Ravens head to Minnesota a heady 4.5 point road favorite against young McCarthy and Vikings

Longtime Minnesota sportswriter Kevin Seifert of ESPN and one-time local colleague of Nestor covering the Orioles back in the 1990s returns to Baltimore for a primer on the mystery of quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the belief Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has in him to lead the franchise. Plenty of purple knowledge in the this one.

Nestor Aparicio and Kevin Seifert discuss the upcoming match between the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings. Seifert highlights the Vikings’ recent struggles, including injuries and a tough schedule, but notes their recent win against Detroit. He praises Kevin O’Connell’s coaching style and the development of young QB JJ McCarthy. Aparicio expresses concerns about the Ravens’ performance and the impact of Lamar Jackson’s injury. They also touch on the NFL’s recent scandal involving the Ravens’ injury report and the league’s stricter enforcement. Both agree on the importance of quarterback stability and the challenges of maintaining high expectations in the NFL.

Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens Preview

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning upcoming events like the Maryland crab cake tour and a special medical procedure.
• Nestor and Kevin Seifert discuss their long history of covering sports, with Kevin starting in 1995 and moving to Minnesota in 1999.
• Nestor reminisces about meeting Billick and the Randall Cunningham championship game, while Kevin talks about his first season in Minnesota.
• Nestor and Kevin discuss the Minnesota Vikings, focusing on Kevin O’Connell and the challenges of developing a young quarterback like JJ McCarthy.

Kevin O’Connell and Quarterback Development

• Nestor and Kevin talk about Kevin O’Connell’s success with quarterbacks like Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins.
• Kevin explains O’Connell’s positive coaching style and the importance of player development in the NFL.
• Nestor and Kevin discuss the Vikings’ culture and the value of a positive coaching environment for players.
• Kevin highlights the challenges of developing a first-year starter like JJ McCarthy and the importance of having a strong team around him.

Vikings’ Recent Performance and Injuries

• Nestor and Kevin discuss the Vikings’ recent performance, including their win against the Lions and the impact of injuries on the team.
• Kevin explains the Vikings’ tough schedule and the challenges they faced early in the season.
• Nestor and Kevin talk about the importance of having a healthy team and the impact of injuries on the Vikings’ performance.
• Kevin mentions the Vikings’ high payroll and their efforts to build a strong team around JJ McCarthy.

Ravens’ Struggles and Expectations

• Nestor and Kevin discuss the Ravens’ struggles this season and the expectations for the team.
• Kevin talks about the Ravens’ recent win against Miami and the importance of Lamar Jackson’s performance.
• Nestor and Kevin discuss the Ravens’ offensive and defensive challenges and the need for improvement.
• Kevin highlights the importance of protecting Lamar Jackson and the challenges the Ravens face against the Vikings’ defense.

Vikings’ Offensive Strengths and Weaknesses

• Nestor and Kevin discuss the Vikings’ offensive strengths, including their elite set of receivers and tight end TJ Hockenson.
• Kevin explains how JJ McCarthy’s positive attitude and energy have helped him perform well in crucial moments.
• Nestor and Kevin talk about the Vikings’ ability to make plays despite pressure from opposing defenses.
• Kevin highlights the importance of having reliable playmakers and the impact of injuries on the Vikings’ offense.

Ravens’ Coaching and Leadership

• Nestor and Kevin discuss the Ravens’ coaching staff and the challenges John Harbaugh faces this season.
• Kevin talks about the importance of having a stable leadership and the impact of injuries on the team’s performance.
• Nestor and Kevin discuss the Ravens’ recent struggles and the need for improvement in key areas like pass protection and running the ball.
• Kevin highlights the importance of having a strong quarterback and the challenges of developing a young quarterback like JJ McCarthy.

NFL Injury Report Scandal

• Nestor and Kevin discuss the recent scandal involving the Ravens’ injury report and the NFL’s response.
• Kevin explains the importance of accurate injury reporting and the challenges teams face in managing injuries.
• Nestor and Kevin talk about the impact of the scandal on the NFL and the need for better oversight of injury reports.
• Kevin highlights the importance of transparency and accountability in the NFL and the need for stricter penalties for violations.

Prince and Minnesota Culture

• Nestor and Kevin discuss their experiences with Prince and the impact of his legacy on Minnesota.
• Kevin shares his experiences living near Paisley Park and the impact of Prince’s presence on the local community.
• Nestor and Kevin talk about the importance of Prince’s contributions to music and his influence on Minnesota culture.
• Kevin highlights the significance of Paisley Park as a museum and the impact of Prince’s legacy on tourism in Minnesota.

Final Thoughts and Upcoming Events

• Nestor and Kevin discuss upcoming events, including the Maryland crab cake tour and the Ravens’ game against the Vikings.
• Kevin shares his excitement about the upcoming events and the importance of community engagement.
• Nestor and Kevin talk about the importance of supporting local businesses and the impact of the Maryland lottery on the community.
• Kevin highlights the importance of positive coverage and the impact of local media on community spirit.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, Kevin O’Connell, JJ McCarthy, Lamar Jackson, NFL coaching, quarterback development, injury report scandal, home field advantage, competitive rebuild, player culture, youth sports, football season, Maryland crab cake tour.

SPEAKERS

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Kevin Seifert, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. It is a big week around here, and that’s after the trade deadline. We’re gonna be doing two big Maryland crab cake tour stops, one at Coco’s on Wednesday, and then on Friday at peach John’s in Essex. And I am wearing my Costa shirt, where we were last week in Timonium. We’re gonna get back into Dundalk. Once the queen of rock and roll, Gina Schock, gets back local, we’re gonna move the show over to Dundalk. We’re gonna be giving away the scratch offs in the Maryland lottery. I have Raven scratch offs as well as our friends at GBMC, putting us out on the road for the Maryland crab cake tour. And all of you know, I have a special medical procedure coming up in a few weeks, but between now and then, trying to keep the football season alive, the Minnesota Vikings are awaiting the Baltimore Ravens this weekend. My pal, Kevin Seaford and I have been covering sports here for about 30 some years. I don’t know, 9192 93 where were you? You’ve just some we were somewhere. It’s been 30 some years,

Kevin Seifert  01:01

right? Yeah, my first year in the DC, Baltimore market was 95 and so and I started covering the Orioles in 96 so we probably ran into each other then,

Nestor Aparicio  01:11

well, and you’ve been in Minnesota, which feels like more than a minute, probably all this century, correct?

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Kevin Seifert  01:17

Yeah, I moved I left DC, Baltimore in 99 and I’ve been here ever since. So just past the 26 year mark. Kind of crazy. Were you

Nestor Aparicio  01:25

in the building tonight I met Billick, or did you get there right after that? Like the Randall Cunningham championship game, I

Kevin Seifert  01:33

got hired the season after that, so I was Billick was already the Ravens coach when I got here to Minnesota.

Nestor Aparicio  01:40

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Well, you’ve seen a lot in Minnesota through all of this. Yeah, you’re on JJ McCarthy. Watch here. Listen, I would say this, and I think you and I talked about this maybe a year or two ago, when you did the show last I found myself at the final owners meetings before they threw me out after 26 years of doing the work that you witnessed me doing as well. But I found myself at at the table at the owners meetings, where the coaches all do their morning breakfast. You’re familiar with this, with your coach, the new coach, Kevin O’Connell, who was the new coach, then just incoming young, fresh face, Tom Brady, kind of guy out of the Belichick system, quarterback whisperer, like all of that. I would have bet a Golly. I would have hired him as my coach. And a couple of years in, he doesn’t have a pelt. There’s been no parade Minnesota yet, but I just want to get a little update on that, because we’re getting a sniff of this this week. But he’s got to get the right quarterback, but his quarterbacks in Seattle now, right? I mean, so it has been an interesting stop start for the Vikings. And two weeks ago when Wentz couldn’t lift his shoulder, I’m like, this is a gimme game. I don’t know. Go beat the lions in Detroit last week. Yeah, starts to play a much tougher game this week for the Ravens.

Kevin Seifert  02:50

Yeah, you’re right. He hasn’t Kevin O’Connell hasn’t won a Super Bowl. He hasn’t won a playoff game yet. He is the reigning Coach of the Year for the job he did last year when Sam darnold stepped into the lineup and led them to a 14 and three record and into the playoffs. He, I think, you know, I still think he’s the, the kind of coach, if not the coach that many, many NFL teams want. And certainly the quarterback aspect is crucial. You know, they they have really benefited from having the head coach, be the play caller, be the top person in the building on developing quarterbacks, because every quarterback that has played here has had has done better than he has at anywhere else in his career, whether it’s Kirk Cousins when he first took over, whether it was Josh Dobbs for a couple games in 2023 whether it was Sam darnold last year. And, you know, I don’t know if Carson Wentz had his best ever performance, but certainly his best in a while, since, at least when he was in kind of rolling in Philadelphia. And so, ultimate

Nestor Aparicio  03:58

compliment, right? I remember the day I met Marvin Lewis in 1996 he’s like, we’re teachers. We try to make these guys better, and they realize we can make them better. That’s when we win. That’s when they’re really going to sit up in class and pay attention, because we’re going to get them paid more, right? I mean, like, just all the way along, and when you sense that that’s a place you want to be, it’s like, Jerry Maguire, right? Like, make me better. Make me better, you know, right?

Kevin Seifert  04:20

And so you have that aspect, and that’s what every NFL team wants, but he we, the Vikings also have a culture that O’Connell is primarily responsible for implementing that is really valued by players across the league. You know, you see how they are ranked in the NFL pa rankings of organizations that players would want to play for in terms of, you know, the facilities, in terms of the coaching that they receive. He’s very much, and I kind of describe it as a product of the millennial kind of youth sports. You know, if you’ve ever been around youth sports, or if you ever coached youth sports, you know it’s very positive. Your coaches are encouraged to find the most positive way possible of of bringing players along and having them be the best versions of themselves and kind of the old school yelling and screaming and terrorizing and the other things that you know, probably went on when we were kids, is not necessarily, sort of not frowned on, or it is frowned on now. And the lot of the players in the NFL, they want to be coached hard, but they don’t want to be abused in that way. And so he is very much on the other end of that. In fact, I remember the his for Kevin O’Connell’s first training camp in Minnesota, a player was like, I’ve never been in a situation, I guess, in my entire life in football, going back to Pop Warner, it’s like, when is this guy going to yell at us? When’s he going to get mean? And he just isn’t, he isn’t that guy. There’s just a lot of empathy, a lot of talking through things. He does get angry, he does raise his voice, but it’s not nearly the nastiness that I think kind of you saw, you know, in football and other sports in previous generations. So I think those are the two things that people value about O’Connell, is the skills in the quarterback area, and also, sort of the Gen X, Gen or not Gen X, but millennial Gen Z kind of approach to managing

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Nestor Aparicio  06:25

people. Kevin Seaford is our guest. He’s with ESPN. He’s out in Minnesota, in the Twin Cities, waiting and covers the league really, and covers all sorts of issues in lots of ways. Over three decades of doing this, seen a lot of coaches there, right? We started with Denny green, late, great Denny green, but just going through any number of Zimmers and different people that have been good people, even assistants and stefanskis that have gone on to other places. I mean, even going back to Billick, you know, being a part of that system there, and they haven’t won, but they’re a perennial really good team and one of those great franchises. And I’ve spoken this week at length about this, that you know, the the noise in the league can be overrated in this fan base and that fan base. To me, you know, Seattle’s a place to go play. I think Denver because of the altitude, because of the way the stadium is structured. But to me, the Minnesota thing might be the ultimate home field advantage in the entire league, in regard to the skull thing and when the fans are breathing down on you, and how offenses and cadences would work in that building anytime it’s always full, I just I think it’s a really, really tough place to play, and I think it’s a franchise that you’ve witnessed for 25 years try to get there, hasn’t gotten there. But I think you see it is, you know, on the on the it won’t shock you once they win a Super Bowl there, right? Like they go about things the right way, right?

Kevin Seifert  07:53

I think so for the most part. You know their owners, the will family, took over in 2005 and one of their sort of core philosophies is they believe you should compete every year and that there should be no, you know, clearly no tanking, or anything that overt or explicit, but even just like kind of taking a step back to to for the, you know, take one step back so that you can eventually take two steps forward. And there are a lot of Super Bowl teams that built themselves that way, but the wills have never felt like they should do that to their fan base and their customers. And have a year where you’re going into it saying like they got no chance. And so they have kind of, you know, since Kevin O’Connell and the GM Kwesi dopamine so got hired in 2022 they have kind of tried to do what they call the competitive rebuild, and that is, you know, sort of overhaul the personnel, while at the same time being good enough to compete for for at least a playoff spot, if not the Super Bowl. And so they’ve been good most of those years. They had one really injury plagued year in 2023 that they did not end up with a winning record, but they’ve had the wolfs have had a top 10 winning percentage in the regular season over their tenure, but they have one of the worst playoff records as a result. And so they they have never been able to field an elite team, but every year they have a team that is likely to be at least good. And so what they’re trying to do now is how they tried to build a really strong team around a quarterback who had never played before in JJ, McCarthy, and try to support his development in real time, which is one of the hardest things you can do in the NFL is is have a first year starter at quarterback and someone as young as JJ, I mean, he just, he turned 22 earlier this year. He’s younger than you know, every quarterback in the league except Jackson Dart and you know, and while at the same time not taking a step back in the win loss column. I mean, they entered this season expecting to compete for an NFC North title, and they have a 350 million. Dollar cash payroll to back that up, and we’ll see if that is eventually where they end up going. But that’s sort of been the story of the Vikings over over a few decades, which is, you know, never being willing to take steps back on the field in order to build back up through the draft and high draft picks, well, all the years where

Nestor Aparicio  10:20

you wonder whether you have the right quarterback or not, whether it’s cousins, whoever it was, going back to Warren Moon and Randall Cunningham crying out loud with the darnel thing, and with the conviction of this coach leader in O’Connell who just believes, I’ve got my guy. This is my guy. I prefer 21 year old guy over 28 or 29 year old guy. I prefer cheap guy. I prefer pliable, unlimited, ceiling, all of that. It really created some awkwardness, right? I mean, most franchises I see the Browns play twice a year, they’re trying to find one quarterback, right? I mean, the Bengals have Flacco now running around out here, winning Pittsburgh, you know, going through Russell Wilson. And, you know, who knows who the number of dozen guys trying to find the next Roethlisberger? It’s certainly the jury’s out. As, you know, as Donald’s playing pretty well, and was a pretty high draft pick, as was Mac Jones. All these guys that are getting that second life O’Connell’s, sort of, you know, pushed his flag onto his guy. He’s 22 years old. I don’t know what that means for this week when the Ravens come out there, but I think, Hey, man, I remember when Billick got fired, it was like, sort of like, you know, your potential is going to cost me my job. And Kyle, Kyle bowler’s potential, you know, that’s the way quarterbacks and coaches were,

Kevin Seifert  11:41

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yeah, I mean, you think about last year they had Sam, not only Sam darnold, but Daniel Jones in their building as well. He spent the last six weeks on their practice squad after the Giants signed him, and they wanted to resign him to be sort of their the veteran backup to JJ, but and maybe compete to start if he was, if JJ had had a tough training camp or a tough early part of the season, but Daniel Jones understood that he had a much better chance to be the full time starter in Indianapolis, and that’s where he went. And they also had Aaron Rodgers basically standing on their doorstep saying, Hey, I’m happy to play for you guys for a year, if you’d like. And they turned that down as well. And from the outside you, you know, from from a sort of a detached team building perspective, you say, Well, if you’ve got this great quarterback infrastructure in your building, and this great quarterback coach, and you have a choice between paying Sam darnold, you know, $40 million a year, or Daniel Jones, something similar to that, if you wanted him to be your starter, or paying Aaron Rodgers whatever it was going to take or and you have the the chance to put a young guy out there who’s in this rookie contract for the next at least two more years, if not longer, then allows you to build a stronger team around him, and you feel strong enough about your infrastructure that you can bring him along to To the extent that you’re not going to take a step back from a competitive standpoint, then that makes sense, but that has put an enormous amount of pressure on Kevin O’Connell to deliver, you know, and it’s easier said than done. You know, he’s, he’s helped some veteran quarterbacks elevate themselves, but he has yet to, you know, he hasn’t been in a position yet to develop a quarterback from day one yet, and so that that part of it is still very much in progress. And so, you know, if you have it’s almost the kind of deal where you have a lot of great accomplishments, and that raises the expectations that you can work it with anybody and and we’ll find out eventually if that’s the case with JJ McCarthy.

Nestor Aparicio  13:41

Kevin Seaford is my guest. He’s my longtime friend and NFL insider for the worldwide leader in ESPN in the Twin Cities, the Ravens will be out in Minnesota trying to keep this thing on the road, keep the momentum going on the Raven side. Update me on the Vikings, dude, I watched most of the Carson Wentz pain game a couple of weeks ago. I felt for him. I’ve always kind of rooted for him. I like guys who went to North Dakota State came in sideways and, you know, led the eagles to somewhere, and never got there. So I’m always sort of on that team. And I sort of like the Vikings just always, you know, kind of pulling for your people up there. I know a lot of people in Minnesota. I’d like to see you get a parade, let’s say before Cleveland does, or some other places. But I would say for me, on the outside I looked at it like three weeks ago, even when the Raven stunk and Lamar wasn’t on the field and run around with with Snoop Huntley. I’m like, Hey, Vikings, you know, like, no quarterback, everybody’s banged up hard to win. I don’t think it’s going to cost O’Connell his job, but I’m like, it’s going to cost him a season, and certainly this decision to walk away from a veteran guy who is doing it if it goes not so good this year, seven and 10, or something like that, I don’t know where that is with the fan base or with the sponsorship or with the community, in regard to your point, sort of kind of punting on. Season, saying being okay, and saying we’re getting a system together. You know, it’s not what they’re doing in Green Bay with a young quarterback. That’s not what they’re you know, that’s not what they’re doing in Detroit, where they’re taking winning seriously for the first time since Plimpton, right? You know, so. But I would also say, two weeks ago, I looked at this and said, not going well. I tell you want, you’re always a week away. Right? A week and a half ago, the Ravens were one and five. Now they’re three and five with a bullet, and they’re favored to win in Minnesota, which got me scratching my head. Like I haven’t seen the Ravens look great against anybody, let alone Miami at all. But I see this pathway for the ravens to get the 10 victories and get the 500 be seven and set like, I’m not a quitter on any of these teams, but the quarterbacks got to show up. Where? Where are you with the Vikings right now? Because it feels like all these pieces, we only really talk about the quarterback there. Yeah,

Kevin Seifert  15:53

and so, like I said earlier, their goal was to come into this season with a strong enough team around JJ McCarthy that they could support him, you know, having some ups and some and a lot of downs, like a lot of young quarterbacks are going to have, and still be competitive, and they never really got a chance to find out if they had that. They’ve had injuries across the board, starting, you know, really in training camp, I think, until this game against Detroit, they, they, they, well, they still haven’t had their top five offensive linemen on the field altogether for one single snap all year. They had four of the five against Detroit for the first time, and but they’ve, they’ve had injuries on both sides of the ball. They had this really tough opening schedule where they had two straight Prime Time games, and then they went to Europe. They they were in Dublin against the Steelers, and then stayed over there to play the Browns the following week. And that was a really I think they thought maybe that would neutralize the home field advantage that those teams had, and they barely escaped without getting swept. They had to come back against the browns on the last drive to just to split that so that was a very arduous time. Then they had their bye week, and then they started what was really the most difficult remaining schedule in the entire NFL against Philadelphia, and lost to Philadelphia, and then had a short week and lost to the Chargers. And then, so I think I went into that lions game saying, like, this just feels like a cursed year. It’s falling apart, right? Like there’s too many older veterans that are just going to be getting hurt, but they all got healthy for that game. Like I said, they had the four of the five offensive linemen, Andrew Van ginkell, who’s this really underrated defensive playmaker, was back for the first time since week three, I think, and he had a big impact. Their special teams came out of nowhere and had a huge impact with with block kick and a bunch of long returns by their rookie returner, and so a ton of stuff came together in a way against Detroit that had never, I mean, they hadn’t beaten those guys since 2022 and they hadn’t won at Ford Field since maybe not even The Senate in this debt in this decade, and so so many things came together that were unexpected in that game. And people the NFL is such that you get so excited by one game, you’re like, Okay, this is the way they’re going to play every week. And look out Ravens. Look out packers, look out bears. Look out everybody. And it’s still very much a team with a very young and inexperienced quarterback and a bunch of veterans who have struggled to stay healthy happen to be healthy right now, but even then, Aaron Jones, the running back, had a shoulder injury against the lions, and he’s 30 years old, and he may or may not be ready for this game, and so it’s just, excuse me, it’s just going to be a balancing act with the health of these veteran players. But that’s kind of where they’re at, you know? And I’m sure they would have preferred Lamar Jackson to spend a couple extra weeks making sure that hamstring is good to go, but I guess he’s now officially back after that game in Miami, and so they’ll have to contend with that. They struggle to keep Caleb Williams in the pocket in week one. And I know Lamar is more than just running, but like, that would seem to be something that could be open to him against this particular defense,

Nestor Aparicio  19:06

he hasn’t been doing as much of that. Oh, he hasn’t, really, hasn’t been,

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Kevin Seifert  19:11

yeah, and so maybe. But Kevin O’Connell said this week is, like, the thing you got to remember about him is how, how developed he’s become as a thrower. You know, he’s not just, you know, athlete guy. He’s very much, he very much has Kevin O’Connell’s attention and respect as a passer. And that does not come lightly, given Kevin’s background. And so, you know, I look at this as, you know, I looked at this game the same way you were a couple weeks ago, thinking, well, this is going to be one of many games that they’re going to struggle in to compete. And they might, that might be the case. You know, you can’t just say a team has turned a corner based on one game, but the lines are

Nestor Aparicio  19:46

terrible here, right like so when it comes to protecting Lamar and a pass set, struggled coming to running the ball. They’ve struggled getting after the quarterback. They’ve struggled stopping the run against the stout offensive line. Doesn’t matter. The running back is they’ve struggled, so that has been point of attack. They have gotten beaten. I mean, I don’t know what the stats and next gen would say about all that, but I bet they’ve been getting beat at the line of scrimmage like two thirds of the time through the course of the game, on both sides of the ball, which which way the line was moving once the ball was snapped and it is, it’s been really problematic because they’re just not built well in their core, either way. And to me, confusing a young quarterback getting pressure on a young quarterback, that’s really the key. That’s that really is the competitive advantage against the young quarterback, let alone an intimidation factor or confusion in the back end to pick them off. But the pressure on a young quarterback is really the issue. And I don’t know the ravens are going to get that this week or any week.

Kevin Seifert  20:46

Yeah, and a great thing for JJ McCarthy is that he has these really elite set, elite set of receivers, and the tight end, TJ Hawkinson as well, that if he throws it anywhere near them, they’re going to catch it. You know, Justin Jefferson had this great one handed catch on a fade route in the end zone against the lions that you know probably wasn’t thrown the way you’d want to throw a fade, but he just kind of rifled it 100 miles an hour, and JJ or Justin caught it. Jordan Addison made a great adjustment on a on a deep pass to come back to the ball that was underthrown, and they made a big play that way. TJ Hawkinson caught a pass in the end zone that again, JJ as a young quarterback, is throwing it 100 miles an hour every time, and I think it got to him quicker than he thought, but he managed to catch it. So the advantage that that JJ McCarthy has, and this was the idea when they built this team, is that he doesn’t have to be layering balls, you know, 27 yards downfield in a perfect spot, like an Aaron Rodgers in his prime, or whoever, to get completions. He just has to, he just has to give these guys chances. And that’s what they’re telling him to do. They’re not putting him in many he’s, you know, he’s not even had 30 attempts in a game. You know, they’re keeping it the three starts he’s had, they’re keeping it as basic as they can and letting those playmakers do the rest. And so I think you know, whether they get pressure on him or not, Jay JJ will have options to give guys chances to make plays, and that’s they’ve made enough of those against the lions to pull out the win. Do

Nestor Aparicio  22:22

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you see the optimism in him that the head coach does Kevin when?

Kevin Seifert  22:26

JJ, yeah, he’s just the relent, like I, I had seen him at Michigan, and you saw a lot of this, like, relentless positivity and the energy, and you’re thinking, Oh, that’s the way college players are, you know, like that. I get it and but, you know, he’ll tone it down in the NFL, and he hasn’t, like, he’s still that guy who’s like, you know, dapping up every single guy on the sidelines, every between, every series and, like, every, every motivational quote you can imagine that he is regurgitating and just always smiling and always seems to be trying to find the joy in whatever he’s doing. And there’s something to be said for that. Like, I think, I think the one thing that that he’s proved is that he, you know, he can, he can kind of Garner that energy and take himself to another level in these in these crucial moments at the end of games. And you saw he had three touched, counted for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter again, week one against Chicago, and that’s how they came back to win. And then the other day in Detroit, they have a third and five, if they make it, they win the game. You know that there’s, there’s no more, they’re gonna be able to run the clock out by kneeling and third and five, and O’Connell calls a pass. You know? He doesn’t say, like, let’s run and play defense. And he calls a pass. And it’s not a simple one. He throws a 16 yard back shoulder fade to their number three receiver, and the guy was able to catch it, a great catch again, giving a guy a chance to to make a play. But there’s something about that, that that his demeanor and his experience, maybe, as in the big 10 that and throughout his high school career as well, where he like the moment doesn’t get too big, and if he’s nervous, it certainly doesn’t play out in his in his personality or in the way he plays like he’s had some of his best plays in the most important moments of the games that he’s played.

Nestor Aparicio  24:15

Kevin Seaford is here. He is in the Twin Cities, covering the Minnesota Vikings and hanging out. And for 30 years now, we’ve known each other and and here we go again. Ravens. I you know, I keep all my friends close. I mean, it used to be a Rolodex. Now I just text you guys out and say, let’s talk some football here this week. But from a raven’s perspective, looking outward to a guy like you that really does cover the league, not just the Vikings, what do you make of the mess here? Harbaugh lying at press conferences, getting the bears all stirred up, moving the point spreads more than the mafia could five points on a Saturday, getting a slap on the wrist as an organization, lying about, well, I didn’t know, honest mistake. I mean, he’s a hardball. There are no. This mistake. Speaking of your quarterback out there in Michigan, ties to all of that, but just the shenanigans of different things that go on in the league. But more than that, the large s of Lamar, the expectations of the Ravens. You look up, I look up. We all look up. They’re one and five. They’re digging out from this. This is this a playoff game for them this week. I mean, a six loss would crush them. And I think the national media, I saw coward digging in for them the other day, just sort of like that. They’re the Ravens. They’re just going to dig out of this and go nine and two, and that’s what they do. I mean, I don’t sense that they’re that team. I don’t see Marshall yonda and a healthy Ronnie Stanley and a healthy Matta BK and a younger roquan Smith and a healthy Marlon Humphrey. They’ve got a lot of question marks about whether they’re more like it, you know, nine and eight team than they are that 15 and two team. Everybody still kind of thinks they are making them a favor coming into Minnesota.

Kevin Seifert  26:01

Yeah. I mean, when you have a generational quarterback, you you you have the highest expectations for that team no matter what else is around them. You know, the same with in Kansas City, with with Patrick mahomes. You know that you could argue this is not really one of his best teams, but people still enter the year saying, oh, yeah, the chiefs are going to win it, and so we’ll see if they even make the playoffs. You know, I think people look at the ravens and give them nationally, and probably give them the benefit of the doubt, in the sense that they’ve often figured out how to get out of maybe not this severe MMS in terms of one in five, but they have found ways to to over the course of seasons, put them themselves in competitive spots and at least in position to make deep playoff runs, even if they haven’t executed on those to the fullest extent. And so, you know, I think, and there’s been some times over the course of the heart, I don’t have every year of the harbot tenure in my head, but like, I know there’s been some ups and downs and so, but I think the bigger thing is, you

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Nestor Aparicio  26:59

lot UPS though. I mean, they’ve only had one really bad years, the year five goes knee and 15. So, I mean, fans are like, spoiled to like, anything less than a 12 or an 11, you know, is like unacceptable or crazy or whatever. Wait, the fans have been leaving at halftime, boo and the coach. The stadium’s been empty. It’s been a really weird level of expectation. And they haven’t won the Super Bowl in 12 years,

Kevin Seifert  27:25

13 years, you know. And so what I was gonna say was, you know, when you think about it, you look at it from the outside, and you just try to put it in the context of recent football, you think of like Andy Reid and Philadelphia, like had a, you know, which is where John Harbaugh came from, before he, you know, was started in Baltimore. And, you know, Andy Reid had a wildly successful run in Philadelphia. They didn’t win the Super Bowl, as the Ravens have, but it was wildly successful. And they just kind of, you know, eventually they got to a point where they say, like, I think everybody would be in, you know, in good it would be good for everyone to kind of go their separate ways. It’s not a firing, it’s not a resignation. It’s just like, you know, there’s, there’s a, there’s a time limit for every, you know, tenure in the NFL, even Belichick, even even Belichick, you know, can it can go on longer when you’ve when you’ve won one or more Super Bowls. And I’m not at all suggesting this in the case of the ravens, but it’s just something in John Harbaugh, but it’s just something you think about, like, it’s not nothing’s forever. And so you wonder, like, you know, you have a dip like this, as you say, it doesn’t happen very often. You say, like, are they getting closer to that? Well, they want to throw

Nestor Aparicio  28:36

Tomlin out of Pittsburgh, and he gets a 41 year old quarterback that you guys didn’t even want. Nobody Wanted, nobody wanted to deal with him. And you look up and you’re like, Well, I mean, better than anything else that they put out there in recent years. And same thing could be said for Flacco in regard to borough, that it is kind of amazing the difference it can make. And that would be the question mark, I guess, for every organization. Say, do you have the right quarterback? Can you keep him upright, and are you doing the things around him to give him a chance to be successful? I mean, the ravens and the Steelers with their leadership, and Marvin, even before that, with two quarterbacks, right? Andy Dalton. He made it work with Andy Dalton, right? So I would just say there’s been such stability in a lot of places. I mean, you talk about Philadelphia, New Orleans, with Peyton, and now what he’s doing in Denver, and even Pete Carroll and what he did in Seattle, there’s really something to be said. And I think your organization felt that way about Mike Zimmer, even though he never climbed up the mountain. Mike Zimmer is a good man, yeah,

Kevin Seifert  29:33

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yeah, yeah, for sure, and so and so. Again, I’m not suggesting that the that the John Harbaugh tenure should be coming to an end by any, any stretch, but in the biggest picture possible, you say you have this generational quarterback haven’t yet won a Super Bowl with him. What? What? What are the parameters that why? Why has that not happened yet, and what needs to change before the clock starts ticking on? Lamar Jackson again, nothing’s forever. He’s young. He’s still you. Know, a great player, and you’ve mentioned he’s not running as much, but I don’t think there’s any lack of effectiveness, or any any drop in effectiveness, certainly with Lamar Jackson. But it’s not indefinite, and you want to, you don’t want to get to the end of his tenure, whenever that’s going to be, and say, you know he was, he was a Hall of Fame quarterback that that we never even got to the Super Bowl with and so those are the questions that I’m sure the ravens are thinking about and asking themselves. And to me, when I look at them from the outside, those are the same questions. It’s like they’ve been so good with him, but they just haven’t taken that final step. What’s it going to take before? Before it’s not possible anymore?

Nestor Aparicio  30:38

I got to ask you this, not on behalf of ESPN bat or the gambling community or the National Football League, but the shenanigans here last week, I think a lot of people were shocked that the Ravens didn’t get a draft pick taken away, just to say, like, This can’t be happening the old boy network of you know, don’t tell anybody, but my quarterback’s got the flu or whatever is going On that would cause Hokey Pokey with Joe the bookmaker. We’re now into the on the up and up system, and that’s a really difficult thing, as the NBA is finding, is all of these sports are going to find out, especially at the lower levels of colleges, which is really disturbing. You know, what it would take to throw a game or shave a point that the NFL? I just found that to be one of those things that everybody in the league is looking at and saying, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, there’s, you know, we can’t play the gamesmanship role anymore. I didn’t know the rules. Yeah.

Kevin Seifert  31:31

I mean, those rules are not like a secret. They’re, they’re written down and in a handbook, and every NFL team has them. So, like, I don’t know a lot of the details. And I actually thought that the NFL would would make an example of them, you know, regard regardless of whatever they in their investigation found happened, or sort

Nestor Aparicio  31:50

of a textbook of what you can’t do. The best player in the sport two time, MVP, coming off an injury, you’re gonna bullshit everybody right on up to the bitter end, right on through the gamblers, right on into Saturday afternoon. Like, no, no, no, hard, no, hard stop. That’s not cool. Like, I thought that’s the way Goodell would look at it. And honestly, that’s the way I thought every other owner, head coach just saying, Oh, it’s the hardballs doing what they do, cheat, lie. Like, no, no. We’re not doing you we’re not doing that, right? I mean,

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Kevin Seifert  32:21

yeah, I will say that, like, and take it for what it’s worth. Like, I’ve talked to a lot of people around the league who, I don’t wanna say were scared by it, but we’re like, it caught their attention that, oh yes, we’re now in the time. You know where you can’t, you know whether this is an honest mistake or not, where you can’t have honest mistakes anymore, like, you have to, everything has to be buttoned up. Everything has been tightened up, if it means pulling in your team lawyer to talk about the injury report to make sure that you’re correctly interpreting the wording of every all the bylaws. And they have such things. Yeah, right. Everybody has that, yeah. And so like, I do sense that there has been a tightening up, at least an attention drawn, and a tightening up of the process of the injury reports that maybe didn’t exist before

Nestor Aparicio  33:15

there was, well, you send a memorandum and say it’s 100 grand this time, it’ll be the death penalty. Next time, yeah, that doesn’t really $100,000 fine. Was laughable. It was like, it was like, it was literally, like, a Ravens.

Kevin Seifert  33:28

Maybe the Ravens were the fortunate guinea pigs there, and they and they were the first ones to get to make to have that happen. But I will say, like, it’s not like people looked at that and said, Well, I guess it’s okay to to, you know, mess around with the injury report and do whatever we want to do with it, because they only got the 100,000 like, I think people’s attention has been caught, and we’ll only know for sure the next time, and there will be a next time and when the next time it happens, what the punishment is then. But I do think that there’s, I have just noticed, just anecdotally, on my own, that, like, there’s been a tightening up of the way these things are happening that wasn’t previously in place.

Nestor Aparicio  34:09

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Well, I mean, bookmakers used to come to people like you and me trying to get inside information about stuff like that, and offering money and like all of those awful things that everybody in the league tried to stay away from, and till they planted a team in Vegas and put turned on an app and everywhere. And I just think it’s, um, these are the dangers. And listen, I’ve never bet on it. I’m pretty on the up and up. I can’t even discuss the game in that way. I can only discuss the game the way we’ve been discussing it for X’s and O’s and Jimmy’s and Joe’s, and I can get into a little bit of the off field drama and who did what? Jurisprudence, but yeah, you know, by and large, when you spend the time in the game, you understand how hard the game is to win, even when you have good, healthy players. You

Kevin Seifert  34:47

know absolutely, absolutely and you know it’s, it is. It’s part of the landscape of sports now. So like, I and again, and I’m in same boat, like, I certainly don’t bet on anything, because I’m too. Deep, but I’m well aware that it’s a big part of the landscape, and something we have to cover and think about and talk about,

Nestor Aparicio  35:07

is that Spurgeon wins a nameplate that you have behind you. I forgot

Kevin Seifert  35:11

to take that down, but yes, it is. He was he actually funny? You should you should notice that he was the starter against the Ravens. I think it was the only game, well, maybe one of the couple games he started in his career, but at the end of the 2001 season

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Nestor Aparicio  35:27

for the Cleveland Browns, yes,

Kevin Seifert  35:30

well, for the vite, but the he was on the Vikings at the end of the 2001 season, and Denny green got fired with one game left, and Mike Tice became the interim coach. The last game of the year was in Baltimore, because it had been rescheduled from 911 and it was a night game. And I’m pretty sure Spurgeon wins started that game for the Vikings. He started

Nestor Aparicio  35:50

he’s there is a I was in Albuquerque for the great Balloon Fiesta, and I bring that up because you have children. It’s one of the great things I’ve ever done in my life. It’s always been in football season, so I’ve never been able to do it. So my thanks to do it. So my thanks to Chad steel for throwing me out because it allowed me to go to Albuquerque and see Paul McCartney and see the balloon festival as well. And I just, I just lost control. I’m in this in the hotel at four in the morning and the Baltimore bullies. ESPN, there you go. ESPN, Kevin Seaford, I’m plugging your the Baltimore bullies for you. There’s, there’s a scene in there where Rob Burnett just, it’s the most vicious. I mean, it would have gotten you 15 yards an envelope from the commissioner at this point. But Spurgeon win was, like, thrown to the wolves of the the Baltimore bullies that year. So when I saw win there, I’m like, that’s like, Steve Wynn in Vegas. And I saw the thing. I’m like, that’s a name plate. It’s got to be Spurgeon win. So who else can come on and room rate your room with Spurgeon win. You’re the only guy.

Kevin Seifert  36:49

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I underestimated you. Normally I put that down so that it doesn’t show up in the zoom, but I underestimated your observational abilities. Well done.

Nestor Aparicio  36:57

Well, I tell you what. Hey, last question is most important, everybody in the Twin Cities. Did you ever meet Prince? I feel like everybody in Minnesota must have met Prince one time. Did you ever meet Prince? No,

Kevin Seifert  37:07

and it’s wild, because I live near Paisley Park. You know, Paisley Park. When he built Paisley Park, it was in the middle of nowhere, like way out, not even suburbs. It was just in the middle. And he wanted to be in the middle of nowhere. And, you know, urban sprawl, eventually it became part of a suburb. And so like, he, people that I in my neighborhood would see him at the local Walgreens or CVS or target or, I figured, right? I never did, but I, you know, I drive by Paisley Park all the time, going to Costco or going to, you know, Target, or whatever it’s right there. And so it’s, it’s wild that I never did, quote, unquote, run into him. You know, he used to have word of mouth midnight concerts at Paisley Park that I could have not walked to, but I could have gotten there pretty, pretty easily if they had happened when, once I moved out this way. But no, but he, but I see Paisley Park all the time. It’s now a museum. People go tour it. I’ve been in there. It’s a great tour, if you’re at all interested. I haven’t done it yet, but I want to, yeah, it’s, you know, do it in advance. It’s, it’s a smaller building, so I don’t think they can get a ton of people through

Nestor Aparicio  38:15

it. I’ve never been to Graceland, but I want to go to Paisley Park. Yeah, Pais, I, yeah, I

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Kevin Seifert  38:19

haven’t been to Graceland, but if I had to pick one of the two, I would pick Paisley Park for sure.

Nestor Aparicio  38:25

Kevin Seaford is here, so I never met Prince, but I did get held up out of you. Remember when he played that little media event miami miami beach, my wife and I were there covering, doing radio row, as we did for 30 years, and he we got in the front row, and we watched him play John too. Yeah, my wife caught his pick. It was exceedingly loud. My wife still has his pick. And when we left, he was wearing an orange jumpsuit thing right the little men’s room off to the right on in the convention center. Yeah, I went to go pee, and there were like, three dudes, like, standing in front like this, and like, can’t go in there yet. And I’m like, I’m thinking we were in there. It could be anybody. It could be Lawrence Taylor in the bat. It could be a Super Bowl. Could be anybody, right? Could have been Gloria Estefan. Could have been anybody. But it was Prince, and he came out, and he came out and he gave the nod to his guys. But, I mean, I was at one foot from Prince at the at the men’s room door at the Miami Beach Convention Center. We caught his pick. So that’s the best I got. All I got for Prince. I don’t have, like, a SID Hartman story or anything. Oh, yeah,

Kevin Seifert  39:34

Sid, yes. Sid, that was where Sid meant, met him in the in the in the green room, and they had a little talking. Prince was a huge sport. He played high school basketball, one of the same high school that that Sid Hardman went to different time, but and he was, and there was a stretch where he was always in the front row at Timberwolves games, and so he was a big basketball guy, and I think Sid and him caught up on that. But, yeah, the legend. Area Minnesotan for sure.

Nestor Aparicio  40:01

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Yeah, see, I got it all in this week. All right, we don’t play you guys every four years, I guess at this point, man, and I hope Dublin was fun for you over

Kevin Seifert  40:10

there was it was a great trip. I had never been there, and it was awesome that work gave me a reason to go, to go there. So it was nice to see a different part of the world.

Nestor Aparicio  40:20

Go to the Temple Bar. You go up top at a Guinness factory. You look over the city Exactly. Have a proper pint. He is Kevin Seaford. He covers the Minnesota Vikings properly, and has for a generation. He’s been my friend for even a minute longer than that, when he was here in the Baltimore, Washington area. Catching up with the Orioles and others as well. You can catch his work at ESPN. You can catch me at Coco’s on Wednesday. You can catch us at Pizza John’s on Friday. Talk a little baseball. I think Luke’s going to come out. We will have scratch offs from the Maryland lottery to give away as well. The Raven scratch offs. I’m going to be getting those scented Candy, candy cane scented ones for next month. But in the meantime, it’s baseball, it’s football. We have a new manager, and we have the Minnesota Vikings this week. I am Nestor. We are W NSD. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive.