Grant and Danny

Storyline From Every Week 1 Game, Shawne Merriman On The Commanders, Double Play

9.3.24 Hour 2

1:00- We get you every big storyline from each NFL game.

21:05- Former NFL LB Shawne Merriman joins G&D to give his analysis on the Commanders plus the Terps big win from the weekend.

34:30- What's going on in our lives that has nothing to do with sports?

Broadcast on:: 03 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue, and guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too, with the name of your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, price and coverage match limited by state law. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDul, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's FanDul.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDul, an official sports book partner of the NFL. Must be 21 plus and present in Colorado. First online real money weights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is now a throwable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanDul.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700. The seasons may be changing, but the deals at the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKia, and I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings event, where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus, with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at the sharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands. Or, check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides, located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. Head on over to the sharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl, Tasha McKia, sent you the sharpest rides, affordable, sexy, sharp, and NFL game week on the fan. Welcome back. Grant and Danny with you, the exclusive sponsor for our shows, the law firm, Condoria and Murad. They'll guide you and your family in the right direction by to help you draft a will or set up a trust. They'll also get you squared away on a healthcare power of attorney if need be, schedule a free consultation with their estate planning attorneys at kmlawyers.com. Be sure to tell them we sent you as a show. That way, they'll give you a discount kmlawyers.com. My parents were taken great care of by Kia Condoria. And we'll see more on our guys over there. So check them out. They'll do a good job for you. It's that adult thing that you got to do. You don't think about it right when you're a kid. They never tell you, Hey, you got to figure out all the bad permutations of stuff that could happen to you. But you got to get your affairs in order, man. It's a grown up thing to do. Our affairs tonight include a fantasy football draft. Oh, it's for the grant and Danny listener at league. Come hang out with us and a bunch of listeners as we draft our teams tonight, we are going to be in Crystal City at Highline R&R going to be an excellent vibe and a great setting for the 2024 GND listener league. So they did like an Instagram post with like two characters on it that are like these thin, handsome guys that gave you red hair. So here's what I don't understand about that. And thank them for doing it because I'm a big believer in publicity, being a good thing. Promote the thing. Were those just two random guys that were wearing headset mics? I don't know. Or was that supposed to be you and me? I don't know. And I'm not trying to be difficult or like spoiled about it. We're like, Oh, that's that way like this. Like, it's cool. They're promoting the event. That's what I want. I'm all in. I was a skinny redhead. Yeah, like that's what it was. Like, I was like, I don't know that that's and I guess on the other guy, if that's like that guy had dark hair, you were extremely handsome. Yeah. I was like, I guess handsome, more handsome than me as a cartoon. I would say it looked more like you than it looked like me. But I was a skinny ginger. Now, I'd rather be a skinny ginger than what I am. Okay, probably. Yeah. You know what I mean? I was like, who's that? I want to be that guy. I don't know that guy. How fun does that guy look? But anyway, that was fun. And we appreciate them doing this. We do. But coming out, eat some wings will be a less skinny ginger. When you get there, I'll be the guy that isn't that. That was my metabolized self. Let's get to week one in the NFL and some of the big storylines game by game will go through a big part of the slate. It all gets started with Thursday night football, the kickoff of a brand new season. Seems like an annual tradition at this point at Arrowhead Stadium with the Ravens and the Chiefs. The Chiefs have a chance to be the first ever team to three feet. But on top of that, they, if they get to the Super Bowl will be the first team to ever get back to a Super Bowl, having won the last two. So no one's ever three-peded. And in fact, no team gunning for their third straight has ever even gotten to the Super Bowl game. They host the Ravens and their quest to do so. Patrick Mahomes, an annual MVP candidate. Yeah, I mean, I don't think last year is too much in your mind. I mean, you're so focused on trying to get better. And I mean, we're playing the best of the best. I mean, week one. So we're going to see where we're at. We're going to go out there and play our best football early in the season. But all we can do is go out there and be our best. I mean, it's going to take that in order to get the win and we're going to learn from our mistakes and make adjustments on the sideline and go out there and find a way to be a really good football team. Yeah. Last year, Kansas City started off kind of slowly. They were sort of working their way through the beginning part of the season, knowing full well they'd be there at the end. Not a lot of challengers in that division. And it seemed like Baltimore was the class of the AFC. They were the best team in the NFL for most of last year. A lot of turnover, a lot of change, including a defense of coordinators down the head coach in Seattle lost a lot of personnel. So this is the time if you're going to play the Chiefs, you'd like them week one rather than say week 16 or 17. Yeah. Ask the lions to your point from last year's opener. I do think it's interesting that Rashy Rice didn't get suspended and probably isn't going to. Sometimes the league says, we don't need to find out what happened legally. We can do our own research. Sometimes they wait for everything to play out. So it's kind of, I don't know what to expect rhyme or reason with suspensions, but Hollywood Brown, not all the way back, not healthy. So it'll be a lot of Xavier worthy. Presumably they just signed you, Drew Smith, Schuster, as far as Baltimore goes, first game with brand new 32 year old defensive coordinators, Zach Orr. And this will go one way or the other. If that defense is really good again, which it should be, he'll be a head coach in two years. Maybe getting interviews this off season. He'll be the next guy that the hot candidate in the NFL, but they lost a lot of assistance. He's elevated from his linebacker role a year ago. Obviously their coordinator on defense last year is now the head coach in Seattle, Mike McDonald. So there are some questions on that side of the ball for John Harbaugh after they lost some talent as well. But most of the young players for the Ravens, it'll be coming back and playing are actually on the offensive side of the ball, including Roger Rosengarten. They're projected right tackle from that rookie class. The Friday night game. Yes, I said Friday night game. Coach, you're a tailor? Not Friday night lights. Oh, this is different. Different. Maybe outside of the States, Friday night lights in the national football league. It's the Packers and the Eagles. We're going outside of the United States, Danny. We're playing this thing in Brazil. Obviously. Do you see any of the, like, yeah, restrictions that the league passed along to players? Oh, no, I didn't see that. Oh, it was like, do not leave your hotel. Do not wear any jewelry. Do not say hello to anyone. Do not pass go. Do not leave the bus without like armed guards. I'm paraphrasing and joking a little bit, but basically they don't, especially after the Ricky Pierce all thing. Yeah. It was just like, Hey, man, let's just stare at the ground and run into any of every building you're going into. And Darius slay and some other guys are like, why the hell are you sending us there? Like, you can't send me for work to do something and then scare me with this. Like, I guess our families are staying home from this one. Yeah, maybe we'll, maybe we'll skip this trip and I'll, I'll send you a text if I'm allowed to keep my phone with me. Yeah, you know, it's, the never ending quest to make this thing global. I'm conflating analogies here, but you got to break a few eggs, I suppose? I don't know. It doesn't seem like a great idea to me. I love the Friday night lights angle. Please. And thank you more of that. I'm all about it. But that just seems a little iffy to me. Yeah, you're not going to get a whole lot more of it because it's essentially illegal in the States to have Friday night games because of high school football until after the season ends. Packers Eagles, though, two playoff teams potentially remember Green Bay won a playoff game destroyed the Cowboys. We talked about it last hour. And then they gave San Francisco fits in the postseason. Meanwhile, Philadelphia is highly considered to come out of the NFC East. People think they could be a Super Bowl team. If Jalen Hertz bounces back and the Packers have some new faces and some new places. Matt LaFloor has got a brand new running back in Josh Jacobs, who led the league in rushing two years ago at the Raiders. The more experience you get with somebody, you find out what they like, what they, what their best at. But I would say definitely from a past standpoint, how you can utilize them in the passing game, whether some guys are checked on guys, some guys are creative outrunners. And I think you just got to go through the process and throw some stuff at him and see how he does with it. And it'll be an interesting year to see what he can do. I loved Matt LaFloor when he was here in DC. It was probably one of the coaches on that staff I was closest with. Having said that, I am stunned with how good a head coach he's become this quickly. And a lot of people right away will discount the first few years going 13 and three because it's just Aaron Rodgers. You can't. It's hard to go 13 and three men. Be good. But nine and eight last year with Jordan Love developing into a franchise QB, making the playoffs getting a win. In his career, LaFloor is 56 and 27 in six years. He sounds when he talks like a guy that's been doing this for 40 years. Yeah. Even when he, well, even when he was doing his 30s, he's just a worker. It's what he sounds like. He had them maturity. Yeah. Not everyone is a burn the candle at both ends. And like you tell your wife, you'll see her in January kind of coach. That's Matt LaFloor and it is worked in Green Bay. Other side is the Eagles. This is such a fascinating group. And obviously I hate them so much and I hope they lose every game and their fans are miserable for a thousand years. But just in terms of objective football stuff, Dixeryani basically fired himself as the offensive leader, right? Enter Kellen Moore, sort of revamped this group trying to get Jalen Hertz back to MVP level. You've got weapons at the Yang, of course, familiar former first time pick from right down the street here, John Dachshund will be their slot receiver to go with Devante Smith, AJ Brown. It's a revamped defense in theory. That's a group that could absolutely win the NFC East or their coach could get fired. I wonder if John Dachshund is going to make a player to in prime time. Everybody watching on Friday night, a big debut in Atlanta for the Falcons. They are a sexy pick at NFC South. I think they're being a bit overrated. I don't quite see it the way everybody does. I don't know where the pass rush is going to come from necessarily with them. They did go get Matthew Judon in the preseason, which should help a lot. But they were a really bad pass rushing team last year. I don't know if that's enough of a fix for them in that regard. And I don't like their weapons as much as everybody else. There's this assumption that Kirk Cousins, would they bring in is just going to now make Kyle Pitts be what he's supposed to be and Drake London is going to take off. I think they're pretty good. I don't think they're really good. To me, that's more of a nine wind team than an 11 wind team, but they've kind of been crowned. They host the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's a one o'clock kickoff in Atlanta on Sunday for the Steelers. They had a battle that went throughout camp in the preseason at quarterback between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. Wilson won the thing. In fact, my daughter struggles to say or are sometimes. So she thinks his name is Wessel Wilson. I think, you know, I think we all just try to be our best every day. I think every day I step in the building and just try to, you know, bring my energy, bring the focus, the detail, the experience of it all too. And then we step in pursuing the white lines, you know, do everything you can to be your best version of you. Do you think the Falcons should be the favorite in the South? I do. But I also, my second axiom there is that the NFC South stinks. Yeah. Nobody's any good. The bottom is the worst. I think Carolina probably picks first or second again. So it's more about the other teams than Atlanta. Yes. So someone has to win that division. Why? Why don't people default to Tampa one at last year? Didn't lose a ton. Just assume they do again, because that, I don't know if it has the same streak as the NFC East does, but it always feels like someone goes from worst to first or third to first and it's Topsy Turvy. They all beat each other. They're all six and one half dozen or the other. All these teams are flawed, low ceiling. We're here also. Someone's got to win nine games. Is this the year Mike Tomlin Steelers finish under 500? I think they scream nine and eight again. It's perfectly set up because again, their division is the opposite. That division is a buzzer. Baltimore really good. Cincinnati Super Bowl caliber like the Ravens. Both of those teams strong and then the Browns have a quarterback dilemma. But if you take the Sean Watson out of the equation, it's probably like a 13 14 win outfit. That's a loaded team in that athletic piece, a polling 31 agents. They asked who the best talent evaluating GM is. And a lot of people said Andrew Barry, their general manager. Now, I guess he swung and missed on the Sean Watson and we're not going to count that, but they've done a really good job everywhere else almost. Absolutely. Yeah. So I mean, to me, this feels like the year it finally happens. But you know what Pittsburgh is going to be? Limited offensively, great special teams, really competitive on defense. They're going to win some ugly football games. They're going to Pittsburgh it up. One o'clock kick off its soldier field. All eyes will be on the bears and the Titans because the number one pick in the draft will make his NFL debut. Caleb Williams will make his first start at Chicago's franchise quarterback. What a last year plus for general manager Ryan polls who made the massive trade to come down the board. They go get DJ Moore in a bevy of picks turned into a number one overall selection. I mean, he is absolutely moving and shaken beloved in Chicago. This was the GM polls as he gets ready to watch his newest pupil. I want him to lean on the talent around him. And then when the time is right and that's an instinctual thing and I think that plays right into him, that's when you do the special and balancing that and then sometimes it's going to get out of whack one way or the other. But always come back to that is kind of like that, that neutral place where he's at his best. Does anybody want to type anything that he's saying? Does anyone want to just really loud like the furious typing? So why isn't that at the keys? And why is the microphone on your keyboard? Glide over the keys. Who is typing so loud? Everyone's talking about the bears and understandably, that's where we started. The Titans are a fascinating team. Yep. I'm not going to go full clary on you. Clary said at lunch today that he's got the Titans as a sneaky playoff caliber team. I mean, Ryan, I don't want to put words in your mouth. Did you you said they're going to be a sneaky? Let's watch out for them. He's got a word in the division. But didn't you also say they win the AFC South? That's my hot take. I think they win the AFC South. I'm all in on Callahan. I think Will Levis could potentially surprise people. So we'll see. What do you like most about Levis? How he plays football or that he eats his bananas with the peel on? It's banana with the peel on, but it's actually more so I think the Texans kind of fall off than I think the Texans are the Titans kind of take a little step up here. Yeah. So by the way, I'm at lunch with before you, Darris, you got there. It was Ryan and Danny, both telling me how bad the Texans stink. Nope. And they're like, that's not what happened. Look out for the Titans and watch out for the Jaguars. You both said the Texans will not make the playoffs. Right. But it's very different than they stink. I mean, you're doing everyone that made it last year. We'll make it this year, which never happens. It's always half the teams fall off. They were a game away from flipping and flopping with Indianapolis Colts last year. And I want to take all things. Larry's got them seven and 10. You just have them missing the playoffs. Yeah. I think they're nine and eight right around the same as they were. We're going to read that. What's wrong with the Texans articles is, you know, the Colts win one more game and the AFC is too crowded. This is far cry from that. I never said seven and 10 either as well. You said worse than that. I think you said five and 12. Yeah. No, our tries. I'm thinking like nine and eight. I think they fall off and miss the playoffs. Three and 14. I think that's what he said. Wait on your chicken sandwich. You killed the mosquito and you're like, dude, the three and 14 this thing. Remember the Titans. Ryan Clary says division champions. I am actually interested though. They did the thing you should do to give your quarterback the best chance. Brian Callahan, OC from the Bengals, offensive minded comes over. Maybe you try to fix Will Levis. They went and got weapons as well, including Calvin Ridley. It's a lot of the things that I think you should be doing. Yeah. Sneaky Tyler Boyd signing as well from Cincinnati. That's going to help them. They updated it. They basically was like, give it to Derek Henry and let's see what happens. They did that for a handful of seasons and it was awesome for a while. Last couple of years as they've been beset by injuries on both sides of the ball. They've been pretty terrible. No more Mike Rabel. They've now kind of updated and changed that roster over a little tiny bit. Again, I don't think anybody in that division is excellent, right? But you know, if you buy the idea that Houston's maybe been prematurely crowned and it's going to be wide open as it's been, maybe Tennessee makes some noise. I don't think they're ready yet though. Let's get back to some of the prime time activity in week one. Sunday night football is going to be awesome. 820 kickoff locally for the Rams and the Lions, a rematch of a tremendous playoff game from this past winter. The Lions just narrowly edging out the Rams at home in that game. Now we get to see it in week one on Sunday night football. When Matt Stafford's healthy and he will be to start the season, the Rams are a different team. Like they are a Super Bowl contending type club. So too are the Lions. They bring everybody back from that vaunted offense, including their coordinator Ben Johnson, who left more teams at the altar for a second straight off season. This is going to be a fun, maybe a telling game. If the Rams come out and beat the Lions, you got to consider them one of the better teams in the conference to kick off a brand new season. This is GM Brad Holmes who put the Lions together on Jamison Williams, who's considered an X factor for Detroit this year. I think it's very evident in the results that you saw this training camp that the work that he's put in just like Ray was saying, the route running, everything just him working with Elle, working with golf, just doing all those things in the all season in preparation. And he's got some good guys in that room. Obviously, you have an elite player like Saint Brown and forget the performance, but how his intentions are and Khalif Raymond, you know, I mean, he's got really good guys to look upon and follow, but- >> Go to the Rams for a second. Last year, I think a lot of people myself included kind of wrote them off because they started three and six, they were getting smashed by people. They were not impressive, struggling, couldn't find their identity, didn't know who they were, etc. After the bi-week, they went six and one. Their one loss was when Baltimore was playing excellent football in overtime in Baltimore, gave them everything they can handle and lost a toss-off game and ended up losing that epic one point playoff game to Detroit. I didn't view their season that way. I just remember that start and kind of you have an impression of them. They were pretty nasty down the stretch. What is Sean McVay's better coaching jobs? I would say he was great. I thought last year could have been the coach of the year. The Monday night football game to round out week one. Now six days away as the Jets and the 49ers, that game's in San Francisco. The Jets get Aaron Rodgers back on the field first time since week one a year ago. New look, wide receiver room, including Mike Williams coming over from the LA Chargers. Breeze Hall is kind of a sexy top-of-the-board fantasy pick. Everyone thinks he's going to become a superstar this year. They drafted a monster ever running back to pair with him in the backfield in fourth-rounder Braylon Allen. Noah is on Reddit who has not yet reported the loan holdout left in football. He's supposed to be a key piece to that defense. So without him, Jermaine Johnson, Will McDonald, their first round picks in 22 and 23 respectively, will be coming off the edges. And for San Francisco, speaking of holdouts, no practice time, no preseason time for Brandon and IU Trent Williams, but it's all hands on deck for a perennial Super Bowl power in the NFC as they try to get their season started. For the Jets, they have been a quarterback away for two straight seasons. And that's why they were so desperate and went to get Aaron Rodgers and tried to make this thing happen. He lasted about 14 seconds off and on for about 20 straight seasons. Well, yeah, for sure. But last year, they were actually really good. And last two years, really, they've been really, really, really, really good defensively. They were fourth and football two seasons ago, a third in yards allowed last season. They're excellent everywhere, except that quarterback spot. If you don't have Zach Wilson, if you have a replacement level Randy, just to do checking it down. If you had Jacobi Brissette or Joe Flack off his couch, which they probably could have had at any point, that's a playoff team over the last couple of seasons they haven't been. I think they are poised for that breakout finally to have it happen there in New York. Remember when they made two straight AFC Championship games with Rex Ryan as their coach is eating snacks and Mark Sanchez as their quarterback. Yeah, who was like sooner back up and then an even sooner out of the league. Same kind of deal then like what might that team have been if they could have just had an average NFL quarterback. Sean Merriman is going to join us next the former Maryland Terrapin and tremendous NFL pass rusher. When he gets his thoughts on not only Maryland's big win this weekend, but the NFL season ahead, our double plays coming up at three forty five and we are blitzing at four. This is Grant and Danny. The seasons may be changing, but the deals and the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl Tasha McKeea and I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings event where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shop from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures plus with their exclusive financing options. Getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at the sharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. Head on over to the sharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl Tasha McKeea sent you the sharpest rides affordable, sexy, sharp. Doors take us to summers away or winter adventures and afternoon getaways. Your dedicated Fidelity advisor can help you open those doors by working with you on a comprehensive plan to help you reach your wealth's full potential because doors were meant to be opened. Visit fidelity.com/wealth. Investment minimums apply Fidelity brokerage services LLC member NYSE SIPC. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's fanDuel.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Must be 21 plus in present in Colorado, first online real money weights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is now with drawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply, see terms at sportsbook.fanDuel.com, gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700. Dear Autumn Leaves, you won't be covering roads alone this season. Toyota's lineup of cool, colorful vehicles is ready to ride by your side. Take on fall in a trail tackling Tacoma, or go for a powerful tundra. Head to toyota.com for more info, or visit your local Toyota dealership today. Toyota, let's go places. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too, with the name of your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. At five o'clock today, Charles Davis joins the show, one of our favorite NFL guests. He's always fantastic. Make sure you're listening. Coming up in about 90 minutes. We got to be outlay blitz coming your way right at four o'clock on Grant and Danny. And next hour, we're going to go through some commanders burning questions as we are on to week one head of NFL action starting in two nights on Thursday night football. Did you see the sports reporters is coming back to ESPN? The old I did see that. Yeah. Do we know who the reporters are going to be? I think it's going to be different each episode. If I had to guess because what I saw for the first episode, by the way, have they ever done anything more for me? Do you know who Jeremy Shapps can have on the first episode? I don't know. Mike Toreko, Joe Buck, Ian Eagle, and Kevin Harlan. And those four guys are going to be talking about essentially calling games and play by play. They might as well just being that right to your house. I mean, are you kidding me? That thing wouldn't have it wouldn't be better if it was in my living room. You couldn't design something better for me. So back in the day, when it was like so much Michael Lupica and other, I don't know, I forget some of the rest of the names, but it was basically arguing about New York sports, which wasn't for me. Like I found myself growing wary of it, just that it was the refusal to acknowledge that there was there were several cities outside of New York or Boston or maybe even the Lakers. But it gave rise to the things that we all loved, right? It gave rise to some of the things that kind of changed television, some for the worst, but a lot for the better. Like there's no PTI without the sports reporters. There's no, this format to a degree without shows like that. I just think that there is still a place for informed, if you want to call it boring, you can. Sports content, it doesn't have to be personality driven. And by the way, information and intel and insight can still be personality driven. It just doesn't mean that I've got to wear a big clown suit and jump around and wave my hands in the air and act to fool. You know what I mean? Like you can still provide that insight, provide that information without it. Like to me, there's still a place for shows where the star of the show is the information. And ESPN has just gone so far away from that they've sprinted. I don't know if getting rid of that show was because of the movement they made in the direction that they did to basically like screen shows and everybody having a terrible take and ridiculous content to fill 24 hours. But I'm just excited it's coming back. Yeah, I'm hoping that they don't let it fall into the trap of the other just the regular old debate shows to your point where it's just nothing but loud bits or shouting hot takes or, you know, the seven thousand the deep dive into Dak in his contract or can anyone beat the homes or what does this say about LeBron's legacy kind of the normal crap. But again, if I had a complaint, I remember at one point, I used to watch it, I would say religiously, but pretty often. And I kind of it fell off a little bit mostly because it sort of became a precursor to some of these debate shows that we see now, right? Where it was all things New York, all things Boston, the occasional like LA related Lakers thing. And it was like, no, no, there's an entire sort of nation of sports that's hungry for content that whether it relates to them or not is just more relatable, right? And I felt like it they lost their way to a degree. I mean, the other thing not to be flipping about it, but I think the sort of sudden death of John Saunders, and it was like 2015, 2016 really changed the landscape there. Very possible. Yeah, that's possible. I I can't wait for the first one specifically up my alley, but also just the idea that it's coming back is a win. Let's go to the bet QL guest hotline now and welcome on to the show. Sean Merritt, who's got the ties, of course, to the University of Maryland. He's a Terp and had such an excellent NFL career as one of the tremendous past rushers of his era joining us via bet online. Sean, thanks for the time. We really appreciate it. How are you? I'm doing well, man. How are you? Good, buddy. Great. I wanted actually to start with the Terp so I'm a 50 burger this week. They got athletes all over the place for Mike Loxley. What'd you make of their big performance and win over UConn? You know, and I'll say I might be a little biased because I'm from the area. I believe that the DMV area got the best talent in the country, and I believe when those guys stay home that we can compete against anybody in the nation, including anybody in Texas, anybody in Florida, Georgia, it doesn't matter. Cali, it doesn't matter. I think that the DMV area has the time most talent. Now, what you have to do is keep stringing those games along, right? Like, you know, you can't put up a 50 piece and come out and, you know, get containers lesser than and not look as good. We know that they're going to slump all the teams that they should. The biggest thing is they're getting better and better and better to compete with the Michigan's of the world, compete with the Ohio State's. What they had, by the way, on the hills with three quarters last year. So those are the games that we need to lead up to in order to get, man. But that talent there in the DMV area is something different. Sean, let's go up a level to the NFL. Do you like the way the league is rolling out? And it's great for us. You know, Pujini, it's like myself sitting in home watching television. But do you like this kind of there's a game Thursday? There's a game Friday night, then there's like a double header on Monday. Like that sort of special rollout or are you more of a traditionalist? A player or a businessman? Either way, either way. Look, I think it's a player, right? You want you wanted to come into the game to help this possible. I remember the last, you know, last couple years, like, hey, there's your like football game. You put older guys because you don't get to recover now. The game is less physical, you know, they're not having had a process during the week. They're taking at least a lot more. So it's okay. But I think they're not talking about having it spread out because last year you want is guys sitting around scratching and can't moving all day because they're waiting game on Sunday, right? So they give you just. I'm going to throw it on hold because your phone's breaking up a little bit. So we're going to get that sorted out right now here on Grant and Danny joined by Sean Merriman, the former Terrapin, who was such a good pass rusher with the chargers in the NFL had a really strong career. We'll get to among other things with Merriman, some of his picks for division championships, conference, Super Bowl, and see where it ends up. But we're joined now by Sean Merriman on Grant and Danny. What do you make of the commanders, chances in Jaden Daniels as a rookie to make some noise in the NFC East? You know, I said this, um, I think the Kayla Williams was the most talented quarterback that came out. But I think Jaden Daniels was the most NFL ready quarterback that came out. And we're starting to see that already. Leaving the preseason games, man. Look at what he's placed in the football. Like, wait, wait, you know, he placed it where guys don't get hit right on the right on the back. So that first bomb we had coming out, we threw the ball, you know, I think 30 yards down the field right over the shoulder. We're only the wide receiver can catch it. So you look at him having the ability to come out and play right now, not don't forget he can use his legs, right? Because I would tell him to rookie this. When you're starting out, you just get in the NFL. If you're having problems with the speed of the game and the thing like this, don't be afraid to take off or hurt her defense, which are legs. And he's capable of doing that. So I've got him as the most NFL ready quarterback coming out of college. Sean, who do you like in the NFC East? Right now with all the with all the turmoil that there's going on with Dallas. You never know with them. The antithesis with Philly. You never know with them. My team is a commander's got a lot better. It's tough, man. You know, you just don't know, but I know this that it's not going to be as easy for the Cowboys this year, because what happens is you got the three to four year window where other teams got get better and commanders just got better. Sean, you played in the AFC West for so long with the Chargers. Obviously it's a new era there now with Jim Harbaugh, but the Chiefs have had a stranglehold on that division. The Broncos are trying to make some headway with Sean Payton and they've turned things over to Bowniks. And the Raiders have retained Antonio Pierce. They're the one team that still got a pretty ugly quarterback situation. It seems like out there. But how do you see that division shaken out? Well, look, of course, I want to be biased to the Chargers. I do think they've gotten a lot better in me spending time around the team and the coaching staff. There's a different era or about them. There's a different level of confidence. There's about them this year. They didn't have in the physicality of these guys going to come out and play with running with Gus Bradley and J. K downhill, and Joe, you know, draft and go all the shots later there. These guys going to be a bunch of physical bunch, but it's just hard to snatch away the crown from K.C. and just somebody dethrones them. And you're right now. I think the Bowniks is the future of that team. I think it was a great take. I think it was a, you kind of caught a lot of people off guard where he just jumped in and started doing this thing. And the Raiders, man, I mean, AP is my boy. Well, good friend of mine, but I'll tell you this, uh, you cannot win in that division without a, without a, uh, without a quarterback. You just can't do it. And I don't care how, how great Max Cross is. He is great. How great that defense going to play this year. How great, uh, Devonti Adams is because you can't get the ball to him at the quarterback position. Sean, forgive me. I don't remember if you ever held out or had contract disputes or anything, but I do know that San Francisco without Trek Williams, Brandon, I look for so much of the off season. The Jets, a son, Redick still hasn't reported. Jamart Chase is not practicing still with the Bengals. We got a handful of guys this year who just kind of skipped the entire off season until this week. Is that going to affect either those players individually or those teams, those ski, the offense, the defense they're a part of, the other guys adjusting or you think it's like riding a bike with some of those veteran stars? I think, um, you know, trick, guy like Trent Williams has been doing it forever. Uh, you could just pop him and he's, he's going to do his thing. I think it's a skills, but skill positions is going to be uphill battle. Um, the timing, you know, getting used to those routes, just stopping and going because it's, it's hard man up to, to replicate football, the actual game of it. You can work out all all seasons, sprints and change directions, you know, doing your drills, there's nothing like playing actual game of football. So it's going to take a few games for a guy like the Mar Chase to get back on a brand value. It's going to take a little bit for those guys to get back going again. Sean Merriman with the serum GND. Sean, you spent a little time in Buffalo. I'll go to the AFC East here for a second. You got to go to the betting window. Now you got to put money on Buffalo or any of the other three teams in the AFC East to win the division. It's, you know, I'm, I'm Bill's monitor for life man and love those guys out there, but we all know in football, you got a three or four year window before you come out of there and at least win one. I think, um, I'm not going to say that window is closed, but it's gotten a lot smaller because mine, it's gotten a lot better and Rogers is on the field. That, that jet team, I believe is stacked. And the only team you don't have to worry about as much there is the patience because I don't think they figured out their quarterback situation. None against, uh, uh, you know, Jacobi anything, uh, Bursett, none against him, but you need a, uh, a big time quarterback in order to win that division. I don't think they got that there. So I can't put, I can't believe it. Bill's man. I, I think mine is in, and the Jets just got so much better. Uh, but it's hard to kind of just throw all your money on them. Former Terp, Sean Merriman, courtesy of bed online, check out bed online for updated Super Bowl conference division and awards odds plus win totals for each team. Week one lines, plethora of fun props on every game and so much more. Sean will let you out on this. We want your Super Bowl prediction for this year. Who wins? Who loses? Well, yeah, I don't think a three pete is, is, uh, is in a car to Casey, even though I hate going against the champs. It's so hard to go against anybody. It's one back to back. Um, but a three pete, knowing that Houston, that, uh, the Texas has gotten, gotten better and around just in fact, you know, the charge is going to be much better than anywhere last year. Um, their, their role to get back to the Sioux both going to be tough NFC NFC side. I like the 49ers. Um, I do because I think they're the most violent team in football, but I think the AFC is wide open. Um, I don't, I don't see the cheese going for three feet. It's too hard to do. Nobody's ever done it. Uh, Sean, always a pleasure, man. Really appreciate the time. Enjoy the week one. You got it guys. Make sure you also tell my new free ad supported platform. Uh, Lifestyle Sports TV available on all smart TV, free ad. Uh, we got a big fight coming up. Lifestyle extreme fight this Friday that'll be live, uh, on Lifestyle Sports TV that's available at every major, uh, CTV platform. Love it. Always make a move. Sean. Thank you, buddy. We appreciate you. We got to thank you. I hear the man. There's Sean Merriman on Grant and Danny here on the fan via bet online joining us here on G and D. Uh, next let's get you a double play. What's going on your lives. Nothing to do with sports. We're blitzing at four o'clock. We're talking commanders burning questions in week one at four 25. This is the fan. Double play on Grant and Danny, driven to you by your local Washington area, haunted dealers, stopping for a great deal on the rugged and capable Honda pilot, contact your local Washington area, haunted dealers. Today, our double play, what's going on in our lives? Nothing to do with sports. Seems like a good time to remind everybody you can come hang out with us tonight. We are drafting our fantasy football teams and our Grant and Danny listener league. If you are not in the league, no problem. You can join us and eat some wings and have a good time at a sports bar while we are discussing football. A bunch of listeners going to be there. We're going to be in Crystal City tonight at Highline R and R draft starts around seven o'clock. Get there when you can. We'll be there throughout the evening. Indeed. Just and indulging in delicious foodstuffs and camaraderie. Dare I say even some fellowship GP always fun. Time for our double play. Danny. What do you got? Rick's of powers back GP started the premiere of season two debuted late last week, a three episode head start to kind of get the season moving last season up and down a little bit uneven. The sets designs everything was beautiful. You were in Middle Earth, obviously at the start of the second age. You know that only to tell you, but I'm talking to everybody else now. You basically have the return of Sauron in guys. This is according to Middle Earth lore. They took a lot of liberty story wise in season number one. And that's continued. But I think they listened to some of their critical feedback here and they're trying at least to do a few things. I guess slightly differently. They're still a little bit too much. Again, these like extra plot lines. They're trying very hard to have this kind of panoramic in the feel of the same thing of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy where you've got the separate quests. You don't exactly have it hitting as hard as it probably should. For example, it's taking place in Numenor through the first few episodes. It should not be taking place in Numenor. We, we, we sort of, they're sort of like an all so ran character. And yet they're sort of like this mainstay. There's this intrigue we're supposed to have about this political infighting. And a lot of us don't care. I'm just not into it. Please tell me what's happening with Anatar. Please tell me what's happening with Colembrimbor. Show me what's happening with this stranger slash potential. One of the five wizards, maybe one of the two blues that we never see. I don't know if he's, I don't know if he's Palando, I don't know if he's Alatar. I don't know what he is, but they haven't told the ship, but there's intrigue there. Now he's fighting with the Southlanders and there's also a dark wizard involved. That's positive. I like that storyline with him and Noldie and Nordie, or Nordie rather, and Poppy, who kind of tagged along there from the Harfoots. It's a whole other thing. But I will tell you, pretty pleased through three episodes. Good, not great, visually stunning, but yeah, a little too much whining for some of the characters, the younger versions of characters that we know and love very well. Very good. Well done. Thank you. Should I do my double play now there? So should I wait until everyone turns their radios back on? Oh, zanger zams. Come on. Here we go. Who said that? Here we go. Who put that question mark on the teller? Here we go. Columbrum board. Do I hear a Columbrum board? Columbrum board. Columbrum board. Spell that for me. Say it again. The real elven pronunciation is Columbrum board, but the kind of the, you know, sort of the way it's fashion for us for, you know, because we can't speak the elven speech. We're not from Arda. Columbrum board is how you hear it all right. K-E-L-E-M-B-R-U-M-B-O-R-E Columbrum board. No, but that was adorable. Okay. Yeah. Well, that's how I wrote it down in my journal, Columbrum board. It's time for my double play. I want to talk about Columbrum board. Just kidding. You won't. He forged the rings, man. Sleep on with your own right. Surprising that bore is in that word. Hey, come on. Come on. What did he say? Battle, man. Who's done it? Come on. Who's done it? I'm not, I'm not moving on. Who's done it? Come on. Who's done it? All right. Two things, Danny. I think you'll be interested in both. I can't promise. All right. Number one, I've got a very hot take. This one you'll hate. Major League Two gets a bad rap. I think Major League Two. I'm not saying it's Major League, number one, but I do think the movie Major League Two, better than I remembered it being. I watched it this weekend. I was late at night. You're a little bit punch drunk when you watched it. Yeah. I watched it and I'm like, this isn't terrible. Did we sleep on Major League Two just a little bit? Here's why it got panned. Okay. Because it couldn't recreate what one was. But it's not a bad movie. I've actually always argued this. It's not as awful as everyone remembers. Ooh, I thought you completely disagree with it. It is not as all everyone says it's awful, it's so stupid because you can't recreate the magic that was the original Major League, which was just perfect. How does Wesley Snipes just not show up? Yeah. There's just a different guy playing Willie Mays Hayes. I don't know how I feel about that. Yeah, you shouldn't feel good. Did they not get a contract done with him? I think that was the beginning of Wesley's difficult period where he started being a little bit tougher to work with. Was that he wasn't in jail for like the tech stuff or anything? I think that was to come later if my timeline's right. Okay. Well, he should have been in that movie because he's a 10. Miss Davis 10. The other thing is, have you seen Adam Sandler love you on Netflix? No. Are you familiar? No. So this is, I don't really know what it is having watched half of it now. I'm about quite literally, you can see it right here. Let me say it. I'm halfway through Adam Sandler love you on Netflix. Okay. The red line is about 50%. All right. I really like it. And I was prepared to not laugh and to not like it. And I've said before, like the Adam Sandler movie thing, I'm pretty good on. I loved his Will House movies like everyone else. Sure. Years and years ago, Big Daddy and Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore. But all the stuff now are just him and guys. But the voice isn't. No, I'm out. It's he's just kind of, if you're weird enough, you're considered a genius. Do you know what I'm saying? I know exactly what you mean. We confuse eccentricity with genius. Exactly. Yeah. But so here's what I don't know. I don't know what this is exactly. It's like made almost movie-ish, but it's a stand-up routine that he's doing. And maybe it'll be explained in the back half. But it's basically just like Adam Sandler's stand-up and he did it in a funny way. Everyone tries to put a little wrinkle on it like you're running in and you walk out in that outfit, you're doing your set. You know, he has essentially like the start of a movie it feels like. And then he's doing his set the whole time. But it's very, very funny. And like he does these little songs where they make they have nothing to do with anything. And again, I don't know if it was because it was late at night. What? I'm just cracking up and I want you to watch it. My guess is you'll hate it. But I thought I would hate it and I found myself liking it. Well, I certainly appreciate people trying to do something different, right? Like the sometimes we swing and miss in that regard, but like very different. It's not like anything else I don't think on Netflix. Yeah. Think of like a stand-up special. A great one probably popped in your head. Chris Rock's last special, I think it was his last one was Tambourine, where it was the same stuff, but three different places. Yes. Right? That's unique. That's a little bit different. Neil Brennan, one of the writers on on Chappelle's show, who is dry and funny as hell did a thing with three different microphones where he took on different personas. Seth Meyers and his stand-up special had a whole chunk where he performed, but as his wife, and I know that sounds weird, but it makes more sense because it's jokes about him from his wife's perspective. So I've never seen that, but as someone who doesn't find him funny, even a little bit, that's not surprising to hear. Well, I'm telling you, that was the best part. I think he's fine. A little bit too smug for me. I find his shtick. It's just not for me. Which I get, but the stand-up special, it was going fine. It was okay. It's some pretty clever stuff. I mean, he's a comedian. He knows what he's doing. The section where it's about him, but his as his wife writing the jokes was the best part of it. Wasn't there a thing that came out that Jennifer Lawrence like really wanted to date him or something and found out he was married? There was a weirdest thing I've ever heard. There was a Nicole Kidman like Jimmy Fallon thing. Different thing. And that was, she thought she was going to date Jimmy Fallon and he just played video games. Yeah. That was great. No, apparently I'll have to look it up and find it in the break. Like Jennifer Lawrence had a big crush on Seth Meyers. Wow. And I just, I don't know why. I can't quite figure that one out, but I'd love to know more. I'd love to double click on that. Very strange. The Beltway Blitz is next on Grant and Daniel, let's talk commanders burning questions next hour. We got our guy Charles Davis on the show at about one hour and five minutes right at five o'clock on the fan. The seasons may be changing, but the deals the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKeea. And I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right. Everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. 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