We want to make the “Danny Rouhier is, for once, speechless!” joke, but Danny was out Monday due to a case of laryngitis and we’re hopeful he’ll be back Tuesday as the trade deadline passes.
Fear not, though, because Grant Paulsen had someone with a little bit of DC clout fill in and argue with him on the airwaves…Chase Young’s dad?
Indeed, as in a scene almost as bizarre as Josh Harris calling in on the hotline and/or buying everyone a beer at the Burgundy & Sold party (albeit in a different way), Grant was talking about how Ron Rivera mentioned in his Monday presser that he wouldn’t address the trade deadline until it passed…and Greg Young was on the line, so Grant asked him about all the trade rumors, specifically about Chase.
“Man, we don’t pay no attention to it. It’s a business, and whatever the business decides, that's what happens,” he said.
And then, Greg Young went OFF on some of the “analysts” and talking heads out there.
“I wanna address all of these guys out here who are speculating, making comments. This is my take on sports: in order to make comments about another guy's career or his talent or anything, I think you should have had, at some point in your life, laced up a pair of cleats or a pair of tennis shoes and played a sport. My belief is if you have never played a sport, then you shouldn't have a comment, because you ain't never been in the trenches.”
Grant asked him what level you’d have to play at to be able to comment, and “at least top high school or college” was the consensus. But, when Greg said that “I get a lot of negative comments and it’s like, dude, you ain't never played a sport in your life, shut up,’ Grant had to disagree.
“Some of the worst analysts out there, that are the least prepared or watch the least games are just guys, are Hall of Famers or great players,” GP said. “So, I don't think you want a guy that just played football at a high school level that watches highlights, or maybe sees clips of a Commanders game, give 10-minute takes on your son and how he performed on a Sunday. You'd probably rather someone like me, who never played in college or in the NFL, but watches every single game and studies the numbers and can compare him right now via PFF as a top eight pressures getter in the league. I think it's silly to say that if you didn't play, then you don't know.”
The two then got into a bit of a tiff when GP asked if Greg had an opinion on the President or other politicians, or police officers, or anything else.
“To me, it's more justified if you've done it like me,” Greg said. “I've done it, I’ve tied up those shoes and come back from injuries. My thing is if you haven't been in those trenches, then how can you really, really speak about it? Studying is one thing, but when you played it, you can actually feel it. I know playing NFL football is a brutal sport, but the guy sitting at his house eating a hot dog off the grill watching the game doesn't see it the way that I see it, or the way somebody who actually did it sees it.”
Greg Young played college basketball at Bowie State, so yes, he’s in that realm, and he tried to give Grant an education about schemes and other things that football players, in his mind, have a better grasp on – and once again, GP disagreed, using quantitative measures and analytics, and Greg Young had to defend his son by saying he numbers aren’t exactly what they seem.
“Chase just got his first holding call last week, ever. So you're telling me he's not getting held every play? He got one call last week,” Greg Young said. “Everybody doesn't play against the top offensive left tackle every week like Chase does. So he's playing the top offensive tackle, he’s getting the tight end and then he's getting a running back chip, and you know what? He's still getting there!”
It was QUITE the back and forth between GP and GY, and given the trade deadline being less than 24 hours away, it could be the final vestiges of a Young in a Commanders realm – so take a listen to it all as the guys debate!
“It's kind of like the Michael Jordan effect. He’s the Deion Sanders, he cuts the field in half. When you can only run your offense to one side of the field, he's done it.”