Brian Burke remembers Johnny Gaudreau | Overdrive - Hour 2 - 8/30/24

mail in Fridays is brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar BP serving fishbowls and Ice coold pints on the patio all summer long so grab your sunscreen and let's have ourselves a weekend the Boston Pizza patio is calling hour two of overdrive underway it's Mike Toano filling in for Brian Hayes got Frankie curado with me and uh if you're just joining us you know we've been kind of mourning the loss of Johnny gudo all day here on the station and all day all across uh the world really you know outpour of support from friends family teammates people who covered him fans obviously of Johnny goodro who tragically passed away last night alongside his brother Matthew um they were riding bikes out near their their Hometown in New Jersey and uh were struck by an alleged um drunk driver and unfortunately um neither neither made and the the the the real gutting part was today was supposed to be the wedding of their sister and I could just I I couldn't even imagine kind of how everyone must be feeling on on what was supposed to be an amazing day and how quickly quickly that turned tragic a lot of people a lot of family members yesterday got the phone call or the text that they never want to get and you know it's hard hard to imagine what that would feel like getting that call or getting that text and um the gut-wrenching you know heartbreaking feelings that would you know overtake your body and you know they leave behind families you know for Johnny goodro two young kids a wife uh for Matthew a a pregnant fiance or it's just it's heartbreaking it's senseless and two two people are are gone because of it yeah and Gordon Miller you know we had him on in the 4:00 hour if you want to go back into the podcast and uh and have a listen he he had some great stories to say did say it right if if you want to honor the goodro family you know next time you're thinking about drinking and driving um don't simply and if you see someone looking to you know looking to get behind the wheel of of a of a car afterwards you know tell them to stop so I that was that was a pretty pretty sound advice from Gordon Miller Brian Burke going to join us in a couple of minutes here and he obvously knows knows him really well and watch him mature and grow into the the man that he is today right like he Brian Burke started in Calgary in 2013 and I think one year later would have been good R's uh rookie season so literally right from the the the first moments good hopped on the ice as a rookie for the Calgary Flames Brian Burke was there yeah and I mean for for Johnny goodro he hit the ground running uh he would have played he would have played his first NHL game got his first NHL goal and he played that was the last game of the regular season yeah one game in 1314 actually so it was the same year that berky started yep one game one right out of college right out of a a dominant season at um at Boston College wins the Hobie Baker and he was dominant throughout his entire collegiate career like he had 80 points in his third year when we talk about Legacy building and it's something that I want to talk to about with and John bagr actually late programming change he's going to join us a little later in the show too he call College hockey oh College hockey he's going to know everything about his career 100% and and and that's something that I always think about when I think about Johnny G and his legacy is he was almost like the first modernday NCAA college hockey star like I I don't know if maybe I'm just a little too young perhaps but he's really the first person that I think of when I I try to think okay who who made College hockey uh you know like like a a staple in the US and I always think of Johnny goodro well it's just so so All-American for Johnny goodro right to play he played in the USHL he played three years at Boston College um you know won a Hobie Baker you know represented the United States many times on the world stage whether it's the world juniors or the men's worlds it's just um and his you know what his his career speaks for itself and you know we're I'm sure a lot of people have done this and and gone back and watch highlights of of Johnny G play I'll I'll always remember how skilled he was how elusive he was how slippery you know the great shot the great passing ability but I'll always remember how competitive he was you know for him to be 5' n and to do what he did guys like that they're not supposed to be able to dominate the way that he did yeah he was a a truly a a special and unique talent um and he he had a certain mindset a certain competitive nature um and and it's you know it's funny because you can have that that Killer Instinct and by all accounts I didn't know him but the most happy kind of go-lucky guy um you know a joy to be around but when it was time to play it was time to play and 6' one 6'2 6' 3 Johnny hockey was going to try and take the puck off you he was going to try and win that battle and to his credit more often than not he did well someone who got to witness that on a nightly basis for for five or six years uh we we got on the line now it's it's you know uh Brian Burke uh former Flames president of hockey operations and he took to Twitter much like everybody else earlier today to pay his respects to Johnny goodro says his you know his heart goes out to the goodro family after the tragic loss um we're showing it up here on TSN 2 right now uh lucky enough to have Johnny with the flames and USA hockey and couldn't be overstated what a joy it was uh for everyone involved to have Johnny gudo on their team so why don't we hear from the man himself uh Brian Burke how's it going Brian thank you for joining us tough tough circumstances obviously so thank you so much for the time do we got you can you hear us Brian I got no sound here boys oh maybe let's try and let's see if we can get him reconnected here uh the boys in in the TV see if we can get the sound pumping through and get Brian on because you know he's he's a perfect perfect guest to to get to talk about goodro right spent six years with the guy watch him grow into the player that he is today yeah and I mean you know for for fans and people who who have watched you get to see on the ice you get to see the interviews but you don't get a a behind the curtains look the way someone like berky did so I I I think he's got us now do you got us Brian yes how are you guys uh we're doing okay I mean obviously it's a really tough day in in in the hockey world uh the tragic passing of Johnny goodro and and his his brother Matthew um so thank you for taking the time to join us on a dayl like today uh we we posted your statement up on up on the television just a moment ago before you came on um you know you're someone who spent a long time with with Johnny and right when he came into the league just you know tell us you know how how you how you're feeling today and um what Johnny gjo meant to you well it's a sad day it's I mean all the loss when you lose a kid it's a terrible thing and you got to multiply that by two for the G family so it's uh it's an awful thing um lots of real you know Johnny has a new a new baby or had a new baby uh his brother Matthew is pregnant they were pregnant his sister's getting married tomorrow so I mean it couldn't have been a a more tragic accident than uh than it was so our our hearts go out to the family you know we've we've heard a lot today um how important family was to Johnny goodro Brian um you know I'm sure you had plenty of um experiences with them just you know tell us a little bit about Johnny's family and and how much family meant to him well family's very tight you know the father Mr G I call him Mr I know his name but we call the parents Mr and Mrs uh Mr G was quite a hockey player himself at Vermont he's a small exciting player like his son and um they they grew up in a rink he ran a rink in h New Jersey and Mr G was telling me one day a practice how he taught Johnny to skate he got him interested in hockey by putting Skittles around the rink so Mr G would skate 20 meters and put down a Skittle SK 20 meters and put down a Skittle and switch over the other side and Johnny would follow him picking up the Skittles that's one of the things he did to get interested in playing hockey which is a very cute story for all of us who have had kids that play but uh the family's very close um I remember when we were trying to negotiate Johnny's extension the whole family came to the meeting it's quite quite uh intimidating for me and tree to have all the the sisters there and the dad and everyone else so we we put a little more money on the table I think cuz they were all there well you in the Skittles and and you know we had heard that story before and and we were talking about how uh out in front of the Saddle Dome you got a bunch of fans showing up with with some Skittles and some purple Gatorade and flowers um in honor of of Johnny goodro as someone who spent a lot of time with him in Calgary what can you tell us about what he meant to that Community well I think first off Johnny G was a great kid he was a great person and that's we're so lucky in our game we've got so many great players they're also great people and the burden that they carry the way they act and they the way they drag the game along with them and elevated is something so I first met Johnny um he was playing at the debuk in the USL Jim Montgomery was the coach there zus gurgenson was the player we went to scout because Johnny was already owned by Calgary I think he was anyway we didn't really watch Johnny as much as we watch gurgenson but we fell in love with Johnny he had 80 points that year something crazy and just he was so exciting you couldn't help but notice him starting in the warmup and then I had him in bellus in the world championships and the first day we got there Kevin Hayes told me watch this guy and they would get the puck to Johnny no matter who had the puck they' find Johnny get him the puck and then get open and even the first Shifty play we could see he was the leader and he was a driver offensively and uh just amazing watch he got drilled a couple times in that game for play in Slovakia I believe he got na just nailed a couple times and got up and skated away and I thought okay he's going to be okay because that was the only the only question mark about Johnny was could he handle a physical going he was so small you know you would have seen so much behind the scenes from Johnny and you know if you were a fan you got to see him on the ice maybe you got to watch the postgame interviews you know what was it like watching him or traveling with him or dinners with him you know what what kind of comes to mind when you think of Johnny goodro off the ice oh first off he's a he's a very family oriented kid um I'm going to tell a story that uh maybe anyone hasn't heard this story before with Craig Conroy could tell it Johnny was so simple when he first turned Pro with Calgary he didn't even cash his first two paychecks he put him in a sock drawer mom his mom gave him an allowance and Johnny thought everyone say oh that wasn't very smart well he thought it was direct deposit it wasn't that he was ignorant about banking but he thought it was direct deposit so he put the the paychecks in his sock drawer and then and um he got his allowance from his mom for the first couple months so he was talking to Craig Conroy one day and he said when do I get paid and Connie's like what are you talking about they went and found the checks and deposited them but that's how close they were as the family that's what a good kid he was um his teammates loved him he worked very hard too like what's being overshadowed I think is every thinks he everyone thinks he scored a lot of points which he did he wanted Hobie B Baker which he did but I think a lot of it is too he was he sold tickets he worked his tail off away from the puck got open and made things happen he was a great player that way great teammate yeah and I think the great teammate is something that we are really starting to learn about him today with everybody who had played with him or heard uh from other teammates about just how good of a person he was everyone kind of coming out uh and talking about that and I I am curious like a guy today how much you're thinking of someone like Shawn Monahan who you would have known that relationship pretty well you know there was a clip going around yesterday he was doing an interview talking about how excited he was to reconnect with Johnny goodro and Columbus just kind of how tough it might be for him and the rest of the Columbus teammates uh on a day like today well I S A text him at stageing I sent a text to Mar Oro I sent a text to Monty just say them all tough day brother um and they you get tight with a guy like that who comes in he's new and you have to prove yourself and he proved himself right away fit right in and was just a great player and a great kid and so I know it's tough for all three of those guys who having a tough day texed with them all and um it's not a good day for anyone but obviously people when you play with someone or if you're GM with someone you're in the meal room with them every day you're on Charters with them every day you get a bond you get a closeness that doesn't exist in other Landes to work you know you kind of if you looked at Johnny's stature berkie you know guys like that they can you know they can be there I don't know if they're supposed to dominate the way that Johnny did um was there you know did his competitive nature kind of stick out to you like I I played against him and you know one thing that really stuck out to me yes he was skilled yes he was slippery but he he would go up against guys that were double his size and he'd come out with the puck like how many times did you see that happen and and maybe like did you just become numb to it well I remember his rookie year we had the rookie tournament in Penticton and right as the period ended it might have been as the game ended but right as time expired Monty or uh Johnny took a big hit that he didn't have to take and I said to him walking to the bus I said Johnny you got to get out of the way on those hits It's a needless hit we won the game it's game time expiring just step out of the way and he said I can't be a matador berky I can't step away from my teammates they'll think I'm gutless I said well I'm ordering you right now to start being a matador and get out of the way his evasiveness was really important to his ability to stay healthy and contribute but like you say he worked his tail off you can't work that hard away from in the puck to get open and make things happen unless you're a hard worker and he was right from the get-go he learned that at Boston College and he brought it to us uh with Brian Burke um you know Johnny hockey was someone that was kind of synonymous with USA Hockey which is you know obviously you spent a lot of time with the program um what what's his legacy do you believe with with USA hockey and what he meant to uh to that whole program well he's he's not an under 18 guys he didn't play on the US National men's team right the the national program he did not play in that program I don't believe and I think that's a legacy most of the top players that come out of the US are out of that program and Johnny was not selected for that program I don't believe I don't think so I just like USA Hockey in general yeah but I think I think the legacy is for USA hockey is he was one of the most exciting players that ever put on the red white and blue like we've had a lot of great players that played for Team USA But Johnny GD was a great player he was a great he played in a couple of tournaments overseas like I said when I had him played on The Young Guns team I believe if I recall correctly and uh in the world cup so exciting player would have had a great legacy unfortunately ended too soon where where will he go down when it comes to you know the all-time greats that played for the Calgary Flames um you know and that's just not that's not just on the ice you know I think there's there's a bigger impact has to come with that what you did in the community how immersed you were in the community um you know how was I guess how how was Johnny in that regard excellent you got to remember the Calgary Flames that's part of our DNA in Calgary when they put the team there they started that that was a Cornerstone of everything that the Calgary Flames did when they first brought a team to the league and so to me it was a big part of what we do my teams do anyway but when I got to Calgary it's the first place didn't have to really push it on guys because they do that there as part of part of the course of Nature and I'd say with Johnny he came into that right away was asked to do stuff right away because he had a marquee name he's a good-look kid he was a great kid sailable kid so we asked him to do a lot right away and he embraced that he loved that part of it he was really good at it too Brian really appreciate taking the time to to join us on a on a tough day like today uh hopefully we can talk again on better circumstances in the future but thank you for this thanks guys absolutely Brian Burke uh former longtime general manager in a lot of different spots but uh knew Johnny goodro very well uh as his time as the president of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames um again another guy who you know just can't speak about what he is all about off the ice you know like we we know Johnny as the guy on the ice you know you you at least played against him so you might know him a little bit and you you have friends that know him or played with him you know I'm worried that hit at the youngstar tournament in pen titon was I don't know if it was me but I remember one time I like I got him it was like an elbow it was not not a good hit like I probably would have got suspended and it was in that young Star Tournament and I remember I had to turn my notifications off on Twitter because Flames fans were not happy they got at you they got your mentions how dare don't touch Johnny that was like with with him like you always you thought you had him and then you didn't and if you know if you were kind of going in maybe you follow through with the elbow little chicken wing a little bit it's not not ideal yeah but I think you know one of the things berky talked about is the community aspect mhm and we were all witness to Johnny goodro leaving Calgary and going to Columbus he wanted to be closer to family no one can ever blame him him for that and he did say credit to to him he did say it was the hardest decision that he had made in his life was to leave Calgary the roots that he had set in Calgary with that organization with the community with the fan base it was a very very difficult decision and it was genuine it really was genuine and in the Sports World everyone loves you know like a a villain yes right everyone it's it's good theater when someone chooses to go somewhere else and they come back and or you know you follow their career and it's it's the player that left um Johnny's Legacy in Calgary is going to be remembered as a player that was loved on the ice and loved off the ice yeah because he immersed himself in that community and he truly cared and we're it's obviously very tragic that he's not around anymore but I think we're going to see a big big outpouring of support from everyone in Calgary absolutely and and we've already seen visuals and videos and pictures people walking up to the Saddle Dome you know putting flowers on the doorsteps and you know Skittles and and and the purple Gatorade and people are putting hockey sticks outside now yeah I saw at Nationwide Arena as well in Columbus so it's not just Calgary it's it's the people in Columbus too where he spent the last couple of years and you know what Columbus is a Columbus is a strong hockey market like it's um small But Mighty exactly like you know even when that team struggles they will sell out that building and they have a lot of season ticket holders and um you know you know Johnny's decision to go there was pretty unprecedented yeah like a guy who's coming off 115 Point Season could he has a lot of options he went to Columbus he chose to go to Columbus because yes he wanted to be closer to family and um he wanted to be on the East Coast but he also believed in the city and he wanted to play there yeah and not a lot of guys have decided to do that over the years but he did yeah and and and you you bring up the wanted to be close to his family and doesn't that now seem like it was it was the right decision right little did they know that there' be very limited time with each other but think about how much extra time they got with him being in Columbus as opposed to Calgary with him being from the tri-state area yeah I mean it's it's hard to think about like it really is um you know how you all all you can say is is is hug your loved ones because life is precious and we just we just don't know we just don't know totally uh all right coming up on the other side Mike gock Jr going to join us we'll get back into some NFL talk I'm Mike Toano with Frank curado uh you're listening to overdrive here on TSN 1050 TSN 2 and on the TSN app OverDrive continues on the TSN 1050 radio Airwaves up on TSN 2 in the TSN app it's Mike Toano filling in for Brian Hayes my partsy that's your boy got Frankie curado with me as well yeah next Thursday it's go time go time for the picks I'm excited for it did you win or lose last year we won I don't know why I thought you lost Luke no we we won the playoffs and last I checked the playoffs is all that matters who cares if you win in the regular season yeah but here's the thing I tell that to the Boston Bruins okay a couple years back right record setting regular season what happened first round elimination the thing is they it's just you guys playing against each other all season long and then you end the season which is way longer and then you do the playoffs which is way shorter and then whoever wins the shorter part is the Champions I don't understand mean just carry through how long is the right NHL regular season it's 82 games okay how many games you play maximum in an play you play but you don't play against the same team for all 82 and then play against the same team that's a losers mentality it's common sense I don't I I hey if you win in the championship you win that that that's it's the playoffs so what you guys do from September to by wining regular season It Well by winning the regular season they got the choice of first pick for the playoffs every week so they did win that okay so they got the choice to pick what games they wanted every week for the playoffs that was their their you know Victory that's them getting the one seed and us getting the eighth seed that's their home field advantage so we already had to overcome that by getting the worst of the the worst of the set of games every weekend please please do not use the word overcome tremendous adversity we we had to get through and Hayes and I did it with Grace with class can't say the two about those other guys and we were Champions you're something else Hey listen listen when you're out on the grid iron and the mental grid iron that is the overdrive football picks all right we are it why don't we use some of that tremendous information for later and maybe we'll get your take on which left Winger the leaf should be targeting as we get closer to training camp we'll do it later you want that later I want that later I have not had your take on things we'll do a little we'll do a mini Leafs lunch on overdrive we'll bring it back just for a little segment I've got a couple names up in the top my I know I know the way you operate well also here's the thing too and I don't want to get into it but like Nick Robertson he's got an opportunity there that he hasn't had before where it's there's a top nine spot just sitting there waiting for him M and he wants out now all of a sudden it's like you finally get an opportunity to play with you know Willie or Mitch or or Matthews tovaris you know okay maybe do me if you get on the third line perhaps but you've got an opportunity here and now all of a sudden he wants out yeah make it make sense Frankie no I cuz that's your left Winger that's what I was like I mean that's I was saying that earlier in the week like this is the best opportunity that he's ever had he also needs to stay healthy like there's there's a lot that goes into it but anyways we'll we'll do a little do a little leaf talkop yeah that's that's one contract hold out there's multiple other contracts hold outs in football we had one end yesterday and Brandon iuk but still a couple that are ongoing uh joining us now on the maple Toyota hotline Mike goolock Jr former NFL or co-host of Gojo and gool how's it going Mike doing well appreciate you having me absolutely um you know we were just talking a little hockey about someone who's got a bit of a contract dispute as we you know get into training camp that's obviously was a massive storyline for the last few weeks within the NFL one that did get solved though out in San Francisco with Brandon auk ining a four-year deal um after what seemed to be a new report surface about how that was going to end seemingly every week throughout uh throughout training camp but four years 120 million 70 some odd guaranteed uh what did you make of the deal and did the Niners get it right to retain him and and pay him all that money yeah I do think so I think Brandon iuk could been sort of a success story in that shanan offense and organization Right started off in Kyle's doghouse early in his career and then became one of the great Shanahan receivers in terms of hey he was willing to block he could do stuff outside of just the normal flow of the offense that helps get so many guys open and last year had his best statistical season for them so I think in an important year where Brock C's still cheap this season and you're at the end of your current window of winning a Super Bowl with a quarterback on a rookie contract getting auk back on the field for that continuity was super important I think in terms of the financials made a ton of sense you know it's uh an extra year added on but similar financials sort of in the tra you know average amount per year in guarantees to you know guys like Devonte Smith you know the same average per year as Hill who's a much older receiver than him and certainly a very different receiver but I think overall the right deal a good one for the player and just a reminder that you know the leverage in this situation was always going to be tough for Brandon iik he's on one of the best teams in the NFL it is an offense that has a great coordinator and a ton of options and so the prospect of leaving for a few more million dollars a year but going to a bad team after you're used to being on a competitor is a difficult pill to swallow for some guys and I think Absol we played a factor in this who who do you think has the leverage when it comes to Jerry Jones versus Dak Prescott Odin Dallas because you know you can try and play hard ball with a quarterback but when when your time is up it seems like you're going to get paid like can can Jerry can he find some kind of Leverage here and and if so like if you do want to move on from Dak how are you replacing him not easily Jerry is H between a rock and a hard place here because remember Jerry Jones for all the lustering and talk in front of the media and the fact that he makes all his star players work for these negotiations I talked to my buddy Dave Helman who covered the Cowboys for a long time and works with fox now and he pointed out hey the last time they did this deal with Dak Prescott where they waited too long and they made it drag out like this Dak Prescott ended up with a no trade cause that he now has in this current deal so Dak Prescott can go into this season and if he wants to bet on himself where the only leverage the Cowboys ha have there is the threat of injury to Dak Prescott that might make him reconsider that can get to next offseason and be an unrestricted free agent I think that we hardly ever see for quarterbacks of his caliber second in the MVP voting last season and playing incredibly well for them it rarely ever happen and it's because Dak got that out of the last negotiation with Jerry Jones so no I think Jerry's in a really tough place right now where if Dak Prescott doesn't want to sign because he likes being a cowboy or because he doesn't want to have to worry about going out and get hurt this season then he can stick it to them and get to next offseason and make 60 plus million dollars a year um another player kind of hold now waiting for that big payday is Jamar Chase and you know Zack Taylor came out and and for the first time seems like he's not as sure if he's going to be there week one how do you see this situation playing out for Jamar Chase and the Bengals um not great right now it sounds like there are real you know worries about him being available for week one because you gota remember Jamar chase is on the you know he has two years left on his deal not making a ton of money right now at this point in his rookie contract and so for a guy who like you said this guy knows the money is going to be there he's one of the best receivers in the NFL he changes the MTH on the field for the Cincinnati team that has a great quarterback but without Jamar Chase doesn't really have someone to stretch the field and so he knows he's going to get that money so if he's got to sacrifice game checks on a contract that's playing him well under market value and what he's worth based on production I feel like he might be comfortable with that we saw Chris Jones sit out the first game last year to prove a point and I think for Jamar Chase in Cincinnati and I think for Trent Williams the left tackle in San Francisco you got two guys right now that are in good position where if they want to make their team really feel the hurt in important Seasons they both have the ability to do so and then the leverage conversation gets really interesting because we usually assume players aren't going to miss out on the opportunity to get income in a sport where the injury rate over a long period is 100% but it is a new day and age and these two guys in particular are so important to their team and so underpaid relative to their production that I would believe anything is possible in terms of them sitting out real time if you take a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers and you know you go back to last year how stagnant that offense was and you know fans disgruntled about Matt Canada and how he wanted to run things as the offensive coordinator now you have a situation where Russell Wilson's going to be the starting quarterback Justin Fields is the backup quarterback like is this Mike tomlin's toughest test as a head coach to kind of get the most out of this group offensively oh no no no no no no that was the last couple of years I mean you know it's no disrespect Kenny pick it was the first round draft pick a really good college player but just it wasn't working for him at the NFL level so far and part of that is also coaching so that combination of him and Matt Canada as the offensive coordinator was oil and water unfortunately and it led to a situation where last year when the Steelers finally got to a point late in the season where it was like Mason Rudolph who helped them go over 400 yards for the first time in a couple of years they almost thre a parade Mike Tomlin got through that I've said over and over again hey if the defense stays healthy I think there's no way the offense is worse than what we saw in the last couple of seasons and so with Russell Wilson as a veteran who you know Shawn pyton got the best out of him we had gotten in a while last season in Denver coming into an offense under Arthur Smith that is heavy play action gets the quarterback on the move and all that and can make use of Justin Fields legs at certain points if they want to have packages for him I do think that while hey you got some young pieces on that offense line a couple rookies that when fully healthy are probably in line to start I I still think that what we saw in the last couple of seasons was Far More in terms of Mike Tomlin having to Cobble it together than now Mike gock with us here on overdrive um we saw the Patriots name there starting quarterback there was a bit of a bit of a duel you know I would say there's a good healthy competition with Drake May the third overall pick at jacobe brassette they elect to go with the veteran in brassette uh over Drake may do you like that decision from J Mayo in the Pats I I don't really know what the right decision with this one was going to be mostly because I just don't trust the line in front of either quarterback right now and I think if the offensive line was a group that you could count on you know across the board right now starting Drake May doesn't seem like a bad idea it seemed like really after the second preseason game you heard and saw on tape a better performance from him in preseason 2 and preseason three you heard from practice he was gaining confidence getting more used to that West Coast offense under Alex Van Pelt and starting to really look like the guy they drafted third overall the problem is we've seen now and talked more about recently how important the environment is for these rookie quarterbacks we saw it last year with Bryce young and CJ strad one had an environment come together with great coaching protection up front and weapons that emerged in that offense and the other was Bryce Young and the season went to hell in a hand basket he got hit a ton and it's going to be a chore now for Dave Canales his head coach to go in and try and break some of the habits that I'm sure formed last year when Bryce is under duress and couldn't find receivers that were actually open on the field and so there's a little bit more I think in the receiving core in New England right now but you don't want to go and get your rookie quarterback beat up too much too soon so I think sending jacobe brassett out as the veteran early is probably the better option but I think at some point listen Drake May was really good at evading pressure and was under pressure a lot at North Carolina he's used to that I think he's going to be able to help this team at some point this season and quite frankly is going to have to so Mike McDaniel gets a contract extension with the dolphins he's going to be there till 2028 um the gentleman sitting across from me is famous for saying the fins are frauds now let me ask you this what would you need to see from the Dolphins maybe in the first half of the season for them to be not considered frauds by my partner here uh I mean I don't think there's anything you'd be able to see in the first half of the season the are going to be fine in the regular season hit right Mike yeah that's the thing it's they've got to you know it's it is a tired cliche and I feel like one of my good buddies Stu got saying do it in the postseason but that's really what it's going to come down to can the Dolphins game and offense as presently constructed win effectively in the postseason when all of a sudden like we saw the conditions that Arrow had last year were what they were I think as much as anything though I have confidence that that offense is probably going to be able to go provided you know they stay healthy in all the right places and that normal stuff it's really the defense at the end of last year that cost him you were down your top three Edge rushers due to injury you were signing guys off the street heading into a postseason game where you couldn't take advantage of the fact that the chiefs were banged up on the edges of their offensive line and so I think that defense that now has no Christian Wilkins anymore on the interior does have their Premier Edge players coming off the pup list this off season after injury last season and is dealing with a new defensive coordinator that's the side of the ball that I want to see something from to figure out what the ceing is going to look like for Miami how does it make you feel that on today's date Friday August 30th 2024 you can wake up and you can look at a notification that says a kicker is being paid 22 million do a year um it's a good reminder that the NFL is good business for everybody at this point and that you know we've seen quite honestly there's a plenty of value in that I mean in the world that Justin Tucker has created where quite honestly you could pay him whatever amount of money you wanted and I'd be pretty comfortable with him as a weapon that they can be weapons too as much as the rest of football players like to make fun of them because they don't have to do as much in practice well we were you know we were talking about the Chargers earlier and you know Justin Herbert one of the elite talents in the NFL and you know Al's brother Mike was saying that you know maybe he doesn't have all all the weapons that he needs at his disposal around him but he's got a new coach now and and Harbaugh um it's a five- win team last year they should get more wins this year but how many more wins can they possibly get um I I would guess probably not a ton the AFC West outside of Kansas City is a fascinating exercise in team building because on one side you've got the Chargers experiment where they've gone all in on offensive line with their resources under Jim Harbaugh and cut off and severed the arm that is their skill position players because they got to rebuild the salary cap situation and so you're going to see hey how much does a great quarterback in those circumstances buy you and on the other side you've got a team like a Las Vegas Raiders where you've got incredible tight ends there with Michael Mayor who was one of your top draft picks last year and now Brock Bowers who was your top draft pick this year Devonte Adams is still on the outside as a great player defensively you've got Max Crosby and the aforementioned Christian Wilkins who comes over there with him and then you've got Gardner muu who has been a good replacement level quarterback in the NFL but is certainly not their quarterback of the future so how much is that environment and the play callers they have there going to help him out and so I'm fascinated to watch that experiment play out because the answer quite honestly is I I don't know what the Chargers right now a lot of it's going to be predicated on is Justin Herbert healthy for the whole year dealt with the planner fascia injury in his foot and that's not something that's going to get better unless he gets long time to rest it and that's not coming up anytime soon so it's going to be how do they manage that how much does that end up affecting him once live bullets start here in just a week well the the team at the top of that division the Kansas City Chiefs uh looking to three repeat here this season I don't know if you heard but Patrick Mahomes was speaking and and said that apparently they may use a play that was drawn up by Taylor Swift uh and I'm I I read it today I read it apparently it came from his mouth and I'm curious Mike what is the I guess craziest play that you've seen installed into a playbook in your time as a player I mean forget what I've seen in my time as a player what we've seen from the Chiefs already Taylor Swift is one of the most gifted lyricists and creative artists on planet Earth and so she's sitting here now for the last season dating Travis Kelce watching what they put on display in the Red Zone all the time we know Andy Reid's famously taking play designs from all players in the building everyone can have a hand in it and all that authorship I called This months ago like last season I sat around and said we are not far away from Andy Reid calling some that Taylor Swift handed him on a cocktail napkin in the red zone to score for the Chiefs in this game I'm excited for it you know it's going to involve Travis we you know he played quarterback in college for that little bit so we'll probably get him in the shotgun and she'll put her baby to work and it's going to be great she's great at everything else why do we assume she would not be great at drawing up a play here I imagine it's going to be spectacular because everything she touches turns to Gold that's a good point that's a really good point and it's got to be called T Swizzle I would imagine that's got to be the name of the play T Swizzle uh I mean you can you can have a bunch of stuff in here I mean listen she's got a song called blank space where if you scheme up the playright that's what you'll be throwing to is a wide open receiver in blank space you've got a place called W you know why Shake is a good Red Zone play for the tight end so why Shake It Off in homage to one of her songs there there's plenty of I could do this all day guys you got to do it from the 22 yard line maybe something like that feeling 22 see now now you see the picture clearly welcome my friend we've been expecting you 22 double tight get the full back in there you know I think that's a possibility we could get something cooking it's a love story that's say there you go had a boy Frankie pat on the back for that one Mike really appreciate you taking time to join us today we'll chat again down the road sounds good thanks guys absolutely there he goes Mike gock Jr former NFL or coast of the Gojo and goic show yeah I I read that today and I also kind of had to do a double I'm like Taylor Swift they've which means they've practiced this this is a thing something that's in the back of the Playbook now granted there are hundreds of plays in said Playbook every year only uh like 40% of them end up getting called during a game but we have seen the Chiefs in the last few years call some pretty outrageous plays I could I could see them doing this like the blank space is a good one I do like that one like if he calls if if Holmes calls out the blank space and a bunch of other things just start calling audibles that that are Taylor Swift lyrics yeah that'd be that'd be incredible and then if Travis Kelce like it's going to go to him right either go to him or he will be he will be the focal point whether he's throwing a touchdown or getting the touchdown and then you know like I could see him just going up to the camera and and saying look what you made me do there's another song There You Go Frankie you're just going to drop drop song lyrics and puns I don't know our girl again now we're throwing back to a little bit of a of of Leaf's lunch our girl Julia toer might be listening she would have a billion uh lyrics to drop Here song Shake It Off I think the the Shake It Off good one M little Shimmy Shake yeah he does like to do a little shimmy yeah out there get the get the edge off yeah I could see it I I I guarante to you they're going to run this play I mean he doesn't bring it up if if it's not consideration it's going to happen and you know they're going to convert on it and it's probably going to happen against the Buffalo Bills I think it's a Monday night football Sunday or Monday Night Football game they've got against the Buffalo Bills and it's it's going to happen I can almost almost guarantee that's the game they'll kind of pull it out and have some fun early in a game or it'll be a complete blowout complete blowout and that's where that's where they kind of get it done that's my that's what I think we'll see we'll see we'll see all right uh still got a couple of guests to join us on today's show Sal will join us from Calgary again still mourning the death of Johnny good and his brother Matthew from earlier today he'll join us at 605 and get a perspective of how things are out in Calgary uh after the tragic passing so we'll get to him at 605 John boerr at 6:30 I'm Mike D stano with Frank Cado you listen to overdrive on TSN 1050 TSN 2 and on the TSN app well 's brother there might be a blank space on the Leaf's roster as far as a a left Winger and you know we were talking about Nick Robertson and CJ was on first up earlier this we this week talking about um you know his appetite for not playing for the Leafs and then so that kind of leads us to other leftwing options out there Max petti jvr is there someone in your tremendous information findings that you would prefer yeah I've taken a look I've taken a peek you know as I typically do around the hours of 1:30 to 3:30 in the morning when you're wide awake when I'm wide awake and I've got all that going on you you know how I operate um you know a couple names have kind of stuck out to me as as dudes who maybe you could bring in on a PTO uh you mentioned a couple of them right there I mean Max Patch already I guess would probably be kind of the top guy but not not over like jvr I would have had jvr kind of a 1 a 1B in a way what what do you think about Hoffman like Hoffman's a guy not a guy who could play lower in the lineup and that's what would scare me played with barui though like he's got that that familiarity with Craig Ruby from their time in St Louis yeah that's why I thought of him J like jvr last year was basically on the fourth line in Boston yeah he wasn't playing high in the lineup so I I feel like he would he would be able to do it and I guess pater ready at this point in his career would would play that role I just it scares me because he's had the the two Achilles um injuries and it's just you know you run a certain risk there but yeah Hoffman would be more of like a power play specialist type like I I don't know if it's a fit in Toronto Blake wheeler still kicking around like is he playing this year well he had a nasty injury last year I was actually calling that game at MSG um and he got tangled up behind the net and it was it was a nasty knee injury for him so I don't know like there's you know there's another guy where it's buy or beware when it comes to the injury stuff Dominic kubalik was the other name that I have kind of thought of and in the past I've lighted kubalik so that was kind of the other name that I I I looked at and said H maybe but like the opportunity is there for Nick Robertson now more than ever honestly that should be number one no like that's what the Lea should want is Robertson figure it out get him into camp and play out the season and give him an opportunity you can't you can't force feed a guy to want an opportunity though he's going to want to have to take it and that's you know that's that's up to him yeah uh hour three of overdrive coming up next e