Our longtime pal and former Chargers, Raiders and Cowboys beat writer Michael Gehlken discusses why he left locker rooms and the sports journalism industry and NFL grind after 15 years to be a father.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
reporter, nfl, cowboys, cover, people, team, thinking, league, day, fan, crab cake, chargers, dallas, years, write, beat, terms, practice, raiders, fanboy
SPEAKERS
Michael Gehlken, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore, positive. We are positively into the football season and the baseball pennant race and Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen in town this this week. So it’s the Rock and Roll season as well. It’s always crab cake season and the oyster season in September. I have the Gold Rush sevens doublers I’m giving away. I have the Raven scratch offs next week. We are at Cooper’s this weekend, doing the Fells Point oyster festival. I’m getting I’m not oystered out because I keep eating them different ways. But it is a month where we’re educating folks about the oyster recovery partnership and crab cakes and where they all come from. I’m getting educated on journalism and life as well. If you’ve read my declaration of independence after 40 years of doing this and being liberated from my media credentials as well as my professional designation. After 40 years of owning a radio station doing this all of my life, there are other folks leaving the profession in lots of ways. I had Mark Viviano on. I had Jamie Costello on at some part, Marty bass leave. WJZ, I’ll have him on but I’m going around just finding people who cover sports and guys I’ve had on my show for a couple of decades. Michael Galkin is one of those guys familiar to anybody covers the National Football League or watches other teams. He’s been a guest on this program. Is covering the Raiders, is covering the Cowboys. He’s covered several teams, and now he’s left the industry. And I saw his little tweet couple months ago, and I was like shocked, like everyone else, that he didn’t want to run around and chase athletes 24 hours a day the rest of his life, but it is good to have him back on. He’s a bit of real journalist here. The guy that I’ve had on covering real serious stuff when franchises are moving and stuff like that, and I’ve seen them at owners meeting Super Bowls and all those places that I’ve been thrown out of, we welcome. Michael galkem, what are you doing with your life? Are you trying to be normal and not be like one of those NFL beat guys that I’ve known all my life? Yeah,
Michael Gehlken 01:57
I’m trying to be a great father, a great husband, and sometimes it takes you in places that maybe 10 years ago you wouldn’t have envisioned for yourself. But you recognize it when you see it, that it’s the right thing to do, and I’m doing it. So you mentioned I’ve covered a lot of NFL teams over the years, three of them, chargers in San Diego, raiders in Oakland during their transitional Las Vegas and then cowboys for the past five and, you know, it was what I wanted to do. It’s, you know, I remember when I first wanted to be a journalist. I was in eighth grade. I remember when I first really solidified that at freshman year high school and junior year high school, 16 years old, I wanted to be a sports writer. And there was no sport I enjoyed more watching and consuming than the NFL. So I feel, you know, somewhat fulfilled in that respect. I’d be lying if I told you that during training camp or during week one, you know, I could just turn it off in terms of seeing storylines, thinking about questions I would ask, you know, the way I consume, you know, I digested the game. All that is still very much that of an NFL reporter. But I am, again, a family man, and I just believe my family was going to be happier where my wife is from, which is Washington, DC. And you know, you’re closer
Nestor Aparicio 03:13
to good crab cakes, and you’re going to get one from me at some point. So that makes it even better to come sit next to me. You know,
03:19
exactly, oh, I’m sold on crabcake. I’ve, I’ve just been gorging myself with nothing but for a few weeks now. So keep them coming. You know,
Nestor Aparicio 03:27
I think I met you right around the time my wife had a transplant. You’re of German descent, and I think we just chatted, and I don’t even know why. I mean, I used to go to these combines where there were only 50 people, 50 reporters. I was one of them, 2025, years ago, Eric the Costa, strangely enough, and filled the set. Phil savage. Phil the savage. I should name him that the two of them were the ones who were adamant about me doing the combine. And I started going to the combine. I’d be going to the Super Bowl every year. And the Super Bowl was only for people on junkets or people that could drive to it wherever it was. You know, it wasn’t the scene that it’s become, in regard to radio row, which I did for 27 years. And then people like you came along, not just Guys, guys and girls, people of color. Imagine that young people. All of that happened at combines, where I started seeing people like, how did that person get a press pass? What are they? Oh, they’re with the college thing, or they’re with this that, or they’re here for that. And then it became this giant thing that college people came to, and young people came to to cover for their websites, or their web pages and stuff like that. And I started seeing young people around, quite frankly, my son’s age, my sons will turn 40 next week. So it starts to get me to the point where, like, who are the 20 year olds, and you were one of that generation. And look, I would put any of the younger people that anybody sees an NFL Network or these places, I would put you into that next generation, because I’ve been covering a leak for almost 30 years, and I thought like the difference between being a fanboy and being a blogger and doing. This professionally is obviously something you disseminated. But I see a lot of fanboy in regard to younger people. And then I see the team websites which and the lead jobs which become two thirds of the jobs. And I did wonder when a guy like you leaves, I’ve wondered, for anybody who’s younger that comes to me wants to be you or me from the previous generation. Where are the jobs? Where is the journalism? Where is that eighth grade version of you or me right now that says one day, I’m going to cover the Frankfurt galaxy, once they move to the you know, once the league moves to Europe, but down the line, I’m wondering where that pipeline is from a journalism standpoint, because I’m starting to believe like the journalism parts, Deb, when they’re losing people like you, and that’s my highest compliment to pay to you.
05:44
Well, thank you. I’ll take it the compliment the spirit that’s intended. I mean, I hope that journalism is alive and well, and I think there are some obvious headwind forces at play that make it difficult for certain people to break in, but really, once you break in to kind of elevate and work up the ladder and and, you know, get to a level that, you know, is, you know, satisfying. So I can only speak on my own experience in terms of that respect. And I’m, you know, I’m right now I’m at a family member’s home, you know. And I’m, you know, moving into a new house this month and in DC. And, you know, I’ve got so much of my own personal in terms of professional future that I’ve got iron out, you know, I’m, you know, I decided to step away from the Cowboys in, you know, my final day with August 2, made a decision in July. And so I need to identify this is
Nestor Aparicio 06:40
fresh. This is really new for you. Yeah, I appreciate you coming on and discussing it because I didn’t want it to be personal. But for me, it’s personal being thrown out and thinking, like, who’s going to be in when they’ve downsized the press box and the guy who’s running it is has gone fascist? I don’t know what else to say. Like, I don’t know how people break into this by doing an honorable job anymore, I’m beginning to wonder. And then I see people doing an honorable job that are getting pushed out, and I’ve seen the underside of who would be there. And it really is, how big of a fan of you, and how much are you willing to endure to cover the sport, to be a fan, not to be an objective reporter, when Ray Rice punches his wife in an elevator. And I worry about that for all, for all of the teams, and for the fan base, and for how, how big the NFL has become that, yeah, I think you’re doing a good thing, walking away, by the way, and whatever you do, I would think you’re going to be a lot happier. And by the way, it’s a nice working environment. You had Dallas. I got toured around there by Scott during our in Arlington last October. And I’m like, I said to Luke, it’s a little different than the place you come to work, going to work there in Dallas every day.
07:44
Yeah, you won’t hear me say negative thing about, like, the Cowboys organization, in terms of what it was like working in that building, you know, the PR staff. You know, I’ve seen great public relations and maybe not so over the course of my career, and in different moments, sometimes at the same place, and you just but and just consistently with the Cowboys, phenomenal experience for me that really was
Nestor Aparicio 08:08
treated the same way. Last year, Luke and I were treated like, I’m like, Are you sure you’re going to be this nice to me? Because they’re not this nice to me at home, you know. But I really was blown away at the Dallas thing, and when I saw how big that was, I thought shot he could afford to do this. He doesn’t want to. You know, they can all do whatever craziness that is down there. And the business model of fans treating the players, quite frankly, like pigeons, a little bit, but, um, but that’s where the NFL vision is. I saw that in Dallas last year, and it’s something most fans have never seen. I don’t think what, what you experienced to go to work to every year, certainly a little bit different than covering the Raiders out in Oakland. I was at that facility too. Yeah,
08:49
no comment. But I honestly have a good relationship with will kiss the PR director there. And, you know, I’m
Nestor Aparicio 08:56
just saying, what the rate I haven’t been to the Vegas Raiders? No, no. I like, no. I’m just saying, like, the working conditions of what the league has become from a financial standpoint, and building barriers and gates, it really is. It’s a testament to how much people love the sport. Yeah,
09:17
yeah. It’s, I guess, for me where I’m at, you know, mentally with because I think it’s a really interesting conversation of kind of the future of it, because you want good people to be, you know, filling up these journalism jobs and asking tough questions and informed questions, and bringing fresh content and not being I think sometimes I see this, you know, and NFL beats, not necessarily the one that just most recently come from, but in general, I see beats where all the reporters, by and large, are kind of migrating from one press conference to another press conference. And what they all, they all end up kind of writing the same thing, and there’s just not a lot of originality. Right? There’s, there’s just kind of some low hanging fruit stories that if you’re a fan of the team, you’re kind of getting the same produce from every every outlet on some days. And to me, it’s just nothing I ever had an appetite for. And certainly in Dallas, when it’s so saturated in terms of the content, where you turn on a radio station and like it or not, there’s a decent chance more so than other teams that they’re talking about the cowboys and TV, and it’s so ubiquitous. And so I was really focused on, all right? I’m gonna differentiate my content so it’s different, it’s fresh, it’s smart. I kind of identified, you know, a couple years ago that I want to, I want to create Non, non casual content for non casual fans like that’s that’s going to be my approach. And I had a sense that there was a possibility, probably around training camp last year. So 2023 July, that could be my final training camp, and then that season could be my final season covering the cowboys and perhaps covering any NFL team. And as my wife and I talked more about, you know, potentially moving to DC and raising our one year old daughter around family, and so my approach throughout the season and throughout camp was, I don’t want to just write a story about nickel cornerback Jordan Lewis’s foot. I want to write the story or I’m going to talk to his doctor. I’m gonna get his X rays. I’m gonna, like, you know, write a 2000 word piece on it. I don’t want to just write a story on left tackle Tyron Smith and what makes him a good player. I want to capture what makes him great. I want this to be a story that people can reflect upon. I want to talk to 30 different people, both inside the organization and those who have gone through it or now elsewhere. And same thing with profiles on Jake Ferguson and Tyler Guyton, rookie first round pick this year, like I just wanted to write, kind of the, just the, you know, the story on, on a guy, and so that it’s subtle, you know, definite that in depth, you know, from from an indefinite article to the definite article on a player, that was my mentality. And so I just think, as a journalist, you have to kind of decide what is you want to stand for, and what is it you can bring differently? And then if you can, if you can find, you know, some niche, you know some, some way to make your stories and content. It doesn’t have to be necessarily a written word, but just different in organic and just, I don’t know true. And then the way that you converse with people, players in the building, you know, staff coaches and the sort, you know, build trust, build rapport. Those are all the things that I cared about. You know that mean. And just, you’re juggling stakeholders right? If I’m writing a story about a player. I’m writing it for the fan who’s reading it. Writing to be able to look a fan I might see in the street or, you know, wherever it may be, you know, and know that you know, whatever questions they may have had. I worked my tail off to ensure that it was answered. And then likewise, I’m also writing to be able to look at that player in the eye the next day when I see him in the locker room that I was fair to him, or the coach, or whoever it may be like when I’m writing a story, I’m just trying to think about, how do I create as level of an insight as I can, so that everyone is seen and heard, and that it kind of feeds all mouths in that respect. So I don’t know, it’s kind of a bit of a tangent, but I think there’s, there’s a lot of place for really good journalism. Still, I just for me, you know, I’ve covered three NFL teams, so to go pivot, to cover the commanders, like, why? I mean, it’s not like, it’s necessarily the most financial of professions, you got to travel a good amount. I really want to grow in terms of my career and to be a beat reporter for the fourth time for maybe no newspaper. Otherwise, it just didn’t I just didn’t really see the point. It’s, you know, if it was once my dream, I kind of lived it at certain point, your your husband, your father, I’m just thinking about, how am I going to be the best provider and be present and be there for as many moments that I know don’t come again? So, yeah, I just, that’s my that’s kind of why I don’t feel pushed out at all. But as I kind of pull away, I’m thinking about that from kind of a big picture standpoint of all right, I feel good about the work that I’ve created, and now, you know, I’ve gotta, I gotta make sure that the people most important my life come
Nestor Aparicio 14:26
first. Michael Galkin is here. He is a decade and a half long beat reporter for the National Football League last covering Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News. I i go back to Dave Smith at the Dallas Morning News, like 40 years ago, sending resumes out and being an ag clerk at the newspaper and dreaming of doing one Super Bowl, as I would always just one big game, you know one thing, and all these years later, seeing folks like you live your dream and then move on from that, I do think it’s people think they know a lot about football. Everybody that comes up, everybody’s ever called, thinks. They have some unique perspective about it. I thought that before we even had the team here, right, like when we were fighting to get the team, the team came here, I thought, Well, I’ve been a sports writer for a dozen years. I’ll have some perspective on it. I think it’s it’s changed a lot with the largess of the league and the fact that they play four nights a week, whenever they want, however they want, practices, whenever they want, you know, like the timing for what they do to my reporter, Luke, who’s 40, has been me 15 years, kind of, sort of in your age group. And when press conferences are, when the at the whim of the coach, how the news breaks, how we break the news on our tech service, and all of that, and how breaking news isn’t like the thing it was when you were in the eighth grade, where everybody gave you credit for it and all of that. You had your scoop and got your flowers. It’s all just sort of gone within a minute in the era of social media. So nobody even knows who the really good reporters are unless you’re really paying attention and can identify that. I just the amount of knowledge that it takes to do this well, and for me to identify a guy like you and saying, all right, that guy’s not foolish. You know, I’ll put him on my show because he knows what he’s talking about, because he can have a half an hour conversation about the subject matter and not do it from a fanboy perspective. And I keep going back to that because I don’t know what else to call it, because I think it’s been misidentified as well as team website experts, but are really PR writers, right? Like so finding that spot where, especially where there’s controversy, always controversy. Smith cowboys doesn’t ever win a Super Bowl, right? So just the fact when they don’t win there, so you know why? And then people come to someone like you, and then someone like Charlene, who’s been doing this for 40 years, on that beat in that room that you know, when she was the only woman in the friggin world doing it, and now that’s all caught up. But I think that there’s a knowledge part of doing this job that people and this is a tribute to Luke Jones, who works for me. I’ve been watching people forever. I took 1000s of resumes for everybody that professionally, like you went to J school, wanted to do it as well as fanboy people that thought they were in coaches and people that knew that players, people that knew thought they knew football well enough or sports well enough. I just find it really hard to be good enough to do this professionally. And I think the barrier to doing that is extreme. And then 15 years of battle work that you’ve done, there’s no 23 year olds coming taking that job at the Dallas Morning News. It’s going to have what you what you’ve earned in doing this. And I think you’re even more interesting. And one of the reasons I reached to you, you’ve chased teams away. You, you’ve lost your gig because the team left town a couple times. That’s just a crazy thing that some of my reporters dealt with when I was a boy at the paper, when the Colts just left and like, what am I going to do? And they’re like, go cover the Redskins. You know, back in 1984 we had that, but you’ve had a hell of a journey on the inside of this to have some perspective of how much these deeply entrenched billionaires that are so community concerned how they really behave and act? Well,
18:09
there’s no doubt that business first and foremost. To your point, I was laid off on Valentine’s Day 2017 by the San Diego Union Tribune. Technically, they called me the day before, but there was, and I knew the call was coming, because there’s no sense keeping a San Diego Chargers an NFL reporter in a city without an NFL team, and so, yeah, the, you know, when the Chargers moved, you know, weeks after, you know, then, you know, I was told that, you know, unless I wanted to move some I told, I re told the Union Tribune that I wasn’t, I wasn’t. I’m an NFL reporter, and so I’m not interested doing anything else with the newspaper. And so they go, okay. And so then they let me know I’m like, okay, and you
Nestor Aparicio 18:53
could have kept your gig and going to cover preps the way buster only did 40 years ago, like I did the San Diego soccer’s.
18:59
You had no future for me in San Diego, if I if I wanted one there, yeah, but decided not to. So then cover the raiders for the newspaper in Las Vegas. So I decided to swim with the tide of relocation, rather than, you know, go against the current. And so I were at
Nestor Aparicio 19:16
that press conference together in Scottsdale. Right. I was there right
19:21
when they got approved. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 19:23
I was in the front row because I had never been there when they passed the gavel down. And Mark Davis as I’m taking the team to Vegas, and Jack Del Rio was my friend that was coaching the team at the time, and I remember being out front and he said, Yeah, I got players texting me about the team moving to Vegas. I said, you better make sure stolen the team when you get to Vegas. He wasn’t coaching the team by the time I got to Vegas, so he read the tea leaves to me out at the Biltmore that night.
19:47
Yeah, I was, I probably was at a Stone Brewery or something when that was going on, because I was, I was in between. So I think maybe I was, yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 19:56
I was, Oh, that was a month later. That was alright. Then
20:00
once the team relocated to or was approved to relocate, then I reached out to the outlet in Las Vegas, and then, you know, I was on their list. And so we, we kind of got the ball rolling. Important to
Nestor Aparicio 20:11
cover the league for you. What? What was it about your obsession? Because now you walk away a couple years later, you’re like, couple years ago, I was like, ah, anything to cover that. Because I know you. I’ve known you as that guy, and I’m thinking, um, you were lifer, dude. You were at that point, I would have said you’re going to be doing this as long as Howard Balzer, if you’re willing to chase franchises and move around, um, you know you were pot committed, really? Yeah,
20:34
no, you’re right. Because I, when the team moved from San Diego, Los Angeles, I had a choice. I could either leave San Diego, the city that I grew up in, where my childhood friends and my family are. I could leave San Diego and be an NFL reporter someplace else, or I could stay in just not be an NFL reporter. And I just wasn’t done with it yet. And I think part of the reason was I really wanted to see how good I am, or how good I was. I really wanted to to kind of prove my laurels, somewhat to myself, but to others. I think I just wanted, I really believed in the caliber of reporter that you know I am. And there was one time I’ll just be completely honest. I won’t give a person’s name, but sometimes, when you know the chargers, would be hosting, you know, a team over the course of the season. If I knew a beat reporter, especially was a younger beat reporter, because I like to keep it, you know, tabs and tracking other reporters around my age, I would, you know, invite them, you know, let’s, you know, let’s go out to, you know, seven grand or city tacos in the North Park area. And just like, you know, let’s just hang out and, you know, grab some dinner. And, you know, just, just chat. And so there was, you know, during one game night before, there was a East Coast reporter, you know, he and I are out, and he says something to me that really lit a fire under me, where he told me, You do great work covering the Chargers like you’re you’re awesome, like you’re gonna yada yada, but, I mean, it’s the Chargers. Like, how many reporters are you competing against? Like, who, you know, who are you really, like, you know, how many reporters are in the locker room every day, like, who’s you know, just kind of saying that, basically, you’re doing great on freshman football, or, you know, JV, you’re killing it. But, like, this is not a varsity beat. And so I just, I just didn’t like the idea of everything that I was doing, and I just didn’t like the perception, or I really just pissed me off, because I want to be great at what I do. And so I was like, All right, well, I’m going to, you know, chargers move. I’m like, Well, I’m going to go someplace else, and I’m going to, you know, demonstrate an entirely different place that I can kick ass, just like I did here. That’s my internal conversation that I usually don’t externalize, but that’s, that was my mindset. And then you moved
Nestor Aparicio 23:14
to Oakland to cover the Oakland Raiders for the Las Vegas paper. Am I correct in saying that? Yes, yes, yeah. After two and
23:23
a half years of that, I saw a position open to cover the Cowboys, and applied and, and then, you know, there’s personal reasons there too, right? I just met my, you know, now, wife, and you know, we were engaged, newly engaged at that point. And, you know, there’s NFL cities where we both could do and when I signed up to cover the Raiders, to move to Las Vegas, that was a that was an individual choice, like that was an i decision. But once you, you know, you’re in a partnership, and you, you know, meet your person, there’s, there’s only we decisions. And so Las Vegas, in terms of her work and her life, it wasn’t really a town that suited her. And so we went down all 32 clubs, all 30 cities, and said, All right, what, what Marcus could you and I both do? And Dallas was on our list. It was one where we overlapped. About half the teams in the league did, and that was one of them. And so I applied, and again, got it, and spent five seasons there. And then we had our daughter. I was like, I don’t need this anymore, the way I did when the Chargers were newly relocated. And I, you know, I just, I feel like I did it. I feel like I did at a high level, arguably the most, you know, competitive beat. And I did it in a manner which I’m proud, in terms of treating people well. I was fair, I was curious. I was, you know, someone who’s extremely objective and detailed. And, you know, built a reputation where that byline, if I reported something, it meant something. And, you know, again, having done it at some respect, from a beat capacity the highest level, to go cover the commanders, I just. Again, didn’t really see the point. So, you know, why sign up for the travel? Why sign up for some of the rigors of it? And if it doesn’t really light my fire the way it used to, so I think some of it just kind of got a little bit extinguished and, and so just didn’t really make sense to be the way it did in 2017 where I was, you know, I was, I was younger, you know, see, 2017 I was, you know, 30 years old, almost. I’m 29 years old. Then I just felt like I had, I’m too much left to do ahead of me. But now at 37 it’s, it’s a different, different sense and completely different chapter of my life. Michael galkins,
Nestor Aparicio 25:39
almost one. Are you on the Maryland side? Are you really in the district? You’re in your DMV, so you’re local? Man, yeah, attorneys need you to buy tickets on Saturday. Now you got nothing to do. So,
25:50
yeah, we’re renting. We’re renting right now in Chevy Chase Maryland, but the house we just purchased is a DC, so we are
Nestor Aparicio 25:55
in the freezer. Well, then you can get a Maryland lottery tickets. You’re Maryland resident right now. Michael calkin joins us here. Long time NFL beat writer covered the chargers, the the raiders and the Cowboys, most recently for the Dallas mornings. So, uh, big picture. And you said to me now, like, I’m not on the beat. You can’t you watch football last week, so I I’ll get the league itself. Uh, if you never work in the league again, or never work in football and you go on to write presidential novels, uh, about Kamala Harris, hopefully, what would you say to people about the league? And the thing I say to folks, I don’t know if you read this book or not, but Mark Leibovich wrote a book called The Big game on the league, and was a real biting sort of he embedded with the league for a year and went around and wrote about it, and it was an amazing book, but it was not flattering in any way. But I found it to be so dead on in reading it from my immersion and experience as a professional doing this all of my adulthood. What do you make of the league on the outside as now just a consumer of it?
26:59
I mean, my there’s such a it’s such a complex question to answer. I mean, as a viewer of it, I think it is becoming more difficult to watch in terms of finding where a game is. You know, the days of it, you know, Sunday being Fox and CBS and, you know, just, it was just, it just used to be easier. Now it’s a peacock subscription. You go to Amazon. It’s bouncing around. It’s just the, it’s a really wider net in terms of the, you know, what you need to have a subscription to in order to have access to all content, and not to mention, you know, some of the, you know, Direct TV type stuff I don’t personally even experience, but I understand some of the complaints that people have had. So I guess my concern is that the NFL is a business, and it’s a it’s a monster of one. I mean, the Cowboys are a 10 billion operation, as they’ve been described, but they, you know, the NFL, like I sometimes worry that such a focus on on business and earning more and earning more at some point, do you overstep and at some at some point, do you, I mean, I’ve seen it in San Diego, where I’ve now, I’ve got a friend, Matt, you know, he’s got tattoo removed. It used to have a lightning bolt on it because the business side of the NFL took over. And, you know, an owner needed to go to a market. He felt to, you know, you know, he just couldn’t build in San Diego, and felt he needed to, you know, you know, join the one thing
Nestor Aparicio 28:35
I showed Chad Steele, you know, if I ever walked and said, You know what this is, this is my Baltimore Colts belt buckle from when I was eight years old. I, I know what’s up. You know? I’m saying, like, I, you know, I know what’s I was an oiler fan. I know what’s up. So there is a point where the league doesn’t care about anybody or anything. And that’s been going on long before you and I got involved, yeah, yeah.
28:58
I just, I just think there’s, it’s the league has to be very conscious and cognizant of where you know what’s asking of fans, and I think you know the gambling aspect of that and how that’s going to change things already. It’s, it’s, it’s a really, really interesting time it for this league, and it’s experienced such radical growth for decades. And every other you know, sports league in this country wishes it had it, but I just think being sometimes the best place for your business is where it is at present. And so not to say I’m, you know, anti business growth. But I mean, again, the NFL is a behemoth, and you just want to make sure that the fan experience is preserved, first and foremost, and it’s amplified, and so at certain points, you know, how do we keep our fans, fan base, from being disenchanted and just being aware of that? I. Um, so if you’re asking me about the league and kind of where it is, I think that’s a fair thing, something I’ve kind of, you know, kind of sensed, I think, or the start of the season, as someone who’s got a bit of a different perspective than he did previously. You know, focus on the viewing experience and hearing some things from fans who otherwise I wouldn’t be hearing from because I’m, you know, in a practice facility, or I’m at the stadium on game day. So I think that part of it is been something that I’ve, I’ve kind of picked up on. Well, you’ve been interesting
Nestor Aparicio 30:28
too, because you’ve covered these pauper franchises that, I mean, the Oakland Raiders in the facility at the end of the airport by Oakland San Diego, was sort of moving out the whole time. And then you get to Dallas, and I, I can’t even begin to portray I wasn’t ready for it, you know what I mean? Like Scott invited us over. We were there for a minute going to a baseball game with the oils. Got eliminated. We thought we’re going to be there three days. They got eliminated. The first six hours we were there. So we were kind of hanging around having barbecue, you know, hitting some hard eight and I went up there and I, man, I’ve been doing this since my first press passes in 1984 cover minor league hockey, covering the AHL skip jacks in a building that was awful then. And, you know, little community ice skate rink where these guys are just trying to, you know, get their work in, or whatever. And I see how large it’s all gotten from when the Ravens showed up here practicing in an old beat up police facility because art didn’t have any money and was trying to get it done to whatever that Dallas thing was. When I showed up there, and I don’t even know how to explain it to people, it felt like entering a different city, because I think it might even on the postal code it might be. And then it felt ostentatious beyond belief, with the artwork and the marble and and then I saw the prep where the press conferences were. I saw the locker room, I saw the practice field, I saw this giant building. I was told that Nobody’s allowed to watch practice with like anything, but everybody can see it, but you’re not allowed to put pictures like all of this stuff. And I’m looking at I’m thinking, John Harbaugh wouldn’t like this. I’m thinking, you certain paranoia. Bill Belichick wouldn’t, would say close Bill Gates, a mile around the facility. We don’t want anybody near anything. Shara does things different down there. And I think you’ve had such an incredible exposure to the Hades of the NFL and the, you know this the Saudi Arabia’s. I mean, you’ve, you’ve seen all aspects of how the league operates, from penny pinching, even though you’re a billionaire, to, ah, let’s go all in which is the way Jerry’s does everything. Apparently,
32:33
yeah, it’s, it’s really interesting to see the wide spectrum of what an NFL facility can look like and thinking that can be had within a building, I will say, and you hinged upon it. But you know, not every person, not every coach, specifically loves the fact that the Cowboys practice. You know their outdoor field is right next to like you could throw a rock and shatter a window of, you know, the Dr Pepper, you know, headquarter building is right there. There’s a there’s a hotel you can, you know, binoculars have at it. I mean, it’s Liam’s side is there. And they practice in Oxnard, California for training camp. And for the longest time, it was just, you know, dirt surrounded these practice fields there. And over recent years there in 2000 you know, 20 and 2021 we went team got back from, you know, if you’re not having been there in 20 because of covid, they got there, and suddenly there was this housing village just sprouted out. And so people are in their backyards, you know, looking at everything that the Cowboys are doing in Oxnard. And there’s one guy who’s got security cameras pointed directly at their field, so no matter anything that they do, he can see it. And so it’s, it’s very, very unique. And if you think every head coach like Mike McCarthy that he’s just super comfortable with that? No, that’s not how he was brought up in the league. And so it’s there’s something different about the Dallas Cowboys. You can hear people describe that like, that’s, that’s a good example of it. And then you’ve got people in, you know, when you’re in the locker room or you’re in the weight room, you know, you walk down the hallway. You might walk past a tour guide group, you know, people doing these walking tours. And so the, you know, the Cowboys make so much money, Jerry Jones has done a phenomenal job of, you know, creating business in Frisco, Texas. I’m just talking about about, you know, those tours and the facility itself, but I mean the the grounds, the land that he has in that area, and all the restaurants and the sort it’s, it’s, it’s immaculate, and all first class. And so it’s,
Nestor Aparicio 34:48
you feel like Troy Aikman the minute you walk in, yeah, it’s
34:51
a far cry from Murphy canyon or Alameda in terms of where the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders practice, respectively.
Nestor Aparicio 34:56
What do you do with your life? Michael Galkin, you.
34:59
I got a really hard job right now, which is, you know, we’re not, you know, taking a look to see if there’s anything professionally that might be right fit worth chasing. I got this 17 month old who is incredible, and it is such a privilege to watch her grow every single day, like everyone says to it’s all going to fly by and to soak it up. And so I’m trying, like heck to do so. And every morning, you know, when she’s getting her day started, I tell myself, you know this is, you know, this is the oldest she’s ever been, and it’s the youngest she’s ever gonna be. Every day I say that, and so I just try to take each day and help her learn and watch her grow. She just took her first step last night.
Nestor Aparicio 35:42
All right? Way. All right, onto my show. We get progress. Galkin still
35:46
breaking news, still breaking news. Yeah, and so it’s, it’s the best, but I mean, far away, the most difficult job I’ve ever had. I mean, NFL reporter. I’m not just saying it because it’s something that people say, but is, this is far and away more difficult than being a reporter, far more difficult than covering press conferences, going to games and all that sort of a thing. So it’s, it’s an ass kick sometime, but I’m just trying to be grateful for it, because I know, you know, tomorrow I’ll wake up, I’ll be 7580 years old. I’m look back, I think how wonderful it was that I could just spend was that I could just spend time with my daughter, that being said, I’ll take her to a playground. And there will be a lot of, you know, nannies with these with their kids that they’re, you know, monitoring and caring for. And, you know, because the parents are at work, and I’m just there with my daughter, and I’m thinking, God, I gotta get a job. I got, you know, I’m just, I’m just still not used to this, and so I’m not comfortable with it. I be lying. I don’t want to BS you and say that, Oh, it’s just the best, but it’s amazing, and it’s challenging, and, you know, the highs are just, you know, unreal. I can see why people with one kid have multiple often, because the dopamine and all that stuff is just unreal. Just having that connection with someone and watching that person become their own, it’s amazing. So I don’t miss football. I mean, I can’t turn it off in terms of my mind thinking about angles and stories I’d be writing and, oh, I think I would have broken that news, you know, and all that. I do that still, but I really try to be where my feet are and there’s it’s such a special place to be after
Nestor Aparicio 37:28
all of that about your child, I was going to ask, do you think Lamar is going to win the Super Bowl? But what difference does
37:33
it make? I don’t care.
Nestor Aparicio 37:38
Is Lamar going to win a Super Bowl? I
37:40
mean, there’s no reason far I mean, he’s, he’d be far better than so many quarterbacks who have so it’s, it was only so simplistic in terms of a single quarterback. You know, we’ve seen some great quarterbacks, you know, Dan Marino, Philip Rivers I covered. I mean, there’s others, no doubt that, you know, don’t do it. And so it’s, it’s a team game. A lot can go right, and a lot can go wrong, that even having the best player on the field sometimes isn’t enough to be the best team in the end. So it’s but can he absolutely, there’s no doubt. I thought he was, he was pretty, you know, his ability to to take over a game, and you know what might be a low percentage third down play when you have someone like him who can create when it breaks down? He’s He’s phenomenal as a fan. Now, who knows for how long I’ll be just a fan, but for a fan now, I have a lot of fun watching him. He’s on I’m quick to watch.
Nestor Aparicio 38:33
Well, you’re really close to the games. Anything happens to Luke? Maybe they would credential you, because you’re a professional, at least perceived to be. So I might put you on call. Get you a sitter down there, come up here and see some football here, because I know you know what you’re talking about. What a great week to have you on man. We’re playing Raiders this week, playing the Cowboys next week. And you thought I like wanted to talk about strategy with you. And no, no, no, I just wanted to talk about the unique nature of your decision to walk off the beat, and what a great job you’ve always done, and you’ve been a great friend to the program. I can’t wait to see what’s next for you. I want you to take on Leibovitch role and write the next big game. Is what I want you to do. I want you to write big game too, and embed yourself in the league and and come up with all the real stuff fans want to know about. Yeah,
39:12
I haven’t approached about a possible book. Still deciding whether or not that’s the direction I’m going to go. It has to be the right, you know, fit, and a lot of things to figure out. I mean, that’s a hell of a lift to put on while you’ve got the one year old. So I don’t know if that’s
Nestor Aparicio 39:24
ever make it on a Jerry’s bus or No, is that only for Leibovich, you didn’t make it on there?
39:28
I made on the bus.
Nestor Aparicio 39:31
Yeah, I’m not going to ask. That’ll be in the book. I’ll let you write that in the
39:34
book. Not at all like that. I mean, Jerry Jones that have interviews where all the reporters would come in and during daylight, have been there after word as well, but not at all, nothing like that. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 39:47
I mean, I saw the tour bus everywhere he was. We see the bus. You’re like, oh, Jerry’s in town. Jerry got here. It’s Indianapolis, so hey, you did a great job, and you’re doing a great job with the family thing as well. And I don’t think any. Anybody in our audience could listen to your words and not understand well, that’s why he’s not there. So in 30 minutes, you made it all make sense to me. Mike, so I appreciate you, man. And welcome to the neighborhood. Don’t be a stranger. You’re in the DMV here. We have good stuff here. You’re on the right coast at this point, not the Left Coast.
40:16
It’s such a cliche. I don’t want to ask, damn it. I want to know best crab cake place. Where am I going?
Nestor Aparicio 40:22
You know what? Anywhere I am probably here’s the thing. I tell people about crab cakes, because I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of places, and this isn’t my shtick, and part of it is I do have sponsors that sell crab cakes. Every sponsor I have is crab cakes completely different. So that makes it and I had this conversation last night with my buddy Ray Bachman, my long time producer, he’s like, it’s amazing. Nobody makes a crab cake the same way. So I would tell you, as a tourist, which will always be until, unless you’re here, when you’re like, 70, I would say, try them all. But I would say, come up to Baltimore. I’ll take you to fade these. I’m doing the show there next Friday. Very mustard forward, crab cake. Marilyn meat, very sweet, but mustard forward, if you like that. And also fry, which is the way I like it. Come over to East Baltimore, to Costas, going to be more Old Bay, going to be more Jo more of that salt flavor, that that, that we like on the east side. You go uptown, maybe Cocos, you’re going to get more that Country Club, creamy, sweeter flavor, and more of a bigger crab cake and a broad crab so they’re different. So I would say, have one of each, is what I would say. And then you’re going to decide what your favorite crab cake is.
41:29
Yeah, I remember traveling to a game of Baltimore several years ago, back when I was covering the chargers in San Diego, and my colleague Kevin and ACI, we, we went to G and M
Nestor Aparicio 41:39
right by the airport. There you go. That’s more spicy crab cake. There’s as a little Tabasco in it, very unique, the G and M crab. Yeah, we like to
41:48
it’s so long I don’t remember the flavor profile or texture. Otherwise, I remember there’s a lot of crab, which I appreciated.
Nestor Aparicio 41:55
That’s because you’re in Maryland, if you serve a crab without crab here, you know, but be careful, because people say that’s got too much filler in it. I’m a poor boy from Dundalk man. My parents only could afford the claw meat, so the filler is the slurry, and that’s where the flavor is. So I’m not, I’m not a snob. It doesn’t have to be jumbo lump crab for me to love it. As a matter of fact, a little fried hockey pucks. That’s what they serve. Back when I was in the in the real media at Memorial Stadium in the 80s, I covered the Orioles and the Orioles press box serve these little fried hockey just the way my mother made them with mustard and and crackers. Saltines perfect now, not Gucci, not upscale, little cheaper, but you know family style for sure. Come on up. You’re close enough. You’re 30 minutes away from me. We’re not going to be strangers here, because I know you and you got German blood. Well, we’ll figure out how to get some some German food mix. Well, we’ll bring
42:50
beer. My name is German. I’m more Italian. Either way, I’m happy though. Let’s bring the beer, and I’ll
Nestor Aparicio 42:55
bring the crab cakes. How about that? Perfect? All right? Michael Galkin, long time NFL reporter, those in Dallas, those in Oakland, those in Vegas, those in San Diego. Know anybody covers the league, knows my friend Michael gelkin, and enjoy yourself. Get to the park with your daughter. You got to go now. He’s got to, he’s got to go babysit. Um, first, first steps last night, huh? Yeah, it
43:17
was awesome. Yeah. Look
Nestor Aparicio 43:18
at, look at your eyes. Look at how happy you want? Yes. Well, there you go. Happier doing that. You don’t have to cover the Cowboys game next week, you’re off. I am Nestor. He is Michael. Luke is out knowing mills. He still covers the dare I say, the day that Luke comes to me and says he doesn’t want to cover the team anymore. We still love it. We still dig it around here. Luke’s covering the baseball team and the football team. It’s an exciting time. Come on out and do what Michael’s going to do. Get a crab cake with me. We’re Baltimore positive.com. Stay with us. You.
