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Alan Hahn
This isn't just another ESPN fantasy football season.
Peter Rosenberg
It's your shot at greatness.
Alan Hahn
With a refreshed design, the ESPN Fantasy.
Peter Rosenberg
App is sharper than ever. So you can draft like a pro and dominate your league.
Alan Hahn
And introducing Gridiron Gauntlet, a new game mode where the best compete to be crowned the number one fantasy football player of 2025. One app, one shot, one champion.
Peter Rosenberg
Download the ESPN fantasy app and sign.
Alan Hahn
Up to play ESPN fantasy football today. Don, Sometimes fraud gives you movement. It sounded like it moved. Han, you heard a squish. And Rosenberg shake gently to assure complete activation.
Peter Rosenberg
Hello, this isn't North Dakota.
Alan Hahn
This is New York. This is Don Hahn and Rosenberg. The best threesome I've ever heard on 880 ESPN and the ESPN New York app.
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, that's right, 301. And there's big news. That news is for the first time in what feels like forever and in actuality is six, seven weeks. You have a Peter Rosenberg, Alan Hahn shared vehicle. What's up, boo? This Monday. How are you, buddy?
Alan Hahn
Bring out the Bullpen Coyotes. Let's get at it.
Peter Rosenberg
That's how it all started for us. The Bullpen Coyotes during the summer.
Alan Hahn
Here we are again. Here's the thing. That was our peak, and we'll never get back to it.
Peter Rosenberg
That's unfortunate.
Alan Hahn
That was one of the great segments we've ever had. Are you back in the group chat? That's all I need to know, because I have. I don't know. And for the record, since you aren't. Yeah, the last two weeks, I stayed in, I muted it, and I have been disconnected. So, like, you know, it really does work.
Peter Rosenberg
I can't listen. There's a lot of things were covered while you were gone.
Alan Hahn
Mm.
Peter Rosenberg
Number one, Anthony revisited the way that my exit from the group chat played out, and I openly admitted that while I support the decision I made, my execution was horrifying. I fully, fully acknowledge it was a crazed exit.
Alan Hahn
I am glad you are acknowledging that.
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, no, it's the way he. When he read it. It sounded absolutely psychotic.
Alan Hahn
Now, please.
Peter Rosenberg
I don't. I don't know how to do what you do, though. So you were able to hit mute and like, when. Although. But. But Ant, tell me this, was that chat active at all? Because we were doing our own chat the last week or two, a little bit.
Alan Hahn
There were some texts in it. Alan never responded to any of them.
Peter Rosenberg
But it wasn't like a normal workday, you know, where there could have been like, 30 things said. It was a couple of things no.
Alan Hahn
My one text message in the morning did not go to that chat. No.
Peter Rosenberg
Now, you're right, Anthony, because what you're saying is things have slowed down a bit. But that is perhaps because the most chatty person in the chat, Allen, disconnected for a couple of weeks. Now, regardless of our approach, I need to be gone. Because if I see them, I see them. Regardless of our approach, you did tell me offline you really enjoyed the disconnection the last couple of weeks, huh?
Alan Hahn
Yes, it was glorious.
Peter Rosenberg
We love our jobs, and yet there's still jobs at the end of the day.
Alan Hahn
Well, the funny thing is, those who know me know I have a hard time shutting down. I'm not really good at that. I'm not good at powering down. I have when I'm home, and it's like trying to relax and just chill out on a day I'll find myself within minutes. Like, leg shaking, going, well, you know. You know, the garbage can still up at the curb. I gotta go get those. Like, something like, you know, there's always something in my head telling me, you got to do something. So what I needed to do was remove myself from New York. And once I did that, I realized that I'm really good at doing nothing, and it was really important. No, I'm telling you, I. I don't do vacation well. I really don't.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah, I'm not.
Alan Hahn
And especially when you have kids and there's just a lot going on, and you're always like this. You know, you got to deal with so much when you're the dad. And my wife.
Peter Rosenberg
I'm learning this.
Alan Hahn
My wife sent me away. She said, you need to go. You gotta go. Go. And I went and I loved it.
Peter Rosenberg
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on, hold on. Anthony, are we getting new information here?
Alan Hahn
No, I knew this.
Peter Rosenberg
I didn't know this. Wait. Your vacation was not with your family?
Alan Hahn
No, it was with.
Peter Rosenberg
Wait. Jacob, I need a news sounder, please.
Alan Hahn
What? I did. I did. I did stuff with them. Wait, so I was with my family for the first two weeks. It was that. The last week. Last week was just. Just go. Get away from everything. And she. She held it down at home.
Peter Rosenberg
And. And where did you and the friends go? Which group of friends? Listen, this is like, get to the football and the baseball and there's some fun stuff there, but none of it's. This is important.
Alan Hahn
This isn't really that interesting. It's. It's basically like one of my best friends in my life who I've known one of my Oldest friends. I've known him since seventh grade, and he and his wife had this beautiful lake house in northern Minnesota. It is gorgeous. This house is unreal.
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, we've heard about this. Yeah, I heard about this. Yes.
Alan Hahn
Yeah, I've been there before. My son goes every year with his boys, and my. My buddy, he just hosts them, and they have a great time. And I. You know, I'll. I've gone out there with. With. With Gracie. I've gone out there with Zach. But Stephanie said, just go yourself. And that's what I did. And so it was. I'm wringing out my liver as we speak, but it was a lot of drinking. Oh, my God. Yeah. Just morning tonight, but it's awesome. It's what you need every day.
Peter Rosenberg
Listen, I'm proud of you. This is an important and challenging thing to do, and I can't wait till Don hears about it, because.
Alan Hahn
Why Don?
Peter Rosenberg
Because this will be so foreign to him. Don, last week, marveled when I, like, last minute, decided. Natalie and I decided to get a babysitter to go to a movie. When I was able to do that. And then on top of that, the mo. I went to the wrong. I got the times wrong. So when we got to the theater, there was no movie to be seen.
Alan Hahn
You missed out, by the way. It was really good.
Peter Rosenberg
You saw it this weekend?
Alan Hahn
Yes.
Peter Rosenberg
We're talking about weapons, which is supposed to be fantastic. And so I botched it. Weren't able to see the movie. And Natalie, you know, we changed the plan. We said, all right, let's go to Blondies. Let's get some wings. This was her suggestion. She's like, you want to go to Blondies? I went, sure. Went to Blondies, got some wings. We watched the Metzi's. We got a foot. There's a. There's a massage place, a wonderful little massage place next door to Blondies. We got our feet rubbed on, we hung out, went home. Don. Don couldn't fathom almost any of this story. Like, he couldn't believe that I didn't get screamed at for getting the time wrong. That then Natalie wanted to go get a foot massage. And he just. All of it was so foreign. So when he hears that your wife suggested. No, no, go, go. Do me a favor. Leave. Go have a fun boys vacation.
Alan Hahn
Yeah.
Peter Rosenberg
He may not understand what's going on.
Alan Hahn
Well, just full disclosure, Stephanie right now is in Cape Cod with her.
Peter Rosenberg
Oh. So she had her own theater college.
Alan Hahn
With her college roommate. Well, that's what we did. We. It was like this Wasn't done, you know, yesterday. This stuff was planned out in May and June because last summer she saw, like, I just. I was. Didn't take it. I didn't really take a real break. So she just said, you need to do it this summer. So I said, all right, I'll do that. But then what? You know, you get her friend Carrie. And I just said, make sure that was her college roommate. And I said, well, you. You guys hook up, because they haven't. They haven't really gotten to see each other, but again, having kids and everything, so that's what we did. So we spent a lot of time together, but then we also had one week where we weren't. And it was. It's very healthy because I love what you've done. Can't wait till she gets home tomorrow.
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, this is beautiful. Because you've done it just right.
Alan Hahn
Yeah.
Peter Rosenberg
Now you miss each other, too.
Alan Hahn
Big time. Yep.
Peter Rosenberg
That's. That's a beautiful. Yeah, that's a beautiful thing missing.
Alan Hahn
Gonna have to deadbolt the door tomorrow night.
Peter Rosenberg
See, and this is. And this is what I call fraud. This is where he always goes a too far. Kim and Rick have to prove what? That. There's no way.
Alan Hahn
I got plenty of proof. I got. I got.
Peter Rosenberg
You know what?
Alan Hahn
Plenty of.
Peter Rosenberg
Good point. It's a fair.
Alan Hahn
But it's not really. It's not showing off. It's just. It's just what. What a, you know, healthy married man does.
Peter Rosenberg
A vero. Don't make our listeners feel bad because they haven't. They haven't. Dead. No one listening deadbolted in a long time. They don't even know where the deadbolt is. All right, let's get to it.
Alan Hahn
Let's get to it.
Peter Rosenberg
We're happy to be back. Don't worry. There will be rambling and hijinks throughout the week with the two of us together. But wanted to get started. We're going to get to the baseball for whatever. I have mixed feelings on that. But we'll get to all of that.
Alan Hahn
I do, too.
Peter Rosenberg
But. But let's. Let's start with your. With your football takeaways from the weekend. Alan Hahn, you saw your. Your jets take on the Giants. How did you come away from that? Just a beautiful game. You throw the record books out when those two get together in the preseason. What were your big takeaways?
Alan Hahn
Yeah, the Snoopy bowl era, I think, is gone. Right? We know these games. Used to have some kind of meeting. My good friend Karen, She's a Giants fan, always has to have a bet every year. And it's. It's like stupid because it's preseason game. Nobody's really playing to win. They're trying out things and stuff, but whatever. So I owe cookies now this year. But anyways, the game itself, depending on which team you root for you do, you definitely come away with a different emotion if you're a Giants fan. Again, this is not based on what happened in the game. This is not based on the score. This is not based on who won. This is not based on any of that stuff. It's simply based on what your eyes told you. And your eyes told you a couple of things in this game. The first thing it told you, and I think we've seen this already in the preseason, and you had this feeling it was coming.
Peter Rosenberg
Okay.
Alan Hahn
The eyes told you that the Giants defense is going to make or break the season.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah.
Alan Hahn
Like, their defense is good. They have a chance. Their front, their defensive front, secondary. We'll see how it all works out because, you know, there were some miscommunications. But their front seven, that scares me. Might be one of the. Like, they could be top five in the league. So you go NASCAR and you can get after quarterbacks. You can rotate guys in and out and, you know, so you're always going to have somebody rested that has a chance to be special. And if they are, they could wreck some seasons this year. But we all know that it always relies on the quarterback. And I've been telling you that from the day they drafted him, even before the draft. The Giants love Jackson Dart. They love this kid. And it's just that the love affair has continued. He is the favored son. Abdul Carter is going to be great, but the favored son is definitely Jackson Dart. And while some people believe he's looked good enough in preseason to play him right away, this is perfect for the Giants because a, your fan base now has the hope that you need it. Your owner has a hope that he's needed, that they have found their future quarterback. And for, if you think about it, right, for Brian Dable. That's how you keep your job. Develop them, protect him from, you know, the. The. The early. I got to play him, I got to play him. We got to put him in. We got to start him, get week one. No. The beginning of the season is a challenge out of the gate, and Russell Wilson has looked good enough.
Peter Rosenberg
Well, I was that part. I was. Yeah, I thought. I thought you were going to say, you know, listen, you could only take so much from preseason, but the deep Ball that Russell Wilson threw early in that game in the first quarter. There aren't a lot of guys in the league who throw that ball.
Alan Hahn
Oh, he does that all the time. Yeah, that's his. That's.
Peter Rosenberg
He's still got that.
Alan Hahn
The moon ball. Yeah. But, but, but I'm trying to say, though, is for the Giants, like, I don't want to make it all about the quarterback. That's why I started with defense. I think the Giants can be competitive this season. If that defense plays to its potential, that's it. But that's all right. We said that it's out of the way. But we all know the stories about the quarterback. This is how they're going to give. I mean, Joe Shane keeps his job if he has a quarterback of the future. Brian Dable keeps his job if he's now developing the quarterback of the future. Everybody now can relax and feel like, okay, we can. We can dig in and stay in New York. This is all they've wanted. But you don't protect your job. You don't save your job by taking the guy you draft and forcing him in and play him right away like some people are suggesting, because that's the way you keep your job. No, the way you keep your job is you handle him right. And they have just teased you not only in. In these games, but also in some of the. The preseason workouts, the training camp workouts, about what Dart can do and what he can be and how good he is at the podium already, which, by the way, does matter. But Russell Wilson being competent, being good, showing you the flashes of Russell Wilson and what he can bring when he does, when he's on, that now buys you time. You don't have to put him. You don't have to send him to the Wolves with commanders, Cowboys, Chiefs and Chargers. You can now play the vet. That Russell Wilson do what he does. And at some point, especially if they lose those four games, I don't think they will. But if they do now, all of a sudden you have a fan base that is salivating for a quarterback that has shown them this kid has something special. He could be good. If you're the Giants, that's Pete. That's what you want.
Peter Rosenberg
Well, you could, you know what you could get? I mean, the dream scenario. The dream scenario for this giant team is Eli Manning's 2004 rookie season.
Alan Hahn
Yep, that's the formula.
Peter Rosenberg
Somehow, Kurt Warner is replicated. The start of the season that Kurt Warner had, which was pretty damn good, is replicated by Russell Wilson. Having a pretty good start. They actually win some games. They're playing pretty well. You know, you have a bit of a squad, but Wilson isn't doing so great that at a certain point it makes sense to then go to the kid who gets to, at that point, have watched for six, seven, eight games. You know, you have a good defense, hopefully your skill players are looking great. And then as a coach, as a coaching staff, you get to bring in the kid. And if he develops well, the beauty is you get to close out the second half of the season not even worried about wins and losses. You just get to watch the kid play and know that you saw the pieces early on, are all there. Now we're developing the kid and you kind of reset your clock where now next year we can judge Dable and company on what they're able to do. That's the dream scenario.
Alan Hahn
Yeah, I think, I think it's setting up that way. And I think it was, that's why it was important. It's important for Russell Wilson to still look like he's got something left. And it was important for Dart to just give you just a couple of those moments, right? Like, he's just got to tease you. You know what I mean? You're not, you're not showing it all. You're just showing a little. But it was, it's enough to make you want more. And again, if I am, if I'm John Maher, this is exactly what I want. I want the fan base suddenly engaged. I almost want them wanting. And it doesn't mean I'm going to answer it. If they're like, he should play. You got to play him. Like, there's this thought in New York that the fans will be demanding to see him. Good demand is important, but caving into that demand, that's your mistake. You can make them scream and yell for, look, the Mets just did it, right? They didn't want to bring up McClain. They didn't want to. They didn't want to do this right away. They wanted to wait to bring up the young pitchers. And now that, that you had that performance over the weekend, a lot of fans are like, see, they should have done this sooner. No, did it just in the right time.
Peter Rosenberg
Now, let me ask you a question.
Alan Hahn
And you got to be the same way. If you're the Giants, you do it at the right time, but you don't have to do it right away.
Peter Rosenberg
Let me, let me ask you a question, though. And the phone lines will open them up. 1-800-919-3-7,7 6. Jets and Giants fans, if you had any takeaways from the game or just, you know, thoughts as we're just a few weeks out here, two weeks or so away from the season, getting started now, do you think, like, are you really seeing things from Jackson Dart that are making you go, ooh, or is there not still absolutely just as good a chance as ever that this is as silly as anyone who sort of believes in a young quarterback in the preseason and gets nothing?
Alan Hahn
So, great question. And you know what the answer is? I don't know. Yeah, because it's the preseason. I know it's the right. It's the right thing to say, Pete. You don't know. But what you see is enough to make you curious. It's enough that just tells you.
Peter Rosenberg
It's enough to not have you make a negative.
Alan Hahn
You know what it is? It's. It's like almost like, you know, you want to click on it so bad, but, you know, like, I click. You know what I mean? Like, now it's in my algorithm. I don't know if I want that, but, you know, you want to click on it because there's just something about whatever the preview is that just has you wanting more. And if you're the Giants, this is what you want it. Think about it. The Giants were. What did Don always, you say? A dead stick. The Giants had nothing going for them last year. They lost Saquon. Daniel Jones was clearly not the guy. Right. Everything was sort of slipping away from the Giants. What was the appeal they had to go to? They had to go back to Tommy.
Peter Rosenberg
That was the appeal, Right.
Alan Hahn
They had to go back there again.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah. Tommy Cutlets, right? The biggest. Think about it.
Alan Hahn
That because they at least the fans have something to be. Have fun with. That's how pathetic things got. Now look at them. They've got a guy that is so good at the podium. He totally. You could tell he gets New York and he understands it. His teammates love him. He's got a little sizzle and there's some talent. Right? And now what you're waiting for is to see, can this guy become a franchise quarterback now, what you had in Washington, they don't have that. All right? Jaden came in and just. You saw this guy's it. Like there was no questioning it, and they just handed him the job. I don't think Dart's there. He still needs polish. That's fine, of course. But what you got now, at least, especially again, if you're Shannon Dabel, you needed to have some kind of sizzle. Something.
Peter Rosenberg
Yes.
Alan Hahn
That the fan base could now get excited about. You have that. And not only do you have that, you have a NASCAR package. It brings back memories of the past of old Giants teams that got after quarterback that killed quarterbacks. You got three guys. Because I also want to. I mean, any Giant fan knows this. Kayvon Thibodeau, some. Some snapped late last season with him, and it has not turned off. Whatever switch he flipped late last year, it's still lit. And he's come into this offseason, this preseason and this trip, he is still that guy that. Playing with a little bit of an edge. So if you have him and you've got again, Carter, who's going to be very good and obviously Burns, and then of course Dexter Lawrence, who's one of the best up the middle. I mean, that's. If you're, if you're a Giants fan, these are the things that you grasp it. Anthony, as we know, Anthony Pusick is a Giants fan who has been. He always is the guy that will. He's Debbie Downer. You talk a little bit of Giants and right away he'll tell you that's all right. When they're zeroing for, like, you know him, he can't help no one worse. Because that's how you protect yourself.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah.
Alan Hahn
You set yourself. You protect yourself by just expecting the worst. And I'm telling you, I think even him, even Anthony has to have watched the Giants play and see enough in the moments because obviously don't take the whole game in the moment to say, all right, that, that front, that, that front seven could be fun to watch. And then this, this, this young quarterback. Okay, now I'm back in. I'm now interested in the Giants more than, you know, is, is Tommy Cutlets going to come out and give me one of those, you know, hey, hey, we got a touchdown. Hey, like, don't give me that, by the way.
Peter Rosenberg
That's. That's what made the last few years so brutal, if you're a Giants fan, is that most people got to the point where they did not believe in Daniel Jones at all.
Alan Hahn
Right?
Peter Rosenberg
So trotting out felt like a complete waste. Like, all right, we're going to do this again, but we know it's not him. At least this year there is hope you're seeing the next guy who could be him. Now, is there a chance that he, you know, he turns out to be, you know, the way I felt about Sam Howell and you're like, this guy's not a thing. I thought he preseason he looked like.
Alan Hahn
Who was the other one? There was Sam Howell. There was another one too in Washington. Who was the other guy?
Peter Rosenberg
Not Heinecke. Because Heinecke. I knew what he was.
Alan Hahn
Oh, you did? Okay. I thought that's right.
Peter Rosenberg
You know people would make fun of.
Alan Hahn
It and I thought Taylor Heineke was.
Peter Rosenberg
Callers will say that I thought he was the greatest thing coming. No, he just. Fans just had a lot of fun with him. But you know, it's how I thought oh, maybe there's something there. Listen, Jackson darts drafted significantly higher as as a much better pedigree. It could be the real deal and at least you can go into it be excited about that. And as you pointed out and this is the main thing I'm telling all of my commanders people is is I'm terrified of this front seven. I mean they could be a massive problem.
Alan Hahn
I'm gonna make a prediction realistic. I think they're gonna hurt some way. They're gonna take out a QB1 Tibeto too quickly.
Peter Rosenberg
By the way, Alex, to your point you were talking. Thibodeau was the classic example of it. Don't get me wrong. He's definitely act like a D nozzle plenty of times to do it to himself. But there were. There were moments where people were ready to throw away Kayvon Thibodeau's talent and that was a huge mistake. That kid is still very good.
Alan Hahn
Yeah, yeah. You forget he was a top five pick. So that's why.
Peter Rosenberg
What's your prediction that they're going to hurt people?
Alan Hahn
I my prediction they're going to take out a QB one this season.
Peter Rosenberg
Why? Why would you.
Alan Hahn
I'm telling you, I just. I see it because.
Peter Rosenberg
Why are you putting that off?
Alan Hahn
You know why? Because offensive line in this sport is the most critical position that nobody wants to admit it. Everybody wants to a quarterback. Your offensive line is going to decide whether or not you're good or not. They're going to go up against some bad offensive lines and they're going to expose them. And I'm telling you there's going to be a QB one that's going to be out for the season because he played against the Giants. My prediction and it's not because they're going to headhunt. It's just that's how. That's what happens. Again. Again. The jets had an awful offensive line with Aaron Rodgers in year one and in the first play of the season. Right. He went down.
Peter Rosenberg
Oh no, listen, it is happening. Can happen and it's most likely to happen when there's poor offensive line play. This is an ad by BetterHelp. These days, it feels like there's a vice for everything. Cold plunges, gratitude journals, screen detoxes. But how do you know what actually works for you? With the Internet and information overload about mental health and wellness, it can be a struggle to know what's true and what actions to take. These days, using trusted resources and talking to live therapists can get you personalized recommendations and help to help you break through the noise. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, having served over 5 million people globally. And it works with an App store rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on over 1.7 million client reviews. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with BetterHelp, our listeners get 10 off their first month@betterhelp.com timeout. That's betterhelp.com timeout.
Alan Hahn
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
Peter Rosenberg
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
Alan Hahn
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast.
Peter Rosenberg
Any specific reason that we are treated to the instrumental of Quiet Storm? Jacob, you just feeling it? Yesterday, the album Murder music Dropped in 99, I believe. Wow.
Alan Hahn
So quiet.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah, no, Quiet Stone was probably one of the bigger hits off that album. One of the. Yeah, I would say the one there, pal. I'll call that one. I would call that the smash hit. Welcome back. Don Hahn and Rosenberg, Peter Rosenberg, Alan Hahn together again. It feels so good, doesn't it?
Alan Hahn
Of course it does. Feels good to be back.
Peter Rosenberg
So. So is it time now for me to be jumped back into the. To the group chat?
Alan Hahn
Listen, I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do. And I guess some of us in this business very passionate about sports to a point that at 3am if something pops up on the feed while whatever happens at 3:00am, you know. Well, you know, sometimes, you know, I'm over 50. Sometimes you're woken up and need to, you know. Excuse me, need to empty out. Listen, man, you'll learn. You'll learn the bladder is not your friend when you're over 50.
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, oh, oh, oh. Got it.
Alan Hahn
Okay, cool. And all of a sudden it's like you wake up, like, oh, okay, I guess I'm awake now. So what are you going to do to fall back to sleep. So I find something, I see a story, and I'm like, let me throw this on the group because I'll forget about it. And then I get yelled at because I'm sending too much on the group. So some of us are passionate. Well, no, I don't want to take that. I don't want to make. I don't want to force you to deal with my intense passion for sports and sports news.
Peter Rosenberg
I absolutely want to be a part of the group chat. And I'm going to tell you the truth right now, Alan. I think that our friend Anthony Pusick has been intentionally taking his time. I already asked about going back in, but he wanted to keep things spicy and see if you and I would have a fight about me getting back in. That's my feeling. Anthony, I'll give you the floor. Tell us the truth.
Alan Hahn
Well, now that it didn't happen, it's just all for nothing. This is just.
Peter Rosenberg
This is boring.
Alan Hahn
It's terrible.
Peter Rosenberg
He thought we were going to get no juice. What did you know?
Alan Hahn
Let's just talk Yankees or something. Whatever. Was I supposed to yell at you? I called you, remember, we discussed. We discussed it when it happened. I'm not going to do it in front. Like, what would I do? I was going to start texting you in front of everybody. I was going to call you out. No, I told you, when I have a problem with you, I will go to you one on one. If I don't really have a problem with you, I'll do it in front of everybody because then you'll just see it's all like funk. But I directly went to you and I just explained myself and that was it. Common ground. We're done.
Peter Rosenberg
Anthony was hoping to get a little squeeze, a little more juice from the old apple. I respect it. 1-800-919-3776. We are talking giants football at the moment, jets as well. But the Jackson Dart thing is certainly something to keep an eye on and certainly the potential of this front seven. So it's only right then that we start with Tessa, who has to be very excited about this front seven. Tessa, what's up?
Caller (e.g., Tessa or Griffin or Peter from Brooklyn)
Hey, guys. Thanks so much for taking my call. Welcome back, Allen. I am just ecstatic. I know it's just a preseason, but you guys know over the years how disgusted I've been, like, going through Tums, like, every two seconds. I don't even have the damn it doll out. It's still in the box in the closet. Because I just feel like, for what? The optimism I have, this front seven is gonna be nightmarish. I could just feel it. Like, I'm gonna be honest with you. Like, if they click and stay healthy and get everything together, guys, seriously, remember, straight hand O.C. tuck, Kiwanooka. Remember how good they were. Seven could be better than them. Stay healthy. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm just saying, I really feel like Alan, I think he was on vacation when I told Don and Peter that. I really feel like we can win seven, seven games this season. And I feel like we probably can go one and one in division against all of them Eagles commanders and Dallas. This front seven is a nightmare. And Abdul Carter is him. And I'm telling you guys, as long as he stay healthy, read that playbook and keep that work ethic and just do what he got to do on the field and off the field, this guy's going to be dynamic. I'm telling you guys right now, I'm souped. I can't even. I can't even breathe.
Alan Hahn
Their defense test is going to decide whether or not they're going to be, you know, a team to watch, keep an eye. Look, they have a lot going against them, including a very tough schedule. Including a very tough start to the schedule. The first month of the season is tough. So there's no question, right? Like. Like, so I'm not going to start doing the whole how many wins and can they make the playoff stuff? Because you've got to see how a season plays out. You have to find out what happens in Dallas. They've got a new coach. Michael Parsons is still not signed. Right. Like, there's still a lot of things with the Cowboys to figure out. The Eagles, you know, are very good, but they're also coming off a Super bowl win, and sometimes there's a bit of a hangover when it comes to that stuff. So we'll see what happens with them. And by the way, and I'm not wishing on anybody but Saquon Barkley had a remarkably healthy season last year, did he not? Very impactful MVP performance from Saquon Barkley. Do you expect it year after year or did if they lose him even a little and they keep losing coordinates? Speaking of losing. So let's see what the Eagles do. And then your team, Peter, like you expect, they're going to be very Good. Is Terry McLaurin signed yet?
Peter Rosenberg
No.
Alan Hahn
No. Okay, so he's not signed yet. And there is such thing as a sophomore jinx. The league knows who you are maybe now we're prepared for more things to see from you. CJ Stroud went through a little bit of it as well. And that health is in the NFL, the great equalizer. So if you're the Giants, there's a lot that you have to do to just to stay competitive. But it doesn't mean that they're not an intriguing team. That's all I'm saying. Like, I'm looking at the Giants and saying they haven't been this interesting in a couple of years because even the playoff year in D's first season, that came out of nowhere. Like nobody saw that. It just happened. It happened. And you felt like, okay, this guy won coach of the year because look what he did with that roster. So this, like I'm. This could be a very intriguing start to the Giant renaissance. That's what I'm looking at. When it comes to the Giant, I am not predicting anything beyond. They're going to be a very interesting team to watch week after week because I think they're going to be really competitive defensively and offensively. They have a couple of weapons, but more importantly, they have a young quarterback that people are going to be clamoring for at some point this season. While Russell Wilson still shows you he's got something, a little bit of tread left on that tire.
Peter Rosenberg
And the best thing about seasons like this is that you get to go into it without any win total expectations. Just about.
Alan Hahn
It's the easiest way to fan.
Peter Rosenberg
Put something together.
Alan Hahn
Yeah, it's the easiest way to fan.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah. Like last year for me was all bonus. I just wanted to see like, oh, this maybe we'll be pretty good, maybe get a winning record. Then it just kind of kept going and going. But. But yeah, these are the, these are the best kind of seasons. You can finally, if you're a Giant fan, be happy. Now the I want to get to the jets as well. The jets are a bit different because you don't have the person. Well, I guess you could argue that Fields there's some similarity. If they believe that they're really sort of starting over with Justin Fields. If inside that building Allen, they believe. You haven't seen what Justin Fields can really do and we're going to turn him into the guy. But the more realistic answer here is we do know who Justin Fields is. Even though I said, I've said I am a fan and I, I tend to lean towards. There's an upside for him. But in all likelihood we just brought in a veteran for the year. We're going to see how it goes. And those years can absolutely suck because you're not necessarily taking a step towards the future and you didn't bring in someone who's capable of turning the team around. Now, flip side of that coin, you know, you could have been a team that spent $100 million on Matt Stafford and you're questioning if he's to play at all. They went with a low risk, they believe high reward option in Justin Fields. And whether or not that's a thing, we'll find out. Let's go to good old Griffin in Connecticut who we learned last Friday. Don't. Alan. Don. And I learned that Griffin is a huge LSU football fan. No one knew until fraud Friday.
Alan Hahn
I came out of nowhere.
Peter Rosenberg
He's a long.
Alan Hahn
Well, that's how it felt. I know He's a big UConn women's basketball fan. I know that. I did not know LSU football was in. In the cards as well.
Peter Rosenberg
How you doing, Griftster?
Caller (e.g., Tessa or Griffin or Peter from Brooklyn)
I'm doing good. I don't want. You guys are not overreacting, but there are some people that overreact when it comes to preseason and I don't understand why we get so excited. Like Bear fans right now are Cloud nine thinking chill. Williams is going to win MVP all of a sudden after his preseason game yesterday and a few snaps against the Buffalo Bills. Backups on defense.
Alan Hahn
Yeah, I just. And McDermott went off on them like that's all you need to know.
Caller (e.g., Tessa or Griffin or Peter from Brooklyn)
Griff, why do we go on another level?
Alan Hahn
Well, because it's.
Caller (e.g., Tessa or Griffin or Peter from Brooklyn)
When it comes to preseason, I think every.
Alan Hahn
I think we do this in every sport. It's not just football. When the preseason comes, it's your first look at a team. Right. So when things go well, like for Caleb and again, they're starved in Chicago, they want to believe Caleb's the guy. You have. You have Ben Johnson had a quarterback.
Caller (e.g., Tessa or Griffin or Peter from Brooklyn)
And they never have a narrative.
Alan Hahn
No, no, you're right. And they have been. And they have Ben Johnson, who's in.
Caller (e.g., Tessa or Griffin or Peter from Brooklyn)
Their history with Jay Cutler.
Peter Rosenberg
Well.
Alan Hahn
And think about it. So. So when you have Ben Johnson, who's supposed to be the quarterback whisperer, look what he did with Jared Goff and all that stuff. And you add him to Caleb Williams, whose number one pick. You want to see that? Okay. Does it look different? You know what's going to happen? This is also going to happen October when Mike Brown's Knicks take the court and the first game against the Sixers in Abu Dhabi at 11:00am Eastern Time. People are going to we're going to decide whether or not this is going to be a failure or a success off that. So it's just. This is the way people do this. Especially when, again, a Chicago Bears fan base is so. They're so desperate for something, they want to see something good. But I looked at it like this, Peter, think about this. Sean McDermott, who did play a lot of his backups, tore into his team after that game, which kind of tells you. Did he. Did he think, like, man, that guy's not that good, and we made him look like a star? Because that says a lot, too, doesn't it? Because don't you think the coaches sometimes when another quarterback plays so great, you're just like, well, he was just really good. You know, he's really good, and you just credit that. But because he tore into his team, does that suggest to you that whatever he saw Williams was doing was so pedestrian? How could we not stop that? What do you think of that theory? Don't like it? No.
Peter Rosenberg
It's conceivable. It's conceivable.
Alan Hahn
You get what I'm saying, right? But you get what I'm saying?
Peter Rosenberg
Absolutely.
Alan Hahn
Like, sometimes a coach just acknowledges the other team is just. That he's just really great. And we're playing our backup, so we're just trying to. But when you. When you rip into your team, that's like. That's like saying, that guy was beating us with, like, you know, middle school plays. Like, come on. How are we not stopping that? And that.
Peter Rosenberg
That suggests.
Alan Hahn
That suggests that you really weren't impressed with what the opponent was doing. My opinion.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah. That's what makes it. Well, that's what makes it certainly much more embarrassing for that to be the case than you go out and lose to a team that you know or get run over by a team that you know is.
Alan Hahn
Yeah. And you're just like, wow, he's really good. Yeah.
Peter Rosenberg
What are you gonna do, right, Peter? Peter in Brooklyn has a salient question. Oh, boy. Let's get to Peter.
Alan Hahn
Hey, boys. What's going on?
Peter Rosenberg
Alan, welcome back.
Alan Hahn
Sorry, Emily and I missed you at.
Peter Rosenberg
The beach bash, but before I get to my jets football point, I have one question. Alan, when you got back from the lake house, were you able to get a ride? Or did you call your son or one of his friends to come get you at the airport or get you an Uber? Great point.
Alan Hahn
You know, it's a really good question. No, no, my wife came and got me.
Peter Rosenberg
Wow.
Alan Hahn
Yeah. And by the way, the full disclosure, the Flight. Remember that was I. The flight was delayed because it's. Of course, it's New York. And so. Yeah, he was. He must. What was he doing that day? He didn't even offer, by the way. Which now has me feeling a certain way should. He didn't even offer. Yeah, it's a great point. He didn't even say no, Mom, I'm gonna get dad. Because, you know, when I came back from the lake house, he sent me the suv.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah.
Alan Hahn
No, now, wait, I don't. You know what, Peter, I'm glad you brought this up because I forgot. I am going to. When I. When I get home tonight, we're gonna have a little chat, a little father son chat about this. Yeah, it's crazy how my memory is.
Peter Rosenberg
Like, I just remember random little things like that, but I could forget more important things.
Alan Hahn
You're more petty than me. See, I should have been more petty about that. So I'm glad you jogged that. My memory. Now we're having it out.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Alan Hahn
And group chats.
Peter Rosenberg
I know how when it comes to group chats, believe me, I've been accused of texting a group too much. And then the same person who complains about me will complain to their other.
Alan Hahn
Group chats about me. Oh, I wonder if Rosenberg. Does Rosenberg do that? Do you go on another. Like, do you put Don and Anthony and Jacob in another group chat and be like, yo, what is this guy ever sleep? Why is he posting about the Cincinnati Bengals third string quarterback story? What is this about?
Peter Rosenberg
I did maybe make a joke in that regard, but no, I did not. I did not. I would not. And what I know of Peter, him being aggressively a talker in both group chats does not. I'm not going to say that comes as a gigantic surprise.
Alan Hahn
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
Peter Rosenberg
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
Alan Hahn
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast podcasts.
Peter Rosenberg
All right, it's Don Honda, Roseberg. It is Monday. It is 3:50 in New York City talking right now about football. We're to switch over to the baseball of it all coming up here at 4 o'. Clock. No local baseball action tonight. Mets get going with the Nationals tomorrow. Where are the Yankees tomorrow?
Alan Hahn
Yankees are with Tampa, right?
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, like you dream of.
Alan Hahn
I got Tampa for two and then they back in. Oh, the Red Sox are coming to town for the big weekend series.
Peter Rosenberg
Ah, the Sox.
Alan Hahn
All right, like, think about it. That's. That's where it all Started mid June against the Red Sox. That's where it all fell apart, that awful series. We'll get to it. But after that series, I came back that weekend, that Monday, and I don. Didn't want to hear it. And I was telling you guys this, this does not look right and it hasn't looked right since. So we'll get to that.
Peter Rosenberg
Let's, for now that we're talking jets and Giants, and let's, let's hear a little bit from Brian Dabel of the Giants. Jacob, let's hear from Dable. Talking about, has Jack Start met your expectations thus far? Yeah, he's still got a lot to learn, but he's growing every day. Like I said, that's why we drafted him. Spent a lot of time with him. Have a lot of confidence in the young man. He's done a good job for us since he's been here in every area you could do off the field, on the field, leadership, moxie, intelligence. But it's early. You know, we've played a couple preseason games against probably some vanilla looks, but he's, he's making strides every day, and that's all you can ask of any young player. Now, Dabel was asked by our very own Jordan Ranon if there's anything Dart could do to win the starting job. You've obviously said Russ, as a starter, is there anything he can do to get himself in that mix at this point? Yeah, Russ is our starter and we're going to keep developing Jackson.
Alan Hahn
That goes with what I was saying. And it's the absolute right approach. There's no reason to rush this process. And I know, like our good friend Mike Tannenbaum believes, because they did it with Mark Sanchez back in the day, that they could do this. But you know that what they have Brunel, like, they, they. That's not Russell Wilson. Like, they have a guy that can carry it enough early in the season. And you could what you could do, and we all saw this blueprint with Eli Manning and Kurt Warner. You can do a similar thing like that. Or if Russell Wilson is playing well enough and your defense is playing as well as I think it could, you are in no hurry to put Jackson Dart on the field. No hurry. The only time you go there is if the season is starting to slip away. And now it's like, okay, well, let's, let's evaluate how far he's come.
Peter Rosenberg
I mean, listen, in a perfect world, Russell Wilson is so good and rejuvenated, you know, he becomes Arizona Kurt Warner and he's your quarterback for two years. Who cares, right? Like, the better Russell Wilson is, the better. There's no question about that. I mean, he is a guy. He is a Hall of Famer, a likely hall of Famer, super bowl champion, who, if you could somehow get out of him, a version of him you've seen before, that's your dream scenario. The assumption is that's not what you're going to get. You'll get decent play and eventually we'll get to Jackson Dart. But, yeah, why would you be rushing? No matter what, you're not going to. Now, Dart was asked about his performance against the Jets. Honestly, the third down that I had where the guy clipped my ankles, that's.
Alan Hahn
Going to haunt me for a little bit.
Peter Rosenberg
That's kind of like the thought that's in my head right now. But I think the most important thing was us getting the win. I want us to, you know, continue.
Alan Hahn
To expect these kind of things as a team and like, build on these.
Peter Rosenberg
Moments, like just have fun winning and playing the game. So the most important thing was to come out here and win.
Alan Hahn
See, when I said the podium's important because a lot of people always, oh, it doesn't matter. I don't, like. A lot of people will tell you, I don't care if he's a mute at the podium. If he wins, that's all I care about. You might say that, but in this market, it is important to have the poise that he has not only on the field, but at that podium. And from day one, he has shown you that he is very, very comfortable in the New York spotlight. You could see it now, of course, when the criticism comes, how does he handle it? That's always the next challenge. But what I like there is the first thing out of his mouth was reflective self deprecation. Right? It's almost like he. He just makes sure that before, you know, he felt good about that, you know, he felt good about his performance. But instead of him just staying on that, you know, on the vibe of like, hey, everything's great, or giving you cliches, he right away went to the one play that bothers him because he wants to be perfect. That's that. That's all I needed to see. The more I see of that, the more you believe that he won't start getting impatient, that he will stick with the plan and they should bring him along slowly by need only. But he should be quarterback too. Now, don't get me wrong, he should be the second, he should be the backup. But I'm just saying you can get. Don't you. I just got a sense from him from the very. From the pre draft all the way through now that he's been consistent. And it's always about your actions, not what you say. And his actions are speaking loudly that this guy's a pro and this guy's got the goods to be a franchise quarterback, and the Giants might have found one.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah. And then. And then on top of that, yes, it's more important than what you say, but what he says is pretty good, too. Now, someone who did not impress me early on with his podium approach is the jets head coach, Aaron Glenn. Let's hear how. Glenn. Let's hear how Mr. Joe Football Aaron Glenn was. He said that the jets were sloppy against the G men. When you look at the overall game wasn't good enough at all. I mean, that's no surprise. And on all levels, I thought we were sloppy, thought we were undisciplined. When I say undisciplined, I'm talking about some of the penalties that we had. I think we had about eight or nine penalties that we got to clean up, but overall, man, we got to play much better. And that's the beauty of this game. It's the beauty of this game because it always teaches you lessons. One week, man, you could be riding high because things to be going are going extremely well. Then the next week, man, it can put you on your ass. It can put you on your ass. And the thing about it, man, if you want to be a winning team, you have to always do everything you can to stay at that level of always keeping things above board. And we didn't do that today.
Alan Hahn
That's how a Jet fit. Jeff fans should feel, too.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah.
Alan Hahn
I mean, that's the reality you're going to face this year, fans. This is not going to be. This is not going to be a great season. This is.
Peter Rosenberg
This is.
Alan Hahn
This is a rebuild.
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah. You're not. You're not lining up to get your tickets.
Alan Hahn
You can hear an Aaron Glenn, like. Like reality starts to set in now because you're going to say all the right things. Right. You're going to. And he's going to do that. But the reality that sets in is, like, you know what? Yeah, we're. We're. We're not a very good football team. We're not going to be a very good football team. We know it. And so we're going to have to play our best. And that wasn't our best. And so they've got a lot of work to do.
Peter Rosenberg
All right, when we get back, we'll get back to the football, but up next we'll get to the baseball some. Listen, no matter how you feel about it, a couple of interesting things certainly transpired with these two baseball teams over the weekend. So we'll get to that next and to you. 1-800-919-3776 Peter Rosenberg Alan Hahn it's thr more Mazda buyers choose Ramsey Mazda during the Mazda More to move you sales event. Get 1.9% financing on a new 202025 Mazda CX50 no payments for 90 days or release for $239 for 33 months. Start shopping now at ramseymazda.com choose wisely. Choose Ramsey Mazda. Call 833-853-2970 for lease details, then SN 319-033-MSRP32785 0 Security Deposit APR $17.48 per 1000 Finance Ends 92.
Alan Hahn
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.
Peter Rosenberg
I don't want to know how the.
Alan Hahn
Sausage is made, but I just want to know it's good. Hear more of Don, Alan and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 880 ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.
This energetic episode marks the reunion of ESPN New York staples Alan Hahn and Peter Rosenberg after several weeks apart, with Don La Greca absent for hour one. The duo jumps head-first into both personal anecdotes and passionate discussions about the current state of New York football—especially the Giants’ budding quarterback saga with rookie Jackson Dart. The tone is warm, candid, and peppered with the hosts' signature humor. Main sports topics center on Giants preseason takeaways, the importance of a strong defense, the right approach for developing a young QB, and cautious optimism for New York sports fans.