Pap Bowling into your office. You
had at the facility Oreo Teddy KG and his money.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
No, no, no, no, that's more like Ryan Evers right now.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
But that that says, you know, we.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
All know like during the regular season, a lot of
the chips are pushed to the table of the offense.
They just rely on defense and playoffs and in.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
The Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
So if you are a quarterback and you're looking at
what Joe Burrow just did, and if you were Josh
Allen can do that, right, Lamar Jackson can do that,
Patrick Mahomes. Only those quarterbacks who have proven themselves can
possibly do that. And I think then, I think, to me,
it's not a wise idea for you to have a
starting quarterback like that and not even listen to them.
(23:17):
I'm not saying you have to do everything that they want,
but you gotta be able to listen to your quarterback
because that's the guy that you're asking to go out
there and win games for you.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
H It's interesting to me there has been in the
NFL in recent year sort of a shift in power
that some quarterbacks are able to get that kind of
stuff done. I just wonder how that trend continues. And
I think a lot of it hinges on whether or
not Cincinnati can win.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Because they start losing a bunch of games.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Owners around the league and be like, all right, you
know what, they just listened to their quarterback and look
at the trouble that got them into, you know, and
they're gonna they're gonna write that off.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
It's same way as that.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
For a minute there, we thought maybe fully guaranteed contracts
were coming with the Deshaun Watson thing, and then Deshaun
Watching sucked out loud in Cleveland and everyone is, again,
what am I doing wasting money on, you know, attempting
something like this when uh.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Uh just got got Cleveland and here's trouble.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
When has them when they when Andrew Berry signed that
contract brought I mean, they were so pissed around the league.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
But let me tell you there were owners shouting expletives
at that point.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
Yes, but now, knowing as though that hasn't proved beneficial
for Cleveland, guys like Jager Jones are clapping like, see,
thank you has them because you proved us right where
we are not going to do that. So even though
when you look at to Sean he's had a lot
of guaranteed money, that that kind of hurt players because
(24:38):
he got injured, you had the off the field issues
he never came through, and I was as a former player,
I was hoping that he balled out. So that so
that kind of like took players salary to a whole
different level.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Now the league is not now we don't we don't
have to do that.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
But I think what Joe Burrow and those two guys,
Chase and t Higgins did, We'll get a chance to
see if it comes through. But that is a negotiation
that the guys should be able to do themselves to
try to keep a core grouped together.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Hard work and perseverance payoff.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
And no better example of that Switching gears a little bit,
jac Scara, Did you guys see the story Yankees catcher
former FIU players spent years working as a part time
substitute teacher or an Uber driver while he was in
the Yankees minor league organization, and then he got the
news yesterday that he had officially made the Yankees roster.
(25:31):
Yankees' Instagram account from Uber driver to substitute teacher to
Yankees in twenty twenty five. And I don't know if
you saw this or not, you can see how Aaron
Boone delivered the news.
Speaker 6 (25:46):
This is difficult to have to do because I know
you've put yourself in a really good position and you've
done everything you could have expected. I mean, you've gotten
better as a catcher, Rake and he came in here
and showed it. But as you know, we I mean,
we have a lot of catching depths, as you know.
(26:07):
So that's what makes this hard. Yeah, you're going to
big league, so let's go. Congratulations the major leagues.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
You earned it.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
How many say I thank you?
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Called for Tuny. Yeah, what a journey and wow, it's
just getting started now again. Right, it's real. Now, we
got real things to go. Chase right, yup, Chase ever
and you've you've rarned that right, Thank you with a
lot of good people in that room that you've earned.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
The right to be here and be that guy. But
I can't wait to go see you.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Start carving out your big league career and help us win. Baby.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Let's yep, let's go, baby, proud of you.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
Wow, Prody's waiting right now.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Huh, that's the waiting right now.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Thank your hat for the show.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Let's go take an everything.
Speaker 6 (26:59):
Out there seeing the runs.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
That's every day, Jase Escar. I will talk with manager
Aaron Boone. And then they had the Instagram video where
he tells his mom and he's just like weeping. He's like, hi, mom,
and just finished talking. We're going to New York. The
dream came true. He's got tears in his eyes.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
His mom.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
You could hear her crying and.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
She just says, you know, I can't believe it, and
all this kind of stuff. And he did a great
interview with MLB dot com. So he just got married,
bought an apartment, and so he had this mortgage to
pay wife to provide for. He had to make the money.
He just took every job, thrown at whatever it took
to make ends. Meeting man, I'll tell you what there are.
You know, we talked earlier about that guy on the
Instagram with the fake hustle. This is real hustle, and
I absolutely respect the heck out of this. This is
(27:40):
a dude not giving up on the dream, willing to
do whatever it took to continue to keep that dream alive.
And look at that he gets rewarded at twenty nine
years old making an MLB opening day, right.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Yeah, yeah, Because when you look at it, there guys
who spend their tire career in the miners and they
never get called up to the show and a Scar
joining Alex Jackson, Austin Wells, and Ben Rice as the
catchers for the Yankees. As a Yankee fan myself, I'm
so happy for him. And I know before we've talked about, well,
(28:11):
you know, have there ever been movies that made Nick cry?
And there haven't been really many of them, but this
is one of those stories. If it was a movie
that I would shad the tear for because I've been
in this situation before.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
And like I said, it goes.
Speaker 5 (28:26):
Back to someone willing to see something in you to
give you an opportunity, and I did that. A Scar
was an uber driver and he was like a substitute teacher.
He did everything that he could to keep his dream alive.
I remember when I was playing in the CFL and
I was trying to break into the league, hoping that
I did something that someone would notice.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I mean, I was working at.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
A fitness club and I had already kind of worked
it out with the manager of the fitness club because
that allowed me to train at their facility, but also
allowed them to say, hey, here is a professional athlete
who's who's working at our gym. But it just gave
me the time that I needed. If I needed to
go to the CFL, I did that. I came back
that job was waiting for me. And Ascarra's situation is
(29:15):
so great because there's so many people who have dreams
that they're they.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Feel as though that dreams are falling off.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
But this is belief that if you are able to
get over the dip, get over that that that that
hurdle right, something big could be waiting for you. Like
at twenty nine, who's to say that he thought that
this was gonna happen.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
He hoped, he dreamed, and he wished.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
But how Amon Boom set it up is the typical
coach speak that you encounter when you sit down. Because
I've always told people this, when you are a player,
you walk into a room and immediately the coaches closed
the door. Whatever they say after that is not a
good thing. And to know that it started off like
(30:00):
it was going to be on the downside.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I want to messing with a hard baby. Can you imagine.
I mean, you're twenty nine years old.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
He's been thinking about hanging it out, and you're getting
that familiar speech you've heard a million times, and you're
just like and then all of a sudden, he flips
the script on you. A scar I signed an eight
hundred thousand dollars contract to play this year. Previously, he'd
been making fifty five thousand, six hundred dollars a year
as a.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Minor league baseball player.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Well, I can tell him this.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
There's two places in America that is really expensive, California
and New York.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
New York City fifty five thousand.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Dollars as a minor league bad player in New York,
He's like, like, with all due respect to people that
are living in poverty.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
It's pretty close. Twenty five thousand dollars a.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Year in New York is not going far unless you're
live in like upstate.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
It's not.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
But the idea is, like, what would you be willing
to go through to live out your dream? New York
is really is expensive, the media is really brutal. But
he's playing with a story franchise, a story franchise in
the Yankees and He's will be able to say that
he made that team with so many people try to
(31:03):
their guys still in the minors who are like thirty two. Yeah,
is trying to get to the show. Yeah, yes, and
it's not in the cause for so I'm happy for him.
I can't wait to see what happens of this season.
But this is a story that I wanted to highlight,
even though we're not talking about the Rockies and they're
talking about the Yankees, but it's a personal story that
(31:24):
we can all see a lot of ourselves in really quickly.
You know, as we look at big break, right, what
was your big big break?
Speaker 4 (31:34):
What was that story?
Speaker 5 (31:35):
Like a big break for Ben now you foresee as
being a big.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Break for me.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Well, I mean the thing that that.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
I guess it would have been I broke to Sam
Bradford trade, uh, sam Bradford for Nick Foles trade Philadelphia
is to the Rams before.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Anybody, like any before anybody had that.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
I had that And that was the one that I
mean there had been noticed before. That was the one
that really kind of exploded me. Is some other things
right on the map right is somebody And there'd been plenty,
there have been stories before before whatever reason, that story
was the one that everybody that was the first time
I think that both Ian and Adam gave me credit
for something like that, and Ian reached out shortly thereafter.
(32:20):
Adam reached out a little bit later Chris Mortenson, I'd
already kind of had a dialogue with at that point,
but it was the one that kind of put me
on the map.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
With people inside the industry.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
You know, there were people around Twitter that already knew, hey,
this guy gets some stories before other people. That was
the one that put me on the map with like
my peers. It's like, Okay, this guy got us, he
scooped this.
Speaker 5 (32:38):
Now when that happened for you right now, I know
I'm talking to Benjamin L.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Bright, But for you, what did that do to you?
Speaker 5 (32:46):
To kind of be recognized as being one of those
guys that you got a story that no one else
was able to get?
Speaker 1 (32:54):
It was big for me because it was the respect
of my peers like that, and that mattered to me.
I didn't care, like i'f the Twitter people believe or
didn't believe.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I like.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
As much as I mess with that stuff now, I
still don't like because the people that like you guys know.
You know, Ryan knows, Dave Logan knows, like the people
in the studio, Dave Temper knows, grand though, and the
people I work with. No, I don't care about the
people on Twitter, like who cares so the haters whatever,
you know, those people, I don't care about that. But
getting the respect to your perer, that was big for
me because I wanted to be I wanted to be
(33:21):
in the in the Kok Kids club, you know, And
that was the moment where I got started getting added
to the group chats and I started getting, you know,
the respect from those guys and the texts from Chris
and Adam and uh and really it started out a
great relationship with Ian and Mike Garrofalo, who has been
great mentors for me, so that it was a big
thing for me.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
We get more of this on the other side. Broncos
Country Night back after this
Go right out to the kaa common spirit elf hotline.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I didn't bring on my guy, Mike Renolmand.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Who's the record of the College grid Iron Showcase?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Mike, how you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Hey, I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on, Fellas.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
For those who don't know, can you maybe explain what
the College grid Iron Showcase is to start?
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (00:18):
So.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
We're a college all star event based in Fort Worth, Texas.
We just completed our eleventh year. Over the last six years,
we've had six twenty one NFL Draft picks, and our
niche is that, you know, fifth through seventh round, the
priority undrafted free agent type of guy. And you know,
I always like to say, you know, my three year
old son can tell me the top two hundred players
(00:39):
in the draft. You know, after that, you know, that's
where the real fun starts.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
Well, you know, as a guy that wasn't drafted myself,
I wasn't invited to any senior bows or the combine,
but I did cut my teeth in NFL Europe, in
the CFL. For the guys that you are describing, you know,
what do you recommend for those guys whether they come
to what you guys are doing your college Good On
(01:05):
Showcase or anything else. What is your words of encouragement
to those guys to help themselves be seen by NFL evaluators.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah, that's that's a great question. So again it's are
you standing out at the division you're playing at. So,
whether you're a D two, D three, an AI A
All American and you know, I'm excluding fbs and fcs
right now, and I know we live in the day
and age of transfer portal, but if you're at that level,
you have to stand out. You not only have to
(01:36):
be an All conference type of player, you have to
be an All American level type of player. That's what
moves the needle, especially for us in our scouting process,
is that guy taking over the competitions he's at. Because
everyone knows the NFL is a whole different animal, and
it comes to you know, the type of player, the
type of athlete playing at that level.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Talking with right Mike Riddleman from the College Good On Showcase,
a couple of Broncos have come through there. Our guys
who played for the Broncos over the years.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Obviously PJ. Locke was in a tenant.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
There some other guys that people may be familiar with,
to Baston, Joseph Day, young waycou of course, wait minute,
was a plutter here.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, you've hit.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
You've had some some good with Austin Fort who wound
up marrying our own marrying Sydney who worked for the
Broncos as well, was from UH was out there as well.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Trinity Benson, what.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Would you say has has been the most rewarding aspect
of doing this for you?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I think it's just being a being a part of
being a part of a very small litt ark being
a very small small part of the player's journey. You
know U niamed alf Some a great alumni there. Aaron Burr,
who is the starting center for the Miami Dolphins, was
at Texas State, came in six tundred and seventy five
pounds strong as an ox uh just signed a thirty
(02:51):
million dollar free agent contract with the Dolphins last year.
That's awesome. You mentioned the Baston, Joseph Day, Denner Olshawski
fund Sat. He was a dB at the Meiji State
All Conference DV and then also was a catcher on
the baseball team. Then he was signed with the Patriots
as an undrafted free agent and then became an All
(03:11):
pro punt returner. So it's the cool things, the cool
backstories you learn as you go through this process about
the athletes that attend the event. I just think, you know,
that's the most memorable part about it.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
You know so much that happens during this evaluation process.
It's always interesting because I'm one of those types of
guys that if I'm evaluating guy, I'm always going.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
To go back to the film.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
And there's there's certain talent evaluators that they put everything
on the Pro Day so much so that it could
be frustrating for a guy who's either in that top
fifty players or those guys who are looking to be
maybe Day two or do Day three types of players.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
What do you come down on that part?
Speaker 5 (03:57):
Do you put a lot of stock in the film
or do you put a lot of stock into pro Day?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
You must be reading my mind because I just tweeted
out that you shouldn't put so much stock in the
pro Day. And here's why. It's it's a small piece
of the puzzle in the draft evaluation process. You have
the prodas, you have the game film, you have the
combine if the player goes there, you have the background checks,
you're you have the interviews, the top thirty visits. All
(04:23):
that comes into play to pay a picture of this prospect.
So when people put and say, oh, this guy had
a rough proday or this guy had a phenomenal prode, well,
let's not get too high. Let's not get too low
in the prospect because that's just a small piece in
the puzzle. And then down the line, you got to
put all the pieces together see the full effect of
what that prospect could be at the next level.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Talking with Mike Riddleman, the director scouting and player personnel
for the College Great Iron Showcase All Star Game. You
can follow him on Twitter at m rich That's r
I T T CGS. As we as we look at
this process this year, as we look at you know
how scouting, I.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Guess has evolved.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
What is the biggest change from when you guys first
started this to where things are now.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I think you're seeing, well, I mean what we talked
about the transfer portal, because you're seeing a lot of
guys go to the bigger schools if they had the opportunity.
And a prime example that was at CGS this past
year was Joseph Vaughan, who was an inside linebacker at
UCLA didn't play that much, you know, a rotational guy,
special teamer. He went out at his pro day the
(05:30):
other day he vertical leaped forty one and a half inches,
Like that's insane at six to two hundred and thirty pounds.
And this guy was just a rotational player at best,
I mean, but like he was an All conference type
of player at Yale before he transferred. So it's doing
your due diligence, you know, with the transfer portal age.
As Okay, there are some studs that that transferred in
(05:50):
that might not crack the roster where they're at now,
but there were studs before. Those guys can still play
at the NFL or the CFL or the UFL. It's
doing that due jail as a scouting staff now, really
uncovering that, you know, making sure no stone or no
stone is unturned. But you know, I think that's the
biggest thing right now from where it has been the
(06:11):
last couple of years.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
So when when guys come to your great on showcase,
it's not just about you know, the x's and o's,
but do you guys have some kind of thing that
you guys do with the players who kind of prepare
them for the interviews because I think that that is
a key aspect that a lot of people miss out
(06:34):
and now say a lot of people meaning fans, that
they miss out on that part of it because the
exces and o's in the film study is great, but
it's how you answer those questions. So do you guys
have something where you prepared those guys to be able
to answer these questions when they're talking to talent evaluators.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
You know, that's a great question right there. I don't
say we we help prepare them, but we're just upfront
with them, like listen, like you're gonna you're gonna be interviewed.
You might not be interviewed by teams here, but when
you if you have the opportunity to, hey, you know,
showcase yourself in the professional manner, you know, be honest,
be up front, and you know, and then kind of
(07:12):
be what led you to get to this point. You know,
your talent, your your your background, everything like that. But
we we just tell them to be honest and up
front with the evaluators.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Talking with Mike Rudelman from the College Gridiron showcase, as
we're telling them to be upfront with the evaluators. What
kind of evaluators are you guys getting out at the showcase?
The NFL teams, I would assume maybe the UFL guys,
CFL guys like there's more ways to uh to play
pro ball than just the NFL.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Absolutely, absolutely so. We average around one hundred and thirty
one hundred and forty scouts each year, you know, all
thirty two NFL teams, all nine CFL teams. Fun fact
about the CFL with us last year, we had eleven
CFL draft picks and I think three were in the
first round in the in the top you know, five
picks of the first round, which is only nine pics.
We have thirty one alums that are on the active
(08:05):
rosters for the UFL, which is about to start their
season off here they're the Indoor Football League. There's arena football.
I mean, if you want to play professional football, there's
different avenues. And then you know, the more film you
can garner regardless of what you know. If you're the CFL, UFL,
arena ball, that can help you to your goal to
play in the NFL in the long run.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
You know, the Broncos need some running back helps, some
tight end help, still in this draft.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Who Who are some.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Guys that you guys had out there that you suggest
maybe Broncos fans keep an eye on.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
You know, started out with a tight end position. I like,
really like Mark Mahoney from Brown University. You know, tough,
instinctive tight end. You know, we'll willing to do the
dirty work in the blocking game. Another one to keep
an eye on is Mitchell van Vooren. So this is
gonna be an undrafted free agent, you know, type of guy,
mini camp guy. He's from Saint Norbert Division three school.
(08:56):
He was a track athlete at Marquette D one track
athlete at Marquette, then transfer he had one more year
of eligibility left. Wanted to play football, you know. Came
in at six four, two hundred and fifty three pounds, was
actually playing receiver at Saint Norbert. This is athletic ability alone.
He had ten touchdowns. He was the first team All
Conference guy. Another tight end is Sam Pilts from Minnesota
(09:18):
to lose, two time Division two top one hundred player,
the Elite one hundred team All American. Again, that tough,
h gretty type of guy, willing to do the dirty work.
And then running backs, you know Sam Hicks from Aplene,
Christian Amani Marshall from Appalachian State, Howard Russell from Colorado State,
Pueblo D two School, Lawrence the Feely from Florida State.
(09:41):
You know, very versatile player, catching the ball out of battlefield.
You know, you whining him up, but split out wide.
So a lot of depth in this at the running
back and tight end group here.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
You know, it's funny you mentioned the kid from saying, Norbert,
you're the second guy to mention him to me in
this draft process. A mutual friend of ours, Emory Hunt
was was hyping him up when we're up there at
the combine.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
So that was funny.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Funny that that name comes across again, something to keep
our eye on there. You mentioned the running back from
csu Peblo. What can you tell us about him?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
You know again, you know, tough runner, very productive there.
I like this ball skills most of all. And then
you know, a Division two All American, a top one
under elite type of guy. You know, again, it's gonna
be a camp body probably most likely. But again he's
not going to be out of place. You know, I
think he has the vision and the vision be and
then material football and also be a core special teamer
(10:31):
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
But we definitely love those kind of guys around here.
Mike Rittleman from the.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
College Green Iron Showcase. Mike, appreciate you have to get
you back on again here soon.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Absolutely. I appreciate you guys, and you're you guys more
and welcome to come down to the event next year.
It's the first week in January. I love the media
to come down, but love what you guys do.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Well.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
We appreciate the invitation. We'll we'll make it a point
to try and make that. Have you hear that, Dave Tepper,
We got an open invite down there. We need to
get down there. Mike, we appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Awesome. Thanks guys, Take care.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Mike Whittlman, the College Gridiron Showcase a lot a lot
of great players coming through, and I think it's nice
to kind of shine a light on some of these
events that maybe don't get the publicity of the Senior
Bowls Shrine and that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
But there are good players that come through here that
are making the NFL.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
You know.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
That's the one thing that you know, I can appreciate
now opposed to when I came out years ago that
there are all these avenues where players can now find
themselves seen by talent evaluators that go outside the norm
of the East West Shrine Game, the Senior Bowl, right
(11:34):
because everyone's always going to Mobile and that's kind of
perceived as being the premier place to be to kind
of pick up guys.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
But knowing as.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
Though there are more leagues than they were when I play,
and more opportunities that I'm really high and I'm optimistic
for a lot of these players that they get the
chance to continue their dreams of being professional athletes. And
all these guys are not going to be NFL players,
and these guys have a chance to go to the CFL.
But I'll add this for context. Just because it didn't
(12:06):
work out for you the first go round with the
NFL doesn't mean that it will not happen.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Testament.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I am living proof.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
I played in the CFL, I played in the NFL
Europe Hell, I would play in the Walmart parking lot
that they let me just to let people see what
I'm capable of doing. And football then there's nothing. It
is similar to life. And this is why I equate.
I'll always equate the two together, there is no one
reached the pinnacle of success one by themselves and two
(12:38):
without someone willing to.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Give you an opportunity.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
For me, I go back to this when I played
the NFL Europe, I was trying to break into the
league and a young guy who was in charge of
player personnel was there.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
And by the way, his name is George Peyton. Right.
Those chance encounters change your life in so many ways.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Even though I didn't end up making that Bears team,
but that interaction that George and I had, I mean,
to me, that was great.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
And you need.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
Someone to believe in you, someone to give you an opportunity.
That's why man, I love to death Wade Phillips because
Wade saw something in me in Buffalo and gave me
an opportunity. And that's the difference sometimes between success and failure.
Someone's willingness to give you an opportunity to show what
(13:32):
you're capable of doing.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, and you know, Broncos have certainly had a presence
at this event. That's part of the reason I do this.
Parcos have had presence of this event. In twenty nineteen,
Austin Ford, Trinity Benson and PJ.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Locke.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
We're all at the College greatron Showcase. All of course
came to the Broncos. Juwan Johnson was also there, almost
to Bronco here, went back to the Saints Austin Ford
of course, married Sidney Jones from you know from the
Broncos website there, moved on.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
But PJ is still on the team.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Trendy Benson is no longer with the Broncos, but PJ
is still on the team.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And so they certainly the.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Broncos have gone the extra mile to go to these
kinds of events and try to mind for mind for
goals where they can. And so we want to do,
you know, kind of get the fans out there a
little bit extra thing. And Mike's Mike's a friend, and
I'm helping you and I maybe go down to the
maybe go down of the event next year.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
And has fun well for me.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
When I think about scouting, like and he.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
Was talking about Mike was talking about it, when you
look at the top fifty of the top hundred players,
everyone knows who those players are, but it's the players
that are not on the radar that scouts really can
really make a name for themselves.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Getting those types of guys.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
And we know that the Broncos in the past, they've
had a lot of undrafted players make this team. And
George Payton has done a great job over the past
couple of years with some of the younger talent he
brings in. And those guys that are that come from
some of those smaller schools or even big schools who
may not have large names, those individuals end up being
your core special teams.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Got we got to keep an eye on this. Saint
Norbert tight End, Mitchell van Buren. Yeah, two different guys
bringing him up. Yes, and our good buddy Emory Hunt
brought him up.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And Mike, Mike, Emory and I allnoys you, but yeah,
Mike bringing him up unsolicited like that too. He's this
is somebody two people have got out of their way
to mention as a possible.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Brought track athlete.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah, he'd be right now, you were a track at market,
I believe right, Yes, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
These are the type of guys.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
That And I'm gonna go refer back to this because
this is what I know, this is what I've.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Seen, and this is what I've heard.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
I'm gonna refer back to my time with Bill Parcells
and Parcels would always talk about those diamonds in the roughs, right,
those guys who are just lumps of coal, and you
got to polish them and break them down from a
coaching standpoint and turn those guys into diamonds. And when
we look at the NFL Draft, to me, the draft
(15:53):
gets really exciting.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Once you get into that third round and beyond.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Because that's when you're scouting department has to do their homework.
Those are your core guys that make up once again,
not just your special teams unit, but the.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Core of your team.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
So it's gonna be interesting to see the Broncos pick
up any of these players and whether they draft him
or whether they can't invite when.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
We come back and get a chance to react to
that as well.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
As talk a little bit about the Bengals and how
their big deals might advise other teams.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
This is Broncos Country I care way, especially thanks to
Mike Whittelman, the director of scouting and propelayer personnel from
the College grid Iron Showcase for joining us the last second.
You missed any part of that, you go to Broncos
Country dot com, Slash podcast or Revercats your podcast Apple iTunes, Spotify,
the totally free and awesome redesigned iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
We can also get to take It for Granted podcast
as well.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
I get a recent new episode out there with I
Believe Rend and Crystal our very own well our former
own BK.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, doing big things over there, Girl of Sports Now.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Man, their studio is awesome. That is that's it. They
got the coolest looking, uh set up in town. I agree.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So you know, I'm just saying, if we wanted to
do something like that and here, it would not be
a post big reclining chairs.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
No comment.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I'm just I'm just saying if they wanted to, they
don't have to if they wanted to, if the one
does what they can.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Are you went out, Nick, Oh, you're he's gonna comment
off there?
Speaker 5 (17:21):
Well, I was commenting to Grant off air, but I
would say it now, But you were saying, well, you know,
not to say it. But I'm like, well, you've already
said it, You've already put it out there.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well what of the what's the saying? You don't bite
the hand that feeds you?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Oh, I mean you get hungry enough, you'll bite anything like.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Like those wolves trapped in those bear traps.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah, six hours, you know, yeah, it was Uh, that's
one of the best.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
YO.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
I was rewatching Brooklyn nine nine and he was talking
about one hundred and twenty six hours and he's like,
he's like, wait, you saw your old leg office.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Is that what happens? I never finished that.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
It's like, oh my god, oh my.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
God, oh miss I missed the Andre Brower.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
May he rest in peace.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Lots going on around the NFL.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
We saw the Cincinnati Bengals paid both receivers. Do you
think that this is a trend that's going to continue
or is this just a fan service for the Cincinnati
Bengals because they sort of, you know, the fans were
sort of adamant that they needed to do that. For me,
I find it difficult to believe that this is going
(18:33):
to catch on because how are you going to construct
a team putting that much money into quarterback and receivers
and not other positions.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
But maybe I'm I've been wrong before. I could be
wrong again.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
It makes it a little difficult and challenging for teams
that don't know how to manage the cap. I hope
this is a growing trend, not to a point where
salaries continue to, I guess, escalate to astronomical numbers, which
will make it really hard to fill the competitive team.
But I like the concept of Joe Burrow knowing as
(19:07):
though listen, he played with Chase in college. He knows
how good he is as a wide receiver and he
wants a continuation of that.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
But also me, in.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
This world of the NFL where all we do is
talk about quarterbacks, either you have one or you don't
have one, Joe Barrow realized that, you know what, it's
not just me by myself. I need other individuals to
help me. So he recognized the fact that what Jamar
Chase can add and what t Higgins can add as well.
(19:36):
And oh, by the way, the Bengals were able to
hold on to Mike Oseeki. And we know that this
is an arms race in the NFL. It's about building
the culture and what team can actually keep their core
group of guys together. That's what makes it so difficult
in this so called free agency.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Type of period.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
So I hope that more players, and more or less
the quarterbacks right who have a lot of power, decide,
you know what, I'm going to use some of my
power to keep the guys together instead of every man
for himself type of attitude.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Right, And I think there there's something to that.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I mean, obviously Joe Burrow uh and his word carries
weight there in Cincinnati. But think about this from the
other perspective for a minute, right, think about this from
from an ownership perspective.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
You're shaky on your head, coach, right, Coaches that that
seat's a little warm.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Your quarterback is essentially running the show at this point.
If he's telling you who to bring back and all that.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Is that too much.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Power for the quarterback to have?
Speaker 5 (20:37):
No, it's not like you know, Joe Burrow is operating
like he's standos like he's Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
No, I mean, please don't go down that right and
Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
And everyone starts to fade away. Is what happened? You
know exactly. I'm just saying, no, you don't want that.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
But not everyone one can handle power. We know that, right,
We've seen that.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
But Joe Burrow is you know, he strikes me as
a guy who understands the game.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
He understands that he.
Speaker 5 (21:10):
Is not Joe Burrow without guys are who are around
him that can help him get to that pinnacle. And
I think what happens is because the league has put
so much on the quarterback and prop to them on
the pedestal that everyone from talent evaluated to owners think
that that's the only position right now, forgetting that he
(21:30):
needs a run game, he needs the offensive line. We
live a dimmer Colorado. What are we constantly talking about
run game and offensive line? So there's not a single
quarterback that ever wins a game by himself. And I
wish more players thought about this because now you take
negotiations out of the hands of the team, right because
now you say, okay, well we want to win.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
We talk.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Players talk all the time, just like owners and gms
talk at the combine all the time.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
So I got the group chat.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
So players with this power and only I'm just saying
quarterbacks can do this. You can't be like the starting
safety and trying to do no could be.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
I'm gonna tell you.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
What if you don't bring back yes, yes right now?
Speaker 5 (22:15):
No, no, no, no, Because I would say more or less
offensive players, because Keith Burns came back to Denver because
Rob Smith went to mister B and Mike Shanahan. So
offensive guys they get a little more, you know, a
little more power than we have the visits.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
So you didn't call Pap Bowling into your office. You
had at the facility Oreo Teddy KG and his money.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
No, no, no, no, that's more like Ryan Evers right now.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
But that that says, you know, we.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
All know like during the regular season, a lot of
the chips are pushed to the table of the offense.
They just rely on defense and playoffs and in.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
The Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
So if you are a quarterback and you're looking at
what Joe Burrow just did, and if you were Josh
Allen can do that, right, Lamar Jackson can do that,
Patrick Mahomes. Only those quarterbacks who have proven themselves can
possibly do that. And I think then, I think, to me,
it's not a wise idea for you to have a
starting quarterback like that and not even listen to them.
(23:17):
I'm not saying you have to do everything that they want,
but you gotta be able to listen to your quarterback
because that's the guy that you're asking to go out
there and win games for you.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
H It's interesting to me there has been in the
NFL in recent year sort of a shift in power
that some quarterbacks are able to get that kind of
stuff done. I just wonder how that trend continues. And
I think a lot of it hinges on whether or
not Cincinnati can win.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Because they start losing a bunch of games.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Owners around the league and be like, all right, you
know what, they just listened to their quarterback and look
at the trouble that got them into, you know, and
they're gonna they're gonna write that off.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
It's same way as that.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
For a minute there, we thought maybe fully guaranteed contracts
were coming with the Deshaun Watson thing, and then Deshaun
Watching sucked out loud in Cleveland and everyone is, again,
what am I doing wasting money on, you know, attempting
something like this when uh.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Uh just got got Cleveland and here's trouble.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
When has them when they when Andrew Berry signed that
contract brought I mean, they were so pissed around the league.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
But let me tell you there were owners shouting expletives
at that point.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
Yes, but now, knowing as though that hasn't proved beneficial
for Cleveland, guys like Jager Jones are clapping like, see,
thank you has them because you proved us right where
we are not going to do that. So even though
when you look at to Sean he's had a lot
of guaranteed money, that that kind of hurt players because
(24:38):
he got injured, you had the off the field issues
he never came through, and I was as a former player,
I was hoping that he balled out. So that so
that kind of like took players salary to a whole
different level.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Now the league is not now we don't we don't
have to do that.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
But I think what Joe Burrow and those two guys,
Chase and t Higgins did, We'll get a chance to
see if it comes through. But that is a negotiation
that the guys should be able to do themselves to
try to keep a core grouped together.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Hard work and perseverance payoff.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
And no better example of that Switching gears a little bit,
jac Scara, Did you guys see the story Yankees catcher
former FIU players spent years working as a part time
substitute teacher or an Uber driver while he was in
the Yankees minor league organization, and then he got the
news yesterday that he had officially made the Yankees roster.
(25:31):
Yankees' Instagram account from Uber driver to substitute teacher to
Yankees in twenty twenty five. And I don't know if
you saw this or not, you can see how Aaron
Boone delivered the news.
Speaker 6 (25:46):
This is difficult to have to do because I know
you've put yourself in a really good position and you've
done everything you could have expected. I mean, you've gotten
better as a catcher, Rake and he came in here
and showed it. But as you know, we I mean,
we have a lot of catching depths, as you know.
(26:07):
So that's what makes this hard. Yeah, you're going to
big league, so let's go. Congratulations the major leagues.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
You earned it.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
How many say I thank you?
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Called for Tuny. Yeah, what a journey and wow, it's
just getting started now again. Right, it's real. Now, we
got real things to go. Chase right, yup, Chase ever
and you've you've rarned that right, Thank you with a
lot of good people in that room that you've earned.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
The right to be here and be that guy. But
I can't wait to go see you.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Start carving out your big league career and help us win. Baby.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Let's yep, let's go, baby, proud of you.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
Wow, Prody's waiting right now.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Huh, that's the waiting right now.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Thank your hat for the show.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Let's go take an everything.
Speaker 6 (26:59):
Out there seeing the runs.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
That's every day, Jase Escar. I will talk with manager
Aaron Boone. And then they had the Instagram video where
he tells his mom and he's just like weeping. He's like, hi, mom,
and just finished talking. We're going to New York. The
dream came true. He's got tears in his eyes.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
His mom.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
You could hear her crying and.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
She just says, you know, I can't believe it, and
all this kind of stuff. And he did a great
interview with MLB dot com. So he just got married,
bought an apartment, and so he had this mortgage to
pay wife to provide for. He had to make the money.
He just took every job, thrown at whatever it took
to make ends. Meeting man, I'll tell you what there are.
You know, we talked earlier about that guy on the
Instagram with the fake hustle. This is real hustle, and
I absolutely respect the heck out of this. This is
(27:40):
a dude not giving up on the dream, willing to
do whatever it took to continue to keep that dream alive.
And look at that he gets rewarded at twenty nine
years old making an MLB opening day, right.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Yeah, yeah, Because when you look at it, there guys
who spend their tire career in the miners and they
never get called up to the show and a Scar
joining Alex Jackson, Austin Wells, and Ben Rice as the
catchers for the Yankees. As a Yankee fan myself, I'm
so happy for him. And I know before we've talked about, well,
(28:11):
you know, have there ever been movies that made Nick cry?
And there haven't been really many of them, but this
is one of those stories. If it was a movie
that I would shad the tear for because I've been
in this situation before.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
And like I said, it goes.
Speaker 5 (28:26):
Back to someone willing to see something in you to
give you an opportunity, and I did that. A Scar
was an uber driver and he was like a substitute teacher.
He did everything that he could to keep his dream alive.
I remember when I was playing in the CFL and
I was trying to break into the league, hoping that
I did something that someone would notice.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I mean, I was working at.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
A fitness club and I had already kind of worked
it out with the manager of the fitness club because
that allowed me to train at their facility, but also
allowed them to say, hey, here is a professional athlete
who's who's working at our gym. But it just gave
me the time that I needed. If I needed to
go to the CFL, I did that. I came back
that job was waiting for me. And Ascarra's situation is
(29:15):
so great because there's so many people who have dreams
that they're they.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Feel as though that dreams are falling off.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
But this is belief that if you are able to
get over the dip, get over that that that that
hurdle right, something big could be waiting for you. Like
at twenty nine, who's to say that he thought that
this was gonna happen.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
He hoped, he dreamed, and he wished.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
But how Amon Boom set it up is the typical
coach speak that you encounter when you sit down. Because
I've always told people this, when you are a player,
you walk into a room and immediately the coaches closed
the door. Whatever they say after that is not a
good thing. And to know that it started off like
(30:00):
it was going to be on the downside.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I want to messing with a hard baby. Can you imagine.
I mean, you're twenty nine years old.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
He's been thinking about hanging it out, and you're getting
that familiar speech you've heard a million times, and you're
just like and then all of a sudden, he flips
the script on you. A scar I signed an eight
hundred thousand dollars contract to play this year. Previously, he'd
been making fifty five thousand, six hundred dollars a year
as a.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Minor league baseball player.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
Well, I can tell him this.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
There's two places in America that is really expensive, California
and New York.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
New York City fifty five thousand.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Dollars as a minor league bad player in New York,
He's like, like, with all due respect to people that
are living in poverty.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
It's pretty close. Twenty five thousand dollars a.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Year in New York is not going far unless you're
live in like upstate.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
It's not.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
But the idea is, like, what would you be willing
to go through to live out your dream? New York
is really is expensive, the media is really brutal. But
he's playing with a story franchise, a story franchise in
the Yankees and He's will be able to say that
he made that team with so many people try to
(31:03):
their guys still in the minors who are like thirty two. Yeah,
is trying to get to the show. Yeah, yes, and
it's not in the cause for so I'm happy for him.
I can't wait to see what happens of this season.
But this is a story that I wanted to highlight,
even though we're not talking about the Rockies and they're
talking about the Yankees, but it's a personal story that
(31:24):
we can all see a lot of ourselves in really quickly.
You know, as we look at big break, right, what
was your big big break?
Speaker 4 (31:34):
What was that story?
Speaker 5 (31:35):
Like a big break for Ben now you foresee as
being a big.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Break for me.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Well, I mean the thing that that.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
I guess it would have been I broke to Sam
Bradford trade, uh, sam Bradford for Nick Foles trade Philadelphia
is to the Rams before.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Anybody, like any before anybody had that.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
I had that And that was the one that I
mean there had been noticed before. That was the one
that really kind of exploded me. Is some other things
right on the map right is somebody And there'd been plenty,
there have been stories before before whatever reason, that story
was the one that everybody that was the first time
I think that both Ian and Adam gave me credit
for something like that, and Ian reached out shortly thereafter.
(32:20):
Adam reached out a little bit later Chris Mortenson, I'd
already kind of had a dialogue with at that point,
but it was the one that kind of put me
on the map.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
With people inside the industry.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
You know, there were people around Twitter that already knew, hey,
this guy gets some stories before other people. That was
the one that put me on the map with like
my peers. It's like, Okay, this guy got us, he
scooped this.
Speaker 5 (32:38):
Now when that happened for you right now, I know
I'm talking to Benjamin L.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Bright, But for you, what did that do to you?
Speaker 5 (32:46):
To kind of be recognized as being one of those
guys that you got a story that no one else
was able to get?
Speaker 1 (32:54):
It was big for me because it was the respect
of my peers like that, and that mattered to me.
I didn't care, like i'f the Twitter people believe or
didn't believe.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I like.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
As much as I mess with that stuff now, I
still don't like because the people that like you guys know.
You know, Ryan knows, Dave Logan knows, like the people
in the studio, Dave Temper knows, grand though, and the
people I work with. No, I don't care about the
people on Twitter, like who cares so the haters whatever,
you know, those people, I don't care about that. But
getting the respect to your perer, that was big for
me because I wanted to be I wanted to be
(33:21):
in the in the Kok Kids club, you know, And
that was the moment where I got started getting added
to the group chats and I started getting, you know,
the respect from those guys and the texts from Chris
and Adam and uh and really it started out a
great relationship with Ian and Mike Garrofalo, who has been
great mentors for me, so that it was a big
thing for me.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
We get more of this on the other side. Broncos
Country Night back after this
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