00:00Here is Albert Breer of the MMQB. Albert, welcome to the show.
00:04Hey guys, what's up?
00:05Well, ironically, you know, we usually talk football with you, but a lot of people in the
00:11media are getting frustrated with the duration of LeBron James' decision. Is Albert Breer
00:17getting tired of the amount of time it's taking LeBron to make his decision?
00:22I don't know. Like, I think he's kind of earned it. You know, I always think
00:30like in these sorts of situations, like most players would like to take their time and
00:35really evaluate like their different options. And, you know, I mean, I'm old enough to remember
00:41when guys actually took free agent visits. You know, obviously that's like far less a part
00:47of the process now than it was even like 10 or 15 years ago. But LeBron, I mean, this is
00:54going to be his 23rd year, you know? So I think he's earned the right to take his time
01:01on something like this. It's hard for me to begrudge a guy like that. I would get it similar
01:06to Aaron Rodgers. You know, like with Aaron Rodgers, it was, I mean, like a lot of people
01:11were, I think, sick and tired of waiting on him too. But I mean, the reality is he's still
01:18a good enough player to have a team waiting for him. And it was a huge decision whether
01:24or not to play football again for him, you know? So I think for similar reasons, it's
01:28a big decision for LeBron. And I think there's guys who are in that category where, all right,
01:33like as long as he's not like turning someone's team upside down, doing it, I'm trying to say.
01:39You know, you brought up Aaron Rodgers. I did want to ask you about him quickly. Today
01:42he posted that photo, or someone posted that photo of him and his parents. And they'd been,
01:46you know, 10 years without talking and estranged. And now it seems like they're mending fences.
01:51I don't know if it's just Aaron Rodgers being married, allegedly, or what that is. But it
01:56does feel like he's had, I don't want to, I don't know if it's like a more mature offseason,
02:00just a different offseason than what we've seen with him recently. Do you feel that same
02:03way as well? Yeah, I mean, I think, like, I honestly think, like, over the last three or
02:12four years, I actually think there's been some of that general with him. I mean, look, I think
02:19there was a phase in his life where he was trying to prove everybody to everybody he was everything
02:24but a football player. I remember having a conversation with him, this is two, three years
02:29ago now, about how, like, he wanted to just appreciate being a football player again. And
02:35he didn't want to have to convince anybody that he was more than that, you know, because
02:39he knew it was fleeting. You know, and I think, you know, things changing in your life, like
02:44as you're going through different things, you know, forces you to look bigger picture.
02:48And I think he's done that. And so, you know, I think there's a reason why he didn't hear
02:54much, like, from a drama perspective at all. In Pittsburgh last year, like, anything being
03:01weird or whatever, like, he was just sort of one of the guys. And I think that's really
03:05kind of what he aspired to be when he got there, strange to that sound. And, yeah, I mean,
03:11I think that, like, the reconciliation with his family would be another indication of that,
03:18like, sort of growth and big picture perspective. And, I mean, look, like, you know, I would
03:25say I'm a different person at 46 than I was at 36. And it's because I've seen and done
03:30more things. And I, you know, you want to kind of take stock of everything around you
03:35as you experience those things. And I think that's sort of where he's at.
03:39Albert, we are on the precipice of training camp. By this time next week, we'll be ensconced
03:45in it. I'm curious, getting, now that we're on, you know, kind of the eaves of this quarterback
03:50battle between Shador and Deshaun, how long do you think this quarterback battle will take?
03:56Is this a one-week-in thing? Should we get to the preseason games? How do you think this
04:01should play out?
04:04I mean, I didn't get any indication anyone was running away with it, which, I mean, you
04:08can take that however you want. But I didn't get the idea that, like, someone had just
04:13taken a baton and sprinted with it early. Early on now, you know, you're going to see some
04:18different things when they get to 11-on-11. They're both learning a new offense. And, you
04:25know, so I think that piece of it, like, what coaches will tell you, like, a lot of times
04:30is the spring's for learning, the summer's for competition. And, you know, so I think
04:36the actual competitive part of it may not have even gotten off the ground yet. Now, as
04:42for when you have to make a decision when that's coming, like, I think, like, the important
04:49thing is that you have a period of time before the regular season starts where the other 10
04:55guys will know who their quarterback is. And you're able to coherently build an offense
05:01for that guy. And so at what point is that? I think for the coach in his first year, you're
05:07probably talking about maybe after the first preseason game. Like, maybe you want to get
05:12a look at them in the first preseason game and confirm some of the things you saw in
05:15camp. You know, some people will tell you you want two preseason games because you want
05:19to give both guys a chance to start, both guys a chance to come off the bench. But I think
05:24you'll be right in that window there somewhere in the first two preseason games, you make
05:28the decision.
05:29Oh, because it's a competition, though, and you don't know what Deshaun is going to look
05:33like after now a million injuries, a million surgeries and everything else. Like, it's
05:36been seven, another 700 days since he's played a game. Would they be more? I don't know.
05:42I thought they were very cautious the first 700 day break that he had and getting him preseason
05:46action. Do you think there'll be more willing to be like, all right, we really need to see
05:50him an actual game action this time? Or will the practices with the joint practices with
05:55the Bills just kind of be enough?
05:57Well, the joint practices are real quality reps. Like, I will say that. Like, and I think
06:02that piece of it is something that you can't, like, I wouldn't undersell that. Like, I think
06:07that that is, like, you can generate a lot of things. You might not see, like, the live
06:14action that you want to see where you're taking guys to the ground. But you can work with the
06:20other coaching staff to generate a certain amount of information on your players. And,
06:26you know, I'd expect that Todd Munker would want to do that with Joe Brady. You know, so
06:31I think that the joint practices are a very effective tool to get the answer that you want. But
06:40you do see some things that are a little bit different live game action that may be hard
06:45to generate in the joint practices.
06:47Albert, I'm not sure if you saw Rex Ryan's comments on social media about Shador Sanders,
06:53but Shador was at a, like, a kid's clinic, football clinic that he puts on. And there
07:00was a photo opportunity surrounded by his, you know, bunch of number 12 jerseys. And Rex
07:06Ryan kind of dressed Shador down, calling it like superstar mentality. To me, it came across
07:13as, as, as old school mentality. I don't know the younger NFL guys would have a problem with
07:18that, but how did you kind of read the kind of reaction to that, that moment from Shador?
07:25Um, you know, I, I guess I'm a little old school too. Um, it's just in that, like, I do
07:33like it
07:34when a guy will turn down those sorts of opportunities because he feels like he has to earn it. And,
07:41um, you know, I can think of great quarterbacks who've been that way.
07:46No, I think the best example I can think of was, you know, like I, I remember this story about
07:51Patrick Mahomes, um, from when he was a rookie. And so he wasn't starting, Alex Smith was starting
07:59and, um, and like Mahomes would want to get reps in after practice because once the regular season
08:06starts, you're not really running, um, you're not really running your offense in practice,
08:11if you're the backup, you're running the other team's offense for the scout team. And so, you
08:16know, he would have, um, he would, he would stay after practice to get reps running the chief's
08:21offense, but he would always know, and he would always be very aware of who he was taking with
08:27him. And so he never even asked Tyree kill or Sammy Watkins or, um, you know, or, or, uh,
08:36you know, Kareem hunt, like he would never ask Travis Kelsey at the time to stay with him
08:41because as he viewed it, those were Alex Smith's guys. And so he wasn't going to upset. He wasn't
08:47going to disrupt that never said anything about it, but every coach on that staff took note of what
08:52he was doing. And like, and there was an understanding, okay, this kid gets it. And this
08:57kid's got real self-awareness and he's got an awareness of the environment around him and how
09:02these things could affect the way he's looked at by his teammates and the way the organization reacts
09:07to him. And, um, you know, more recently I heard this story about, about, about, um, you know,
09:14Drake may being pushed by the Patriots staff to lead as, you know, in the second year last year.
09:19And he was hesitant because it was, I have to earn that with my teammates first, you know,
09:24and that's not something that I can just, I can't just, you know, flip a switch and, and, and, and,
09:31and make everyone respond to me, you know? And so like, I think when you're playing that position,
09:37there's an inherent like leadership and stardom that comes with it. Um, I've seen like some of the
09:44best guys, some of the guys that are at the top of the heap, um, you know, do things that
09:50indicate
09:51that like you, you sometimes are best off waiting. Um, and you are sometimes best off saying no
10:00in those situations. And you'll get a lot of respect from your teammates. If you've got the
10:07kind of awareness to handle yourself like that when you're a young player. So, um, that's where I think
10:12Rex Ryan's coming from on this. It doesn't mean she do or shouldn't do anything, but I think what
10:18he's getting at is maybe he doesn't have to do everything that he's doing. Okay. Yeah. I mean,
10:24I, I definitely understand that. And I guess it makes more sense if this was going on during
10:28training camp, but this is also that time in between and he still is getting worked on a down
10:32in Florida. He went to Deshaun Watson's deal that we talked about previously, like, and, and maybe
10:37it's the defense from Shador's camp where they posted the four workouts he's doing every day
10:41that has gotten people. Fine. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not saying any of
10:46like, like, trust me, like what I'm saying, like, I'm not, I'm not saying he's not working. Like, it's
10:51not, it's not a zero sum game here. You know what I mean? Like you can do both, you know,
10:55like, um,
10:56but I just think, but, but I do think like, I, and I'm not, and again, I'm not saying you
11:01can't
11:02embrace being the star, but I, you know, I've said this, I've said this to a lot of people.
11:06Like I, I've actually said this directly to, to, to, to Josh Allen and my homes. Um, you know,
11:12there was a shot of them, um, and a golf cart at the wind in Vegas. Um, you know, a
11:19couple of years
11:19ago when they were doing the match and like, I don't know if you guys remember, but they had like
11:23a case of course. Like the swing juice is what my homes called it. Yeah. Yeah. And like, I remember
11:29saying to one of them, like I said to both of them at one point or another, I think, but
11:33like,
11:34like the capital that they get when they, when they, when they show everyone that they're normal
11:39people, you know what I mean? Like, and I think that's a challenge for quarterbacks is, you know,
11:45being able to kind of walk that tightrope where you are a superstar and there are all these things
11:50that come with it, but to the people in your locker room, you have to be a normal, you have
11:54to,
11:54you have to be relatable and you have to come off as a normal guy, you know? And
11:59like, that's the tightrope they're all walking. And there are different ways to accomplish that
12:03and to get across that tightrope. If you are a quarterback. Um, and I'm not saying you can't
12:08do it the way that she was doing it, but it is something that I think is important. And,
12:12you know, I like, you know, I, I think of like the Russell Wilson example of somebody who,
12:16who, who couldn't walk that tightrope and he won a super bowl. You know what I mean? Like,
12:20so it's not like he failed, but like there were those issues that came up with his teammates in
12:25Seattle. I think part of it was like, that he couldn't walk the tightrope where, you know,
12:30he is a superstar, but you know, to his teammates, he's just a normal guy, you know? Um, and I
12:35think,
12:36I think Allen and Mahomes are great examples of it. I think Lamar is a really, really good example
12:40of it as well. Joe Burrow is a good example of it. Like, I feel like a lot of the
12:43best guys,
12:45um, are very, very normal, you know, um, guys to their teammates and very, very normal
12:51in those environments. And a lot of times to kind of cultivate that, you'll see them turning
12:57down some opportunities that come their way because of the position that they play.
13:01Albert, I did know on your, one of your most recent videos and MMQB, you talked about Lamar's
13:08contractual situation. How pivotal is this year under a new coach for Lamar Jackson for his future
13:14in Baltimore? Um, I mean, I, like, I think the Ravens want to get something done. You know,
13:21the Ravens would like to, to, to, to extend his contract and manage the numbers going forward.
13:27And, you know, I, I think, you know, it will be a good thing, um, as they see it, like
13:31for Jesse
13:32Minter to, to, to send the signal, um, that, you know, this is our guy going forward with, with,
13:39with Jesse in there as a first year head coach. Um, but it takes two to tango and, you know,
13:45like, so for Lamar, I think there hasn't been a ton of urgency to get something done, um, on his
13:50end.
13:50And I, and I think part of it is like, look, like, you know, he's got the no tag clause
13:55and
13:55he can be an unrestricted free agent with, you know, like at 31 years old in 2028. And so to
14:03forego the opportunity to hit the market, um, you know, you're gonna have to put something really
14:09good in front of them. So, um, you know, we'll see where that goes. Like, I think, you know, like
14:14there, there's quite a bit of leverage that Lamar has and having that no tag clause at the end of
14:18his contract and, um, what it winds up meaning we'll see. Um, but I, I don't think the Ravens,
14:25like, I don't think the Ravens have a hesitancy to put, you know, put, put everything behind Lamar
14:30and build around Lamar right now. Um, you know, I, like if he makes the decision to go forward
14:35without doing a long-term deal, um, then, you know, I think you certainly could see a scenario
14:42where now all of a sudden it's like, okay, like, you know, now everybody's sort of looking at the
14:47future a different way. Albert, great stuff, buddy. Uh, excited to get football underway
14:52officially next week. And, uh, really do appreciate your time today, buddy. Thank you so much.
14:57All right. Thanks guys. Have a good one.
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