The Morning Drop: TJ Finley hits the Portal to transfer town

Intro thank you what's up and good morning War report family your guy Ike Jones here another morning drop today you know we had to discuss it TJ Finley no longer a part of the Auburn football program has decided to exercise that grad transfer we're going to get in here we're going to talk about it y'all know how we do morning drop style he gone let's drop it on world [Music] one and drop right here it is Tuesday May the 3rd and I am joined by Mike G this morning the the morning drop sponsored by rogueshop.com before we get started make sure you guys do your due diligence and head over to rogshop.com uh if you have any stress about what's gonna happen now that TJ is gone the Rope shops got you covered roofshop.com using Code Rapport also make sure that you're doing all the things necessary to get the word out there about the conversation this morning a lot of people discussing this already on social media have them come and join the conversation here with us on the war report by sharing the video make sure you add us so we know that you did that share it makes us feel good to see those mentions on the social media platforms like the video whether you like us or not the video doesn't um want to feel all of your hatred towards the World Report like the video that doesn't mean that you like me and Mike it just means that you like the video subscribe to the channel That might Advocate that you like me and Mike a little bit but hey it's okay you can just subscribe and then just never watch again because you hate us that much but Mike G how you feeling this morning oh you're muted but you know hey the excitement I see it on your face I feel raids like I'm a little upset this morning uh we're gonna get into it but uh yeah uh let's get into it yeah uh so this is not a a move that we didn't TJ Finley see coming right like we have been anticipating TJ potentially um graduating and deciding to move on from the program he just made it official yesterday on Twitter um the you know for those unfamiliar with how it works you announce your intent to go into the transfer portal school has within 48 hours to honor that um with him being a grad transfer he did have the ability to do that outside of the normal window for a an undergraduate transfer so he made his post on social media it was short and sweet he didn't really have you know like a lot of these transfer portal uh posts you see there's this long prayer graph where they're thanking a bunch of people and they want to thank the fans and they want to thank this net he was pretty much like hey Auburn it's been fun I'm out like his was short sweet to the point uh I graduated you know he is yeah he has his degree from Auburn right so he has his degree is going to say Auburn University on there and he's he is it's going to be interesting to see where he goes uh post his Auburn career he definitely does want to continue to play football but Mike um what are your thoughts on TJ transferring and uh all of the things surrounding them for accuracy the statement was the memories created here will never be forgotten thank you for an amazing two years with me graduating this summer I will be entering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer yeah TJ field all right TJ Finley right um I I I'm I'm upset mad okay and a lot disappointed about the comments that I'm seeing on social media Justin regards to TJ Finley saying I'm I've gotten my degree and I'm moving on now it was not an unexpected move but for you and I like it it was I just don't understand the hate that he's getting for moving on for somebody who honestly played very little here yeah his impact to Auburn on the field over the last two years has been relatively minimal he came in and he he saved the Georgia State game uh you know if he had not been on one leg maybe the Iron Bowl that year turns out a little differently he played in a couple games to start the next season and then set out almost the whole season yeah Penn State was the last time that he started a game played maybe three plays in the Ole Miss game later last season why do people have this energy for him that's like good riddance because don't let the door hit you on the way out I'm just like if if you read the narratives that people are putting out there he was some sort of cancerous player in the locker room which I don't know that you will find players who agree with that thought press I don't TJ is a cancerous player think that you'll find coaches who agree with that so that's always been weird to me that TJ some sort of cancer uh I I understand the comments that he's made publicly that people don't agree with I don't agree with them I think TJ should have not gone to social media to air his grievances that he had with basically trying to clap back at fans who have had issues with how he's playing and then going on podcasts saying whatever he's been saying I think that those are bad choices okay so so these are these are young mistakes everybody like listen I don't know if we have a court we've had a quarterback that hasn't done something to that extent I don't know what was it I mean like you know uh uh uh they've all done said questionable things in the media right but on the current roster yeah 100 Robbie's done this a couple of times you know going back to Demetrius yeah even going back to Bo he didn't handle himself 100 the way he should have handled himself right all the time and but here's the grace that I have for Bo for Robbie for any of these guys in this position right like it is difficult I think to constantly read unwarranted negativity about yourself and not eventually say something back and it come out the wrong way so like I'm not saying it's right I'm with you I I don't if you have a chance to say something or not say something that's dumb right you don't say it however I don't I just don't understand the vitriol for a guy who essentially rarely he didn't he barely played here yeah I don't get it so it wasn't like he was out there losing games yeah people will argue that he lost a couple of games I don't so like what what is it that is it two is it is it proportionate to the hate that he's getting though no just for saying that I'm going to transfer if you want it about here I don't understand why you can't just be like hey man this is what I wanted but I don't need to say don't let the door hit you on the way out and then call yourself a fan yeah what I mean it's definitely overboard I mean but let's be clear there were a lot of people who did the same thing when Bo Nicks left here right and it was wrong there too yeah and it's it's gotten kind of to this point where I don't know why you have to be happy with people transferring out of your program on you know like unless they have been awful in all regard like it's just like TJ he's he's not a bad dude um you know and I wish him you know six I I say this the same I'm gonna say the same thing I say when every other player leaves I wish him the most success in the world um until he says something negative about Auburn like if he goes somewhere else and he starts to like yeah then then I have no love for TJ yeah yeah right yeah and so I mean if the players are expected to take the high road I think there should be some mechanism by by which we hold fans accountable for not doing the same so you know you want to be able to say what you want to say and you know Coy Moore put a tweet out there that essentially was saying just that and he wasn't talking just about guys who are staying on the team talk about some of his brothers that are transferring y'all behind cell phones talking right don't know what you're talking about and it you know they're not sociopaths man they have feelings right I get it the whole world they should stay off Twitter then I don't like that either yeah I don't I don't like the whole thing of like you know fans are gonna be fans and they're gonna say stuff you need to have thick skin like I think some stuff just goes too far yes you should have to because listen right yeah we get on here and so this is this is not me trying to take some sort of stance that I don't get on this very platform in front of a microphone and say TJ turns the ball over too much TJ needs to work on what he has to you know say Grant Loy is a good football player in front of cameras when he has it in on him he doesn't need to be on his social I I say those things what I don't go to the point of saying is that he's a cancer get him off of my football team I don't want to see him ever in an Auburn uniform again good rid I don't say you've never heard me say any I don't think Grant Loy is a good football player I have never you have never once heard me say I am so glad Grant lawyers off of this football never why why why he came here he he practiced he did what was asked of him he got you know hopefully they got an education and if they choose to move on just let them move on but um the the idea that these young guys have to behave perfectly in the face of consistent tactlessness to me it just doesn't sit well with me right we asked them to respond perfectly two idiots constantly right and every once in a while as a human because you have feelings you might snap or you might say something that's just a little out of pocket right like the whole Jesus comment uh yeah that was that was totally come on man right it was Blood Out proportion but I get but you just when he when he reflects on that he'll understand why you don't say that Mo said Bo said something similar all right like no he did yeah and I and yeah I thought he was being a good Christian at the time like I just don't it's weird right and I was just like uh like I don't like the comment I don't like the comparison uh uh for by either uh so I got the same energy for both of them on that but again I have a certain Grace for these guys because they are just trying to exist and they should be able to be on social media at least to some extent I don't believe it's the same now but we we talked about this on the Mike mcnamee's podcast uh or before the podcast a little bit about you know the energy that people have for pro athletes like you know a lot of people are like like good riddance Dylan Brooks yeah right you know the Memphis Grizzlies right he did a lot to bring that energy to himself correct right I don't think that TJ Finley has done anything to bring that kind of energy to the level that I'm seeing it to himself go back and look at his tweet and look at the amount of quote tweets on on his goodbye tweet and on the tweets announcing we get from R3 and and 247 and Rivals just announcing that he's transferring it's disgusting right not a little overboard it's way over all right and and just so that we're clear just because you don't act the player does not mean does not give you a pass for this yeah not adding the player does not give you a pass they see it it pops up they have family they have friends people screenshot things it gets to them they see it yeah they see it so whenever I get on Twitter and I tweet something and it's about a player I tweet with the assumption that they're going to see it right most of them I don't follow us yeah but they're gonna see it they see the things that we post and I know because I'll run into them in real life and they're always like I I follow your Twitter Mike Z and I'm just like but you physically don't follow my Twitter what do you mean you follow my Twitter no he's saying I see the things that you post right whether I hit the follow button or not now that might be giving some fans a little bit too much credit Ike but like I just feel like if we're gonna call ourselves the better fan base and and take the high road and say you know we're Auburn fans we're better that part of being better is not attacking athletes for simply existing because that's what's happening to TJ Finley right now it's crap and it it it has to stop right because I mean wanting him to be on the bench I I get that like hey I don't want to see this guy go into the game because he's not that good to me I'm I'm 100 wanting to bench a guy yeah yeah all right well yeah Hey listen I'm good with that energy all right yeah like I mean but there's one thing I don't know but would I ever get out and tweet oh Lord so and so is going into the game it's over yeah no because you're still rooting for Auburn so you're rooting for that kid because you want him to go in there and succeed you're hoping it's like you're in your in your back of your mind you're like oh Lord Oh Lord yeah and they do something amazing you're like yes ah right so yeah you know the the the the I again I'm captain of this I'm captain by that drive up off by reiterating I don't think the level of vitriol he's receiving is proportionate to the impact that he had on the field for Auburn over the last two years both good and bad I just don't I think like if he had started the last three years and he came in with all these expectations and he lost a bunch of games and like you know what I mean and he was the thing that was holding Auburn back I would kind of get at least I still would be okay with it but I would get some of this yeah I think the comparison of what people felt like a lot of the TJ Finley hates is people feeling like see this is what you guys wanted when you pushed Beau out the door this is what you get and so they're directing all of that energy towards TJ and it's not that's not t-shirts yeah that's it and you can feel like that you can feel like he got pushed out the door certainly um and I would say there's probably some truth to that with the last coach but you know I I just don't I know when you come in with a certain level of expectation in Isaac when you come in with a certain level of height there's a certain expectation for a minimum level of production and when that doesn't happen you it can't elicit negative reactions from fans I don't think TJ came in with that sort of hype or expectation that's why I don't get this I don't think he came in with savior expectation I think he was a three-star quarterback he was a three-star quarterback that came in and he was expected to be a backup Year One they needed him early he saved them from what would have been the most embarrassing loss in the last 15 years Off the Bench yeah right and then he never really got a shot after that I think to to win the job win the job um you know probably some degree to his own fault yeah like it was it was TJ's fault he did yeah right he didn't win a job right yeah but you know for the most part he did he didn't do everything perfectly while he was here I just don't think he's done anything to deserve what I'm seeing on social media and I think that you know Coy Moore's tweet kind of underscores why fans need to be excoriated for this Behavior I don't care if you at the player I don't care if you try to you think you're saying it by behind their back I don't care if you think they'll never see it if you say it it exists and there's there is a better than good chance they will see it and it's not because they're out there searching their names on Twitter I don't care if I follow you if you follow me or I follow you if you tweet about me there's a better than good chance I'm gonna see it just me you know why because I have a following and those people follow people and those people see things right and if it's bad enough somebody'll be like YG what's up with this guy tween about you you don't even follow him right I don't know most of the time I ignore it so I can only imagine to what level these players are dealing with this and at some point you hit a boiling point Ike and you pop and you and you're gonna see more tweets like what we saw from Corey Moore last night saying hey y'all doing a little bit too much Twitter talking with them Twitter fingers and it's it's not right and it's not fair and just leave my boys alone right you want me to play for you but you can't not even not trash my Dont claim the moral high road teammates yep and let's be clear I think that there's this this idea that exists out there as well that Auburn's not the only place that you know it's going to be like this in the NFL and other teams do this it doesn't really matter doesn't matter like that's not the point of this is not we're not worse than other people it's that I would like for us to be better better right like that's that that's my whole point about all we claim that we're better but we claim that we're better a lot and I think that that is where I am saying hey you know if if you can't understand this then we're not better we're the same and treated this kid like this and you know I had the same energy I didn't think it was right when people did it to Beau all he did was come from what we know publicly was show up here try to be play his best you know he put it all on the field and he got his degree and he moved on right going out the door he did nothing here that deserved a victory all on the way out the door right there were a lot of people who gave him the same energy though right and it was wrong then it was so unnecessary it was just like okay but like he's just saying I'm moving on it's time for me to move on if you were one of those people who wanted him gone you didn't need to get on your soapbox and kick both in the ass on the way out there was no there was no need for that but those same people are doing that to TJ now and I'm just like man can we just stop this say nothing it would be better to say nothing but I I don't get but just don't claim the moral high road when people are taking Auburn fans to task on Twitter and on social media yeah right you earned this look how you treat your own and let's be he got his degree here he's our own yeah right he got his degree here he's our own yeah I mean it's it's kind of it's it's it's silly and I think people need to figure out you know just kind of how How to balance social media to how to balance it out because Twitter allows you that anonymity to go and say what you feel like you want to say and with no profile picture yeah yeah I mean and I mean listen even the people with profile pictures who feel like they're being tough guys or tough girls because they want to you know say it with their chest it's it's unnecessary it's my entire Point like okay you feel like that and you want to get making jokes I'm okay with jokes you know because I make jokes all the time I don't really make them at players or anything like that I make them at schools like you know I said listen I I own the fact that I have made a bunch of jokes about Ole Miss and a bunch of jokes about coaches and like I own that right but I'm joking right I don't I as much as I joke about Lane kiffin being you know the fourth and kiffin thing like I don't actually have any hatred towards Lane kiffin as a part I don't know Lane kiffin if I met Lane kiffin tomorrow I wouldn't be like well I'm gonna have the same energy in person I'll be like why are you like that's not necessary Lane kiffin's a coach I talk about his coaching job I don't I think Nate Oates is a goofball right like but I don't I don't have no like personal hatred towards Nate OT coaches for the wrong team and he does stupid things on the sideline okay I don't you know like that's just not who I am as a person so I don't get on social media and have that bravado towards these people because that's not how I would behave in real life right right so I don't I don't understand the the additional courage that people get on social media to say this stuff and and it's it's the way that social media is I get it but I think that there is we we've crossed the line where people they're doing stuff for clicks likes and clout that is just completely unnecessary and forgetting there are real people on the other side of those things that have to that have to sit and read this stuff there are friends and family members of those people who have to sit and read this stuff about their son cousin friend brother uh sister daughter right like and to you that doesn't matter but I guarantee you if you were the person on the other side of that and you were the one receiving a bunch of nonsense on social media constantly over and over and over and over you'd be deleting your account or you'd be blowing up at somebody saying some crazy wild stuff back to them you'd be like this is unnecessary I'm I'm getting off like but you want them because they play a sports to just deal with it just deal with it yeah I don't get it I don't get it but whatever so yeah um yo I think social media serves its purpose in sports and you know you remember a while back when ESPN and a lot of uh Sports media Outlets cut their comment sections right and part of the reason that they cut their comment sections was because they served no purpose they were just like beds of like toxic just you know the worst most vile things people would say in comment sections so al.com cut their comment section Ike ESPN cut it and the thing that they said the statement that I think ESPN made was essentially that these conversations there are plenty of vehicles for these conversations elsewhere so we're going to cut it on our website but we welcome you guys to continue the conversation about this content you know wherever you have those conversations which means Twitter Facebook you know and to some a lesser extent Instagram right and now Tick Tock um but again you had whole organizations who could uh a segment of their business because of the toxicity of people online and what people do with anonymity online it's disgusting you know if you would say this a lot of people if they walked up on TJ they wouldn't say this stuff to his face even if you were the person that would say it to his face you're still wrong you're still wrong yeah like it just because you'd be brave and I'd say it to his fact that doesn't make your right to do it that just makes you a bowl within your rights to do it yeah but it doesn't make you right yeah for sure so yeah I just don't really don't understand why yeah listen Harman Mechanical man uh just at the end of the day I just feel like people need to cool down and if they did need to do that maybe they need to hit up our guys at Harmon mechanical uh your HVAC system is going to need some servicing at some point in time if you are in the Auburn area you want to hit up our guys at Harman mechanical they are pros at making sure that HVAC is going to be in its top condition when you need it uh they have a service package where you can pay a monthly fee and they just come out and they'll look at it a couple of times a year so make sure you hit them up Harman mechanical heating and air uh you can go to their website harmandmechanical.com or you can give them a call to set up uh your free uh first inspection at 334-219-0717 our guide B will had an opportunity to get him to come out to his house and they took care of him really well so you guys make sure that you do that tell them the war reports sent you Harman mechanical we are there when you need air but we are going to go to the comments section to see what you guys are airing out right now in regards to TJ Finley we will start of course with super chats the first one in here is be Will's forehead who says I always knew TJ smelled like nickels and drank white Gatorade I have no idea what's going on with this right here but um a white Gatorade if you don't know is the devil's tea it's terrible it is one of the most Bland tasting liquids I've ever had like it's especially like have you ever had the uh like the no sugar version of it oh I don't even know why Gatorade zero oh listen there no but there's another version of that that's like I don't know like I know what you're talking about I actually don't mind the Gatorade zeros as long as they're cold but not every flavor but there's another version that is supposed to be like calorie like no calories that is way worse than the zero version and I can't do it bro it's all bad it's all bad so okay before we get into the comments we didn't spend very much time actually talking about TJ Finley as far as a player is concerned right so I do want to get into that I'm going to go into some more comments but I do want to talk about TJ Finley as a player because we spent a lot of time talking about fan reaction but TJ Finley is a guy opposite Comments separate from how fans react to them but let's continue down this path with super chess with Imani Smoot says we ask young men to respond perfectly to grown people who should know better I agree with this 100 percent you should know better you're you are the adult in this situation for the most part now there are some people who are college students and as well but for the most part they're adults who are doing this like you're 40 something years old at in you know a 19 20 21 year old telling them that you know I'm glad that you will never be back at my school playing football again and and you're not saying it as nicely as I just did um and I don't understand that and but again there are people who feel like we go too far on our platform when we talk about how people play and saying that they could be better and I'm just like but still some of those same people do those things on Twitter and I'm just like what like I don't I don't get how me critiquing his play and keeping it at that is worse than I guess because our platform is bigger I don't know I don't understand it right anyway it doesn't matter I'm gonna keep doing what I do uh Ben Bloodworth says what's the true story behind why TJ didn't play or travel during the last five games of the Year this is a good question yeah and I don't I don't feel comfortable addressing all of this yes and so and and again listen he's not here because a lot of the things surrounding that are sensitive I'm not going to be the person to say it before TJ does right if he ever wants to address it publicly then we can come talk about it I hate the narrative that was created around that that TJ quit on his team though because that's not true true yeah it's not true that he quit on his team there was a lot of other stuff going on and he just needed some time and he was given that time and and here is and I think I've said this out loud before and this is what I want people to understand how you know what I'm saying is at least partially true at least partially true you can take it with a grain of salt if you want to is notice the difference between how the coaching staff treated TJ's absence and how the coaching staff treated a guy like Landon King's absence right Landon King and TJ both healthy at the end of the season right Landon King said he wanted to Redshirt the remainder of his season and just not play and the coaching staff said to him either you're coming back to play as a healthy player are you clear to play yes if not okay great if you are clear to play and you don't want to you need to go in the transfer portal right Landon King decided I didn't transfer portal for me and this is not me bashing Landon King this is just the reality of this scenario right nobody felt like Landon King quit on the team last year though great TJ Finley comes back from injury not a hundred percent has some things going on off the field decides hey it's better for me to not travel with the team Etc they didn't say TJ hey man if you don't want to be on the team anymore you gotta you know saying you gotta you gotta hit that portal bro even though he he didn't have portal eligibility that he would have had to sit out a year so it had been even worse in his scenario but he wasn't asked to leave the team they just let him take the time so the the reaction by the coaches was different because it was a different situation so again I don't want to talk about TJ's life and tell you what happened with him I'll let TJ tell his own story if it ever comes out then we can talk about it but that's the that's the most I'm gonna say about that situation yeah agreed I don't need to add anything to that I just feel like until he comments on it it's inappropriate for anybody else to comment on it yeah yeah uh John Brannon says Coy Moore mad at some of y'all listen man Coy went off and for okay so what Corey said was most of you people like hiding behind cell phones talking negative about people y'all's lives must be miserable so you're trying to bring somebody else down I'm tired of y'all disrespecting my brothers and fellow teammates not a crazy statement right right he said he's a little yes well said at the end of the day fans Fans expectations expect them to go out and give their all for the university for their teammates you know for everybody who paid for a ticket in return I don't think it's unreasonable to ask people to behave on social media when it comes to the same people who you're asking whether they succeed at their task and being the best player they can't be or not if unless they did something to Warrant that ire these are I don't care and I don't care how much nil money they're getting these are not pro athletes right I'll say it again for the people in the back these are not pro athletes these are kids man these are kids trying to figure out man do you remember what it was like when we were in college 20 years old trying to figure out life right come on man cut these kids some slack dude like I I just don't you know we're asking more of the kids than we are of the adults in the room and it's backwards yeah backwards yeah like I said I I I I don't like that people go at coaches the way that they do and former coaches but those are the guys that I think deserve all this the the flag like if you're gonna if you're gonna direct some vitriol at someone I'm okay with you directing it out of Coach right like he's an adult he's a career professional and he's being paid millions of dollars to do that job I think it still goes overboard with coaches but I don't I don't really speak on the coach thing too much because those are the people who have the responsibility in those locker rooms I think the most over these young athletes do um but you know Hey listen I think Coy Moore's tweet and the reactions from other players on Twitter underscores my um statement that I said that he's not as poisonous to the locker room as people are trying to make it make it it seem like yeah if he was so poisonous nobody would care that you're trashing them they'd have just been like but one of the first people to speak up is one of his teammates to say hey and a wide receiver at that right like a guy who he'd be responsible for getting the ball from right so hey I just don't think he's as hated in that locker room as people are trying to make it seem as if he is now I don't know that he's universally liked in the locker room but I don't know that you find very many players that will be universally liked in the locker room like everybody's got like their people who they're tighter with and all this sort of thing I just again I just don't think let me not say I don't think I know he's not as hated in that locker room as some people would like to make it the same as if he is I know that for a fact from talking to players I know that right suspects so um John Boyson says I'm not surprised TJ Why did he enter the portal is gone I'm surprised it took this long for him to enter his name into the portal this is uh no yeah he had to graduate he had to graduate uh Jonathan like it was there was no reason for him to do it before he graduated and technically because he's already transferred once so once you graduate the the portal deadlines don't apply to you right so you know whatever deadline that there was for people to jump in the portal once you graduate that barrier is erased for you and that's why he needed to graduate so like people who were like why did he get in the portal before well technically if he had done that I don't know how that would have worked but I don't know if he would have technically had to sit and if he graduated later but he got it and let's be clear he has not officially graduated yet he has only announced his intent to transfer correct he actually graduates yeah I think like this week is final so like this the the period's not even over right he just knows hey look I should have enough credits by the end of this to be up out of here I'm just telling y'all when that happens when I walk across that stage I'm walking directly into a moving truck you know yeah and I do feel comfortable saying this because I did talk to him about it personally and directly uh you know I said hey man are you graduating this summer and he said yeah man I'm out great so I'll get that through the summer so congrats um so it's always been in his plans to graduate this summer congrats to him on being able to do that but that was a necessary step in him being able to transfer right properly so like you know at this at the point that he announces that he's getting in the portal I think he feels comfortable that he's on the path too right right that's going to happen right yeah because what you don't want to do is you don't want to say that too early and then you know you're missing a credit or something silly happens that happens to kids all the time yep um Brian hancher jumps in and says I'm watching this on my TV and using my phone for chat the phone is muted and so badly out of sync with the TV I'm expecting Japanese subtitles to show up soon you are living life properly this morning Brian you're watching us on television well outlet that sounds a little uh arrogant for me to be like man you watching us on TV you're doing life right but hey I appreciate it hopefully um I look good on the big screen I don't know that I've ever watched myself on a large screen um so you know hopefully the uh aspect ratios and all the pixels and all that stuff is doing Justice on your screen man but yeah I appreciate you watching this morning Phillip uh Hall jumps in I will cheer cheer for TV TJ wherever he lands I still root for Bo I can't go this far with You Phillip I uh I I wish him the best of luck but I ain't gonna say I'm cheerful yeah all right yeah I don't know how much I cheer for anybody who leaves right yeah but you're not what you doing what you like like listen you're having the best though yeah yeah you're happy to see them do well yeah uh but then that's that there's there's a step between it's happy that they do well and cheering for them no I can't go this far okay especially anybody who you might actually it's any capacity play in the future yeah yeah like I don't know all right yeah I don't know I'll leave it at that yeah I yeah I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not ready to go for the I I cheer for you with any of these guys wishing you the best do wonderful things in life I don't have any ill will suits yeah yeah for the Stars cheer for you I'm not clapping I got three other things to pay attention to yeah I'm not I'm not even watching game like uh like no uh Dustin Pace jumps in CR call me crazy The grass is greener but uh weren't a ton of people practically begging for TJ to start over Bo and now a lot of these same people want us to get Joe nobody from the portal thinking the grass is greener um this is true right there are a lot of people who did think that teaching there I've seen people as recently as like earlier this week on Facebook I promise this is I'm not making this up I saw posts earlier this week when the portal closed saying TJ's not in the portal he's going to be our starter next year and I was like what are you talking about so I I do want to clarify the difference between people calling for not necessarily I don't think it was more so that people were calling for teachers no no there were people calling for TJ well you know I know they were I'm just saying I think it was more the the the spirit behind it was more of anything but foe because we've seen enough of both right TJ I think you're talking about you I'm talking about there are people who literally thought TJ Finley was a better quarterback than Bo Nix well sure what I'm saying is is that was rooted in them wanting to just see something else so your mind makes that true right like okay he can't can't he can't he no if he's not going to get better this guy has to be better right and I'm just thinking to myself I'm like okay well I think you're thinking about you bro I'm telling you that's not what there were some people who really thought TJ was gonna be that dude they they really there are people who still think that teach right now when TJ announced he was going into the portal I saw a tweet that said he's going to be one of the most highly coveted quarterbacks in the portal that's a thing that happened yesterday and I was like what are we being serious like again I think TJ's super the most highly coveted quarterback in the port yeah I'm just saying in terms of this comment when he was saying people were begging for TJ to start over both there were people but I I just believe that most of that was rooted and most people wanted to see something other than Bo I don't know what person I I don't know that I don't know that even most of that was just people who who thought the TJ was actually better I I don't think it whatever quarterback they had gotten from the portal people were going to be clamoring for that person because of how much they had seen the bow at that point and they had already made up their minds about Bo so it was like hey is there no way that we don't have somebody who can come in and do better right that's what I saw but you know to to your point like I believe that people existed or both sides of the spectrum so what percentage right yeah my point is that Dustin is correct there were people that were doing doing that the the the Nuance of that is what percentage of the people who wanted TJ genuinely thought TJ was a better quarterback and what people were just frustrated with what we have so we want The best QB in Auburn history to see something different and he seems like the most viable alternative right now again I think there are people that exist on all sides of that Spectrum but I do know 100 that there are people who were in love with the idea of TJ Findlay as the quarterback and thought that we were going to be better with him at quarterback there are people who believe that we think that that we were you know because Brian said that it's the best quarterback in 16 years you know it actually went back and I want to so you guys know I do a lot of film review and stuff so I was looking back at a lot of film trying to put some draft profile stuff together and there's some shorts that we have out there where I put some some little you know less than one minute cut-ups of our players that got drafted out there on our YouTube channel I went back and I looked at the Alabama State game that Bo Nicks quarterback actually would I actually think that Bo nix's play in that game was better than what TJ Finley did in that game that that Brian was talking about he actually was being surgical during that Alabama State game and so I have to go back and even retract my previous oh I agree about the quarterback in comment I actually don't agree I actually think Bo Nicks probably was the best quarterbacking within a short sample size that we saw in the last few years based upon that anyway that ain't got nothing to do with this conversation about TJ but uh but yes there are people who thought that TJ was uh the next coming of some I I don't know where they got it from but they definitely believed it right Christian Crawford says Cam Newton spoiled the hell out of us people think that every quarterback that comes through the door should be like him no matter their size by that standard we haven't had a QB for 13 years Nick Marshall would disagree with you about being a Steeler quarterback but I do understand the Cam Newton standard that get us listen the Cam Newton standard gets applied to quarterbacks that don't even come to Auburn though right and I get sick of people trying to compare I say this so much man cam is such a one-on-one guy like you just don't you don't they're they're not going to be other Cam Newtons walking around planet Earth let alone playing quarterback let alone doing it at a division at a power five school let alone leading that team to National like it's just not a thing no matter how big and strong and and fast you think a guy is he just won't be Cam Newton right I'm just different like he could have every single physical attribute and not have the mental aptitude that cam had for just willing teams to Victory they can have all of the intangible stuff that cam have and not have the 66 250 you know four four like you just don't get you don't see that just don't walk through the door at anybody's football program on a consistent basis so like people have to stop trying to make people Cam Newton it's it's such a disrespect to the Legacy I I don't think you just understand how just different Cam Newton was as a as a player to try to compare anybody to him yeah uh cam did spoil like I mean he was just so different right like uh and I I still kind of believe Gus for this whole we're gonna go we're gonna go flying the flash in the pan phenomenon because he was he was good at finding them here or there they just could find them consistently enough to sustain a program and they were doing so poor developing through recruiting and right that you know a lot of those top 10 classes never panned out so uh the standard that we like we just haven't had it I would agree we just haven't had a standard at QB there's been no Auburn standard at QB it's been like oh we got a guy hopefully he's the next savior of our next two years right and I think a lot of the disappointment in Beau was this was supposed to be the first time that a guy came in from high school and actually was that dude you know what I mean the guy that Above All Odds was going to carry us and that's not who he is as a quarterback right uh now whether that's fair he didn't put that label on himself other people put that label on him uh but you know I think a lot of the frustration with both was just that right like it just was hey man you know if you're truly a five-star quarterback truly like you've been evaluated to be such and you are going to be such there's I just think there's a certain level of play that those guys break to a team where they elevate everything around them constantly and they're going to win more than they lose and like you know fans will not ever look at them and say that guy's problem right you know if you're truly a flat stock quarterback yeah you know I think that Alabama is finding out that some of the guys that were sitting behind Bryce young are not those dudes yeah right like right now they're finding out in real time hey for so long we've had the next guy and now finally our streak has run out and we don't have the next guy and it's frustrating when it happens agreed agreed um Dana Jones asks are we getting a portal QB commit soon uh I Is Freeze taking his time think you freeze is taking his time with this and he's tried to tell everybody that he is you know y'all see a guy jump in the portal and you think shiny new thing and he just looks at the tape and says that's not necessarily what we're looking for so it's not only about Auburn it's about these kids and the decisions that they're trying to make too right they come to campus they're looking around they're saying do I want to live here for the next year or two right they're trying to make do the calculus on what is the best decision for them all while Auburn is trying to say this is the place that you should come that is a two-way conversation that is happening constantly and it's not always happening in a vacuum it's not always going to happen instantly so this is going to be a patience process but every week that passes though that they're not on campus working out with their teammates and getting in the Playbook you know I mean it makes the likelihood that that the effectiveness of the person coming in is going to be something that fans are going to be happy with right because you're already not getting a top tier QB in the second portal period let's be clear there's nobody that's that dude that's in the portal right now looking at coming to Auburn that you could be like hey he's that guy 100 when he gets here we're good we found our quarterback yeah I think that there are some good options that exist in the portal but again it just depends on what you're looking for as far as like is he heads and tails to your point of better than anybody we have in our room right now and I don't know uh the answer to that let me let me okay I hate having to give to guys when I say quarterbacking or when B will says quarterbacking I'm talking about operating within a specific system I'm not talking about number of yards they put up I didn't even say that they were the best quarterback I'm talking about operating in a system and being surgical with how they're giving like it's it's those are separate conversations whether I feel like somebody's a better quarterback overall or a better player overall or whether or not they executed a game plan in a drive that's different those are different conversations different statements I don't I don't really want to have to parse out that but I I want you guys to like hear what I'm saying and not like run wild with it because I feel like somebody's gonna clip Up me saying something about him playing at Alabama State the Alabama State game and make it into I thought Bo Nicks was the best quarterback Auburn's ever had like just settle down right it's like I know I know you guys should know by now that I'm smarter about football than that so I appreciate all the comments but like don't take them out of context uh Corey Why are they pushing for a QB Weber if Robbie is qb1 why is the staff pushing so hard in the portal for a former starter come on guys think about it right okay so um I don't think that even most people think that Robbie is solidified as qb1 but regardless you have to have three scholarship quarterbacks on campus there's no way you can go and so far with just two guys right like you have to have three guys that you think can start and they don't have that right now with TJ leaving so yeah they and they expect a teacher to leave which is why they're pushing pushing pushing right you know you've got a guy sitting out there with a freebie transfer and holding right like you know uh they had to get a third guy on campus they did I said I think that has a lot to do with why they're pushing so hard so it's not necessarily that they don't like regardless of what you think about how Robbie Ashford would is going to perform they had they have to do this they had to go do this they had to go get another guy they always were gonna have to go get another guy understanding somebody was going to leave this quarterback wrong right and we know that from conversations we've had with players and coaches right like they're like hey man we don't know what this guy is going to do and because we don't know what this guy's gonna do we have to prepare right as if somebody is going to leave so you start taking a poll engaging okay it's probably not going to be holding it's probably not going to be Robbie it's probably going to be TJ but you know if he leaves what does that leave you with in terms of potential starters remember Brian harson's first year literally if we had had a viable third option that person would have started the Iron Bowl and that's the that's the as a coach that's the situation that you have to plan for right so you got to go get this guy I don't I don't think it's all just about finding a starter for the fall I think it's about making sure that you've got at least three quarterbacks on campus that you feel good about right and so and and specifically to why a former starter because you want someone who has started experience in your room correct the experience just at it the the the idea that they just want depth I think is not accurate yeah yeah if you don't want quality depth so you don't want to just get anybody and then again I've said this multiple times the amount of Eligibility that the starter or excuse me that that transfer has remaining impacts what your current room is and your future recruiting right because if you bring that guy in that's got two plus years of Eligibility and they actually win the starting job and play well enough that people think they should be the incumbent starter for the next year then the guys that you have sitting in that room right now Robbie Ashford Holden gerner um your Hank Brown that's coming in in the fall and then the guy that you're bringing in next fall or excuse me next spring as your your recruit all have to realize I'm probably sitting another year because you've got an incumbent starter already there right and so there there's it's it's a delicate kind of balancing situation that you have have to do with keeping the guys that you have on the roster happy with their role and their potential path to playing time and trying to figure out how you solidify your room for right now right right so um it's it's so yes that's why they would be pushing for a former starter as the guy to come in yeah because they want somebody with some experience they don't want it to have to rely on we get two starters injured and Hank Brown's got to walk in as a true freshman to start yeah right yeah yeah you definitely want somebody who's played some football before uh if if you're in a situation where you're going to any one of your backups yeah ideal Dustin Pace my point is the same is happening with Robbie our fans are delusional we have a good quarterback right now same with Beau they aren't World beaters but let's just support our guy yeah I mean listen system had a lot to do I think with why a lot of these guys didn't reach their potential I think that uh Gus was awful for both and if there was a chance that Beau was going to become that dude it wasn't going to happen under this uh and so he needed to get out of here because he needed to go someplace where they know what they're doing with quarterbacks and so you know with the comment earlier about the you know we did Auburn has no real Legacy at quarterback man it's just these like weird one-offs that happen every four to five years um and same thing man here with Robbie uh you know you know you've got a guy who's got talent and I just want to see I just want I'd rather lean on hey you freeze come in and show us that you're the guy that can develop quarterbacks and make this guy into a quarterback right make him into a top tier quarterback and if you could do that I'll feel better about your ability to be able to take some kid out of high school and do that because Auburn has not had that they haven't had that at all so you know you know support yeah sure they want to support the guys but you also want to put the best guy out there and you know you want to trust that the coaches understand who that guy is right right and that they're making that best decision and I think that that's was a lot of the debate over the years has been just about doubt whether we're putting the best guy on the field or not and at the better programs they're not having that issue the guy out there is the best guy I mean and like if you look at what happened at Georgia a lot of people questioned Kirby Smart that first year sticky with Stetson right it panned out now mind you he had a great fallback in an all-world defense to be able to make that decision but you know ultimately uh you know the next year it beared out and they didn't even have a QV competition last spring right Stetson was the guy Kirby said it directly to me I was the one who asked him the question like at SEC media days hey are you guys having a QB competition no census earned the benefits of the doubt and I think it would just be nice to go into one off-season with a QB who's earned the benefit of the doubt that we have we just have not seen that in quite some time I think we thought we saw that after you know uh you know some quarterbacks first years right I don't think anybody was questioning whether student was going to be the starter going into his second year at Auburn right right or Nick Marshall but it just doesn't happen often enough there are always these large gaps where we don't know oh the guy's gonna be going into the spring and it just you can't run a successful program that way I think yeah Outro yeah uh last one here Todd Jordan says right now it's red shirt sophomore red shirt freshman true freshman that we have as far as scholarship quarterbacks in this room it's rough yeah right come on man that's why you go and get a guy with some experience right that's why you go out and get a guy with some experience I mean like Robbie got a whole Year's worth of starting experience last year but he did it hurt you know and at the if he does it for whatever reason if he doesn't come along you need to have a guy who you could maybe hit the ground running with this year because Hugh freeze understands that his leash on this thing is not that long it's not right like he gets it he says listen man if we're not the top seven in recruiting by x-time we're all going to be looking for jobs in a few years right he knows he knows you have to go get talent and you have to win so uh uh find a guy who you can at least start building with now man and buy yourself some time to start developing a pipeline of guys yep absolutely um all right man we're gonna get out of here man we appreciate you guys dropping along with it yeah I mean listen you know I knew this was going to be a long one this morning uh yeah but yeah man uh definitely Happy Trails so I got TJ um hopefully everybody is having a wonderful morning drop in on our guys at the Rogue shop rookshop.com using Code Rapport uh some of you guys probably need to calm down so you don't uh go crazy on Twitter chill out a little bit go to uh Rogue shop.com use code report to get a little something off of your purchase we'll be back at you guys tonight with the midweek Rapport make sure you share the video like the video subscribe to the Channel all of those great things um and again we'll be back at you guys in a couple of hours with some more information about guys that have transferred into the program and we'll just have a great midweek report tonight until then and as always War Eagle peace drop