It certainly wasn’t a homecoming game with the Pittsburgh Steelers but it was quite a celebration for the Super Bowl XXXV champions and the greatest defense in the history of the game. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss what happened on the field against Aaron Rodgers in a bad 27-22 beat in Baltimore for the 6-7 and troubled Ravens defense.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ recent loss to the Steelers and the team’s defense issues. They highlighted the Steelers’ poor performance in deep passes in their previous five games, contrasting with their effective deep shots against the Ravens. Jones criticized the Ravens’ pass rush, noting the lack of pressure on Aaron Rodgers. They also reflected on the 25th anniversary of Super Bowl XXXV, praising the team’s character and leadership, and criticized the current team’s lack of integrity and accountability. Upcoming events include a crab cake tour and community engagements.
Super Bowl 35 Anniversary and Upcoming Events
- Nestor Aparicio discusses the upcoming Super Bowl 35 anniversary events, including a Maryland crab cake tour and various community engagements.
- Nestor mentions specific locations and dates for the crab cake tour, including Fadley’s, DiPasquale’s, and Hale Thorpe at Honeys.
- Nestor highlights the importance of community involvement and the positive impact of these events on local people.
- Nestor shares personal anecdotes about his experiences at these events, including interactions with fans and community members.
Ravens Defense and Recent Game Performance
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the poor performance of the Ravens defense in their recent game against the Steelers.
- Luke Jones shares a statistic from Ben Fennell, a producer for CBS and the NFL on Prime, highlighting the Steelers’ ineffective vertical passing game in their previous five games.
- Nestor and Luke analyze the Ravens’ defense, noting their struggles with deep passes and the lack of pressure on Aaron Rodgers.
- Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the Ravens’ run defense and the challenges they face against better offenses and quarterbacks.
Challenges Faced by the Ravens Defense
- Nestor and Luke Jones delve deeper into the challenges faced by the Ravens defense, including the lack of an impactful edge rusher and the impact of Aaron Rodgers’ elusiveness.
- Luke Jones compares the current Ravens defense to previous seasons, noting improvements in run defense but continued struggles with the pass rush.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of the defensive line and the impact of missing key players like Matt BK.
- They highlight the upcoming games against the Bengals, Patriots, Green Bay, and Pittsburgh, and the challenges the Ravens will face in these matchups.
Reflections on the Super Bowl 35 Anniversary
- Nestor shares his personal experiences at the Super Bowl 35 anniversary events, including interactions with former players and the emotional impact of the occasion.
- Nestor reflects on the significance of the 25-year anniversary and the importance of celebrating the team’s achievements.
- Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the lack of publicity for the 25th anniversary and the impact of this on the event’s success.
- Nestor highlights the importance of remembering the team’s history and the contributions of players who have passed away or faced personal challenges.
The Legacy of the Super Bowl 35 Team
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the legacy of the Super Bowl 35 team, emphasizing the character, integrity, and leadership of the players.
- Nestor shares personal stories about his interactions with former players and the impact they have had on his life.
- Luke Jones reflects on the importance of celebrating the team’s achievements and the lessons they can teach current players.
- They discuss the challenges faced by current players and the need for leadership and accountability within the team.
The Importance of Celebrating Past Successes
- Nestor and Luke Jones emphasize the importance of celebrating past successes and the impact this can have on current players and fans.
- They discuss the challenges of winning championships and the importance of enjoying the journey.
- Nestor shares his thoughts on the current state of the Ravens and the need for change within the organization.
- Luke Jones reflects on the lessons learned from past teams and the importance of maintaining a positive outlook.
The Impact of Past Players on Current Teams
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the impact of past players on current teams and the importance of maintaining a connection to the team’s history.
- Nestor shares his experiences with former players and the lessons they have shared with him.
- Luke Jones reflects on the importance of remembering the contributions of past players and the impact they have had on the team’s success.
- They discuss the challenges faced by current players and the need for leadership and accountability within the team.
The Role of Leadership in Team Success
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the importance of leadership in team success and the challenges faced by current players.
- Nestor shares his thoughts on the current state of the Ravens and the need for change within the organization.
- Luke Jones reflects on the lessons learned from past teams and the importance of maintaining a positive outlook.
- They discuss the challenges faced by current players and the need for leadership and accountability within the team.
The Emotional Impact of Sports
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the emotional impact of sports and the importance of celebrating past successes.
- Nestor shares his personal experiences with former players and the impact they have had on his life.
- Luke Jones reflects on the importance of remembering the contributions of past players and the impact they have had on the team’s success.
- They discuss the challenges faced by current players and the need for leadership and accountability within the team.
The Future of the Ravens
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the future of the Ravens and the challenges they will face in upcoming games.
- They reflect on the importance of maintaining a positive outlook and the lessons learned from past teams.
- Nestor shares his thoughts on the current state of the Ravens and the need for change within the organization.
- Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of celebrating past successes and the impact this can have on current players and fans.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens defense, Super Bowl XXXV, Trent Dilfer, Aaron Rodgers, Steelers game, crab cake tour, Maryland crab cakes, Planet Fitness, Baltimore positive, 25th anniversary, Ray Lewis, Joe Burrow, Drake Maye, offensive line, defensive line.
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W n s t am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are positively into the Hey. We lost to the Steelers. We’re playing the Bengals week around here. Luke Jones is going to be out in Owings Mills. Any breaking news? Weapon first on the W n s t, tech service, you’re on that? Been on it for 20 years. That’s how long it’s been around, because we’ve been around that long, because that’s what the Silver’s coming in and all that. So what happens you have 25 year Super Bowl anniversaries around here? CART the trophy around with Trent Dilfer on Friday night. We’re gonna be doing the Maryland crab cake tour all week as well. I’m gonna get Bill Cole from cold roofing and Gordian energy out at some point, because he’s been evading me ever since we had that AI talk a couple of weeks ago over pizza John’s and I was a pizza Johns on Sunday, we do a couple of Super Bowl there for the first time this year, in February, Super Bowl week, I will be out in the community getting good things done for good people, and I’m committed to that. That’s in early February. In the meantime, we’re just gonna have crab cakes, cool people. So Wednesday, we started fadley’s. Thursday, in the morning, we’re going to be at DiPasquale’s all morning, probably having pizza and crab cakes and sausage if Darren’s there. And then on Friday, Feast of the Seven Fishes too. Friday, we’re going to be in Hale Thorpe at honeys. I’m going to little doodle Asian spice over there, which be delicious, because they apparently got pot stickers and they have crab pretzels. So I’m looking forward to it. They invited me over some I’ll take the show anywhere except club basements. I tried that once. Next Thursday, we’re going to be speaking of club basements like Costas is sort of like my club basement at this point. We’ll be there next Thursday in Dundalk with Gina shock and some others. Friday of next week, we’re going to be at gertrude’s with Dan Rodricks at the BMA. Come on by. They have such a beautiful Christmas display there. And the gingerbread thing a great food. And they have a vegan crab cake. Had a young lady from Coppin State who was a Luke she was a quantum, quantum physics major, and I actually spoke to her for a while. I feel like I learned stuff just by breathing the air. But she’s an AI experts. I had her on last week, and she’s, she’s vegan, so I said I could take your cartridge. They have a vegan crab cake, something for everybody. And then on Monday, the 22nd we’re going to be a planet fitness in Simon, and they open a new location there, inviting everybody in the community drop by and see it. It’s not your mamas or your daddy’s Planet Fitness anymore. I may ask all sorts of things in there for rejuvenation, staying healthier. People come and say, Hey, ness, how do you look so young? I’m like, Well, it’s because I don’t live, eat and breathe football anymore. It’s because I go to Planet Fitness. So there’s my new commercial for you. I’ll use that one for the holiday. Get in shape in 2026 I did get on the scale today, Luke, my wife’s been gone for since Thanksgiving. She’s doing her whole family thing with her freezing her ass off up in New Hampshire. I got on the scale today, and I can honestly say to Planet Fitness, I’m in game shape. Luke Jones, you know, I don’t know if they are or not. We’re going to find out. But picking up the pieces from this mess, I know you want to talk defense, and we’re going to talk defense. I had someone come up to me at the team party on Friday night for the 25th anniversary of the Super Bowl, 35 champs, greatest defense in the history of the game. If you didn’t know that, Marvin will never tell you that, though he always shakes his head he hates those kind of titles. And I didn’t even see Marvin over I didn’t see Brian. I didn’t see Marvin. I didn’t see Mike Smith. I didn’t see Dwayne Starks. I didn’t see Ray Lewis, but I did see a lot of awesome people over the weekend, including Trent Dilfer and Brandon Stokely, just so many Ravens. I can’t even begin to name Matt Stover caught up with him for a while. Matt Simon, a lot of mats. It was a hell of a week until the they played the game. And I would say to you that I had someone come up to me in a nose and howls and did and does and always will, and said to me, coaches, aren’t you good man? And I’m like, wow, okay, that’s that’s not a new one on me, but man, they wanted to fire Tomlin last week. Hardball is at it this week, Zach or, you know, is going to be in the hot seat at the end of all this, because there’s going to be a body of war. Body of work through all of this. How much they miss mad at BK, I don’t know, but Steelers at home, they didn’t get the job.
Luke Jones 04:12
They didn’t and I cited this in a previous segment, but I have it sitting in front of me right now. This was a stat that was put out there on social media by, I think it was his name’s Ben fennel. He’s a producer for CBS and the NFL on prime, you know, the Amazon Thursday night game, and it was going into Sunday, obviously, because this will resonate the Steelers in their previous five games. Nestor, so five games, we’re talking nearly a third of a season. There five games on 20 plus yard air passes. So this is when you’re throwing the ball 20 yards downfield. The Steelers in their previous five games. Oh, for 13 were. Three interceptions. This was a completely anemic, punchless, vertical passing game. I mean, all they were doing was throwing the ball underneath, to the point that I asked Zach or about it on Thursday, and he was ready for the question, and he said, Look, we we can’t just sit on routes. We know that. And if you go back and look at the tape and you look at them, in recent weeks, they’ve had some chances to take some shots downfield. Well, lo and behold, Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, first play, first offensive play for Pittsburgh. DK Metcalf, 52 yards, beats Marlon Humphrey. Little bit of a push off, probably. But we kind of talked
Nestor Aparicio 05:42
about what changes the next 55 plays of the game? Because at least, you know, they might do it again
Luke Jones 05:46
well, and that’s the thing. And they did it multiple times. They did it well. Aaron Rodgers played probably his best game as a Steeler, low bar, acknowledging that. And DK Metcalf showed up big, and the Ravens defense kind of looked much more like the group we saw earlier in the season and more like the group we saw last year. Yeah, fourth quarter, they bowed up. They they got three three and outs. Pat on the back for that. I suppose you know, they gave him a chance in the fourth quarter, but gave up 27 points over the first three quarters and gave up multiple deep shots. The pass rush was non existent. And I think Pittsburgh did what you’ve heard me talk about this a lot. We’ve talked about this a lot the last couple years, you know, even going back to last year, and you know what, what the defense looked like through the first half of last season, I think we would agree that they have very much cleaned up their run defense. You know, it’s not perfect, it’s not the 2000 ravens, but their run defense has been better than it was early in the year. And you know, even some good ground, good rushing teams haven’t necessarily, I mean, like, look at the bears, the way the bears run the ball. The Bears didn’t run the ball a ton against them in that what was that week eight? I guess it was. But I’ve said it, when you go up against this ravens defense, I kind of feel if you’re trying to run the ball a lot, you’re kind of doing them a favor. And Pittsburgh came out and they were aggressive on early downs. They they chucked the ball. Now they moved. They became more conservative as the game went on, and they had a lead, but they threw the ball on early downs when the Ravens had their bigger personnel in which that means it’s not your best pass rush, for which, I think their best, you know, their front four, when you’re talking about a play where you’re rushing the passer is probably van Noy and Mike Green at the edges, and then Travis Jones and Draymond Jones sliding inside, you know, kind of rushing from a three or four technique. That’s probably their best four if you’re talking about a Four man rush, but you’re obviously not using that all game long. So what did Pittsburgh do? They saw when the Ravens had their base, you know, when it’s Brenner urban or David ajabo Rushing the rushing the passer, you know, off the edge. Oh, let’s, let’s throw it there.
Nestor Aparicio 08:12
So well, that’s Aaron Rodgers reading everything at the line. And he just,
Luke Jones 08:17
and they just, they didn’t get any pressure on him, you know, for all the talk of, you know, Draymond Jones coming in, which I still think was a good move like, but he’s not Lawrence Taylor. He’s not Terrell Suggs, for all the talk about their pass rush looking better these last two weeks.
Nestor Aparicio 08:36
Well, Mike Green got in and got underneath, right? And that’s the thing
Luke Jones 08:39
that they had a couple opportunities where Rogers, to his credit, showed some elusiveness that I didn’t think anyone thought was still there in a 42 year old version of Aaron Rodgers instinct, but just, but just not, not good enough. I mean that we’ve talked about it all year as much as we focused more, much more so on the offensive line. In recent weeks, defensive line is not good enough. They miss Matta BK big time. I think Travis Jones is a really good player, don’t get me wrong. But, you
Nestor Aparicio 09:07
know, he’d be a better player. Matabiki in there, yeah, better player
Luke Jones 09:11
if they if they had a more impactful edge rusher. I mean, I I think Mike Green can still develop into a really nice option for them. Doesn’t mean I think he’s going to be Terrell Suggs. So you kind of look at that group. You know, we’ve talked a lot about the offensive line, but the defensive line, when you’ve seen them, step up and weight class these last two weeks against better offenses, and more specifically, better quarterbacks, or in Rogers case, let’s just say a more experienced quarterback then chid Sanders, Dylan, Gabriel, JJ, McCarthy, Caleb Williams, tua tango, valoa, you’ve seen a very distinct difference, and that’s where you look at this thing and say, All right, well, you’re gonna have Joe burrow again. You’re gonna have Drake may again, who some people feel is. Going to be the MVP. But whether he is or not, he’s going to be, he’s in that space with the Patriots being the number one seed. And then you’re going to Green Bay, where, even if statistically, Jordan love hasn’t had this unbelievable season, as far as his stats, he’s playing at a really high level. You’re going to be playing on the road there. And then you go to Pittsburgh and week 18, hoping that game means something, right? I mean, you’re hoping, one way or the other, that you have a chance. So point is, for all the hopes and what the numbers had looked like over the last six weeks, which, you know, they’re shiny. You know, you can go look at the Ravens game release and see, you know, since week eight, the Ravens had ranked first in this, and second in that, and first in this and this, and third in that. There’s no doubt the defense had improved. There’s no question about that. The defense is better than it was early in the season. The competition was less terrible. But that’s that, that’s the thing, how much of it was true, truly meaningful improvement and how much of it was.
Nestor Aparicio 11:02
None of that matter where Rogers was out there barking out of plays the third down force. You need to take time outs because you didn’t have a safety on the back end and he was going to beat you. Yeah, literally, that’s what happened in the second quarter. And that’s why I tweet it was first quarter. That’s why I tweeted out. You still forget that he’s the smartest guy in the building. Like, that’s what’s made him him at 42 is that he is the last remnant of that. Brady Peyton, Manning arrow, comes up to the line of scrimmage and says, All right, I know what you’re trying to do to me, and I know what to do to you to make sure that this is a plus play. He again, it goes back to the thing, five yards. Five yards. Hey, I I might not be able to throw the ball over your head, but you’re giving me seven yards. I’m going to take it like when, like when he came out and was it Wiggins. It was playing off. Somebody was playing so far off on the top side of the screen that he just took a snap, threw it over and got seven free yards on first down, because the Ravens were willing to sacrifice that well.
Luke Jones 11:58
But that also speaks to, and I don’t know exactly which, which example you’re talking about, but it speaks to the push pull of when they throw a 50 plus yard pass on the first their first offensive play, when, I’m guessing, at that point in time, they were very much planning on a game where all they’ve done is dink and dunk over the last month. I mean, that’s all they do. Aaron Rodgers isn’t throwing it downfield, right? I mean, they’re, they’re, they haven’t completed a pass of 20 plus yards. And, you know, in the air in a month, you know, it had been since October. Well, Pittsburgh came out and threw the ball over their head. And, you know, to Rogers credit, when the Ravens did Blitz, it didn’t work, right? And we saw them Blitz, you know, on the Warren touchdown. I mean, they Blitz and, you know, Mike Green, or whoever is supposed to get out and cover him, he didn’t, and turns into a 30 plus yard touchdown. Well, on third down. I mean, it’s, you know, it just wasn’t, wasn’t good enough, you know. And especially, I mean, it was better in the fourth quarter. I mean, that was great. You know, they forced three, three and outs there. I do think Pittsburgh was ultra conservative at that point in time. But you know what we saw in the first three quarters against that offense against I know he’s Aaron Rodgers, but a 42 year old Aaron Rodgers who had looked really bad for a while. I mean, that’s discipline. They looked incapable of throwing the ball over your head for a couple of weeks, right? That’s what I’m saying. They literally hadn’t done it in like, they didn’t have a single completion of 20 plus air yards in the entire month of November. I mean, and they had multiple they did that multiple times against the Ravens on Sunday. I mean, that that for me, as much as So, much of our focus has been on the O line and lamar’s health, or Lamar not playing well in the three games leading into Sunday. Or, you know, the running game, not running whatever. You know, we had kind of talked about the defense being better, right? And even against Cincinnati, really, it came down to them having a bad third quarter, right? I mean, the defense played well in that first half, considering the short fields that they were put on. But the third quarter, Cincinnati, you know, they couldn’t get off the field on third down against Joe burrow in that third quarter, and obviously their two touchdowns came on third downs. But to come out and for the defense to play the way it did through the first three quarters against that team, against that offense, that that was my biggest disappointment, if we’re looking in the from a micro perspective, you know, not the big picture questions. Now, with four games to go, that’s where I look at it, and say that this defense for as as well as it was trending for five games, you know, even go back to the Rams game, you know, where they played better in that game, even in defeat for six games these last two weeks have been quite a sizable step back in my mind, and just speaks to the fact that this defense is way closer to average than anything that’s special, and when you you know when you kind of rack that up with where they are. Are on the offensive side of the ball, their special teams being what they were. Questions about coaching, questions about your quarterback’s health, all that that’s, again, just something else you look at and say, are they going to play more like the defense they were against the likes of the dolphins and the Vikings and the browns and the Jets? Or are we going to see more of what we saw against the Bengals? Because they’re going to play again on Sunday. Again on Sunday, and what they what happened against in the first three quarters against Pittsburgh, when, you know, Drake May and the Patriots come to town, and you’re going to Green Bay, and then you’re going to Pittsburgh. You know, that’s just another element of this football team that, you know, the optimism has run dry the last two weeks about the defense, after they were trending in a way that you had some hope that maybe this was going to become a great defense, nothing close to a great defense. At this point.
Nestor Aparicio 15:48
Here’s Luke Jones. He will be out in Owings Mills all week long. Ravens at Cincinnati this week, one home game left to get to New England Patriots two weeks in that and then out on the road, Green Bay and then Pittsburgh at the end, all the percentages of 20 something, low 30 something, percentages of them winning the division, and what would have to happen in Miami and Pittsburgh and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah and Detroit and Pittsburgh and all that, um, super 35 champs came to town this week. I don’t you, did you? What was your experience with it? Because you went to the game, you’re in the press. Did you rub an elbow? Did you see? I saw on video that they marched in with the band and they had jackets on. Then I saw them come into the stadium. Ray had the fake trophy, not the real trophy, because I touched the real trophy on Friday night. The real trophies, the real trophy touched by the fans. All that. It’s not shiny. It’s not not at all, not at all. It’s beautiful, though it’s beautiful. It’s not meant to be. Trent delfer didn’t have any problem holding it up with me. Neither did anybody else touching it. Even more, it’s the people’s trophy. I mean, it was powered and paid for and loved and appreciated even a quarter of a century later, quarter of a century crazy, to put it
Luke Jones 16:59
in those terms, isn’t it? No to answer your question. I mean, my extent of it, look, I mean, we’re up in the corner, in the press box. I, I didn’t pre
Nestor Aparicio 17:07
game, right? There wasn’t, like, any, where were the Where did you notice it was actually, did it just last eight minutes at halftime? Like, I don’t know.
Luke Jones 17:14
I mean, I mean, they had some pre game stuff, and I looked on their website, there’s not enough about it for me, right? Yeah, literally. Well, we talked about this last week, and I even talked about this with about this with some others, you know, like, so this isn’t, this isn’t, oh, well, Nestor and Luke are just being negative about the team or whatever. I was shocked. And someone else who is in the media and grew up here, right, you know, so even, even before they were in the media, they were very familiar with the team and everything. And that that individual was shocked at how little they publicized the 25th anniversary. I mean, they when they put out their, you know, it wasn’t when the schedule came out, but it was like August. I think it was when they announced when they were going to wear their black jerseys and when they were going to wear the, you know, the alternate Purple Helmets, you know, against Cincinnati, they they put out, like, like, their promotional schedule, basically, for, like, What? What? The like, Katie Briggs trying to give away bottle heads next summer, exactly so. But that was in August, and they made mention of it then. And, my goodness, Nestor, unless I totally missed something. I didn’t hear a single word about it from that point until, like, Tuesday of this past week. I mean, it was, it was odd, you know, I thought it was well done for what it was, you know, pre game. I mean, I thought the jackets that they gifted all the players, I don’t know if I’m sure you saw it, the like the varsity jacket, they, yeah, really nice looking jacket. I mean, those are cool. But my extent of any interaction with any of those guys. Was seeing Kadri Ismail. I on the press box, and, you know, I, I asked, you like, what he thought of the weekend, and his eyes lit up like, and he just said, it was so great seeing everybody.
Nestor Aparicio 18:51
He pub ball me about not putting his picture up. He No, but
Luke Jones 18:55
he gave me a heart. So this was funny, you know, they put out the press release. And, you know, look, I I was, it’s not like I was going through the Super Bowl 35 roster, but they put in the press release, and obviously they didn’t name every player, but I was a little surprised, considering how close they are still connected to the team. The list of players that they had that would be attending, they did not have Qadri Ismail or OJ Brigance, and I thought that was and I get it like cadre wasn’t an All Pro, but he was their number one wide receiver that year. And I get it OJ Brigance was a special teams player relative to Ray Lewis and all the starters that were named in that list. But it’s OJ Brigance, right? So it was a simple oversight on my part from just copying and pasting the press release, and Q gave me a hard time. Yeah, it was good natured. I mean, we laughed about it, and I said to him, Well, you clearly didn’t check out my 12 ravens thoughts going into the game because I I made mention of his 1999 record day in Pittsburgh. Because. That had been the last time these teams
Nestor Aparicio 20:02
did my show the next night at the barn, and when I put pictures up. So I put that picture whore on Facebook, especially before they came to town, right? And I got invited to this party because the modell family loves me, and I felt like very much like I belonged, and I was treated that way as well. After all, I mean, I’ve not seen so many people smile at me and mean it and hug me and mean it, some of them even a little bit more inebriated. I’m not going to out anybody, but I got kissed by a man, grown man, I’m not going to out him, but, um, snuck up behind too and kissed. He’s almost Trumpian, but I’ve, you know, I welcomed it. It was nice. I’ll invite him on the show and make him admit it. But guys are coming in, and I have all these pictures, right? You know, I have a hard drive, you know, like, so I put it in, I put my files up from 99 2000 1001 I was only using the ones from that season, by the way, the 2000 season, because it was that were, they were the right pictures of the right era. I didn’t go back to 98 or 99 I didn’t pull any Ray Lewis ones from 96 I just tried to stay in the lane and not have whiskey Joes or the actual Super Bowl or the parade, or any of that, or the like pictures of everybody on the team at the party after with the Lombardi trophy at the Hyatt like. So I have a lot of that era stuff, but I don’t want to put any of that up, because I put it up before. So I was trying to find stuff from that. So I found, like, 25 pictures. I’m like, it’s enough. It’s just enough. And I actually called pictures out. I’m like, how many pictures of Billick do I want in there? I love Brian, but you know, it’s enough. How many Marvin smiling pictures am I going to put up? So I just tried to put one of everybody. I had some group shots of modern era. I tried to make it cool. And then Q comes on my Facebook, day of the show, the day of the party on Friday. And he’s like, what? You don’t have any pictures of me, yeah. And I’m like, oh, oh, oh. So then I went back and I found the second file, and it hit the mother. I found pictures I didn’t realize I even had downstairs at the barn with people with Spencer and Mike, and pictures with, I mean, the one that really moved everybody was Zeus and Chuck Brown together. Okay, right? So, you know people we have lost, obviously, goose, you know, like, just in a general sense of and, yeah, I want to say something to you while we’re talking 35 because I never said this out loud. I was at a table at a party on Friday night. Thank you, Steve dicastro and Roose Chris, for always being not just great to the modell family, but also great to leukemia and doing amazing things and being my friend. I love Steve dicastro. I forget how much I love him till I sit and talk to him a little bit. But I’m at a table later in the evening, and Jay Lou came up, gave me a hug. I said, Man, I’ve seen you twice this year. That’s like a lot. And next to him was Trent Dilfer, and next to him was Brandon Stokely. Matt Stover was also, hey, I’m Heather falow, amongst others. But I thought about these three individuals. I said this great conversation with Heather Fallout, Spencer’s wife, who’s a third grade teacher right here in Baltimore County. They live here, live in Owings Mills teaches kids. I was thinking about them losing children. J Lou Trent Brandon, when I bring that up, people think of Todd he it’s been a lot of tragedy, man. The fact that David died early, wasn’t there, his children were there at the party. How many people have lost loved ones? Players on the team you hadn’t thought, you don’t remember, that have passed away, and their brothers are there wearing their rings because they had CTI and they committed suicide. I mean, there’s a lot of tragedy, you know, me and several players openly talking about one of their teammates struggles with CTE and that, you know, all of us saying, Hey, if you talk to him, if you talk to him, like and they know, I talk to most of them. I mean, I probably could have helped Kyle. I told Kyle, I’m like, you know, I have everybody’s number, right? You didn’t need I could help you with that through the years. And I didn’t get to see everybody, but I saw so many people. And, dude, I’m just gonna say I I’ve called the current operation sleazy, and I have lots of check marks, including your press badge that you have, and I don’t have. That is the beginning of sleazy when you start how I’ve personally been treated and intimidated by but how the organization currently is. And we talked about the empty stadium, we talked about, and that goes for the Steelers, fans coming too, and whatever meaning the 25th anniversary conveys to someone younger than us that doesn’t have a ride. With it the same way my dad would honor the 58 calls to the 66 Orioles. And I didn’t really understand it, but I understand it, and the way you do, being a sports guy, the way we are, the reason people would listen to us and watch us and make us think about us and our and care what we think, because we’ve lived it. You know, I would just say for that team in that era to come into the stadium and see it not the way it used to be. And I’ll just leave it at that, and I’ll let them speak their mind in whatever way they would want to say that it’s not the way it used to be, and it doesn’t have to be that way, but it’s not good right now. It’s not good on the field. It’s not good off the field. The coach has no integrity. The offensive line has no integrity. They have no integrity in how they’ve dealt with Justin Tucker and just in a general, all of it, aftermath of Ray Rice, just the Wembley knee. We could just go through their brand issues, but the brand of the Super Bowl, 35 champions eternal. And more than that, for me, despite whatever Jamal Lewis went through and Ray Lewis went through and we’ve lost people along the way in all sorts of ways, when I’m in that room with those people, I promise you, dude, I’ve been doing this my whole I’m 57 years old. You’ve been around teams, baseball, football. There’s a reason that team won. That team had character people. As I sat there with Trent Dilfer for two hours every night and thinking like Trent knew he didn’t have the most talent, he’ll be the first one to admit all that, but Trent is still leader of men, and I had this deep chat with Trent. He’s going to come on with his wife Cass but I had this deep chat. He said something really that I can’t it was so profane, especially coming from Trent, and I can’t make it out loud, but his feelings for Ray Lewis and Rod Woodson were specifically rod, even more than Ray, as part of winning that championship. And Rod doesn’t get enough credit, I guess, in the minds of the quarterback who won that you know, won it. But I talked to 25 guys at night, and 25 years later, there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like it, yeah.
Luke Jones 27:22
And look, I mean, it reflects life. I mean, what you just mentioned. And look, we’re all going to leave this earth one day and know whether you’re rich or poor, smart or dumb, whatever color or creed you might be, we’re all going to go through things in life, right? I mean, you can be the richest person in the world, and you’re going to lose loved ones. You are. Could be someone who doesn’t have a whole lot, but you might be very rich in terms of having loved ones, right? I mean, but you know, a football team in 25 years, in the same way that if you go to your 25/25 class reunion, you know, I’m coming up on what I’ve graduated in 2001 I’m coming up on will be my 25th High School bringing my
Nestor Aparicio 28:08
wife did her 35th that’s a big number.
Luke Jones 28:12
My point with that is, I’ve lost multiple classmates, right? In the same way that you’re talking about the 25th of a Super Bowl team. And that’s, that’s without even getting into just the health issues that that football players have later in life. I mean, like, you know, whether we’re talking obvious, whether we’re talking about CTE or just or just feeling miserable, you know, knee replacement, shoulder replacements, all the different things they go through. I mean, the brutality for them to entertain us. At the end of the day, it’s an entertainment business.
Nestor Aparicio 28:41
So I talked to a player who openly said to me, I made $40 million playing football, and if I hadn’t put my first annuity away, I wouldn’t have any money now. Yeah. I mean, it’s like, literally, these are the kind of grown men conversations you’re having when you’re 60 years old. You know, at a 25th anniversary is like, how are you really doing? Yeah, how are you? You know what I mean, because that’s your most important thing. And what are you and what has defined you and what’s important to you? I have one guy say to me, one of the veteran guys, that guy over there, you know what a knucklehead that guy was 25 years ago? Do you have any idea what a knucklehead that and I’m so proud of that guy, that guy’s done this with his light and, like, that’s the kind of way they were coming up to me and talking. I, you know, really amazing, you know, and
Luke Jones 29:28
it’s funny. And, you know, I’m not even gonna pick on anyone here. I’m not gonna name one. I don’t really know the names. They were just, you know, people I saw interactions on social media. And there were, you know, some individuals who kind of made, the point that all the, I don’t know why the ravens are bothering celebrating the 25th anniversary, you know, the Super Bowl 35 team, they’re living in the past like need to and and that just that that was sad to me to have that perspective. And look, I said in our previous segment, talking about you. I there’s a part of me, like, this is part of it. This is a small part of it, but it’s a part of it nonetheless, that, yeah, I do think Baltimore sports fans, specifically for the football team, baseball and the Orioles, that’s a different discussion. I’m spoiled. You know, there’s, there’s some of that going on. I And if you’re listening individually, taking offense to that, you’re probably not part of the problem then, but there’s some of that going on, but at the same time, it’s a remembering that those teams are few and far between. Like there’s the 2000 team, but you know what? There’s the 2006 team, there’s the 2011 team, there’s the 2019 team, there’s the 2023 team. That all of those teams were perceived, in some shape or form to be better than the 2000 team was, until they went on the January run. Same certainly with the 2012 team. It’s really hard to do, and even you need to be great, but you also need to be lucky that 2000 team had some the ball bounce their way a few times.
Nestor Aparicio 31:05
John horrible still has a job, sure. And Jeff Waco, if that involvement doesn’t happen, John Harbaugh would have been out of here in 2017
Luke Jones 31:15
and there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s not even that. That really shouldn’t be a slight to John horrible. I might I mean, he might take it that way. I don’t know, but it just speaks to how difficult it truly is to win in the league. So when you do that, and when you do that for the first time, as the Ravens did in 2000 and when you consider the city’s history in the context of that happening, where five years ago, that felt impossible. Five years before that, that felt impossible. In 1995 we were still talking about whether the ravens, or a team like the ravens, would ever exist in Baltimore. So absolutely that should be celebrated, and that was fun and and that’s what makes Sunday’s loss even more disappointing that they played that way with all those guys in the building, you know? I mean, it’s just, but, yeah, when you talk about those teams, the journey is, I’ve said this a lot in the context more so talking about the Orioles over the years, right where I’ve said, you know, being a sports fan, if it’s truly only about winning championships to take satisfaction, man, that’s a sad endeavor. That’s a lot of time wasted, right? That’s a lot of effort in vain for those moments that are truly gratifying. Then, I mean, it’s enjoying the journey. But when you actually do it, my goodness, not that you should just live in the past and not that that gives a team a free ride for the rest of their existence, by any stretch. But there are a lot of clues around that team about the success that don’t exist with this group right now that’s in regard to leadership, in regard to accountability. They’re in a man in that room that would have ran out the back door after losing to the Buffalo Bills, I promise you, maybe one. And I met him at the party, and he’s doing okay with his life too, which, which is fine, and I’m not going to add anybody but, but I looked around that room and thought, how many of these guys ran out the back door when they lost and they lost plenty, they lost a lot. Yeah, there’s
Nestor Aparicio 33:22
one candidate in there and, and he’s a guy who I don’t have any pictures at the barn because he never came to the bar, yeah, like, he was a guy that just didn’t do that back then. And so somebody asked me about that, and I’m like, I have a picture that they was drafted, but I don’t have a picture with the barn. And for me, if he had pulled that, there would have been five guys in there saying, No, fair enough and sharp and Swain and goose and Burnett, and they would have been, no, we don’t
Luke Jones 33:54
Fair enough. And look, I mean, I’m not even trying to make that kind of a comparison. For me, it’s more so, yeah, these guys should be celebrated. And I’ve said it before, you know, I’ve said it to people in my life that root for other teams and saw their team win for the first time. You know, win a championship for the first time. It’s nothing, you know, there’s nothing quite like that. I mean, nothing I got to cover, as I said this to you, I said this to you last week, I got to cover the Raven second Super Bowl team as a as someone who grew up, you know, at 12 years old, 13 years old, finally having a team here in Baltimore, it wasn’t the same as as the joy, just the pure joy I felt for the 2000 Syracuse watching. Though you weren’t. You were you were not. No, no, I was home for that. The the Terps, the 2002 Terps I was, that was my freshman year at Syracuse, which they played the East regional final at the carrier, yeah, Joe Enoch, so and that and that team was special to me because of that, because I can remember calling my dad on the phone and just blasting the Maryland fight song and. The aftermath of, you know, my disappointment that we could watch that together, but we made the best of it on the phone, talking for an hour, running up the phone bill that month. So, you know, but like, there’s nothing that beats that first one. And look, there are 20 year old Ravens fans right now. Not 20. Let’s say 15. You know, 20 year old would remember the 2012 ravens at this point. But if you’re 15 and younger, you’re waiting like you’re waiting for Lamar and this current group to find to in the same way you and I heard about Jim Palmer. We’re still waiting exactly in the same way that, you know, my grandfather told me about Johnny you and the Gino Marchetti in the 58 calls race you got to experience, yeah, yeah, exactly. So, you know, it’s all relative. And look, a lot of the people that were in the stadium on Sunday, the two the Super Bowl 35 team, being in the building didn’t mean a whole lot to him. And and, you know what? As long as you’re not disrespectful about that, that’s okay. You know, in the same way that the 75 colts just had a celebration that didn’t mean anything to me, other than just understanding the history and appreciating it and respecting it.
Nestor Aparicio 36:10
We all know a thing about Roger card, but that’s my thing. Like, I didn’t live any of that, right? So, sack pad, oh, yeah, so, you know, but, and then that sinneke, and you said, Well, what did they win? Well, they lost him.
Luke Jones 36:21
Well, just like, hey, I love the 1989 team. You know, the the 2000 i I’ll say it, the 2006 ravens, which, if you recall, I mean, McNair coming in, no one, no one thought they were going to be that good that year, though, right? I mean, Billick had been dressed down by bashati months earlier. You know, McNair comes in. It’s like, and they were awesome. I mean, they were incredible that year, and it made that colts loss that much more heartbreaking, but, but I would still say, when I’m talking about enjoying the journey that 2006 and I’d say I’d throw 2008 in there as well. Har ball’s first year, and the unexpected success with a rookie
Nestor Aparicio 37:00
quarterback and a rookie head coach. I’m sitting in Pittsburgh in the upper down journey the championship game.
Luke Jones 37:04
The journey for those seasons were just as enjoyable as the championship.
Nestor Aparicio 37:08
Well, there was also champions up for those five years to win in the championship Koco and Ray’s last which made for a really good book if you want to read it. It’s called pub brain two. And I actually said to somebody that that team, the humans on that team, as I look down the list, we’ve lost a couple of them recently, too, don’t match up to the humans on the 35 team, just in a general, just in a general, what I think of integrity and character and people, and what kind of people they’ve been Yeah. So I love that team. I love that team. That’s my boys. So it was great seeing in this weekend and the girls. There was a lot of ladies involved in the office as well, and cheerleaders, all sorts of people there that I remembered and knew. So it was beautiful, and the game wasn’t, and Luke’s gonna be in Owens Mills all week long trying to make the Cincinnati game beautiful. Owners meetings are this week, and winter meetings yesterday MLB, so we will be monitoring that, and we have crab cake tours all over the place. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We are W NST AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore. Positive. You.
