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00:00Welcome back to the Blue Rush podcast. This is the New York Post podcast featuring everything
00:12Giants related. Our regular host Brandon London is not available this week. He is out of the
00:17country and there is no truth to the rumor he left the country because of the way the Giants
00:21are playing. He's just on an assignment and he will hopefully be back next week to bring you
00:26another podcast with me. Now, any of you listeners who have followed the Blue Rush podcast know that
00:34this is not a solo act and for many years we had the one and only Lawrence Tynes,
00:41Giants place kicker, two-time Super Bowl winner, famous for kicks in Green Bay and famous for a
00:50kick in San Francisco. He has been kind and generous enough to join us again this week for
00:57a special guest appearance on the Blue Rush podcast. So let us welcome in Lawrence Tynes who has quite
01:04an array in his background right there. Wow, look at all that stuff back there. Paul, it is great to
01:10see you and thanks for the intro. It's been a while but I'm not gonna lie, I have not missed the
01:16podcast world. So it's been a been a nice break. Well, I'm not sure. I think I might have to take
01:24that. You don't miss the podcast world in general? Podcast world, not the podcast co-hosts and people
01:29that I worked with, just the podcast topics, if you will, that you guys have been, you know,
01:37talking about since I left a couple years back and seems like it's the same old story but I'm sure
01:43we'll get into it. Yes, now, you know, we used to do this every week, right? So every week we would
01:48twice a week. Twice a week often, yes, yes, we did a follow-up to the game before and then a look
01:55ahead, right? So very often the follow to the game was, okay, they lost, let's break it down and then
02:02we would go, you know, a few weekdays later and talk about the game coming up and try to figure out a
02:07way to explain why they would win and sometimes we would succeed or fail and then often they would lose.
02:12So yes, it's been a rough stretch. So we have not talked, right? We've exchanged a few texts here
02:18and there. We have not talked this season about the Giants. So from afar, okay, from afar, which you are
02:25close in heart but afar other ways, give me what you have seen so far this season about the Giants.
02:33Let's get right into it. I do watch loyally. Look, I owe a lot to this organization just as a person for
02:41what they've done for me and my family and have a lot of great friends from the organization still
02:46and teammates that I love and care about. So I still watch almost too closely on Sundays.
02:53What have I seen? Look, let's start with the positives. Jackson Dart, right? I think you found
03:00a franchise quarterback, a kid with charisma, leadership qualities, toughness, you know,
03:06a little Phil Simms, a little Eli Manning, a little, just a little bit of everything, right?
03:10He's got all the intangibles to be great. Cam Scadaboo, excuse me, Burns. I love Wondell Robinson.
03:20He plays his heart out. Andrew Thomas has been great. I'm not gonna go through the full roster, but
03:24the positives are those things. You've got some young pieces. The negatives in the list is way,
03:30way longer than the positives is here we are in year four of Shane and Dable and outside of the first
03:40year where we had Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, McKinney, Love and Williams who are no longer on
03:46this football team and having great success elsewhere. That's been their best season. So
03:52I think, you know, you could go a lot of different ways on, on what's wrong with this team. But I
04:01think the only thing you can really point to is, is, is coaching. So for me, just looking at it
04:07from afar, it's, it's, it's the coaching and then some depth, right? There's just, we've had a lot of
04:13guys get hurt, but the drop-off is immense. And, you know, I think they, they were trying to clean
04:19that up three years ago. Typically in year four, your team is better. I mean, if you don't have to
04:25look far, for examples, Mike Rabel is doing it in New England with a young quarterback and a young
04:31roster. So look, I, I don't know what's going to happen. I think there's some people in trouble in
04:37that building just based on job security, but that's what I see. And then obviously the big topic
04:43recently in the last couple of weeks has been the lack of effort on defense and you see it. Look,
04:48I'm a former player. I see it. I see it. I'm not here to call out individual guys that's been done
04:55already. And it's being done every day by content creators and people that love the giants, but that
05:03is a non-negotiable effort is free. So it is disheartening to watch people wear the uniform
05:10that you love so much play with no effort. That really pisses me off. So that's my state of the
05:20giants in 25. Yeah. It's not, not a pretty, not a pretty state of a couple of things there to,
05:26to, to pick over a little bit. First of all, zooming out a little bit, you are, are part of a
05:34generation of giants, right? Who, you know, that, that era of giants where you, you know,
05:38you had great success, you know, not every year, but you ended up winning two super bowls. You had
05:43stability as the head coach, all those things. So your group, right. You're still in contact with
05:48a bunch of players, I assume, you know, in from your era. Is there a general, you know, I see some
05:55guys, they don't want to talk about it. Sometimes I reach out to some, you know, of, of your teammates
06:00and they're like, well, if it's about talking about the team right now, I don't want to talk
06:04about it. You know what I mean? And, and I think it's because they don't want to say, it's not like
06:08they don't want to talk to me or talk about the giants. They don't want to come out and say things
06:12that are harmful and hurtful to them. You know, they don't want to say what you said. I see a lack
06:18of effort. They don't want to say, I don't know if it's the coach or it's the player. So, I mean,
06:23in, in your group, in your, in your, your, um, your, your teammate group, is there a lot of that,
06:29you know, it's just a lot of like, what the hell has happened? You know, I mean, I mean,
06:33you know, this is not good anymore. You know, that kind of thing. Do you discuss that with
06:36your former teammates? We do. Yeah, we absolutely do privately. Um, I can understand where guys
06:43don't want to go public with, with some of their sentiments on the team. Um, I, I really don't think
06:49it's harmful in my opinion. If the giants feel a certain way, um, then they feel a certain way
06:55about it. But the reality of it is we just want what's best for the organization. And it's just
06:59like not parenting your child. You have to discipline them. Let's discipline our team,
07:03you know, through the public eye. Like there's, there's been a lack of effort. I don't think
07:07anyone can, can say that's wrong. Um, you can live with the results on offense because they're,
07:13you know, they're just not good enough. Um, they're playing hard, but you can't say that
07:16about the defense. And so you could live with those results over there as well. If you saw effort,
07:22just like in anything in life, right? If we all gave a hundred percent effort,
07:25we can all live with the result. That is not the case over there on that side of the ball.
07:31Um, and again, that would have been policed internally by our team, right? The coaches
07:35can only do so much, but you can bet your ass that Justin Tuck and, and OCU Manorah and Antonio Pierce
07:42and Chase Blackburn and Dave Toffson. And you just, the list goes on. Corey Webster,
07:48that, that Antrell role, that was never, ever, ever going to happen on that side of the ball.
07:54That, like, that was just never, it's a non-negotiable and that we wouldn't have
07:58policed that ourselves. So the fact that he's not getting policed is a problem.
08:03You're probably talking about, I would think, um, down the stretch of the Eagle game, right? Um,
08:08and down the stretch of the, um, you know, the, the last game against the 49ers, it did seem like
08:15they capitulated kind of like, we'll let you run the ball. We, they wanted to, it seemed like at the
08:21end of the Eagle game and the end of the 49er game, the defense on the field wanted the game to
08:25be over. You know what I mean? And, and, and is that the kind of thing you were seeing, um, you
08:31know, escorting a guy out of bounds, you know, not really blatantly missing a tackle, but just kind
08:35of like not putting your body. And there was one with Deontay Banks where he kind of, the guy just
08:40bounced off. I mean, I, I noticed that, you know, I'd be interested to see what you're saying about
08:44lack of effort. I saw like a lack of interest at the end of the Eagle game. Like, okay, this game
08:50is decided. Um, they can get four or five, six yards a pop. We'll tackle them. And then the clock
08:56will keep running and we'll get out of here. And I thought the same thing against the 49ers. It was
09:01like, you know, they just, just, okay, let's just get this game over with. And, and you're saying that
09:06is not acceptable, right? Um, yeah, absolutely not. I mean, that's, that's a non-negotiable in any
09:13sport. Just give effort, right? It's free. It doesn't take any talent. Um, and then you question,
09:18right? Because there's a lot of truth to do guys play for the coach that they're playing for. And
09:25right. We, we wanted to run through a brick wall for, for Spagnuolo and, and, um, you know, Dave
09:31Merritt on defense and, you know, all the great coaches we had on that side of the ball and Tom
09:35Coughlin. And just quite frankly, for your teammate, the guy next to you is why you wanted to play hard.
09:40Um, I just don't see that on that side of the ball. I don't see, you know, grasping at the last
09:48straw to make a play and given that final push of, you know, just running and effort and diving.
09:54You just don't see it. And listen, I'm not an idiot. I've seen a lot of football, played a lot
09:58of football. I know what it looks like. You know what it looks like. The fans know what it looks like.
10:02Um, so again, and maybe they're not playing for the coaches. Maybe they don't like, I don't know.
10:08Look, there's a lot going on in that building, uh, that we don't know about. So it's just been going
10:13on for, for way too long. Yeah. Well, look, I mean, there, there have been scheme issues where
10:19certainly after the Dallas game in week two, where, you know, see, I don't, Paul, I don't believe in
10:24scheme issues to say, I mean, yes and no, but like, there's still effort scheme can, I get it.
10:30The NFL coaches are going to, you know, try and out scheme each other. But I just think that even
10:36a bad defensive play could work if everyone, 11 people are playing with their hair on fire.
10:42Just my opinion. Scheme's a cop out.
10:46Well, okay. But yes, overall, yes. But like in, at the end of the Dallas game, where Russell throws
10:53those moon balls, right at the end of the Dallas game, that was a scheme issue. He had his team
10:59back at the sticks, right? We know the, not at the team yet. He had his defense lined up like at the
11:0550 yard line and Dak Prescott literally just had no rush and threw a what? 20 yard pass to the tight end
11:15Ferguson. And they were in field goal range with, with a guy like Aubrey. So that, that was, that was,
11:20and, and so they quote unquote played their assignment there. The assignments were wrong
11:26on that play. Now, now the, the running stuff I'm talking about has nothing to do with scheme.
11:30It has to do with what you said, want to and thing, but you know, they lost two games this year when
11:35they went ahead by with 37 seconds to go and with 25 seconds to go. Okay. You must win those games,
11:43you know, against Dallas, they took the lead and the game went into overtime against the Broncos.
11:50You know, we remember that unbelievable historic collapse, giving up 33 points in the fourth
11:55quarter, but Jackson Dart leads them down the field and they go ahead, right? They go ahead.
12:01He makes an unbelievable pass to Wandale on fourth and 19. They get a good pass interference penalty on
12:06a perfect dark throw and they go ahead and the game should be over. And he doesn't have Dexter Lawrence
12:14on the field on first down, which he admitted was a mistake. So to me, Shane Bowen can,
12:19his fingerprints are on those two losses, but not on the things you're talking about,
12:24unless they just don't believe in him anymore. Yeah. And then I'll go one step further on the
12:29lead thing. Like we were up 14 zip against the saints. Yeah. First two drives, 14, zero. I mean,
12:37two scores, typically in the NFL, it seems like that has changed, right? Remember five, six,
12:4210 years ago, you're up by two scores. You never lose. And now for whatever reason,
12:48two scores, and even in the fourth quarter is not a safe lead. I don't care who, who, what team you're
12:52on. I don't know what's changed in the game schematically or call wise on defense. Why are
12:59teams losing with double digit leads in the fourth quarter? We'll have to talk about that at the end
13:04of the season, but it's been fascinating to watch and no lead is safe, obviously with the giants. And
13:09that's, what's, what's frustrating about this team. Then, then you're talking about, you know,
13:13the games go, those are, then you're four and four, right? We're not even having this conversation.
13:18Probably. Everything's hunky dory. Four and four is a respectable record at this point in the season.
13:24You hate to lose some players that they've lost, but it seems like they may get some guys healthy
13:29back in the back end. And the defense is, the front has been good, but nobody else. So yeah, it's,
13:35you know, a bunch of what ifs on this 2025 Giants football team.
13:40Yeah. I mean, there are, right. They should have won those, those two games, but they didn't. And
13:46you know, that has been sort of a pattern of not finishing games. So, you know, I'm not looking at
13:51two and seven and saying, boy, they were really good two and seven. They're not, they're not a really
13:55good, you know, you, that's not, they're just not the case. And the last, you know, I said after they
14:00beat the Eagles, you know, you watch the Thursday night game and they beat the Eagles, right?
14:04Yes. Okay. You know, Jackson Dart played great. They finally beat, they, they kicked the Eagles
14:10butts really. After that game, what were you thinking?
14:16Well, I thought they, I thought they had found something just as a team, right? I never in a
14:22million years thought they're going to go be 10 and seven, 11 and six, right? I just never thought
14:28that. I know this team was a little bit flawed and Jackson Dart did not light up the stats
14:35that night, right? He played good. And it was just fun for us to see a quarterback look the
14:40part because we've been yearning for one for a while. So, but I did not get all super giddy
14:47that we beat the Eagles. Now I was happy we beat the Eagles because we never beat the Eagles.
14:50But at the same time, I did not think they were going on some magical playoff run.
14:57Did you?
14:58No, I, no, no. I mean, what I looked at it is, look, and, and I know the Eagles on the rematch,
15:04you know, were pissed at the Giants. Look how much they celebrate.
15:08Oh yeah.
15:09Scadaboo rips off his shirt in the, in the post-game interviews with Jackson there. Look,
15:14that was a catharsis. As you know, they never beat the Eagles. They never win on prime time.
15:19They, they, you know, what's it? 34, 17. They, they, they, you know, they, they shut
15:23Saquon Barkley down, you know, they just checked every box. So I get it. You know, a young team,
15:29Jackson Dart, I think at that point was what? Two and one as a starter. I looked at it and said,
15:34okay, this is great. They're starting to win some games at home, right? They beat an undefeated
15:39Chargers team before that. So they, you know, Jackson Dart was two and O at home. And I looked at that
15:44and said, okay, now they go on the road and they play the, the, you know, they go on the road and
15:49they play the Broncos in Denver, and then they play the Eagles again. So let's see what happens
15:55the next time they're back home, right? The next time they're back home against the 49ers, what are
15:59we looking at? And, and then, but in, in the third quarter and early fourth quarter in Denver,
16:05right? When Jackson Dart throws a pass, it's deflected into the hands of Theo Johnson for a
16:11touchdown. And they go up 26 to eight with 10 minutes to go. I looked at, I said, you know what?
16:18Holy smokes. This is not a bad team right now, you know? And, and, and they got a break, right?
16:23They got a break with a deflection. Jackson Dart comes right down the field. They were dominating
16:28the defense. The defense looked the best it looked in years, flying around, destroying Bo Nix.
16:34When he, I think they're going to win at 26 to eight. Okay. I really do. Yeah. Yeah. You know,
16:40I re I really think they're going to win. And I said, you know, then they're dominating the Broncos
16:45after dominating the Eagles. This is a pretty good team right now. And then we know what happened.
16:50It all went to hell. We know that. So, and that, you know, that compromised everything. So I want to
16:55ask you because we, you know, we've done these podcasts, but isn't it, let me, let me add on to that
17:01point right there. Isn't, isn't it amazing how mental this league is? Mental. Like when I say
17:06mental, I mean that like the confidence they were playing with in Denver, right? Because they had
17:12just smacked the Eagles around and then they play for three quarters, really, really, really good
17:18football because they're up here mentally. Then they get taken down a notch. You get kicked in the,
17:23you know what, in Denver, they carry it over into the next game. They carried over into the next game.
17:28So it's so mental. Like, so to your point, there is some talent on this team and when
17:34it's confident and playing well, it can, but again, that is coaching, Paul. It is the coach's jobs to
17:41give these kids confidence that they can go out and beat people and they have a good scheme for that
17:46week. And that is what is not happening. Yeah. I mean, look at that point in the Denver game,
17:54I'm writing a column. I can send you the 600 words I had written about the defense,
18:00you know, rising up. I mean, don't forget it was 19, nothing after three quarters, you know,
18:05and they, they were, they were Bobby, they were flying all over the place. They were flying all
18:10over the place. And needless to say, those 600 words did not ever get printed anywhere because
18:15a story about the defense rising up became a story about a historic collapse. I mean,
18:22giving up 33 points in a quarter is not easy. I mean, it's just not easy.
18:25No, no. If you did it just mathematically, mathematically, there's no way it's easy. And
18:31then I had the absolute moment of cursed moments of all time as after, I believe Theo scored
18:39to put us up. What was that? 18 or something, or maybe more. And there was eight and no,
18:46what, what, eight minutes left or something? 10, 10. Yeah.
18:50Had some crazy vibes of the Philly game, the Matt Dodge game. But also I look at my wife and I'm on
18:56the couch right back here. And I say, there's no way in hell we're losing this game. And that was my
19:01words that I ate the rest of the night. And after each score, she kept saying, see, you shouldn't have
19:08said that. You shouldn't have said that. And she's absolutely right. But other reasons, but I,
19:12I felt to your point after the Philly game, after this kind of, you know, showing, I'm like,
19:18maybe this team is real. Yeah. Wrong. Yeah. You played your career with the Giants with Eli Manning,
19:27right? You never got hurt. You, you know, solid as a rock. You're a friend of his. Okay. So you know
19:31what that looks like. Since we've been podcast, you know, teammates for a few years before this,
19:37it was Daniel Jones, right? Only Daniel Jones. And then after he got hurt, a smattering of DeVito
19:43and Drew Locke and Tarod Taylor, that kind of thing. But it was mostly, we spent a lot of time
19:48talking about Daniel Jones and you were an advocate of his at some point. And then, you know, you kind
19:52of realized that maybe it's not it, maybe it's coaching, but you know, we know where that went.
19:56We don't have to relitigate that. So you mentioned about Jackson Dart and what you like about him,
20:01but you know, as a player now, not as just a fan, you know, are your boys into Jackson Dart? You know
20:10what I mean? I mean, you know, they've been longing for, you know, what is it about Jackson
20:13Dart? Maybe that, that an average fan doesn't see that you're looking at the screen and saying,
20:18we think you think they got this, right?
20:22Um, first of all, play matters, right? He can play. I, but you see the level of respect and,
20:30and focus on him when he's in the huddle. People listen when he talks. He's very measured and
20:35mature at the podium. I watched stuff like that. Um, and he loves ball. He cares. Like people can
20:42make fun of him for crying on the sideline or maybe having his head down and being emotional about a
20:47loss that matters to me because I know he cares. Um, so there's a lot, a lot to like about this young
20:55man. He loves football. You just, you know, him and Scadaboo, you, you get a sense that
21:00you know, it's hard in today's world to find guys who absolutely love football because a lot of
21:05people just love what football gives them. But these two young men, they love ball. Like you can
21:10just tell, like they would do it for free. It looks like to me, uh, if, and play in the NFL,
21:16but they just love ball. And I see it, it comes through the TV and a lot to like for, you know,
21:22and, and we'll see where Scadaboo ends up with the injury. That was a nasty thing that happened,
21:26but, um, uh, that, uh, you know, listen, for me being a Giants guy out in Kansas city,
21:32um, I just had people around town telling me how much they love, they can't wait to watch the
21:38Giants play. Like that's Paul, that's never happened in a decade of living here ever.
21:43People always, you know, they know me as the Giants guy and man, I love that Scadaboo and
21:47Dart, love that Scadaboo and Dart. That's all you heard around town. And so that was kind of
21:52exciting. I said, yeah, look, they're fun to watch and you know, I'm glad we got them. And so,
21:56uh, that is cool. So I know that what they're doing is resonating not only with Giants fans,
22:02but with NFL fans. You know, it's funny, the Scadaboo injury, then I want to move on to
22:08kicking and your favorite topic. Um, I heard a doctor say that it's actually, look, it was gruesome,
22:13but he said, it's actually not a terrible injury to come back from. It's not. He said he,
22:18and he actually said that if the Giants are in the playoffs 10, 11 weeks from now, he could,
22:24he could conceivably come back. So he said he should be fine next year, which is amazing
22:29considering his ankle was turned the wrong way. But let's ask that doctor, how many of those he's
22:33had for it not to be that bad. It looks visually, it was visually. It's always right. It's the Alex
22:39Smith. It's the go down the list. We've seen them in the basketball ones are really gnarly in the
22:44courts. All right, Lawrence. Um, you knew at some point in the show,
22:48we would have to transition to your favorite topic, one that we've discussed many times,
22:53probably too much for some people, but we have to get to the kicking game. And look,
22:57I want to ask you, cause what's going on with Graham Gonneau is, is a little or a lot unusual.
23:03Okay. Um, let me ask you a couple of quick questions and then we'll get to Graham. Okay.
23:07How many times when you kicked in the NFL, right in a game, was there another kicker kicker active with
23:14you ever, never, never, never. Okay. Oh, wait, I apologize. Wait, wait, one time, uh, NFC. What was
23:25that? The divisional round against the Eagles. Remember when John Carney was in town and had a
23:32great season after my injury in the, in the summer, I was healthy by the start of the season, but you
23:37know, John was kicking so well, they kept him and it was actually a really good year for me in terms
23:41of learning from a veteran. But having said that, that playoff game, which I still gives me nightmares
23:48that I didn't get a chance to kick those field goals in that playoff game. Cause that was the
23:54single best team I've ever been on. But to answer you, I got long winded there. Uh, that playoff game,
23:59I was, I was active with John Carney and that's the only time that's ever happened. Okay. But it's
24:04very unusual. So, but that was a distance thing. That was not an injury thing. That was purely
24:08Lawrence, you kick off and then maybe do some longer field goals, which, you know,
24:13we know didn't happen in that playoff game. I get it. And Carney was going to take them,
24:17the intermediate. Well, he missed two field goals in that game short, like in the forties. Right. So
24:22not to, not to bring up old stuff, but yeah, I get it. But, but I'm saying, cause there's been a lot
24:28of discussion because Graham three times in the last few years, he has either gone into a game,
24:35you know, on the injury report and then gotten hurt in the game. Right. We remember,
24:39you know, Washington, I guess, right. He comes in with a, with a groin and he, he kicks off the
24:45opening kickoff. He chases the guy down on a bit on a long return, hurts his hamstring. The giants
24:50are left without a kicker, right? This year, um, he got hurt. The giants are left without a kicker.
24:55The punter has to kick or, or, you know, um, now he's on the injury report this week. I don't know
25:00how severe it is with a neck. Okay. Neck for a kicker. Okay. Maybe that's better than a groin
25:05or, or a hamstring. Um, so, you know, I mean, is this right criticism that the giants either stuck
25:13with Graham who's 38 years old and he has these injury issues or that they go into a game, they
25:19have to activate two kickers. Cause in case Graham gets hurt because he has done that before we need
25:25another kicker is, you know, because you just don't see two kickers being active. So, so where,
25:30where are you on that? Cause you're, you're inside that debate. Okay. So, um, I will give the team
25:37the benefit of the doubt in some regards that when Graham says he's healthy on Saturday, right? Like
25:43I'm thinking of the hamstring injury, the groin injury, the coaches, you know, based on his history,
25:50potentially now you do it, but like, that's not their fault that, that Graham got hurt in pregame.
25:56It's not, I don't know. I look, I, I tend to trust the kicker, but again, what I would have done this
26:01season is no disrespect. And I love Graham, you know, and he knows that he's a friend of mine.
26:05I would have cut him, um, because of the money. And then, you know, just, I just think there's been
26:12too much injury history with him over the last two or three seasons. And, um, I have a great deal of
26:18respect for him. I want to make sure that's known, but again, from a business perspective,
26:21I definitely would have gotten a young guy. There was a lot of young talent in this draft,
26:26um, and guys that are capable and, you know, you're seeing it with some young guys playing
26:32really well in the league right now. So I probably would have went that route strictly from a business
26:38perspective, not necessarily. Look, we know what Graham is capable of. He can hit it. He can still
26:43hit it at his age. Well, now, now you, that's a, that's a, you know, I, I totally see that take
26:50now. I would just push back with this. I think there were people in that building that did not
26:55want to give Brian Dable on a very important year for him, right. To win a rookie kicker.
27:04Okay. Because, you know, rookie quarterbacks, rookie kickers, you know, Graham is if healthy,
27:09he is very solid, right. Um, so I get your point and I get your point. And if you get the right
27:14rookie kicker or maybe not a rookie kicker, maybe you just sign a guy who's bounced around a little
27:18bit, you know, and you put them in and he's good, then you're fine. But yes, I, I mean,
27:22they're kicking issues, you know, Graham missed four games, right. Comes back and misses a 45 yard
27:28field goal. Now you've missed 45 yard field goals in your career. I get it. I get it. You know,
27:33you know, he said, I hit it. Well, the wind didn't take it. Um, I did not like so much that he told
27:38my colleague, Brian, uh, Ryan Dunleavy after the, after the game that, um, well, I made all my
27:45kicks and warmups, you know, um, yeah, those don't count. Those don't, those don't count.
27:51Those are, you know, most guys, most guys do make all their kicks in every game.
27:56Like the, nobody's rushing you, right. You're kicking.
28:00I've had three games where I made 50% of them too. It also went three for three in the game. So
28:04it's actually a warmup. That's all you're out there doing. You know, some people will be,
28:08oh, he missed half his kicks in pregame. Well, thank God. No one watched my pregames
28:13because I was not always the best. Real quick, just as an aside, the pregame
28:19at the ice bowl to in Lambeau field. How did you have a pregame that day?
28:24We did. We were able to fit in about four or five kicks. I think I did make all of them
28:28because we never got past like 35 yards because Jeff, Jeff couldn't catch the football. So,
28:34uh, my pregame that day was limited to five or six reps because Jeff Eagles, his hands were frozen
28:40and we just went with it. So, yeah. Um, uh, a couple of things. Um, did you think that,
28:47um, you would not live to see the day, but, um, your career high, I looked up twice was 53,
28:53right? 2006 with the Chiefs, 2010 with the Giants, right? I have a 59 yarder in Canada,
29:00CFL. So, well, it's Canada. It's a different exchange rate. Listen, it still counts. It's a
29:07different exchange rate. It's like the economy. 59 yards up there is 59. It was not meters. It was
29:13yards. So that counts. The field's too wide there. I'll give you that. Okay. But August professional
29:21kick 59. Yes. When you played every time a guy hit a 50 something yard field goal, it was eye
29:27opening, right? Wow. The guy hit a 51, the guy hit a 52. Um, you know, now it is not so eye
29:33opening. Tell me, give me a couple of sentences on cam little hitting a 68 yard field goal to set
29:39the NFL record. Well, it's a little ridiculous. And what I've noticed now and following the stats
29:44in the NFL that they now have a 60 plus column that's never happened. Go to NFL.com. It's actually
29:50hilarious. I saw it the other night. It used to stop at 50 plus. Now there's an extra column
29:55on these statistics for 60 plus. That's how insane it's gotten. Um, I will say this. The balls are
30:02incredible. Uh, the guys get them the whole week now. I think it's actually unfair, but I can make
30:08a football on anyone in my era, David Akers and Shane Graham, and some of us still chit chat and
30:13shoot texts together and say, we can make a football go 10 to 12 yards further. Uh, if we got it the
30:19whole week. So that's what you're seeing that. Can you explain what that means? Cause I don't think
30:23fans know the footballs you kicked versus the footballs they kicked. Yeah. So real quick,
30:29don't want to bore you. So, uh, early two thousands, the refs, you were like enough of
30:33these kickers hitting these, you know, touchbacks and whatever balls flying all over the place. And
30:38so guys used to break in the footballs and have them the whole week and say, Hey, here's the ball.
30:43I want to actually kick in the game. So the ref started bringing in the balls. The ref would bring in
30:48the balls the day of the game one through 12 or numbered. Typically one through three would get
30:53rubbed down by your equipment staff. Your equipment staff had 30 minutes to break in the balls, your
30:58equipment staff, one guy from your team and one guy from the other team pregame. So they'd rub them
31:02down and get them somewhat respectable to where they're not as hard to kick, but a brand new football
31:08is very, very difficult to kick. Um, so anyway, now fast forward, 2023, 24, 25, these guys,
31:15the kickers have the balls all week. They're in their possession. They can go home and sleep with
31:20them on their head, you know, rub them down, heat them up, rub them down, kick them. And then the sweet
31:27spot is, is the size of an orange. Whereas, you know, my era that I think the sweet spot was the size
31:33of a racquetball, maybe a golf ball, a little bit bigger than a golf ball. Now it's this big in these
31:39things. So you can make a football really move. You absolutely can make it go 10 yards further.
31:46I think that's really interesting. I think everyone puts on the TV and sees guys kicking,
31:52you know, the ball gets the midfield and air and field goal range. So that is a great explanation
31:55of, you know, the bigger, stronger. It's the why. Why it's the why. Yes. Okay. Now, do you have any
32:01memories of kicking in Chicago and soldier field? Which can't be great. Not great ones. I never
32:06kicked poorly there, but, um, I just, uh, got that. I didn't like kicking there. Very,
32:13very difficult, long grass, the footing. Um, if there's one place that gave me the heebie
32:18jeebies, it was soldier field. I just never, and thank God I only played there twice. I think
32:23once I didn't like it. And we played in a really sloppy game, much like this one, Paul, if you'll
32:29remember in 07, uh, the magical super, we played a Rex Grossman who, then they were pretty
32:36good. And it was a December game, if I'm not mistaken, night game. And it was rainy, cold
32:41and wet. And we, we win, you know, we won the game, but that's the, I think the last time
32:46I played there. See, that's the difference. This, this, this, we win. That was the Giants
32:51back then. You won more than you lost. You figure out a way to win. All right. That's where
32:55the Giants are going this week to Chicago. Um, um, Giants can't stop a cold in the run.
33:01As you mentioned effort, it's not all effort. Some of it's effort. Uh, the bears ran for,
33:05uh, um, almost 300 yards last week. So I don't see give, give, give the fans, maybe just a
33:12thumbnail of what you, you know, is there any reason to think the Giants, you know, Joe
33:16Flacco threw for 470 yards. Yeah. That's the bear defense. You know, the bears had a crazy
33:22win. They scored in the last few seconds to beat the Bengals. They scored 47 points. They
33:27want to run the ball. Caleb Williams is very talented, not a great quarterback yet, but
33:32very talented. They need to run the ball and they need to run the ball and the Giants can't
33:37stop the run. So I asked Jackson Dart, you know, uh, cold, you know, things he kind of
33:43laughed. He said, you know, I'm from Utah. You know, I played high school games in the
33:47snow. You know, I'm from Utah. Um, he's, I think people forget that, right. You associate
33:51him with USC and all this. Yeah. You know, you would, you would love this guy, you know, real
33:55quick, you know, you know, he went to the same high school as Jim McMahon, right? The
33:58former bears quarterback from Utah. So it says, so somebody asked him yesterday. Um,
34:03um, Oh, so is that why you wear a headband? You know, cause of Jim McMahon? No, no. And
34:09then he kind of, someone asked the next question. He just goes, it just keeps my hair up. You
34:14know, it just like, don't overthink it guys. I wear a headband cause it keeps my hair up.
34:18He's kind of cool that he, both he and McMahon have this swag about him. But I know they're
34:2540 years apart, but it's still like, it's pretty cool.
34:28But I think McMahon was a little weirder and stranger. And Jackson Dart is just, you would
34:35have loved him. You would have loved playing with him. You would have loved him because
34:38he's, he's, you know, and one other thing I'm getting all over the place here, but when
34:42he keeps on saying, I hate to lose, I hate to lose. And then his teammates say it hurts
34:46us because we see how much Jackson hates to lose. My next question is, Oh, well, don't you
34:52hate to lose just as much? Why is Jackson Dart hate to lose more than some of these
34:57veterans?
34:57But no, that's, that's, that's, that's not true. That's the thing. That's, that's why
35:02it's hard to get 53 guys on the same page because it means more to some guys than it
35:07does the others. It's very, very hard. Like, like I always said, there's some people that
35:11love football and some people that love what football gives them. I think 99% of the guys
35:16I play with would have played for free just to wear that uniform and play in that stadium
35:20in front of those fans. And I'm not kidding. Now the money's great. Don't get me wrong,
35:25but we had a bunch of dudes, a bunch of dogs that loved football. And that's, that's what
35:30each team is trying to, to, to come up with that group, right? Like it's, it's, it's, it's
35:36really hard as we've seen the giants make it look really, really hard, really hard.
35:41Yes. One last thing before we close we're on the kicking theme. You have a kicker in your
35:47family, right? I will give you 30 or 40 seconds to be a dad and boast about it. Go ahead.
35:57Yeah. So, uh, one of my twin boys, Jaden started kicking about a year ago. Um, didn't really
36:02have much film. You know, he had a real bad injury his senior year of high school as well.
36:06So, um, he is at Troy where I played and I'll tell you what, he's put on 18 pounds. He's been
36:14there since may couldn't be prouder of him. He's doing unbelievable things. Um, I think
36:20he's better than I am at this age. So, uh, pretty excited to see his future. He is red
36:26shirting right now. They've got a really good senior kicker in front of them, but the red
36:30shirt has been great for him. Troy's bowl eligible. We've been to four games. Uh, it's
36:35been fun to see friends and former teammates that I played with back in Troy. So I'm kind
36:40of rekindling my romance with Troy university again. So it's good to be back. And then it's
36:45pretty surreal watching your son, uh, put on that uniform. So proud of him. He's doing
36:50a good job. We'll see where he's at next year. Um, you know, I'm, I'm pretty happy for, for
36:55where he's at right now. And hopefully he can, he can do cool things in college.
37:00Well, he's got a great mentor as a father, as a kicker, I'm sure as a friend. Um, I'm not
37:06sure I can hold out long enough to cover him. Okay. No, no, no, no. Yeah. I don't
37:12know if I can hold out that long. I'll try, but I don't know if I can hold out
37:15that long. So I may not be able to interview him as a giant or a, well, let's
37:19get the giants here on a run here. We've got the quarterback. We've got a bag. We've
37:23got some pieces less. They're not that far off. I know that sounds crazy, but, um, I
37:29really don't. I, once you find that guy, right, everything else should fall into
37:33place. And we didn't even talk about poor middle league neighbors, like
37:36heartbreaking for him. Um, another guy who hates to lose, you know, so you've
37:43got three on offense. Andrew Thomas hates to lose too. He doesn't even lose a rep.
37:48Nevermind the games, but he doesn't lose reps. That's how good he is. So, you know
37:53what, let's leave it there because that is the true Lawrence Tines coming out at
37:58the end of the day. You're trying to find your silver lining and trying to explain
38:02how the giants can win. And that is what you and your generation of giants was
38:07all about. We can, we can be disappointed. We can rip on them. We can, we can say
38:12it's this and it's that, but then let's go on a run. Let's figure out a way. So
38:16that's, that's, um, great. Lawrence, I can't thank you enough for being back on the
38:21blue rush podcast. You, you bailed me out. You gave us a lot. I was only your sixth
38:26phone call, but I'm glad to fill in at number six. Well, no, it was T I was going
38:31alphabetically. So I was even way further down the line. Okay. You were down the
38:36list. Yeah. Yeah. Um, um, it was either T Y R T Y N. Yeah, no, it was, it was going
38:42to be Tines and then Tyree. So that's yeah. So, um, I just got in under the wire
38:47there. No, but seriously, thank you. You made smarter. And, um, that's it for week
38:5310 of the blue rush podcast from the New York post. You can subscribe to this thing
38:57on, um, YouTube and, um, Spotify and I don't know what else. Um, Lawrence
39:03Tines is, you know, his, his, his Instagram, you can do it on, um, you
39:09know, whatever Nickelodeon and he has whatever you get podcasts. I don't even
39:12know where you get podcasts, you know, 10 years ago, I didn't even know what a
39:15podcast was. And now I'm doing this on a podcast, wherever you get your
39:19podcasts, please subscribe, like love, whatever you do on podcasts for Paul
39:23Schwartz and my special guest, Lawrence Tines. Thank you for watching.
39:27Bye.