Grant and Danny

Austin Ekeler On The 2024 Season Ahead, Biggest Takeaway From Harris' Presser, Soto's Return

8.27.24 Hour 2

1:00- Austin Ekeler joins G&D to discuss what's ahead for the Washington Commanders as he has been thrilled with rookie QB Jayden Daniels.

22:40- We give our biggest takeaway from the Josh Harris presser, what was yours?

32:40- We discuss Juan Soto's return to DC as he had a funny interaction with some former teammates, and people within the organization.

Broadcast on:: 27 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: other

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Tell 'em that your girl Tasha McKeea sent you, the sharpest rides, affordable, sexy, sharp. 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 Fandal, America's number one sports book. 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Be sure to tell them Grant and Danny sent you so that you can get a discount. That's kmloyers.com. In one hour, we're giving away tickets to Kevin Hart when he comes to DC. In September, he's going to be a D.A.R. Constitution Hall at 5. You'll hear from Dan Quinn as he addresses the media on cut down day. Washington forming its 53-man roster like the rest of the teams in the NFL are ahead of their 4 p.m. deadline. But right now, let's go to the bet QL guest hotline. Bet smarter to beat the books, download the bet QL app and visit betql.com. We're joined by Austin Eckler running back with the commanders who is lucky enough at this point in his career to not have to worry about staring at his phone all day long. But Austin, I am curious as a veteran with pelts on the wall, you know, what today is like for you and just your perspective on so many of your teammates have been working their butts off who are having their dreams set to the side here, potentially on speed bumps. But it's a tough day around the league. Yeah, it's a big day for multiple reasons. And I remember, and it was an eight years ago, eight years ago around this time, I actually got a call. But it was from our player director telling me that I need to go find an apartment. And that was a really special moment. I immediately called my mom right after. I remember she was crying. I was crying because, you know, some of the work that we've been putting in had finally come to fruition and we're looking forward to finally getting on, get on the NFL team. But obviously there's the flip side of that as well where a lot of guys have been putting in, you know, that work as well. And it doesn't, it doesn't come yet. Their time isn't now. And it doesn't mean their time's never going to come, but it might not be in that certain team or that certain moment. So it's a time where, look, there's a lot of great stuff happening, but also a lot of movement obviously in the other direction as well. Austin, can you go into what maybe you said to a teammate or two because I think that's very sage advice, right? It's easy to think about the here and now and get bad news and be very focused on that. But that big picture thing is probably really hard after the work you've just now kind of put in. Did you talk to any of the young guys who might be facing this today and maybe share some of that? Yeah. You know, actually yesterday or two days ago before our game, we're just telling these young guys just, you know, make sure that whatever you do, after this game, you feel like there's nothing else you could have done. You feel like you've exhausted every ounce of energy that you could absolutely exhaust. And no matter what, if you do that, guess what? You'll be able to live with yourself and know that you put everything on the line and it wasn't something that you didn't do that caused you to fail. It was ever, you did everything. And I told them like, look, I'm proud of you guys for the work you've been putting in. And there's, I didn't tell them this, but in my mind, there's no telling how it's going to turn out, you know? So I just try to keep it as positive as I can and pushing those guys to make sure that they understand that this is an important moment. And then also that leave it all out there on the line Austin Echler on Grant and Danny here on the fan and your one in DC joined the commanders in part because you'd worked with Anthony Lynn in the past. So you kind of knew what to expect. I'd imagine in the meeting room and on the practice field from this staff, but what are your early returns and thoughts on this group after now navigating a training camp and your first preseason with them? Yeah. I knew what to expect from Anthony Lynn and he has been living up to that as well. Funny story, actually my rookie year, he was my head coach and he's a big running back guy. Like that's where a lot of his knowledge is. He came sprinting across the field because my track on a trap play was off by about a half yard. And so that is how detailed this man is when it goes to the right back position. So for me as a competitor, I couldn't wait to get in that room because I'd love to be coached. I want to make sure my details are on point, I want to be held accountable. So that has been, you know, our room dynamic, but then also getting to know Dan Quinn. And I've been saying this, but if I were ever to be a head coach, I would want to be like Dan Quinn. Like he understands that coaching processes, coaching brotherhood, coaching, you know, how to hold the standard. What the standard is, is the way that you get the results that you want. If you coach results, hey, we got to go win a Super Bowl, we got to win games, there's no substance to that. It doesn't mean anything, but if we're talking about how we should interact with each other, how we should practice together, what, what, what's an example of, hey, this is a bad rep by you, pull it up. This is a good rep by you. Pull it up. Those are the things that create processes and our brotherhood within our culture that allows us to play and keep ourselves held to a standard where we can play at a high level. And then, you know, the results will hopefully come from what we want. So I really appreciate Dan Quinn, the way he's about. I'll connect with this year on Grant and Danny and Austin, you mentioned you've been around for a minute, played for a few different head coaches now. How did this kind of camp preseason sort of compare and contrast to ones you've gone through previously? Wow. I mean, this sounds going to sound like it's a big Dan Quinn hype session, but this man really understands the power of keeping the body healthy and making sure that recovery is integrated into the, not just what we have going on, but integrated into the schedule. We have mandatory hour recovery sessions within the schedule. I know in the past, it's really been like, hey, get your recovery during lunch and stuff like that. And you have like a longer lunch, but we bring in specific people. You have people doing massages, dry needling every day during training camp. And so that was something that was really new to me and kind of showed me where Dan's mind is that when it comes to taking care of his team and understanding that a healthy team is a very effective and dangerous team on game day. So it has been an amazing camp and I've been so blessed to be out here and looking forward to getting into regular season. Austin Echler, one of the veterans with the commanders, one of their leaders who's been setting the tone this summer out in Ashburn, of course, led the NFL and touchdowns over a couple of years span and 21 and 22 with the Chargers and we're thrilled to have them now in the nation's capital here on Grant and Danny with us on the fan today. Specific to the Jaden Daniels hype going into training camp and really not knowing what to expect. You've been around some young QBs. You kind of went through this with Justin Herbert. Like do you go about that now differently having lived that experience once where you go up, you introduce yourself and try to answer as many questions as possible or do you let a young kid come to you and what has that been like and kind of feeling Daniels out in that way? Yeah, I think as the veteran and being around a lot of younger guys, you realize that coming into the NFL is actually really intimidating for a lot of people for different reasons. One of them being like, "Hey, you've been watching these guys or playing with them on Matt and or looking up to some of these guys and now you're in the same room with them." So as an older person in the locker room, not saying they all looked up to me, but just that's kind of a sense. Like, man, these guys have been in the league for a long time. They've earned their respect. So you kind of feel like, "Okay, I still have to get my stripes and I have to earn my respect out there." And so as an older player, I definitely have been the one that, "I'm going to approach you. I'm going to introduce myself to you. I'm going to ask you questions. I'm going to come up to you after practice because that's the position I'm in." And I know it was the opposite when I had Philip Rivers when he was a veteran. He would do that same stuff for us and he would come up to us and want to get routes after practice to get on the same page. And now it's kind of the role flips now that I'm going into your age, James coming into your one. And he'll get there as well. He's got a great mentor in Marcus Marioda in that room that's really been doing a good job. I'm super proud of him, too, of how he's been showing the ways of what a veteran quarterback does during the offseason, in season, leading the offense, the cadence, all this stuff. So James in good hands and I'm looking forward to seeing him excel as well. Austin Echler on Grant and Danny here on the fan. How do you feel about now the structure? It seems like we're eventually going to 18 games and then two preseason games, but right now you got the three exhibition games. Most teams choose two to let guys like you play in and then sit you for the third, which you guys did games one and two on the field as a group of starters. And how does the joint practice fit into this now? Do you feel like you get more out of those? Like, could you get ready for a season as a running back, not taking on a whole lot of contact or being tackled without playing in the preseason? Are you in a position where you kind of need that at this point? Well, first off, I just want to say we, the PA, have not agreed to anything. So this 18 games were tough as a bunch of BS, let's just get that out of the way. You know, I think this is a tactic, in my opinion, by the NFL side, trying to push this narrative of that's where we're going. So that players start thinking about it. But we're smarter than that, like we know exactly what's going on and we're definitely aware of what's going on with them. You know, potentially leaking 18 games, right, potentially, right. So here's the thing. Well, before you move on to the other part of the question, I actually want to follow up on that. So do you not think it's heading in that direction? I mean, obviously there's going to be a, there's going to, you guys are going to have to agree, but you wouldn't bet on that at this point. It just seems obvious that they're going to keep. That's what they want. So, yeah, I mean, truth, the ownership, they guys want 20 games, they want, they want as many games as they can get. If they get 50 out of us, they get 50 out of us. And so what do we have to do? We got to make sure that we put ourselves in a position where we can protect ourselves as players, right. And we can actually make sure that if we are going to give up some of our time and work more, then there's got to be the proper compensation and the proper things that we feel is worse that extra gain and so on and so forth. So that's where I am, but yes, obviously they want more, but is it going to be worth it to us to give them more? No, I think that's well said. And then specific to the, kind of the juxtaposition now of joint practice for a pre-season game, the narrative has become, and I think coaches have pushed this even a little bit too. I don't know what your perspective is, but like the joint practices are as helpful and or maybe better than the pre-season, the way it was explained to me by a lot of coaches over the years is they can kind of dictate situations, practice more things that they want to get looks at guys, because you can't really do that in a game. You may not get a goal line or a short yardage or something like that. How do you feel as a player in that regard? Look, for the last four years, I have actually played in a pre-season game and that includes the years that I led the league and, you know, touchdowns and had 1,600 all-purpose yards those years. So we did have joint practices during those times. So that definitely gave us, that was like our game reps, like hey, it still wasn't live, but close to live as you're going to get, you're going to get someone in some other color just not going to the ground or cutting or anything like that. So there's definitely a lot of value in those joint practices, which is why we do them. And there's not a ton of reps to go around when you have a 90-man roster to get a good evaluation on people. So you want to make sure you're maximizing the opportunities that you have. So I don't mind the pre-season games. I think they're actually super beneficial for multiple reasons, get the stadiums ready, get coaches ready, especially new coaches coming in so they know their process and all of that. So there's value in all of it. And it just depends on how we want to balance it. You know, obviously we just have four. Now I'm thinking about fours like dang, but if we had a whole other week of pre-season that would be wild. So I could definitely see it going down to two at some point, but not in exchange for another game. I don't know. That's a whole different conversation. Austin Ecker with the Sierra on G&D. All right. Austin, give me a second. All right. Well, you were out just now minding your business, putting up 1600 total yards and 20 touchdowns pretty much. I have long been a huge fan of yours. And what I've done is I've begged for an Austin Ecker type running back here in town. We got the best version of that and turns out it's actually Austin Ecker. Years past, what would happen is a guy with your skillset that's so good out of the backfield, great and past pro, they can do all these things. It's okay. It's third and long. Let's trot that guy out there. I've been screaming at nobody because I'm just a pudgy idiot, but as screaming at nobody, I need my super effective playmaker, not just to be third down reserved. Are we getting early down Austin Ecker and who do I have to talk to? I mean, well, I mean, if you look at my past, you know, my past history, I'm always, I mean, these past four years anyway, I've been on the field pretty much the entire time. I take a drive off. So that was the dynamic in the past. Obviously, it's a new dynamic now coming in with, you know, Brian Robinson in the room as well. And he's a different type of back than I am with different types of bodies, but he's shown he can carry the load all three down so am I. And so for me, it's, and what's really great is I'm with Cliff Kingberry, who in my opinion is putting us in perfect positions so that we can actually maximize our talent. And so I'm going to be on the field all over the place and I don't think you'll have to worry about me being on, on the field when it's, you know, crunch time, third down, things like that, because Cliff's been doing a good job making sure that, hey, we're putting our playmakers on the field so they can make plays and put them in positions where they're best at. So, you know, the players will come, my friend. The players will absolutely come. Thank you. It makes you feel better. We're getting lots of tweets, Austin, and also comments from our YouTube chat with people with questions for you. Just want to bang through a couple of these real quick on Grant and Danny. A lot of people are asking you about fantasy. They're kind of the players synonymous with being okay with the idea that fantasy football exists and it doesn't seem to bother you. I don't want to say, you know, it's a part of the industry that you enjoy, but I'm seeing a lot of people who are asking you questions about fantasy. How did that come about? I mean, did you just always play fantasy football and like most players where you kind of drop it when you start playing? You continue to? No, so my love of fantasy came from what it does for the sport. Actually, most of my fans, I would say, have come because of fantasy. Really? And the power of having you on someone's team that they don't even know, they might not even know that I was on the charges, but they're like, "Oh, we love this awesome network guy. Who is he?" They know my name because I was on their fantasy team and now they're watching the Chargers or watching me because I'm on their fantasy football team. So the fact that it's bringing new communities into the ecosystem of players that are on different teams is what I love about it. I love how it brings people together. I'm a community builder. That's what I do in my foundation and my businesses. I build communities. And that's one of the main reasons I love fantasy. And so it's introduced me to a lot of new people. I do play. I have a charity league that I'm a part of as well. So I'm definitely in there and I'm definitely rooting for guys on other teams left for playing them. It's a good time. It's a good time. That's cool. So I have too many fantasy questions then. The first would be, when you're in a league, do you have, like, is there a rule that you get yourself? Like, what if someone drafts you? And then secondly, give us a sleeper commander's player on offense who we should be considering in fantasy that might not be obvious. Ooh, interesting. Well, I can't get too much away on the insider stuff because we haven't got to week one yet. Oh, it's true. I want to get to week one before I start leaking stuff and get myself in trouble. Okay. I like that. But as far as me getting myself, I always am trying to get myself and it's actually easy right now because, you know, people think I'm just, you know, in the trash can, apparently from last year. 80 p over 100 Austin. I think it's great value. Yeah. So look, I'm getting. So there you go. If you need a sleeper, you know, people thought, oh, you know, often played on one and a half ankles last year. And he wasn't very good. He only got, you know, like eight touchdowns in a thousand yards. He's washed up. And I was like, y'all need to chill out, man. Like I was going through, so our team was, you know, going through some stuff, had some injuries, lingering around and now I'm back and healthy. So I'm getting myself all over the place. Yeah. But I'm always trying to get myself. We want to ask you about experience, an app that you've got. It's a fan engagement platform. You mentioned you were working on when we had you on several months ago. And I think you made a lot of progress on it now. 85 active NFL players are going to participate. Tell us about it. Yeah. 94 professional football players on there right now and actually just brought on our first school. But what's really cool, we just launched a new interaction called fan mail, which allows you to send an item to get signed by that player that's offering it. And so right now you can only get it from any of the Washington players. And so that's the biggest announcement that we've had lately. So if you want to get your off-neckled jersey signed or a card signed by me or Johnson Allen or Marcus Marioda, Luke McCaffrey, all these other guys that are out there, you can go and check it out. And it's actually called experience, but spelled E-K-S-P-E-R-I-E-N-C-E. So X, like my last name, experience. So really excited about it and loving what we've been doing so far and the engagements have been great with the fans and the area. It's really a methodology for us to open ourselves up and give you more of a fan experience than just being in the stands. This one for me, Austin, as you guys get ready to, you know, as this. Rasha gets finalized, you can start playing games here next weekend. What's the biggest key for you guys to get off to a fat start? Fast start, do you think? But also a fat start. A fat start. Do you want to get off to a fat start? We want you guys to be lethargic and not skinny. Yeah, go to eat fast food. Oh, I love it. You know, for us, man, we have a lot of moving parts and new players on this team and players that have had kind of success in the past as well. And when you bring a lot of people together, it comes down to how well you gelled, which comes down to one thing, the details. How detailed can we be in the fundamentals and getting lined up and operating? Because if we do that, we're going to be a pretty good offense, it's going to be hard to stop us. But if we're a little, you know, lack of the physical and the communication, it's not where it needs to be, you know, it's going to be tough for us. So that's the NFL, but especially when you have new teams, new coaches, rookie quarterback, it's especially important. And so what do you think I'm going to be, you know, preaching the next couple of weeks is detail, detail, detail, detail until I'm blue in the face, because that's where it's got to be. That's what's going to help us win games. Austin, you got married this off season, obviously, right in time to get back to work. I don't know if you've even had time, you and Melanie, to kind of experience what there is to offer in DC yet or find restaurants you like, has it been all work and things will slow down a little bit in season in terms of some nights off or have you even seen the new community? So my wife would tell me that until you guys I am a workaholic and I am always trying to build, like I am a builder at heart, I'm an entrepreneur, and football happens to be, you know, the thing you guys know me for, but as you see, even with experience, I'm out building apps, I'm building foundations, we're building, you know, communities online. And so that's what I do for my fun, free time, but yeah, every once in a while, make sure we get out to date night and we'll check out DC, so we've been out around the town a little bit meeting some new people. I'm a big networker. So there's fun in the things that we like to do, but it also sometimes looks up, looks like work to other people. So that's what we do. I love it. You're always making moves. Austin, we appreciate it. We'll be pulling for you to get off to the quick start this year and you heard it from Austin Eckler. Don't sleep. Grab him in those fantasy drafts. Thanks, man. Good luck to you, buddy. Appreciate you guys. Thanks. All right, you got it. There's Austin Eckler on Grant and Danny here on the fan. He's always got something going on just to just one of those little bit too perfect. You know what I mean? You just can't believe that's like in my spare time, I start companies, right? If I spare time, I start foundations like me too, as I sit down to play video games, like watch a show just better than me. Josh Harris spoke to the media over the weekend. What was the biggest news item that came out of that Q and A? What was the biggest development of all of the answers he provided? I want to get into that next. We'll also get you the latest on Cutdown Day, another name trickling out, having been released by Washington. We'll tell you who next on the fan. 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 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, 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 thesharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands, or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides, located at 2250 South Sea Homestree in Englewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. Head on over to thesharpestrides.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. 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. Call or bet that's fandule.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with fandule, 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 bet set expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandool.com. Gambling problem call 1-800-522-4700. 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-minimals-apply Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC. 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 the powerful Tundra. Head to toyota.com for more info or visit your local Toyota dealership today. Toyota, let's go places. It's cut down day around the NFL, the commanders and 31 other teams are whittling rosters upwards of 90 players down to 53. There were a lot of things I liked about covering the team. Just being on the inside, getting to know coaches and learning ball from different perspectives, having relationships at the building. When you're on the beat, I don't envy guys like Ben Standig or reporters like Nicki Javallo who look like they're grinding and working their way through cut down day, but you're texting players or their agents or folks with the team and sometimes asking people directly, "Hey, did the worst thing that could have possibly happened to you happen today?" Were your professional dreams crushed today? Text me back. Get in your wrong, that's the job and people want the information and you're trying to cover the football team that you're doing, you're supposed to do, but man, that is on a human level. That's tough. Today was the worst. It was just at the end of the day, like I've never been a guy that's like, "Oh, I need a beer." You know what I'm saying? But I needed to go to a movie, like I needed to unplug and just for a couple hours, not think about anything and just go kind of chill out in the dark and have no one talk to me with a movie plant. But thinking about the players, their families that are getting the bad news today, hopefully many of them do come back on the practice squad, but with that out of the way, some of the latest cuts by the commanders that are interesting and names that you got to know and maybe got enamored with like I did during the preseason, Danny. Wide receiver Bryson Tremaine, I like him. I think he is a big tall, 6-4 wide receiver who can help down the field. He made one catch after another in training camp, just vertically over people contested, has decent speed. I talked to him at camp and he basically said, "Since I was at Stanford, I think I've been able to run by people because they look at me with my size and they're like, "Oh, this guy's not going to be able to outrun me." And then he gets behind everyone and makes a big catch and he did it all camp long, preseason just didn't quite go well enough. Another guy I really, really liked was Michael Wiley and I'm quite sure he'll stay in the building, the Arizona running back who was undrafted out of the Pac-12. He got released today as well. I guess there's a question as to whether or not they keep three running backs. I'd imagine they'll keep Jeremy McNichols but if you kept two and Kaz Allen was still around. Yeah, then it's sort of, you know, he's half a running back, half a wide out, a little bit of everything. You could also only keep two running backs now because even though you wouldn't go into a game on Sunday in week one that way, maybe it gives you a chance to keep a safety you don't want to cut and have on the waiver wire and then you'll sort out running back when someone else gets released or maybe in the next three days or something. Like, remember that too, the roster they formed today can be as much strategic as anything. It doesn't mean it's what it's going to look like in week one. In fact, it's almost certainly not going to look that way. Yeah, this is the initial 53, not the final 53, through such a thing. Obviously, is rosters, your form and injuries happen and changes happen and releases happen and everything else. But yeah, your initial homework or your first quiz, whatever you want to call it, is due this afternoon and there'll be changes after that, right? Because waivers and other things and you may, as you said, you may not want to expose a guy to waivers right away knowing that, you know, he might get snatched up and maybe you want to stash him or something that effective. Maybe you can do some machinations therein. Last year's sixth round pick, Chris Rodriguez running back out of Kentucky has been waived by the commanders. So to his fifth round pick at a Clemson KJ Henry, according to multiple reports, he got bad news today, which is good news for Jamin Davis and it would stand to reason that if KJ Henry, who a lot of people had as their fourth defensive end, didn't make the team, then all systems are go for Jamin Davis, who will not only make it as an end, but who knows what the injury to Jordan McGee could end up being depth at linebacker still as well. Indeed. Yeah. That the dreaded position flex from the round Rivera era act would certainly apply to Jamin Davis as he learns a new spot. You can plug him in as needed on the rare occasion they're in a three linebacker set. No surprise that Sam Hartman got waived as good looking as he is. And as productive at times as he was in game, first preseason game, he got to play and he looked pretty good. That was the fourth quarterback. It can't, you know, McSorley is really the fifth guy. So practice squad would be an option. I would imagine if they want to keep a project and Hartman around because if they were going to keep three QBs, it was going to be the veterans probably. You could have gone with a kid in Hartman over Driscoll. But Driscoll showed enough, I think, I mean, they have a tight pretty obviously look at the quarterbacks right now in the building. It's Jayden Daniels who can run Jeff Driscoll who can run Marcus Marioda who can run and trace McSorley who can run to a degree. The only guy that isn't that is Hartman Sam Hartman, Mitch Tinsley helped himself in the final preseason game. I thought he got cut today despite having been heavily featured and speaking of wide receivers on the outs, Martavis Bryant, a lot of question as to whether or not the big six foot four inch wide receiver one time stand out with the Steelers could force his way under the roster that did not happen, he will not be part of the initial 53. So as you're looking at this, they're, they're, you know, on on its surface, barring another move that we don't know about AK bringing in somebody in that's outside of the organization, you would think it's good news for a couple guys, guys like Jamison Crowder, it's good news for good news for Byron Pringle. For example, just take another receiver spot. You already mentioned Jammin Davis. So on its surface, those guys, you know, the longer the names aren't called, the better it is for them. I wanted to get to Josh Harris's press conference from Sunday quickly. We talked quite a bit about this yesterday, but one thing we didn't get to was what was the biggest development do you think out of everything that he addressed? Because that was as candid and just legitimate a Q and A with an owner, as we've had in this market in decades, quite literally, and for 23 minutes, he sat there and he took questions from all comers and he answered them and I thought he actually gave real context and perspective on some of the things they're doing and why they're doing them. And so with that in mind, I thought we could go through just some of the cliff notes of his press conference. And I want to know what the lead would be if you're writing a story about it. Here are some of the rapid fire, like big moments, a new stadium in 2030 is the realistic date. He says he's still talking to all three jurisdictions. Nothing's been decided. It sounded like DC was the priority I'm paraphrasing that was certainly what most of the questions were about. He is himself leading the search for the next team president. It's one of his top priorities right now. He can't go back to Redskins and they won't go back to Redskins as a name for obvious reasons, he said, but he did not commit to commander's long term and they are looking into the popularity of the name and they're doing their own research right now. The NFL draft is coming to DC at some point, probably a few years down the road. He admitted that he focuses heavily on the commanders and the 76ers and his way less involved when it comes to the Devils and his other sports ownership, including soccer. He said that he expects the team to be better in a win loss record than last year, but he did admit that this is really for him about the long term focus and that I'm now again paraphrasing wins and losses this year, not nearly as important to him as kind of building the foundation with this group long term. So acknowledge season tickets are up big 30% year over year from last year and that they want to bridge the gap and make sure the old fans are happy. That's why they're bringing back old pants. He also said he wanted to get rid of the Sean Taylor installation. Yeah, that was the last one. Because Taylor deserves in a A plus tribute and that it's important to both their relationship with players past and current and just the fan base that it means so much to to do that in a better way. So of all that stuff, what was your lead from Harris? I think it was all sort of name related to me with honorable mentioned to, as you said, the Sean Taylor installation being removed and then, you know, trying to do better than that, the 2030 date, et cetera, it's that we're not ignoring this, right? Because in the past, what they've, what he said, what remembers the ownership group of said is it's not our priority right now. And they sort of dismissed it. It implied then that it's your priority at some point and implied then that you're thinking about it. And he said he revealed to your, to your question, we are doing research about it. I am aware of it. And in effect, again, I'm not, or what I am doing is paraphrasing, I'm aware, I care about the old one. I know the old one's not coming back. That's not possible. But I care about the tradition. I care about, you know, the fans that have been here for a long time, we're aware that the current name hasn't stuck, isn't sticking. Maybe that changes with a bunch of winning football, but I care about the tradition. Here's your placating. Here's your small pet. Here's your olive branch in the gold pants. We know that doesn't cover all of it, but we're thinking about that. That to me was as clear a sign as any is if they're not winning within the next couple of years, which is entirely possible, it's where they're hard to win in this league, that might be very much on the table to say, you know what? We can address this now. Totally agree with that. The only thing I would say is there's still a reading between the lines and kind of a scene, whatever we want to see there. And get, it's your opinion that they shouldn't change the name and they won't. I think you could probably read through what he said and talk yourself into, there's a path to it not changing. Most of us don't see it that way. We're looking through different classes and I think it's very easy to see something will come down the pike. It's just not happening right now, but because there's really no shaping his answer on your own, there's no guesswork to 2030 is when the stadium is going to open at the earliest. And that's his words out of his mouth now, that's reasonable to hope for a stadium in 2030. Six years away. Six years. I thought that was maybe the biggest thing that came up and that he corroborated or confirmed. The newsiest thing might be that I now fully expect a draft in Washington, DC to be held on the mall in the next five years or so. And it may be it's closer to three, four, five years away than a couple, but I now absolutely think that that is in the works that they have a lot to iron out with the park service. But it sounds like that's something he and his group are going to work really hard on. And they obviously think it could be happening. All right. Next on Grant and Danny, Juan Soto back to DC, question mark, that's what they were saying in the newspaper. Right? Juan Soto Washington, DC 2.0 to get into that in our double play involves news on our Grant and Danny fantasy football listener league. So if you want to get in, you better be listening, by the way, we got tickets to see Kevin Hart in 20 minutes right here on Grant and Danny. Double play coming up on G and D in just a couple of moments. Welcome back. We're Grant and Danny. And this is the fan. I'm sure you saw Barry's for Lugas piece in the Washington post yesterday about Juan Soto and the nationals written, of course, the timeliness was that Soto was back at the yard. He was taken on the nats with the Yankees. A very rare o for four yesterday for Juan Soto, but a lovely ovation. He got the biggest ovation in the night. Yeah. Sorry about your luck, Dylan Cruz. We're giving out Cruz t-shirts at Nat's Park, but it was Soto who was taking off his helmet and doing a little curtain call moment before he got into the batter's box. He drilled the couple ball. The ball, by the way, was not traveling to left center or center. Last night there were a couple bolts that stayed in the yard. Soto hit a couple of them partially because 10 foot tall Aaron judge caught them at the fence with his glove over the wall. That did happen. Ball was fine. Just find a right though, as we saw in the game. But yeah, the things a couple of balls went to die and left center and center. But yeah, I thought that was that that first inning was really cool. Like that that to me is the is was the whole deal. It was like this, this ceremony, right? Where the symmetry between Soto hitting second for New York and Cruz hitting second for Washington. Old era, new era, the ovation's there in it. That was cool. Just really neat. Davey knew the assignment. Yes. Abrams. Cruz. Wood. One, two, three in the lineup. Awesome. Well done, Davey. So that was very, very cool. I bring this up though because once Soto's returned to DC, he'd been back with the Padres, but first time a long time. Now with the Yankees, it was a very, very cool pregame scene. He was the first guy out on the field at about 305 while we were doing our show live. And from either team and he came over and kind of parked in front of the Nat's dugout in the coaches box for space file territory and just waited like with the receiving line basically one after another of people parade style coming up to Juan Soto and he was talking to staffers and training people and, you know, former players and coaches and anyone and everyone who was still with the organization, big smiles and hugs and I posted a video. If you guys haven't seen, you should go check it out at Grand H. Paulson on Twitter. I think you have a picture of this maybe even as well, but it was Mark Lerner and Juan Soto embracing and I thought it was hysterical. That learner in front of the media and everyone just walked right up and just strut it right up there. Big hug. That's one of those. I got a lot of money and I don't care what you think kind of things, but here's why it's funny to me. I understand they have a relationship, they have a rapport, whatever, but there's so much noise being made about Soto becoming a free agent and would the learners possibly pay him and could they bring him back to D.C. and so I'm thinking when Mark was out there, I'm like, there's no chance we'll get an interaction here. And as soon as Juan Soto was done talking to someone at one point, learners starts yelling, "Soto, Juan, Juan!" and he starts walking over to him and they meet and they get this big hug and a nice little conversation for a minute or so just in front of everyone. It was incredible and the jokes wrote themselves. I think I tweeted something like clearly reminiscing about 2019 and everyone's like, "Talk to him about coming back," which is obviously not legal. Yeah. You're not allowed to do as an owner when he's under contract with the Yankees, but it's also not happening. Right. Yeah. They also weren't like negotiating right there. Mark's like, "500." Juan's like, "Nope, 600. No gals, you there." The next step in the Nationals rebuild, bring back Juan Soto. That was the headline of the "Barius for Luga" column in the post yesterday. Dylan Cruz made his debut against Juan Soto on Monday night. In 2025, they should be teammates. That was Barius Peace. And while I'd love to see it and I echo the sentiments and it's a really brilliant idea, I give it 0.001% chance of happening. This ownership group over the last few years has not even shown a willingness to sign a veteran starting pitcher for $10 million a year. And I'm supposed to assume they're going to go pay a half billion dollars to break every record for a non-picture hitter in free agency on Juan Soto. I just can't see it. I'm sorry. You know, all the stories that we hear about like counting cups and getting the napkins that are the least expensive and all the little things that are happening at that ballpark, I do not think they'll be a player with the Yankees and the Mets for Soto. I'm sorry. I just don't see it. I don't see it either. And you know, there's also a legitimate reason one could make or an argument one could make to not do that. Where you have that much salary allocated to one person, would you be better serve spunking around between five or six, seven other people for a team building perspective. But the real argument against it or not in terms of desiring it, but basically saying why it's not going to happen is what you just said. There has been no propensity to open that checkbook at any point here in the recent past. Maybe that's different now, but you've got a younger team that's on the verge of competing, but it wouldn't be to the tune of $600 million. I think that's the hope or the thought is that they're going to spend this off season for the first time in a long time, really, since the World Series. And I do think they'll spend a good bit like they got more money coming off the books this year coming off the books, Strasburg is now at least a known commodity that he's not taking up a 40 man spot and you can pay that off if you need to. But yeah, the Corbin contract specifically, it's going to be the lowest payroll they've had really at any point since they took over. They could go get a bat like Anthony Santander and right. They could get a bat like Christian Walker at first base and go get a picture if they want to in the middle of the rotation. I just don't think it's going to be a Soto type move that type of contract. It is time for our double play driven you by your local Washington area, Honda dealers stopping for a great deal on the rugged and capable Honda pilot. You can contact your local Washington area, Honda dealers today. And I will bring in producer. Daris Dameron, who is the bad guy in the Grant and Danny fantasy league, a quandary that is everybody wanting to get in. So I said, I don't want to be involved this year. I get yelled at by too many people. That is true. Daris, you're going to be the villain. You will be the messenger that gets shot at with these slings in the arrows. Make way for the bad guy. I appreciate, first of all, you being the bad guy, second of all, let's find out how we're going to dictate who's in the Grant and Danny listener. I'd like to for it to not be known as the bad guy, just the commissioner. There we go. That's fine. Which is also a bad guy. It's fine. I remember that Roger Goodell gets cheered everywhere he goes. People just love when they see Robin Gary Bettman's entrance is actually a chorus of booze. But that's cheering. I'm more like Adam Silver. Okay. Yeah. He doesn't. Cool. That's cool. Yeah. Let's do an in-season fantasy tournament. Yeah. Let's paint our courts in a weird way for fantasy football. City jerseys. Cool guy. The other popular Grant and Danny fantasy league is officially returning. Yeah. Yeah. Where's my bell? Hold on. This is the fantasy. I'm back bell. Whoa. We're back. 2024. How many teams in the league? There will be. This is a 14 team lead. Let's go. We are inviting back the winner from last year. Congratulations winner. Congratulations. John. Yeah. Yeah. So he'll be back with us. And then there will be 10 spots open for listeners. So for you to get your chance to get into the Grant and Danny fantasy football league as you hear the bell go off, you will need to do as last year participate in our Grant and Danny show trivia challenge. Oh, trivia challenge. The trivia challenge is dreaded. Yeah. You can find that link on our Facebook page. We'll also tweet it out from our individual Twitter accounts. So yes, you will click that link. You will take the challenge. There's 10 questions on it as well as a bonus question that gives you a chance to get more points. At the end of the week, me and Ryan will tally up all the scores and the top 10 scores will get invites to join us for a live draft for the Grant and Danny fantasy football league next week. We'll participate that live draft will be at a DC or Virginia area bar or sports bar venue next Tuesday or Wednesday night. So we'll have details at the end of the week, whoever makes the league, but you got to try to be at the draft so you can clear out the schedule Tuesday or Wednesday night for an onsite draft. And we're going to try to do like the stickers on the paper this year. I think there is instead of doing the internet and everyone sitting on a laptop, we're going to do an old school fantasy draft, kick it like it was 10 years ago, put the stickers up on the board. Right? It's going to be like 20, 20, 10 style. That is the plan. It's going to be a blast. It's always fun. We have a great time last year. What is this art? This is my third year doing it now, I guess, since I've been a part of the show. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's always fun. Very, very cool. That is awesome. I'm very into this. The, uh, the live draft is always the best and I like it better that we're going to actually be able to do it without staring at our laptops, you know, because it could be mid conversation with somebody like dude, shut up. I'm two picks away, you know, like get your wing hands off me. I love it. There'll be wings and there will be wing hands. There'll be wings. So in the next couple of minutes, you can check out at grandage Paulson at funny Danny or right now you can go to our Facebook page, facebook.com/grantanddanny for the link to take the quiz trivia on the show. The folks with the 10 highest scores will be invited into the grant and Danny fantasy football league. So best of luck to everyone. All the details will be available as your grades come back in the score high enough as to how you can participate in the draft excited about that. We got tickets to see Kevin Hart in DC in September. We're giving those away right at the top of the hour. We've also got a beltway blitz coming your way next on the next, the NFL and the commanders you're listening to the fan. The seasons may be changing, but the deals of 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 the 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. 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