JONATHAN ALEXANDER has his 10 players with the most to prove this season

Summary

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Payne & Pendergast Podcast Summary

Episode: "JONATHAN ALEXANDER has his 10 players with the most to prove this season"

Release Date: July 29, 2026
Hosts: Seth Payne & Sean Pendergast
Location: Live from Houston Texans Training Camp

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Overview

This episode dives into Jonathan Alexander’s article listing the ten Houston Texans players with the most to prove in the 2026 NFL season. Broadcasting live from training camp, Seth and Sean blend sharp analysis and laughter as they dissect Alexander’s list, offer their own insights, and segue into current goings-on around the NFL, including Texans contract situations and the Tony Romo DWI incident. The conversation is loaded with Houston flavor, football banter, contract speculation, and a few unexpected comedic detours.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Setting the Scene at Texans Training Camp

• [01:44-02:15]
  • Sean describes the training camp vibes: mowers, staff, sunrise, and the responsibility of “painting the picture” for listeners since sessions are closed to the public.
  • Seth jokes about the seriousness of their job, likening it to that of a sleep-deprived medical resident:
    • “I let my sense of duty carry me through…that’s how I manage to not mix up the medications or amputate the wrong leg after I’m going 48 hours with no sleep.” – Seth, [02:15]

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2. Jonathan Alexander's 10 Players With the Most to Prove

a. The Top Two (Stroud & Dell)

• [04:54-05:21]
  • Hosts agree C.J. Stroud and Tank Dell are the obvious top two, so they set them aside for deeper debate.

b. Defensive Players Facing Big Contracts or New Roles

• [05:25-06:51]
  • Tommy Togiai & Henry To’oTo’o:
    • Both in contract years; Togiai has been dependable, but may price himself out of Houston’s future if he keeps excelling.
    • To’oTo’o has improved but faces new competition (Marte Mapu, two draftees), making his roster spot anything but guaranteed.
    • “Both on the contract side of things and in retaining his position: Henry To’oTo’o’s got to continue….He’s become a much better player than I thought he could be after his rookie year, but he’s just gotta keep building on that.” – Seth, [06:32]

c. Kamari Lassiter – Under-The-Radar Prover

• [06:51-08:33]
  • Lassiter (#10 on the list) is “prime candidate” for a payday but doesn’t get as much league-wide love.
  • Potential to move from “honorable mention” to elite tier, but perception lags behind production.
  • Seth notes Lassiter’s value:
    • “Stingley’s the guy you don’t have to give safety help to ever…but the game I’m looking forward to is the Cowboys—who do you focus on with those two stud receivers?”

d. Will Anderson Jr. & Ed Ingram – Living Up to the Paychecks

• [09:46-10:45]
  • Both are newly paid, but hosts debate if Anderson really needs to “prove” anything, given his performance already matches the contract.
  • “If all [Will Anderson] did was exactly what he already is…I don’t know if I agree with him having to have something to prove…” – Seth, [10:10]

e. Cade Stover & the Tight End Logjam

• [10:52-13:14]
  • Cade Stover must distinguish himself in a crowded TE room—at most four will make the team.
  • The battle is likely between Stover and Brevin Jordan for the last spot.
  • “95% chance one of those two guys is gone.” – Sean, [12:32]

f. The O-Line: Jake Andrews, Braden Smith, Wyatt Teller, Ariante Ursary

• [13:17-16:47]
  • Jake Andrews and Braden Smith each must fend off rookies and justify their starting roles.
  • Wyatt Teller needs to return to All-Pro form but is self-aware about complacency.
  • Ariante Ursary is the latest left tackle in a storied franchise lineage—can he become a ten-year mainstay?

g. The Challenge of Depth and Specialization

• [16:47-17:36]
  • Less discussed but vital: backup linemen like Blake Fisher must prove their fit, especially as offensive strategies (like using less “jumbo” sets) evolve.

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3. Around the NFL: Contracts, Public Negotiations, & Player Psychology

a. Patriots Owner Robert Kraft’s Tactics

• [18:11-20:54]
  • Kraft publicly claims he’s offered CB Christian Gonzalez a record deal, which rubs both hosts the wrong way.
  • Seth: “As soon as I saw that quote…shut up, you stupid old man. That’s stupid baseball tactics…what do you bring this public for?” [18:11]
  • The hosts agree these public statements aim to pressure players via fans.

b. The Trickledown to the Texans’ Roster

• [21:22-23:32]
  • Sean points out that the new money at cornerback means both Kamari Lassiter and, indirectly, Houston’s Derek Stingley are set up for huge extensions if they keep ascending.
  • “If he has a season this year like he did last year where he improved by an incremental amount…He is going to be living in this 30-plus million dollar neighborhood.” – Sean, [22:03]

c. Positional Pay Hierarchies

• [23:10-23:40]
  • Brief but sharp discussion on pay disparities between top-tier corners and their peers; QB contracts mentioned as a parallel.

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4. The Tony Romo DWI Discussion: Humor, Sobriety Tests & NFL Culture

a. Breaking Down the Footage

• [23:40-27:19]
  • Sean gleefully unpacks the details of Tony Romo’s DWI stop, with both hosts finding the bodycam footage more hilarious than damning.
  • Seth relates NFL league seminars teaching players precisely how not to fail roadside sobriety tests.
  • “He blows past the heel-to-toe part…just starts walking. Not even close.” – Seth, [33:16]

b. Player Persona and Media Contracts

• [34:26-35:02]
  • Will Romo’s contract at CBS be affected? The hosts joke about the “morals clause” and whether this is an opportunity to move on to J.J. Watt.

c. Notable Quote

• “If anything comes out of this…we can find out whether [Tony Romo] is actually drunk as hell on game days.” – Seth, [34:19]

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5. Media Tactics: The Puppy Shield vs. Child Shield

a. PR Shields: Vrabel’s Puppy vs. Embiid’s Child

• [41:00-45:04]
  • The hosts debate which is the worse press-conference “deflection”: Mike Vrabel bringing a puppy or Joel Embiid bringing his kid.
  • Seth: “Let’s call it what it is. It’s human shield tactics…you’re using your child as a human shield.” [41:00]
  • A listener poll shows 73% thought Vrabel was guiltier.
  • Sean: “There’s adultery involved in that one tangentially, right?”

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6. What They Want From Texans GM Nick Caserio

• [46:24-49:02]
  • Topics fans/media are most eager to hear about:
    • Tank Dell’s usage and health status
    • Clarity on Jalen Nolan
    • The center position battle—will Keelan Rutledge win the job, and when will that decision be made?
  • Sean proposes a direct question on setting a deadline for naming the starting center.

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7. Final Training Camp Observations

• [49:23-50:14]
  • No pads at the start means the passing game gets maximum scrutiny; run-game and lineman play will come into focus later.
  • Open practice for fans is just days away.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Lassiter’s National Respect:

  • “I know his honorable mention…he’s still in there in the eyes of the league, a top 10 or 12 coaches, cornerback. I think he’s got the potential to be like right near that tier that Stingley’s on right now.” – Sean, [07:34]

• On O-Line Competition:

  • “[Braden Smith] didn’t get, like, earth-shattering money or anything that guarantees him a starting spot…” – Seth, [13:44]

• On Contract Squabbles Going Public:

  • “That’s a move by Bob Kraft that specifically tries to pit the—whether it’s the intent or not—it pits the fans against the player.” – Seth, [20:26]

• On Press Conference Shields:

  • “I think with Embiid…he’s teaching his kid a life lesson. Where I feel like Vrabel can’t teach that puppy crap, except she’s probably better off being neutered.” – Seth, [44:18]

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Memorable Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• Seth’s surgeon/medical resident riff – [02:15]
• Cowboys game as cornerback proving ground – [08:01]
• “95% chance” of a tight end not making the roster – [12:32]
• Public contract negotiations with Robert Kraft and Christian Gonzalez – [18:11, 19:50]
• Tony Romo’s sobriety test, NFL seminar flashbacks – [31:40-34:19]
• Puppy Shield vs. Child Shield poll debate – [41:00-45:04]

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Important Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Time | Notes | |-----------------------------|-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Texans training camp banter | 01:44 | Painting the scene for listeners | | Players w/ most to prove | 04:56-13:14 | Deep dive into Jonathan Alexander’s list and hosts’ opinions | | O-line competition | 13:17-16:47 | Jake Andrews, Braden Smith, Wyatt Teller, Ariante Ursary | | Patriots/Christian Gonzalez | 18:11-20:54 | Robert Kraft’s public negotiation gambit | | Cornerback contract context | 21:22-23:32 | Implications for Lassiter & Stingley | | Romo DWI segment | 23:40-35:02 | Laughs, police stop breakdown, NFL classroom nostalgia | | Puppy/Child shield debate | 41:00-45:04 | Poll, ethics, and bad PR tactics | | What to ask Caserio | 46:24-49:02 | Talking Tank Dell, Keelan Rutledge, rookie center timeline | | Camp observations | 49:23-50:14 | What to watch, open practice preview |

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Tone & Style

• Language: Candid, playful, irreverent (“stupid old man…baseball tactics,” “puppy shield,” “amputate the wrong limb”)
• Delivery: Banter-heavy, with quick rapport and occasional directness on business/contract issues
• Structure: Loosely structured, news-driven but constantly looping back to Texans roster motivations and stakes

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Summary

This episode encapsulates the transition from NFL offseason to training camp optimism and tension. Seth and Sean detail, debate, and humanize the names on Alexander’s ’10 to Prove’ list, while also riffing on sports contracts, player psychology, and media manipulation. The Tony Romo segment is particularly laugh-out-loud, blending football geekiness with pop culture gaffes. Meanwhile, the “puppy vs. child shield” debate illustrates both hosts’ flair for lampooning PR tropes. By episode’s end, you’ve gotten a comprehensive primer on the Texans’ key positional battles and the broader NFL’s swirl of money, reputation, and locker room politics.

For Texans fans and footballheads alike, this episode is a sharp, funny, and insightful breakdown of what—and who—matters most this preseason.

Transcript

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

Sports station Texans Training Camp is here live from the Houston Methodist Training Center. Sports Radio 610 presents Pain and Pendergast.

[Sean Pendergast]

It is the, in my opinion, the best time of the year. I love training camp. Seth Payne, Sean Pendergast with you live here at Texans Training Camp. This is, you know, they got the mowers out here now, Seth. They just turned on the scoreboard. The sun's coming up.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Pretty soon people are going to be coming out here.

[Seth Payne]

Really.

[Sean Pendergast]

This is my, this is my.

[Seth Payne]

This isn't one of the open ones, though, right?

[Sean Pendergast]

No. Saturday is the first open one. Yeah, Saturday. So the ones during the week, this week are all, are all closed, which makes our job all the more important because you and I have to paint the picture for people.

[Seth Payne]

Vitally important.

[Sean Pendergast]

Vitally important.

[Seth Payne]

As we said earlier, you know, I don't need sleep to do this job because just like a medical student or a medical resident, my job is just as important. So I let the, I let my sense of duty, you know, carry me through. And that's how I manage to not mix up the medications or amputate the wrong leg after I'm going 48 hours with no sleep.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's right.

[Seth Payne]

Can you imagine me as a doctor?

[Sean Pendergast]

No.

[Seth Payne]

I would amputate so many wrong limbs. People would be like, oh, Seth. Dr. Seth. They definitely wouldn't call me by my last name. The old Dr. Seth. At it again. Dr. Sethurs is me and the patient laughing about it, showing his half an arm, me holding, like, the amputated limb up, acting like I'm sewing it back on. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Brandon Scott and I were joking yesterday, I think it was yesterday, about the Tony Romo mugshot. We'll talk more about Tony Romo later on in this segment.

[Seth Payne]

Yes.

[Sean Pendergast]

The mug shot from his DWI arrest. And I said, can you imagine if you're in for a surgery and you know when you go in for surgery and they. They put you under the gas and you start.

[Seth Payne]

You.

[Sean Pendergast]

You remember, like, starting to fade, and then next thing you know, you wake up and the surgery's done. But the last face that you see before you really start to fade, can you imagine it being the Tony Romo mug shot? That's. That's the guy That's. That's the guy that's doing the surgery on you.

[Seth Payne]

Right. I know the whole thing about that. We'll get into it later, I guess. I don't. When I'm watching it, I'm like, oh, yeah. I mean, he seems like he might be a little bit drunk, but that's what he seems like all the time.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And I don't know whether he's actually drunk when he's doing games or not.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Or if he's just that incompetent and dumb sometimes, but having a good time of it.

[Sean Pendergast]

I don't.

[Seth Payne]

He was having a good time during that sobriety check.

[Sean Pendergast]

He did take a breathalyzer, so we don't know technically if he was drunk or not, but just the headline itself. Like, if I had to fight to pick one person in the media or in sports, where it's like, okay, they weren't drinking at all, but their Persona is that of the town drunk.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'd have been like, it's. Yeah. Tony Romo get picked up based on behavior alone.

[Seth Payne]

What if I told you that the. The perp was following. Following and understanding instructions about as well as Tony Romo understands Gene Steretor? Like that Gene Steritor might as well have been giving the. The instructions for how to do the sobriety test. And Roma going, like, okay, yeah, like this, right? And he goes. He goes. No, your left. Oh, yeah. That's what I Meant I said left. That's exactly where I go. Right, Gene. So now. So I'm gonna go with my right. No, Romo, we've talked about this. It's your left. Exactly.

[Sean Pendergast]

I felt watching the sobriety test, I felt like I was watching like the Chiefs and the Bills or something. I will get to that later.

[Seth Payne]

We're gonna explain what a reception is.

[Sean Pendergast]

We'll get to that in a little bit. So Jonathan Alexander. Seth has his 10 players with the most to prove.

[Seth Payne]

He took an interesting angle on this.

[Sean Pendergast]

On a few of them he did. On a few of them he did. I will dig into some of Jonathan's here in a second, but I want to start off with. With you. I'm going to put C.J. stroud aside because I think that's the obvious one and we just spent 20 minutes talking about him. I'm going to put Tank Dell. Tank Dell aside, too. Those are number one and two on Jonathan's list. Tank Dell. 2. CJ Stroud, one of the players with the most approved. Because we talked about Tank already today.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So putting those two aside for you, who would be next on the list?

[Seth Payne]

I think, okay, there's three guys and two of them are going to be more financially based, if anything, but I think guys that. Probably a couple of guys who really like being on this team on the defensive side of the ball who are also headed into their free agency year. Tommy Togi and Henry Towatoa. I think Togi's already proven a whole bunch and I think that they probably like him a lot. And I don't know if they've had any discussions with him or not, but Togi, if he. If he continues to play the way he did last year, especially when, you know, because of injuries, they had to really rely on him as being the guy that the Texans might not be able to compete with what he's going to get on the open market.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's an underrated decision they've got coming up.

[Seth Payne]

And then I think Henry Towa Toa also is headed into his free agency year. There hasn't been any talk of an extension. Maybe there will be. But the Texans also, they traded for a linebacker in the offseason in Marte Mapu. It was a. It was a late round pick swap, but I think that. I think d' Amico is intrigued by Marte Mapu. And then they draft two linebackers in Wade Wood, as and Aiden Fisher. And like, that's the. Those are guys who are waiting in the wings and competing for that third linebacker. Spot. But I think d' Amico is going to play the best linebackers regardless. And so both on the contract side of things and then also in retaining his position, Henry Towa Toa's got to continue to, you know, he's made progress every year and he's become a much better player than I thought he could be after his rookie year. But he's just got to keep building on that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Towa Toa would be on my list. And I think, you know, look, these are subjective lists. Obviously. These are opinions. The first three that Jonathan has on his list, I say first three like he counts down from 10, so 10, 9 and 8. The first three that show up in the article are all ones that are sort of contractually related, but on a much higher plane than the ones that you and I are talking about here. At least the first two are because he's got Kamari Lassiter 10, which was intriguing to me when I saw that name. And you know, his stance on Kamari is he's going to get a chance to cash in after this year if. And we know the team loves Kamari Lasseter. He, he on a thousand percent fits the mold of somebody the Texans would pay after year three. Yeah, 1,000%. But I think like around the league, Kamari Lasseter, we saw it with that, we've seen it with the NFL top 100, where I don't think Kamari is going to show up in that. I know that's subjective player stuff, but the ESPN exercise with all the coaches in front offices, I expected Kamar Lasseter to get a little bit more love than he did. I know his honorable mention and you know, he's still in there in the eyes of the league, a top 10 or 12 coaches, cornerback. I think he's got the potential to be like right near that tier that Stingley's on right now.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And so this is, I understand Lassiter being on there if the, if the proving that he needs to do is that he's an elite cornerback.

[Seth Payne]

Right, right. Well, and I think that's in that poll. He was the 11th ranked and I think a couple executives had him in the top five. If I recall correct there, his highest vote was in the top five. I mean, if you think about it that way, like, okay, well that, you know, if that, if that was strictly mathematically correct, then you've got 21 other teams where he'd be. Yeah, definitely their best starter and the guy that they want an improvement over, whichever cornerback they have.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

I think with Kamari there's always going to be a perception that, okay, well, Stingley's the guy that we don't have to give safety help to ever. And we can really put all the pressure and stress on him. So the. I think the game that I'm looking forward to is the Cowboys, because, like, I don't. Who are you gonna. Who are you gonna focus on and send safety help to. With. With. With those two stud receivers out there if they're both healthy? And that. That's going to be just an awesome test for the defense in general, but also for those two cornerbacks facing off against a couple of the most prolific receivers in the league.

[Sean Pendergast]

Three of their first four games, they go against Josh Allen.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And then they go against Burrow with Higgins and Chase. And then two weeks later, thank God, all at home. But they go against Prescott throwing to CD Lamb and George Pickens.

[Seth Payne]

I almost said screw. Screw your. Thank God. But that would sound sacrilegious. I don't. I don't need any extra, but I want to see him do it on the road. That's it. Yeah. It's good. Yes. It's good that it's at home. It's their advantage, I think, for Kamari Lasseter proving it. Do it on the road.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, for sure.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. The higher. Yeah. Higher ceiling.

[Seth Payne]

What do you think he's scared, Sean?

[Sean Pendergast]

No, I don't think. No.

[Seth Payne]

I'm going to. I can't wait till he comes out here.

[Sean Pendergast]

I don't think he's said.

[Seth Payne]

And I. I'm gonna tell him you said he was yellow. Kids all know what that means.

[Sean Pendergast]

I was gonna say, like, what does that mean? Number nine on the list. He's got Will Anderson Jr. Again, contractually related. He just got.

[Seth Payne]

He.

[Sean Pendergast]

He was just made the highest paid non quarterback in football. I don't think Will goes into any of this stuff feeling like he's got anything to prove to anybody, you know,

[Seth Payne]

or that he's always going into anything, you know, wanting to prove it to himself or whatever it is. Yeah. I don't. That's a tough one because honestly, I mean, if like Will and others in the team want him to keep improving and Will probably, you know, Will's got high aspirations, but the level of play that he had last year justifies the contract. If that's all he did. Like, he doesn't. If. If all he did was exactly what he already is. I don't know if I agree with him. Having to have something to prove.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

Other than anybody else does. Where you certainly can't fall the runner

[Sean Pendergast]

up for the defensive player of the year for the next five years. He's worth the.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, I don't know. Nobody's going to. If he's the runner up for the defensive player of the year after miles Garrett has 20 sacks, nobody's going to be saying, I can't believe they gave this guy money.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

Can you believe that they paid this guy that money?

[Sean Pendergast]

Right, right. Okay. So my. See that now I was the next couple. He's got Ed Ingram on here. That's a contractual one as well. Ed Ingram just got paid.

[Seth Payne]

Prove that he's worth it.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, like the next few here on his list are kind of in the flavor that I think of when it's guys that have something to prove. Kate Stover is seventh on this list and to me, the tight end room is the most intriguing one to me on this team when it comes to the competition in camp. And here's why. There, there are five names at that position and again, I'm assuming health for everybody. So if everybody's healthy, you've got three guys who I think are locks to make the team well.

[Seth Payne]

And just to lay it out, there's five names. And if you, if you're an NFL team that keeps four, that's a lot. That's the exception. So most teams keep three tight ends.

[Sean Pendergast]

Most teams keep three. I think with Nick Kaley as the oc, I could see them keeping four here. I think Dalton Schultz and Marlon Klein are obviously making the team for totally different reasons. Schultz because he's a starter, Klein because he's a second round pick. Yeah, I think Foster Moreau is making this team. It just feels like he fill a need for them. That felt like a very purposeful signing. Which means that one of two guys, if not both of guys that have gotten lauded at various times by the front office and coaching staff here, at various times, Cade Stover has been highlighted by management. Here. At various times, Brevin Jordan has been highlighted by management. I think there's a reason they keep bringing Brevin Jordan back. There's an element that he brings when he's healthy. It's very unique. One or both of those two guys, assuming everybody's healthy is not. Is not going to be on this team in week one.

[Seth Payne]

I guess the one little asterisk there might be if they really like Cade Stover when he's at fullback and then you got to make a decision with British Brooks and special teams and all the rest of it. But even then that's that's typically something they might do to justify keeping a fourth tight end. And that would mean Brevin Jordan is gone.

[Sean Pendergast]

So 95% chance, like one of those two guys is gone. Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And I think, I think that, I think Cade Stover, if he just performs to a certain level, I think it's his roster spot to lose. Only because of Brevin Jordan's injury history and just every, everything that's happened and the fact that, man, they've put a whole lot of emphasis on being tougher and more physical on the offensive side of the ball. And Brevin's just not a. He's not, he's not ever going to be a great blocker, you know, and that's not a knock against him. It's just a, the type of player he is is his athleticism and his versatility is his calling card.

[Sean Pendergast]

There's a place for a healthy Brevin Jones.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah. Oh, 100%. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

But I think it just might not be the flavor of what they're going for right now.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, I'm going to ask you kind of a subset to this question. Again, we were kind of cherry picking here with Jonathan Alexander of the chronicle and his 10 players with the most to prove the offensive line. If we use that as if we, if we were just doing an article about the offensive line, who's got the most to prove among that group on the offensive line?

[Seth Payne]

I mean, like the less headline Grammy one, I guess would be Jake Andrews, the center. Because the people are just assuming at this point that it's going to be.

[Sean Pendergast]

It looks like they drafted his replacement in the first place.

[Seth Payne]

Looks like they just drafted a guy that had played about 20 snaps at center in a senior all star game before he got here. So I've always got a little bit of soft spot for guys like Jake Andrews. Hey, look, he was basically a rookie himself when he started last year and was learning on the fly how to play center in the NFL that you shouldn't just assume that Keelan Rutledge is going to come in and win the spot, no problem. But I think for me it would be Braden Smith just because, you know, he's, he didn't. It's not like he got like earth shattering money or anything that guarantees him a starting spot at right tackle.

[Sean Pendergast]

He got, he, I think he's got less guaranteed money than Cam Robinson's contract was last year.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, right, right. And remember like if when the Texans signed Cam Robinson last year, he had said, oh, he's prob. Going to be gone by the fourth or fifth game. You would, you know, what are you talking. What are you talking about? They got a rookie. He's going to be there as a bridge to the rookie.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And it turns out, no, that's not what he was at all. But I don't think. I think for him, I don't see him being off the team, you know, at all. But I think that there's more of a competitive situation with Trent Brown, perhaps, than it feels like there is Wyatt Teller. I think, you know, just based on the interview he did with Landry and Cody, he himself, I think, sounded like he kind of enjoyed this new challenge of having to prove himself all over again. And I'm paraphrasing, but that some complacency starts to maybe seep in when you're in the same place for year after year and you're playing along the same side, same guys and everything. So I feel like Wyatt Teller, because of his injury history over the last couple years, too, he said specifically he wants to get back to playing like an all pro type of guy.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep. I'll throw one more in there for me. And he. This is one. I kind of did my own little list of guys. Jonathan didn't have on here because he's got Rutledge on there at five. Yeah, Jonathan's got Wyatt Teller at four. So he's got a couple of offensive linemen on there. I'm going to throw Arianta Ursary in there, the left tackle, because until we know what Keelan Rutledge is.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

The rest of these guys are all, relatively speaking, kind of future short timers. You know, Ed Ingram is going to be here for three years, so I guess, you know, he signed a second contract. But I think Ariante Ursary, in a perfect world, is viewed as the next in the lineage of the fixtures they've had at left tackle, really spanning the better part, other than a couple little gaps, the better part of the last decade and a half. You know, they had Dwayne Brown from 2008 till 2017, and then you had the trash they had out there in 2018. But then they trade for Laramie Tunsil and they had him till last year. You know, there's almost a similar lineage. I'm not saying that any of these guys are the level of Andre Johnson, but it's a little like Andre Begat DeAndre, which kind of sort of with one little gap, begat Nico Collins. You've had an elite wide receiver for pretty much every season in the history of this team. You've also had pretty elite left tackle play for most of the history of this team. And I think in a perfect world, Ariante Ursary becomes that guy that plays left tackle for you for the next 10 years. I think he still has more to prove. To prove that he is that level of guy.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. I mean, and then again, a less heralded one, but a guy that really, really has a lot to prove is Blake Fisherman. Where?

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, yeah. Well, he's just got to make the team.

[Seth Payne]

I mean, you got the offensive coordinator during minicamp basically saying that sounded like he didn't. They played six offensive linemen a lot last year. It didn't sound like that's what the preferred method was. That was a. As we described it at the time, that was a desperation move. It wasn't because they were a bunch of knife, you know, axe murderers out there when they had six offensive linemen on the field. So you go out and you draft a tight end, you sign one in free agency. The offensive coordinator basically says, we don't want to be in jumbo all that much. So being the guy that comes in and does an okay job as a tight. A blocking tight end every now and then, that's not what should be keeping you on the team when you're in your. When. When you were drafted as a second rounder a few years back.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep. All right, so those are some guys with some things to prove. Guys at this camp and this preseason in this season as a whole is really important for Sean Pendergast, Seth Payne with you here live, first day of Texans training camp. All right, we had some things going around the NFL, and I would say this one that we'll start with here is kind of tied to the Texans in a way, because Christian Gonzalez, it would appear the cornerback for the Patriots, is about to get paid. And this was Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, at training camp over the weekend, being asked about the Patriots Pro bowl cornerback.

[Seth Payne]

We love Fresh Andrew Harvest. We love him as a player, as a person. You know, that's why we've made an offer to him. It makes him the highest paid player ever to play that position in the NFL. Yeah, okay. As soon as I. As soon as I saw that quote, Sean, my. This is my gut reaction as a player. Like, oh, shut up, you stupid old man. Like, that's. That's stupid baseball tactics. Like when baseball. Baseball teams used to do that all the time. Like, hey, we made him the. We gave him this incredible offer. He should be Grateful. Like that kind of tactic. That's like, what do you. What do you bring this public for? You know, aren't the owners the ones that are always trying to. The owners and the coaches want us to keep things in house and keep things quiet. Are you trying to guilt trip me, Bobcraft?

[Sean Pendergast]

So, okay, so was that, in your opinion then, was that just an old man who got out over his old man skis, or was that a chess move by Robert Kraft right there?

[Seth Payne]

I think he thought it was a chess move.

[Sean Pendergast]

You do?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, I think it was.

[Sean Pendergast]

He's a businessman.

[Seth Payne]

He's a very stingy NFL owner. I mean, like, he's. He's known as being one of the stingier guys when it comes to. He tosses nickels around like their manhole covers. John.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

And, yeah, maybe there's. I, I don't think. I think he thinks it's a chess move, but in reality, he probably also hates that he was talked into making this contract offer, that there's a part of him that really doesn't like it at all.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know who didn't seem to like the tactic one? Christian Gonzalez. This was Christian Gonzalez yesterday at Patriot, and I'll give you the Texans angle on this in a second, but here was. Christian Gonzalez. Didn't seem like he was real happy with what Robert Kraft did.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, I mean, Everybody knows what Mr. Kraft has done. A ton of respect for Mr. Kraft and what he's done with his franchise. And, you know, it's just. Just something we don't want to. We don't want to handle to the media.

[Sean Pendergast]

You know, I keep that with the

[Seth Payne]

team and my team and go on about that. This is something that your head coach says. You know, whether or not your head coach has also been involved in some kind of an alleged sex scandal that usually, I mean, they've got everything flipped upside down with the Patriots, and a lot of head coaches are not supposed to be involved. Sex scandals.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right. That's the owner's job.

[Seth Payne]

That's the. Right, that's.

[Commercial Announcer]

That's.

[Seth Payne]

That's what Bob Kraft must be doing. The players are told all the time by coaches and owners like, hey, let's try to. We don't need to bring this public or whatever. But that's a move by Bob Kraft that specifically tries to pit the. Whether it's the intent or not, it pits the fans against the player. Yeah, because that's when people start saying, oh, this guy's ungrateful. I can't believe it. I can't believe the team was going to make him the highest paid Patriot, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And you're supposed to be keeping it in house and he's not.

[Sean Pendergast]

And Gonzalez doesn't like it.

[Seth Payne]

They need this, this Patriots team. I never thought that I would get so immediately like, like right back in the groove of being sick of Patriots fans. Then last season and just them having the easiest schedule in the history of the NFL. The fact that, look, they beat the Texans and there's nothing you can do about that. They were by far the better team that day. But my God, I'm just tired of

[Sean Pendergast]

them already overloaded on Patriots under 10 and a half wins this year.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, overloaded.

[Sean Pendergast]

And that was before all the Rabel stuff off the field. I mean, you know that I've been saying that since the super bowl, that I'm on Patriots under this year. The Texans angle to this Christian Gonzalez story is that either Gonzalez or Devin Witherspoon are about to be the highest paid cornerback in football. Now. Denzel Ward just swooped in and took that title yesterday. We're talking about new money. That's what Guys, look at Denzel Ward of Cleveland just got a two year, $62.2 million extension, 31.1 million a year. It's 100,000 more than Trent McDuffie's making. So Derek Stingley's already fourth down on the list. A year into this thing. Kamari Lasseter is going to live in this neighborhood. He is going to be if he has a season this year like he did last year where he improved by an incremental amount. Like if he improves again and has the same stats that he did last year, there's no better, there's no better run defender at that position in the NFL. He piled on four or five picks. He's very good in coverage. He's great in the locker room. The team loves him. Well, he is going to be living in this 30 plus million dollar neighborhood.

[Seth Payne]

And if you look at the way that cornerbacks are being paid right now, it's a pretty stark difference between like the highest paid and the 10th highest paid or 11th highest paid. It goes from like Denzel Ward at 31 million per year down to Marlon Humphrey. Let's go. Alante Taylor at $19 million per year. And it's just like where is a

[Sean Pendergast]

lot of Taylor on the, like where does. He's 11. Okay, gotcha.

[Seth Payne]

I'm sorry. Yeah, so I think that like if you look at quarterbacks like right now, it's weird because quarterbacks are all jam packed right around 50 to 55 million dollars. It's like almost all of them are making 50 million more. And then there's a huge gap. There's only a few that are making somewhere around the 15 to 20. And it's like.

[Sean Pendergast]

So there's got Darnold and Mayfield at 30.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what it is.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And then. So there's only like two or three of those guys. Yeah. But there's like, with the. With the cornerbacks, it feels like the next few guys that get paid in the off season are probably going to be up closer to around 30 million. Even though Denzel Ward, you know, is at 31 million right now, that there's a good chance that Kamari is going to be somewhere in that neighborhood.

[Sean Pendergast]

They're going to find, make it work

[Seth Payne]

with him without even arguing. Because, like, people need to be reminded of this sometimes. It's not about whether a guy's better than the other guy. It's that this is the latest timing.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, it's timing. So we talked a little about Tony Romo earlier in this segment. If you missed it, Tony Romo and I tweeted this the day that the news of his Ow. I arrest in Wisconsin. I guess it's OWI up there operating while intoxicated.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. That annoyed me.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Why the hell you got to be so different? I had to look up, like, I had to read an article.

[Sean Pendergast]

Wasted your.

[Seth Payne]

Tell me if I know what I didn't like when they started doing dui.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

Instead of dwi.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right, right, right. Hey, Wisconsin government. Is your time more valuable than Seth Payne's time?

[Seth Payne]

No. Not Wisconsin.

[Sean Pendergast]

Nope.

[Seth Payne]

The hell are you doing? You're allowing serial killers to run rampant according to Netflix.

[Sean Pendergast]

Were you like me? That's true. Were you like me rubbing your hands together? Couldn't wait for the body cam footage to come out of the Tony Romo stoppage on the highway.

[Seth Payne]

I don't. Not necessarily. I don't. I know you don't. I don't. I. I just. I. I don't delight in this stuff as much as you do.

[Sean Pendergast]

I was.

[Seth Payne]

I know, I know.

[Sean Pendergast]

I couldn't wait for this one to come out.

[Seth Payne]

This ended up being a pleasant surprise, though, because I don't, like, eagerly anticipate these. I just dread if it's. I don't want to see somebody, like, at their absolute worst. Like, because then you start to feel like, oh, boy, this guy's down. Like in. In a dark place right now. Yeah, that's not what it feels like with Romo. No. It felt like he was doing an NFL game. No.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm gonna try to paint the picture as best I can here. Okay. So there's. There it. So it dropped yesterday. There are two pieces of footage. There's about five or six minutes of him getting pulled over on the highway, interacting with the police officer, who happens to be a female. And there's that. They didn't want him to do the sobriety tests out there where they pulled him over, because it was uneven. It was an uneven surface.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And it was on a bridge. So it would have been difficult for even a sober person to do these tests. So the first six minutes is him interacting with the cop.

[Seth Payne]

They take him back to this indoor

[Sean Pendergast]

facility, like a parking garage.

[Seth Payne]

I don't know if it's a retractable roofer, but, yeah. It felt almost like, okay, you're enough. It almost felt like you're in a field house doing a. Doing a workout with a team. Yeah, a little bit.

[Sean Pendergast]

A little bit. And so that's about four or five minutes. The sobriety. So the sobriety test of the second video. I would say this about the first video. I thought he was executing our you got pulled over playbook pretty well.

[Seth Payne]

The one that we, you know, pulling all the way over to the side had the lights on, all that stuff.

[Sean Pendergast]

Being very cordial.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Being asked when he. When he was being educated on what exactly he did, because it was. He crossed over a line is what happened.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

He wasn't getting pulled over for speeding. It didn't seem like his driving was just a little erratic.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And so he didn't say, I wasn't doing that. He. He asked the officer what her name was. You know, he's being very cordial. I thought the first video, if you had just shown me that and said, do you think Tony Romo got an OWI based on this? I would have said, no. He just seems like Tony Romo. He's being pretty friendly. You know, he's being very cooperative.

[Seth Payne]

The one thing real quick about the crossing the line, you always got to remember that is when you see the. The camera footage, you're like, oh, that doesn't seem that bad. Remember, you should be aware that there's a cop behind you. Yes. So, like, that's, like, that's. That's the best you can do when you know you've got. If you're checking your rear view mirror, like, you should be like, this is the best you can do when you've got a cop behind you. I think that that's why I always give the cops the benefit of the doubt with that.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

This clown can't even stay between the lines when he's got a cruiser behind him.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right. And then they walk up like, oh, God, it's Tony Romo.

[Seth Payne]

Guy probably can't even. Probably can't even hold a field goal.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

So.

[Sean Pendergast]

So the first video I thought, I'm like, okay, it's. This seems all right. It was actually interesting because at the end of that video, when they were in the highway, they actually cuffed him to bring him to where they would do the sobriety test. So I got confused by that a little bit. I'm like, wait, are they arresting him? He didn't even do any tests. But I guess by law they have to cuff him if he gets into a police.

[Seth Payne]

It's really because of OJ Maybe. You know, that's like, ever since then, it's like, wait a second. Former NFL player. Don't, don't, don't, don't act like, hey, this is no big deal. Put him in cuffs. Otherwise we're going to have a slow moving chase through the wilds of Wisconsin.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right, Right. Okay, so the actual sobriety test, which I know you've seen.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Vintage Romo.

[Seth Payne]

Vintage Romo didn't understand explanations from Gene's territory.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay. I don't know how this. I close my eyes in playing this part of the video, like to see does this translate on the radio? So I'm going to take a. I'm going to take a shot here.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Okay. And I'm going to stick up for him based on a presentation that we used to get back in the day as NFL players.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, so this is Romo trying to. Romo is the faint voice you hear. The big voice you're going to hear is the cop administering the sobriety test. And keep in mind, the test she's asking him to do is take your right foot and put the heel next to the toe of your left foot. And then we're going to do some steps. Tony Romo is not grasping this. Here, this is what it sounded like.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Seth Payne]

menu at McDonald's, a McChicken is $2. Because when you're craving a McChicken, you deserve a McChicken. And now that McChicken is just $2,

[Sean Pendergast]

limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery. Can you grab one more thing? I'll come back up for you.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Sean Pendergast]

I gotta have another one.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Sean Pendergast]

Foot down, right foot in front, on the line. And then I'm going to wait for you.

[Commercial Announcer]

Do you understand the instructions?

[Seth Payne]

No, I don't.

[Sean Pendergast]

There's too many.

[Seth Payne]

We gotta go step by step.

[Commercial Announcer]

Okay. All right. So take your left foot, put it on the line. The straight line. Real or imaginary?

[Seth Payne]

You can show me how to do it real quick.

[Commercial Announcer]

Take your right foot.

[Seth Payne]

So, left foot, put the right foot in front.

[Commercial Announcer]

Left foot on the line, right foot in front. Heel to toe touching.

[Sean Pendergast]

Superior.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yep. Heel to toe touching here.

[Seth Payne]

Just like this. Left foot on the line, right foot directly in front of it.

[Sean Pendergast]

Arms down at your side while she

[Seth Payne]

explains the rest of the instruction. Got it?

[Commercial Announcer]

Stay here. Yep.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay. Got it. Okay.

[Seth Payne]

Okay.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm gonna let you do your thing.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, go.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. This is what. It's a player version. Tony Romo's first year in The NFL was 2004. My last year in the NFL was 2006. And so I can remember the last time, you know, at the beginning, during training camp, they have. You know, they have. They have different former cops, former FBI agents coming to talk to you about various things. Sure. Gambling, all of that stuff. But they also, you know, covered drunk driving.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's smart.

[Seth Payne]

And I'm wondering. I can't remember who it was that gave the last speech. It would have been when, you know, Romo was in the league, and maybe it was the same law enforcement group that would go up to Dallas to give it. I can remember them specifically talking about that part of the test. The left in front of the right foot. And basically they were showing and demonstrating to us that it's like. It's. It's really hard to do if you're sober, which leads a lot of people to say, officer, I couldn't do this if I was sober. Oh, no. Crap. No. But it is that there is, like, one of the things that they're using as a potential check against you is that you're not following instructions, that a lot of people think, I'm just gonna walk down this line, left foot in front of the right foot. So I feel like he was. He's had that training, or he's been in those seminars, and he was trying to be extra careful about just knowing that you got to follow the instructions very specifically. Like, I can remember them telling us, don't start walking until they tell you to start walking. Right. And that's what she said there. She's like, don't start until I say start.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, fair enough. And I understand your point.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

There was nothing in that video that I watched where it seemed like she was trying to get over on him.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, no, no. I'm not. I'm not trying to paint it out like it's a dirty thing or anything. I think he was, but I think that's what was in his brain, is he was, like, trying to get the instructions 100%. Yeah. Okay, but you kind of saying it's a nefarious tactic.

[Sean Pendergast]

No, no, no, no. Okay, that. But that's. That's how I kind of took it.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, well, because you're a known criminal, that's. That's how you. That's how you get around the fuzz.

[Sean Pendergast]

Oh, I'm good at it, obviously, because I've never Been arrested. So. But. So the. Here's where Tony failed the test. And this is the visual part of it. You're supposed to go heel to toe.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

He just starts walking.

[Seth Payne]

That's what. That's. That's how I knew he was drunk, allegedly, because that's it, John. So I'm thinking that I'm watching the presentation, like all this stuff that he used to give me.

[Sean Pendergast]

You have a flashbacks?

[Seth Payne]

No.

[Sean Pendergast]

Well, to. Not to a dui. I'm saying. So when they. When the league was educated. Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. So I'm watching. I was like, oh, yeah, I remember the heel to toe part. And then. So I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, saying, like, oh, okay, well, that's what he's trying to do. And then. Then he blows past the heel. The toe part. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Just starts walking. I mean, not even close.

[Seth Payne]

I don't say.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's not even like the heel missed and grazed the toe.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

He just starts strolling.

[Seth Payne]

I can't wait until the part in the trial where his lawyer is like, your Honor, I know that he might seem drunk, but let's bring up some footage from the AFC playoffs this year. And Gene Ste. Steretor. Gene Sterrator tries to explain to Tony some of the very basic rules of football. And Tony flip flops 29 times, pretending to understand. And to which, if I were the prosecuting attorney, I would say, Mr. Romo, were you drinking at all on that day?

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Because I want answers.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

If anything comes out of this, thank God nobody was hurt. It's. We can find out whether he's actually drunk as hell on game days.

[Sean Pendergast]

Do you. Do you think that cbs, that this arrest of Tony Romo had the CBS executives running to the files to start thumbing through his contract to see if he had a morals clause in there or not?

[Seth Payne]

I think they're like, see if they

[Sean Pendergast]

could get out from underneath however many years of $18 million of Tony Romo they've got.

[Seth Payne]

I think they're like, oh, this is just another thing. It happened with Mark Sanchez. It can happen with Tony Romo, too. Oh, thank God. Who is Mark Sanchez with? Was he Fox?

[Sean Pendergast]

He was Fox, Yeah. They're like, his was wild.

[Seth Payne]

Well, his was wild. Yeah. And it remains so. But he also wasn't making as much as Tony Romo. That's been a ridiculously bad contract.

[Sean Pendergast]

It's been a bad contract. And they've got a guy waiting in the wings in J.J. watt that everybody really seems to like and does a good Job. So, yeah, as long as we're talking about automotive escapades around the NFL, how weird is this Kyle Shanahan thing to you?

[Seth Payne]

Okay, this is my confession.

[Sean Pendergast]

Should I tell people what the latest is?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah. So. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

So. So. So I think most people know that Kyle Shanahan got into a car accident all the way back on July 14th. Most of society.

[Seth Payne]

Bastille Day.

[Sean Pendergast]

Most of society day. Yeah. Maybe he was out celebrating the day

[Seth Payne]

they invented the croissant. Right?

[Sean Pendergast]

Indeed. Yes. Yes. And french fries. So. So the. The. Most of society didn't learn about this accident until the Niners put out a statement 11 days later.

[Seth Payne]

They were too busy with the Bastille Day.

[Sean Pendergast]

Kyle Shanahan was in this accident immediately after the statement was put out by the 49ers, like a minute later. Adam Schefter's got all the details. He's got. He had two broken ribs. He had a broken nose. He's got a concussion.

[Seth Payne]

Amazing. He dug it into. Dug into it so well, so quickly.

[Sean Pendergast]

In 60 seconds, he was able to get all this. So there's all sorts of conjecture that the Niners asked for all kinds of favors for the media to sit on this thing.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Then it finally gets reported, and now here we are at the beginning of training camp, and apparently yesterday the report had been that Kyle Shanahan hit head on with a 21 year old woman and the accident was her fault.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Kyle Shanahan police report.

[Sean Pendergast]

That was what the report said.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Kyle Shanahan pulls eight reporters into his office yesterday to tell them, like, hey, it was actually my fault. The phone fell between the seats in my car and I was reaching down to get it.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

And I looked down, I look up and blamo. I get into this accident. I was only going 20 miles an hour. He said, yeah, And I got into this accident. It was a clerical error, according to Shanahan, and maybe according to the police office, too, that had them flag the wrong person in the system at being at fault.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

It was supposed to be Shanahan. Something is fishy.

[Seth Payne]

Something is fishy.

[Sean Pendergast]

Something's fishy.

[Seth Payne]

The fact that the clerical error was all that. Listen, okay, this is my unpopular opinion on this.

[Sean Pendergast]

Everything was fishy when it took 11 days for this thing to come out.

[Seth Payne]

You know what I loved? I loved that Florio is one of the people who were going off on everybody about, how could you not report this? How can you not report this? And then the next day, he's on with his co host Chris Sims, who's talking about all the. All the conversations he had with Kyle Shanahan's wife and everything following the.

[Sean Pendergast]

We've got some sims audio. We just don't have time to play it, so.

[Seth Payne]

Okay. There's a part of me where I kind of like. I was kind of like this with Sorsby. I'm like, you know what? I kind of like it when a local police department kind of takes up for the guy. Like, like, all right, they didn't. They just kind of. What? It's a car. It's a. It's basically a fender bender. Okay, like, what's the big deal? What if he was an unpopular opinion amongst my bre and in the media?

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

What if he was drinking?

[Seth Payne]

Oh, well, no, that's a whole different scenario. Yeah, then he's a danger to society and he should be, you know, dragged across the asphalt.

[Sean Pendergast]

And I know the report was that there was no alcohol or drugs involved, but the report was also that it wasn't his fault. And it turns out it was.

[Seth Payne]

Sean. Sean. Life's not always cut and dry the way we want it.

[Sean Pendergast]

Something's fishy.

[Seth Payne]

There's a place where there's Brendan Swordsby or Kyle Shanahan. There's a place for like, hey, hey, look. The football coach gotten a little bit of a tough.

[Sean Pendergast]

Nah.

[Seth Payne]

You know what? Let's just. Let's just move along here. Let's move along here. Okay. This is what's pathetic, though. So Kyle Shanahan comes out and says, okay, this is what actually happened. You know, didn't want this young woman to be taking the brunt of all this criticism or anything. All these reporters. Grant Cohn out of San Francisco says Kyle Shanahan just called the beat writers into his office to tell us that he was at fault for the car crash, not the other driver. He swerved into her lane. I have so much respect for Shanahan for setting the record straight. He's a stand up guy. Another writer or media prison chase senior. Kyle Shanahan just did what Mike Vrabel didn't do. Took accountability. Props like, all right, look, this was gonna come out at some point, you know, like, I don't know if the. The family, the woman's family or herself might sue him. If it keeps getting presented this way, like, it's gonna come out, like, good for him. Not trying to bury it completely, but let's not act like. Act like he threw himself in front of a locomotive.

[Sean Pendergast]

Kyle Shanahan admitted to the truth on the story that the team sat on for 11 days.

[Seth Payne]

He threw himself in front of the bus because his cell. Because he had dropped his cell phone in front of the bus.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yes.

[Seth Payne]

Perfect metaphor. Perfect metaphor. He knocked a little kid out of the way of the path of a bus, but it was only because he was trying to retrieve his own cell phone.

[Sean Pendergast]

All right, coming up next, it's the final segment. All right, we did a Pender poll while Seth was out on media decorum. I'll call it press conference decorum. I'm very interested.

[Seth Payne]

Cheated on.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm interested to see what side of the aisle Seth is on this one. Who was worse, Vrabel with the puppy dog or Joellen Bead with his little kid? We've got that coming up next.

[Seth Payne]

Camp is here. Live from the Houston Methodist Training Center, Sports Radio six ten presents pain and Pendergast. Hi.

[Sean Pendergast]

Paint and Pendergast with you on a. A training camp Wednesday. Happy training camp day, everybody.

[Seth Payne]

Training camp day one.

[Sean Pendergast]

Training camp day one.

[Seth Payne]

This is where I understand the Roman numerals. And like, after one, I started losing track.

[Sean Pendergast]

Ye.

[Seth Payne]

That's why in the 10 questions leading up to training camp, I'm glad that you used, you know, regular numbers. Yeah. Instead of Roman numerals. I don't like doing subtraction when I, when I'm trying to.

[Sean Pendergast]

You're kind of snobby when you use Roman numerals, if you want to know the truth. You know, I'm looking at you.

[Seth Payne]

NFL.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm a blue collar numbers guy.

[Seth Payne]

No, no, no. This once I got past. Look, the Roman numerals in the super bowl are just absurd. That's just ridiculous.

[Sean Pendergast]

We need numbers, all right? We need numbers.

[Seth Payne]

We don't need to bring Zeus into this crap.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, so let me, let me ask you, let me ask you this. Brandon Scott and I debated this. We were on the opposite sides of this argument as far as, as far as press conference deflection tactics go. Joel Embiid bringing his young son to a post postgame press conference after getting swept by the Knicks.

[Seth Payne]

Let's call it what it is. It's human shield tactics. You're using your child as a human shield.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'm with you on that.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Or Mike Vrabel bringing a cute little puppy dog under his arm to his puppy shield to his first press conference of training camp.

[Seth Payne]

Oh. Human shield versus canine shield, which is

[Sean Pendergast]

every Patriots fan pointed out to me. It's part of a charitable endeavor calls pottery. Yeah, it's trying to get homes for these puppies. You must hate dogs.

[Seth Payne]

It's Bob Kraft's wife, who I'm guessing Bob thinks is some kind of a trophy, has this charity where they give away free. They give away dogs? Yeah. Thing looked like a little purebred something. I don't know what kind of. Yeah, we're sheltering misplaced pedigreed animals.

[Sean Pendergast]

That's.

[Seth Payne]

That's what the Craft family is up to.

[Sean Pendergast]

Have you looked at the poll I put up about this yet?

[Seth Payne]

I have not.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, good. Okay, so I want to know what your answer is and I want you to guess what the people think. Okay, so I said Brandon Scott and I differ greatly on this today, which was a couple days ago. So I'll put it to the people. Which is worse. Joel Embiid bringing his kid to a post series Lost presser or Mike on

[Seth Payne]

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[Sean Pendergast]

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[Sean Pendergast]

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[Seth Payne]

Yeah, it wasn't.

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[Seth Payne]

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[Sean Pendergast]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Sean Pendergast]

Gotta keep the lights on when the three alarm hits.

[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Sean Pendergast]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Sean Pendergast]

Learn [e-mail] Brable going through some PR stuff right now. Bringing a cute little puppy to his first training camp. What's your answer and what are the people?

[Seth Payne]

You usually know that I'm pretty plugged in with the masses. I walk lockstep with them. That means usually I'm like 70% left foot, 30% right foot. I walk in circles with the masses. I think with Embiid, you could look at it as, hey, he's also, you know, he's trying to teach his kid a life lesson about handling failure with dignity. Where I feel like, Rabel can't teach that puppy crap, except that she's probably better off being neutered. You know, like, hey, yeah, no attachments, no problems. You know, let's just, you won't have

[Sean Pendergast]

any offspring that wind up being a pox.

[Seth Payne]

Really upset to find out that the dog was a female because I didn't know that either. Being, yeah, Bravel would have been then it could really be like, let's talk some sense, young man.

[Sean Pendergast]

So it sounds like, it sounds like you think the Vrabel thing was worse.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, the opposite of it. If you don't like, which is worse. So he is doing it because the boss's wife asks him to.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And like, what are you going to do? Say no, especially when you're in the situation you're in. So I, I still think, yeah, Vrabel. You know what? Yeah. Bravel should have said, you know, at some point, Mrs. Kraft, I'm actually going to stand up and give some real answers about this whole scenario. So I think day one would be the time to do it. And I'm not going to use a puppy shield to deflect myself. I would say, I think, I think most people, especially because it's more A, it's the NFL, B, it's the Patriots. See, it's more scandalous. The majority of people are going to say Mike Vrabel.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah, well, there's actual, there's adultery involved in that one tangentially. Right. Vrabel.

[Seth Payne]

We don't know how that kid was conceived.

[Sean Pendergast]

What percentage, what percentage do you think said Vrabel 65. 73. 73.

[Seth Payne]

I wasn't within five, but it's still

[Sean Pendergast]

a vast majority, though. Like, you were on the, you know, you generally on the right side of everything. This we know about Vrabel. He will do whatever any owner asks him to do. Amy Adams Shrunk asked him to cosplay Bum Phillips, and he did it.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. And he ended up looking like it was an insult to Bump Phillips is what it was.

[Sean Pendergast]

They lost that day too, cowboy.

[Seth Payne]

I live in Westview. That's my favorite part.

[Sean Pendergast]

All right, so. So Nick Casario is going to meet with the. With the media today. What are the things you're most hoping to hear Nick Casario talk about?

[Seth Payne]

I really hope he takes John Harris to task for some of his antics. I'm just this guy. John Harris. John Harris is walking up.

[Sean Pendergast]

Johnny's right there. You to be here in a minute.

[Seth Payne]

Okay, so as far as stereo and like, what are the. The driving issues of what we want to address? I think Tank Dell. I think we'll find in due time exactly what their plans are for with Tank Dell. I'm kind of like enjoying the suspense of it. I want. I don't want them to lay out what they think the plan is for Tank.

[Sean Pendergast]

You guys will see in a minute. Yeah, shortly.

[Seth Payne]

I don't want to walk into a strip club and have the women just buck naked right at the.

[Sean Pendergast]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

Well, okay, that's a bad comparison.

[Sean Pendergast]

So timeless artist seduction.

[Seth Payne]

But. But no, I think that for one. Jalen Nolan, what exactly is up? But the problem is I don't. I don't think we'll probably get all of that revealing an answer. The GMs don't have to say. GMs and coaches don't have to divulge much information at all right now. And we know how Kasario operates with this stuff, we'll probably get, you know, a pretty vague answer.

[Sean Pendergast]

I'll give you one. What's the plan for Keelan Rutledge? Yeah, what's the plan for him? Is he being treated okay as a center? Is he being treated as the number one center?

[Seth Payne]

I think the problem is he already gave an answer. I think he'll be asked again. He already gave an answer to that. But because this is what happens with GMs and politicians, because they don't give the answer you want, we pretend that they never answered the question before. He said during OTAs and minicamps that he's. They're. They're going to work him at both spots, as they do with a lot of other guys. Because it's a good time to figure out exactly what guys can and can't.

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, here's. Here would be a question.

[Seth Payne]

Okay. You know what can I tell you? Honestly?

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

My. If I'm. If I'm the gm, what I'm also saying is. And people don't like hearing this. We don't know. Like, we don't. The players just like players cut themselves. Like you either play well or you don't. If Keelan Rutledge. We don't know if Keelan Rutledge can play center. So this is what training camp is for, is finding out.

[Sean Pendergast]

What do you feel like this is what I would ask. Nick, I'm asking you, do you feel like there needs to be a sort of a deadline set for determining who the center is going to be given the. Given the connective tissue of that position to the quarterback?

[Seth Payne]

That's a really good point because they did give a definitive answer with somebody last year and I can't recall who it was, but I want to say it was on the offensive line that they said they would basically know by the second preseason game. So I think that's a very good. That's a very good way to look at it.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yeah. Yeah. Like maybe. Maybe something a little more. A little more specific.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Like when are you going to try to make this decision by or. Yeah.

[Sean Pendergast]

Especially considering it's a rookie who's never played the position before, you know, so. Yeah, that'll be at 8:30. I would assume that that's going to be carried on Texans All Access, which John Harris is chomping at the bit to do here in a moment. And Mark Vandermeer will be here shortly. So that'll be good, man. Very excited for first day of training camp.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, no, this will be good. No pads for the first couple days, but that just puts that much more scrutiny on the passing game because I don't look. Other than mental errors, you can't really see a whole lot of what the interior offensive linemen are doing with no pads on. So I think you watch a whole lot of the 7 on 7 type action today.

[Sean Pendergast]

Yep. Should be good. First. First fan. Open practice is on Saturday this week. So we are your eyes and ears here at Sports Radio 610. Seth, myself, Reggie and John from 10 to 2. And then obviously the drive. The drive won't be out here, but they'll be covering Texans training camp and all the. Everything coming out of it throughout the afternoon. And of course. Area 45 at night. Seth, Antibodies to you.

[Seth Payne]

Antibodies in left foot, right foot, left foot. Sean, can you repeat one and the other?

[Sean Pendergast]

Okay, I need you to do it again.

[Seth Payne]

Heel to toe.

[Sean Pendergast]

Heel to toe as I stroll.

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[Sean Pendergast]

I remember telling my boss it'll be good for the brand when leads were slow.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, it wasn't.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

As the U.S. men's National Team takes center stage at a home World Cup. Make sure you're listening to Call it what you want, part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network where you can join me. I'm Jimmy Conrad alongside Charlie Davies, Tony Miola, Marcella Balboa and Benny Fieldhaver throughout this tournament for previews, instant reactions and analysis of every US Match. Then all summer we're back every Tuesday and Thursday covering all things U.S. men's National Team. Download and follow Call it what you want on Apple podcasts, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.