When the local media is bullied, Ravens fans are the losers

Lifelong journalist Nestor Aparicio took a deep dive with Dennis Koulatsos on the unprofessional public relations antics of Chad Steele and how the integrity and accountability of the Baltimore Ravens organization has changed dramatically over three decades. “No questions for our leadership about Lamar Jackson,” says the brand manager. Patently absurd.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

questions, media, lamar, reporter, lamar jackson, years, people, asked, press conference, john, happy, draft, quarterback, hensley, fans, brian billick, stood, brian, integrity, opening

SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Dennis Koulatsos

Dennis Koulatsos  00:01

Welcome back. My next guest is Nestor, J. Aparicio, who I’m sure has a lot to say in regards to the lions lunch and that he coined that term. Many many years ago. It lives on today and large lunch, lunch it and then some Was it not Nestor.

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Nestor Aparicio  00:16

Yeah, yeah. Happy opening day. How are

Dennis Koulatsos  00:19

you? How about that?

Nestor Aparicio  00:21

How about spring is sprung, we got bugs flying around.

Dennis Koulatsos  00:26

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And I’m going to opening day. I can’t tell you the last time. I don’t remember the last time with opening day.

Nestor Aparicio  00:30

Did it screw you up to Thursday, Friday thing or No? Not really. But it did. Yes. And no, it’s true. Everybody up and what do you manage? Imagine if you had busters for workers. Day off. Like for me,

Dennis Koulatsos  00:40

it’s not a big deal. But for other people. That is fortunate I get it. I mean, I have, I can make up my own schedule and move it around as I need to. Because I spend about 70 8080 hours a week here. So nobody’s said to

Nestor Aparicio  00:53

me, I work. I love working. I get up at three in the morning at work when I have to stop to like go to a press conference or watch a press conference online that I get that I’ve attended for 26 years. You know, baseball aside I hope everybody has a great time. We have moved our faith these events to Tuesday. I’m going to be at fade these on opening day. But it’s not I’m not doing a show we’re just going to drink have a good time Springsteen’s playing the Eagles are going to be at the market. Yeah, faith is on Tuesday. And then we’re going to be at Pappas next Thursday up in Bel Air. And we were at the captain Larry’s on the 27th. So the Maryland crab cake tour is out and about we had a beautiful day at Costco the other day with some old friends, I would you say this, I was at cost this I was doing a crabcake tour because I can’t get in. I don’t say it’s my favorite event of the year. But it was an event that was more lighthearted every year. And if you ask the right questions when it was smaller, and I got to really ask questions. I mean, these guys used to come and sit on the show with me. I knew a lot about the draft, I started at the combine, I would you know, go to India and like all of that. All of that has been washed away. And if you wonder why all you needed to do was tune in to the press conference where the leadership was showing accountability to the fans, to the stakeholders to the customers. I mean, this war that Chad steel has, I can’t imagine. I can’t imagine, Mr. Director, there’s that I’ve ever seen. Because he doesn’t do PR he does active measures.

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Dennis Koulatsos  02:26

You can’t tell you, I can’t tell my customers what questions are off the table for me. There’s nothing off the table. If you’re a customer, you’re the paying customer, right? So you have a chance, you have the right to ask what

Nestor Aparicio  02:37

I’ve ever offered in that world. I’ve witnessed this for 20 years, he’s never really worked for anything or anyone else other than this type of entity, where he’s got a billionaire boss, who the meaner he is, the more he likes it. He has a coach and a GM that looked the other way and let him play Bobby Brady. I mean, it was a disgrace to hardball and the caster at some point, they should stand up say, Look, I’m a grown ass man. Sit down. You’re embarrassing all of us. You’re embarrassing all of us. You’re embarrassing everyone in the room. You’re insulting the intelligence of everyone who’s ever been a stakeholder in the brand. You’ve insulted everyone. This first off, it’s not the way the Ravens operate. It’s not the way the city should operate. It’s the exact opposite of the way the baseball team is operated, which has been so odious ly offensive to everyone, including Steve Bushati, who patted me on the back after I did free the birds shot he pulled me up a practice after I did free the birds. He and I took a walk with Him and Kevin Bernard, he’s like, I just want you to know, you know, your message was heard. And I thought it was tastefully done. That’s what he said to me in 2006 after I let a walk out, so he knows what good ownership and poor ownership looks like. Just like you know what a good car dealership looks like and a bad one. I know what a good radio station sounds like and what it’s designed to do and what journalism is designed to do, and holding power accountable. What happened on Wednesday only illustrates everything I have said out loud. And only only me I’m the only one that’s been thrown out. Go look for Pete Pete Gilbert or Jerry Sandusky or or any of them stepped in or pick any of them certainly nods Rebbeck, or Hensley, who are frightened for their jobs, which is the whole idea. So how I’m gonna play this out with you, Dennis, because Luke and I, I was kind of honoree on Wednesday night and if you hear the segment, you can go listen to it. But I took Luke on on this because Luke’s in the room. And I said look if he would have stood up and said that I would have said what what are we doing here? Yep. What are we doing here? And you’re you’re insulting everyone. It would have been a Pacino moment. You’re out of order. You’re out of order. You’re all out of order. All of this is out of order. Every time this man gets up here He lies to you I have evidence in my phone that these men lie, all of them, they all lie. And I will. At one point, the truth is long. My breathing, Dennis is their breath coming in your mirror breathing, breathing. But this information is going to be made available for what’s been done to me. And what was done to every media member, which was they were all devolved, including the coach and the general manager in front of everyone. I mean, this god complex, the Chad steel as where there, there shall be no more questions about our franchise quarterback. What is that?

Dennis Koulatsos  05:39

There really wasn’t a question, even if it was what’s the big deal? A second piece of it Nestor is so what if the way it was asked was how does this situation with Lamar affect your draft? That’s all it wasn’t? Where are you in regards to the contract Lamar, which again, wouldn’t had been an appropriate question, given the fact it’s still the biggest story in sports. It’s the

Nestor Aparicio  05:58

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biggest story in sports and the only media accountable to ask questions are the Baltimore local media that’s allowed in there? It’s allowed in the UK

Dennis Koulatsos  06:06

and they’re censored, they can’t that’ll have freedom of speech at a press conference. They can’t ask questions. They can’t ask questions about the franchise quarterback and and I don’t even know who the reporter was. We asked

Nestor Aparicio  06:17

a question, Alex. I don’t even know who that is. But whoever he

Dennis Koulatsos  06:20

was, he didn’t say, give me an update on Lamar. He just said I believe he

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Nestor Aparicio  06:25

did. Here’s what that what are you gonna

Dennis Koulatsos  06:29

do? If I always already said that? I said it already. I said that. So what if he did? It’s not a matter of are you

Nestor Aparicio  06:34

gonna take our breast passes? Are you going to treat him the treatment? I already said that.

Dennis Koulatsos  06:39

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I said, so what if he did? It’s a press conference, address it right. What? What, why not be proactive? And let’s address the elephant in the room and then move on to the draft. What’s wrong with that? Nothing. The fans want to hear about

Nestor Aparicio  06:51

them being a well run organization, and we give them all the flowers. But shot he’s been out to lunch for a decade. And at what point are we going to say well run organizations don’t behave like this. They don’t behave like this.

Dennis Koulatsos  07:07

Look, there’s a rumor after three months of full the initial the contract from from Lamar, not that they would tell you the truth, if you ask that question, what I would have liked to have asked that question, had I been there? Hey, any truth that you guys have pulled a contract from Lamar, he plays for the tag or nothing else at this point, since he’s free to negotiate? Well, he’s other teams. Where do we stand? Right. I would like to know the truth. Not that we will get it but I would like to ask that question. And that will hate to be told you can’t ask a question with the word Lamar in it.

Nestor Aparicio  07:33

Well, the intimidation began, from the beginning right away, said right away. Remember, I told you guys before you in other words, in order to have access today, you’re neutered, right? We’re walking in the room? We’re eliminating the obvious question. The it’s like Russia. The obvious question. I said to Luke, I’m like, this would be like a press conference with a guy from Ukraine and not asking about the war. Right, talking about anything but the war. Right. And, you know, we have a press coverage about your deal, which we’ll talk about anything but cars, can’t talk about cars special.

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Dennis Koulatsos  08:08

Great. I’m all about that. I

Nestor Aparicio  08:13

mean, the light for everyone, everyone that’s urinated upon me and attacked me over the last nine months over these issues that happened in front of everybody. I mean, Hensley, and I got locked in an elevator when there’s three media members. And nobody asked any questions of the team in the middle of a plague. Everyone should have seen in Chicago when Chad steel pulled that stunt a year and a half ago and jumped in front of six media members and said no more questions about the quarterback. I’ve been in that room and I’ve stood up and I’m like we asked the questions pal. We asked a question right so the army out

Dennis Koulatsos  08:48

it’s your job and very few people recognize the importance of the media I guess when you’re in that realm. Brian Billick always embrace the media understood how he can manipulate the media times. Point to lasers at some place or sometimes himself right though. When he went down to the Super Bowl with Ray Lewis mess, he put the pointer, the laser pointed directly at themselves. So there’s there’s times where smart people use and manipulate the media to their favor, but you’re not going to gain favor by censoring the people that cover your team.

Nestor Aparicio  09:20

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Well, I don’t know. Here’s the problem, Dennis. I honestly got here’s the problem. Next week on your show, I will cede my time on your show. If I pick Gilbert on invite Jerry Sandusky on vice some of these reporters aren’t gonna be at peace either. Anything, invite them on and well, then what good are they there for the journalists? Yeah, at that point. What good is essential journalist? Michael good dad.

Dennis Koulatsos  09:44

No good. There’s no good. That’s it. Their job is to report your job is to ask tough questions, right. Not the thrower. Hanging curves down the middle or softball down the middle. That’s essentially me like that, no matter also the matter that it was done. It was it was bullying.

Nestor Aparicio  10:00

Yeah, that’s your word not mine. The media

Dennis Koulatsos  10:03

was bullied, for sure. You can’t ask questions about Lamar Jackson. Why? Why?

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Nestor Aparicio  10:10

What’s the consequence? If I do? What happens if I do you

Dennis Koulatsos  10:15

get thrown out, you get taken away. You get banned from the from the NFL, how

Nestor Aparicio  10:19

you come after my business, my reputation, my integrity, my access, the way I see my family the way I provide for my family, right?

Dennis Koulatsos  10:28

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That’s the thing she get for being a season holder since day one. That’s the That’s what you get from keeping the flame alive. Bringing a football team to Baltimore, when it was absolutely a one for 13 years. This is what you get for being a colts season ticket holder. This is what you get. This is your payback.

Nestor Aparicio  10:44

Dennis, I’ll just say this, and like no one has more purple underwear than me. And my wife did her spring cleaning and she was amazed at how much Raven stuff she had. Like she got it all in one place. And it’s two giant boxes Arabia’s enough all of it. And you know, and I’ll just say this I and the Orioles this week and kicking off and Little John running around last weekend and doing his media tour for people he intimidates essentially the people he controls and intimidates us happy to do an interview with a real interview one of those real interviews with the Orioles team partners showing up in the box seats with Mike Elias and looking all smart. And it’s something to see after the old man’s show for 30 years. So

Dennis Koulatsos  11:28

I coming after the Baltimore Sun and other businesses for not exposing their books opening up their books. Although he said he would open up his he never He never qualified his state by saying other businesses have to show their books as well. So

Nestor Aparicio  11:39

I will show you minutes and he’s been a clown for 10 minutes. Like I will show you the books. Born on third hit a triple you know it’s good life is a great life. I would say this for the Ravens though and I mean this from my soul. And I said this to Kevin Byrne I said this to John Harbaugh many times, and Brian knows it’s the hill I die on as my partner and as a friend for 24 years, 25 years out along we’ve been at this the notion that you’re going to muscle up the media and move the media around, and and shadow upon the media and all of that we hate the media, the pig vomit, you know, whatever, rat poison, whatever you want to call it. I’ll give all of that to you. But I’ve said this to John, and John doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. And he has so much money, he doesn’t have to listen to anybody. Right? Like literally except Jack steel. At least it says so on my phone. The notion that the fans aren’t a part to this, that when they’re in that room, and I mean this and I’ve been in that room my whole life. When I’m in that room, and they’re up on that podium, they are talking at the media, playing defense from the media. When it’s all over with the door shuts they said we didn’t give them anything. We didn’t give them anything because I’ve heard them say this right? We didn’t give them anything. And I said to John early on, because the tone changed so quickly. And John didn’t know what he was doing. John came from Philadelphia John was drinking from the firehose I said the John one day over coffee in the cafeteria cafeteria. I said when when we come in there and do this and ask your questions. Who do you think you’re talking to? Who’s your audience? And he said, My audience is my team. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. John, trust me. You’re new to this. I’ve been doing this 25 years I’ve been with every coach Hall of Famers baseball, basketball, football, hockey, every sport every level. By the way, Barry trots called last week, I was doing dishes, it’s long story, but he’s doing well. And happy to hear that really happy. The notion that you’re talking to your team, when you’re there, that that everything is a performative act. That Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, love, that that’s not what you’re doing, John, you’re talking to the fans, the fans,

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Dennis Koulatsos  14:11

I’m here to talk because these people pay

Nestor Aparicio  14:14

for the tickets, and they cheer you they.

Dennis Koulatsos  14:20

You can protect your team, but you’re not talking to your team. You can take bullets for your team. You don’t hang your team out to drive. But you’re in fact talking to your fan base period.

Nestor Aparicio  14:28

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I said to John, I said, Do you think your team’s in there watching your press conferences after sitting and watching you preach to them and teach to them? Like do you really think this was 15 years ago? Do you really think that Jared Johnson cares about your press conference? At all yo hears about your press conference. Real fan Dan? Real fan Dan’s hanging on your every word. And you know what the worst part is? And this is really the worst part and this is really where I get really pissed off then. The worst part is they trust you, John. And what you say on the podium they call my show and say, but but but but but but but they head coaches. He’s a man of Jesus. He’s a man of God, he wouldn’t lie. And he said it. And you’re the media. Oh, you’re the pig vomit. You’re the you’re you’re the instigator. You need clicks you need likes your mother’s house. stuff up. You’re just trying to get fired, right? I mean, it’s, it’s offensive all these years in, and after all of this, there are still fans that think it’s cool that I was thrown out because I’m an ass, right? I’m a bad guy. Whatever it is, you’re gonna have the whatever that is, but someone needs to be in there. So if you don’t like me, pick Jamison Hensley. Pick Jeff’s Rebeck, pick, Luke Jones, pick, Alex, whoever he was. Pick anybody you want, right? Like, but at some point, they have to be able to ask questions, or why would you pick them? Why would you follow someone who is neutered, right. Why would that be of any value to you to follow Vince McMahon doing the interview with Ivan Putski? You know, anyway?

Dennis Koulatsos  16:06

Well, you know, I’m on Twitter a lot, right. And so what I what I see from the fan base is they have no respect for these reporters because they view them as a positive mouthpiece for the Baltimore Ravens. In other words, they don’t report bad news. They don’t report negativity, there’s no negative but there’s zero negativity. Look, you can love the team when you get thrown out. And I don’t even report anything negative. I love the team. But I acknowledge the warts, right, I acknowledge areas of opportunity. That’s what I acknowledge. I can be critical and still love the team doesn’t mean I hate to team or I want John fired or whatever. But I can ask the questions, and I can. But that’s the job of the reporter to ask the tough questions, the fluff questions when you have a press conference, you get nothing out of it. I mean, they don’t need the Ravens don’t need the reporters in this town, to to become an accessory to their media machine, their positive media machine. And when you it’s just really bad when you censor a reporter, and you bully them and you bully the whole room and you set a tone of okay, don’t even bring up the initials of Jackson don’t even say LJ just keep it about the draft. Not that the draft doesn’t impact your wide receiver room, your running back room, your offensive line, the defense and all these other things, running back things that can help Lamar Jackson, whoever is a quarterback,

Nestor Aparicio  17:24

and don’t get your full elephant, whatever. You don’t come in and report on the panel now.

Dennis Koulatsos  17:28

No, don’t don’t do that. And of course what when the caster was asked about? Well, they grabbed the quarterback, he said sure we’d draft a quarterback. Like, okay, let’s talk about that. Why would you draft the quarterback because if your quarterback was under contract, you wouldn’t be drafted a quarterback Georgia. If Lamar Jackson was under contract, and you got Tyler Hollies as backup, and you got the brown as the third string, you wouldn’t be considering a quarterback in your draft board. I want you but nobody, nobody followed up with that. Nobody went after him. Why would you draft a quarterback that want to develop for what? Don’t you have a quarterback? But you know, people were afraid to ask the obvious question in that, in that sequence when he was talking about a quarterback.

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Nestor Aparicio  18:11

How does anybody ever walk back in the room after that? And how did you John and John and Eric, I mean, just, I’m just gravely great. I wrote a book about their integrity. And I’m giving it away just to get rid of it. Because I’m kind of ashamed of it. Now. I mean, like, these are men who sat there on the podium in front of everyone, not in front of me privately on text where? Yeah, no one sees or hears or knows the truth about how they feel about Chad Steele doing this. I saw the look in their eyes. I was at cost as I was doing the show, with my dear friend Gigi Papadopoulos from Dundalk. My original recrushing 1979 Who does Zumba who was my guest on the program as well as Anthony Adams, another guy with a popular in great Greek heritage on and he is now the new head coach at UMBC. After being with Pete Kurinji. Many years I had great guests, and my phones blowing up. You know what I mean? Like my phone’s blown up to like, did you see it? And I’m like, I’m working. You know, it’s like you said like, I’ll deal with that one. When the working day is over, and I pulled the parking lot and I like I looked at it and I’ve turned the sound up. And I’m like, and they muted the sound on ravens.com When they rereleased it, you can’t even hear what this you’ll say. Sure. Well, would you you don’t even hear the bullying. The bullying is muted out kind of like it’s been in my life for the last five years. You know, so it’s out there for everyone. Now he stood up and did it on camera in front of everyone at the biggest press conference of the year. Viviane Oh, you’re in the room. I don’t know who they let in from 1057 I have no idea because none of those guys are reporters anyway. But I don’t know what they’re locked in for was allowed in there anymore. I don’t even know he doesn’t talk to me ever since I Ask him about his John Angelo’s questions lock and four is mad at me after 20 I’ve been a bad reporter apparently for locking for who’s also apparently, on the outs but, and I know he’s critical of them, because he should be. And we should be because we’ve been doing this a long, long time. And we’ve been lied to, by the best of them. Peter Angelou has been lying to everyone for all of these years. But this franchise had a different standard. They had a different leadership. They had a different place in the community. They had a different integrity level that followed them everywhere. That still follows me with the head coach being involved with me here. I’ve just where do you go from? We own the media. And they’re we’re not allowing them to ask questions at a press conference about the franchise quarterback and the biggest story in the sport.

Dennis Koulatsos  20:50

So here’s here’s the other. here’s the rub Brian Billick on under RT modells leadership’s ownership would have would have had a much different tone at this presser than he would have under Steve Bushati. It I don’t think he could have worked long term under Steve was shoddy that would have been a breaking point at some point. And of course it happened sooner rather than later. But I can’t imagine Brian Billick being up there and being censored as part of a group. You know, Brian, Brian would speak his mind.

Nestor Aparicio  21:24

Yeah, and Brian Ryder was the leader of men.

Dennis Koulatsos  21:29

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Brian wouldn’t stand for that. He wasn’t as a stand up guy wasn’t me.

Nestor Aparicio  21:34

Brian Billick has never lied to me never fibbed to me. And Brian, I’ve had harsh words as business partners as owners as media members as I mean, I remember the day in Detroit, the day in Detroit with Bart Scott and the flags when he

Dennis Koulatsos  21:52

won flags the malice in the heart game

Nestor Aparicio  21:55

that I like, Brian and I had a routine I was in his office after every game Homer awake, because I was at every game. Every game. I know where every coaches, head coaches, private locker room is in every stadium, down the hallway past the showers, I would just go and sit in Brian’s office, and we would just, he would decompress on me. Most weeks, like literally I would get this. I told me he call it he would call it unfiltered information. And you know, the year that it got funky, and Feinstein will tell you this, Feinstein entered the world, Feinstein was right in the book, and all of a sudden I walk in there, Feinstein would be sitting in my seat on the couch. I looked at him, he looked at me and I knew him obviously. I mean, I had a little like, Hey, dude, you’re you’re doing a book, right. And Feinstein looked at me like, how do you get in here? Right. Like Feinstein still to this day is like, I don’t know how you had that access. And I’m like, because I was trusted. And because Brian really wanted the fans to know what was going on. It was important to him, because he felt like he was bringing them along. Now he

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Dennis Koulatsos  23:03

understood that right? Did he not have a communications background from Brigham Young University? I think it’s what he

Nestor Aparicio  23:08

Oh, he was. He was a junior Chad Steele and Kevin Byrne in the San Francisco 40. Niners. Right but office and when, you know, and went on a pathway from PR into and so did Ernie Accorsi, by the way, are you of course he’s pathway was as a PR person. And he became a general manager, because that was sort of the way the path back then. Yeah, that was the path back. I don’t know the path to being a general manager at Koons, Baltimore Ford, but it may be on the part side and maybe on the sales or

Dennis Koulatsos  23:37

not, it’s the sales side of hard knocks at pounding the pavement. It’s it’s good. Yeah. Right

Nestor Aparicio  23:40

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on, right on. So so that would be like sort of the finance manager never becoming the president of the rate that would be

Dennis Koulatsos  23:49

able to do Yeah, you gotta, you gotta be on the right path.

Nestor Aparicio  23:52

And I mean, Barry trots is that now the GM of the premier has never had a GM job. So like, and I talked to him about like, different job, right, totally different gig. I’m disappointed in Eric d’acosta, as a human, I’m disappointed in John Harbaugh as a human. I’m disappointed in the franchise. I’m really disappointed at Steve, that he has so little regard for the customers for the fans and that he’s all of this was inherited. He bought the team everybody was already a Ravens fan. All he has to do is keep them buying tickets and keep them engaged. And there’s nothing engaging about having a bullying PR guy coming out and doing what was done to the media because they think this is about Luke Jones and Jamison Hensley and this is about the Mars men his mommy’s feelings when it you know what it’s really about. It’s about whether Dennis and Leonard Raskin and Esther and we’re gonna buy tickets next year and remain fully engaged and confident that the organization has some level of integrity that shares some sort of commonality with with what with what’s important about integrity and honesty and what I put that burden on my hat, I put that purple thing on I get on airplanes, I fly around. And in my case, I write books about their integrity. I write books about holding them accountable. And people come to me everywhere, because this is what I’ve done for a living and asked me what’s really going on with Lamar. Like there’s nowhere I go where I don’t have that question. And the notion is, when you’re in there ask Billick ask. Mike Nolan asked Marvin asked the CO asked Flacco Ask, ask questions, ask chat chats to ask to cast and ask

Dennis Koulatsos  25:36

a question. Aren’t they smart enough to flex? I mean, aren’t they froze with deflecting the questions. Aren’t they Pro that saying, We love Lamar, you know, we’re always talking to him. We have a great relation with them or March our quarterback,

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Nestor Aparicio  25:47

dude, I know a lot about PR. And I’ll tell you this right now, which was the worst PR guy I’ve ever met. And if this were smart, if I had their PR tomorrow, and we had to redo the press conference next week, I pulled John in and say what I just said your audiences and your players, your audience are the customers that the fact that Steve doesn’t feel that way. The fact it’s because it’s all about making Steve happy. This is all about kissing the ass of the owner and not making him angry. That’s how the organization is run. That’s a fact. That’s just the fact they don’t want Steve mad. As long as Steve’s happy and golfing today and on a boat and his feet are robbed. We’re good.

Dennis Koulatsos  26:22

You got a job. Your paycheck will be there. You’re safe. You’re in a safe space. Plenty of owners that you know the minute you challenge them. You’re gone. The minute you start nodding your head. Yes, you’re going this you know, some guys I love scrimmaging. I love scrimmaging with you I love scrimmaging with with my people. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t want I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room. In fact, if I’m the smartest person in the room, we’re in trouble. I like smart people. If you can show me a way, that’s better I listen to you. But a lot of owners aren’t that way. They wanna they want a bunch of Yes, men around them. And that,

Nestor Aparicio  26:52

let me give you a better way. A better way is you say to Eric and John, tackle this when you go out there. And you won’t have any questions. Aaron, look, I know we’re here for the draft thing. And Chad intimidated you all and told you not to ask me any questions. But here’s the deal. I’m gonna give you three minutes on, Lamar. Last time I heard from Lamar in my phone right here was March 2, he asked for a trade. We were keeping that quiet because we felt like That was professional. Now that it’s out there. We have to address it. Here’s where it is. We love Lamar, we signed Lamar, he’s under contract, we really want him to play. We’ve offered him a lot of money. We’re still offering them a lot of money. If they are if they’re not, they don’t have to say they can just let that be your question. You know what I mean? If they’ve rescinded the offer, they don’t have to say that. But they but they can say you know what? At this point, we have them under contract if he wants to play out his contract and seek the market next year, fine. But we expect him to be here. We expect him to play cool.

Dennis Koulatsos  27:42

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Hey, we can deny that if that question gets asked.

Nestor Aparicio  27:47

Yeah, but they could have done all of that and left no questions, right? Like literally, that is when I wrote those 90,000 words about my Raven situation, the whole idea was that I wouldn’t get questions about it. Because I didn’t want to Gosh, this same thing when my wife was sick, I didn’t want any questions. I wanted to provide updates. So if you provide a full update, nobody asked how my wife was doing that morning, because I provided an update, right? Like literally

Dennis Koulatsos  28:11

I said at the beginning of our segment, I said they should have just started off a conference by saying here’s where we are Lamar. just address it, just get it out of the way

Nestor Aparicio  28:19

and say a lot about it’s what’s the last five minutes about how much you love them and why you love them. And, and go on and on if and not like what John’s doing which is eyes are rolling, and he’s lying. But if you have good things to say about Lamar, say them, say them, and then maybe I wouldn’t have a question. What’s the

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Dennis Koulatsos  28:36

old saying, eat the frog first thing in the morning, right? If you have a frog to eat, if you have something unpleasant. You eat it for you get out of the way. And if you have two frogs, you eat the bigger one first. You just get it done out of the way and it’s gone. You’d have to keep thinking about the frog in the robe.

Nestor Aparicio  28:52

Or the elephants that are good look to have their leadership look bewildered, frightened, unhappy to be there. They’re unhappy to be there. Imagine how unhappy I am getting the $10,000 bill for the tickets.

Dennis Koulatsos  29:02

Right. Right. Right. Right.

Nestor Aparicio  29:04

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You know, and they don’t think like that. And I know they don’t think like that, because I know their souls. And I know you know what they know. I have a job. I make a lot of money. I’m trying to win football games. I don’t need you. I don’t. We don’t need the fans. The fact that the stadium has empty seats lalalalalala I don’t see that we’re sold out. We’re making more money we’ve ever made. I mean, they are in fantasy land. And fantasy land includes having a six foot a PR Director stand up, stare everybody down and say no more questions or else. And then there’s no more questions. Well,

Dennis Koulatsos  29:39

I know. Anybody, any reporter, I’ll just be quiet because you would have stood up and said What the heck, I would have stood up said WHAT THE HECK and then you and I would have walked out. If I can’t ask what if there’s questions. I can’t ask them. You know, I shouldn’t be there. Like Charlie

Nestor Aparicio  29:54

Ekman. I’m over at Nacho Mama’s and Charlie Edmonds pictures on the wall and I just love it. And every time I see Am I don’t think of my relationship with him. I don’t think of his I hear His voice. Why? Because it’s right by the bathrooms right by the front of the men’s room. So when you go back to me, you walk past Charlie, and it’s a t shirt. And all I remember about Charlie is pulling the chair out on Dean Smith, when he was the was the and sitting there and saying, when you’re ready to play, I’m ready to referee you don’t I mean, when you’re when you’re ready to have a real press conference, I’ll be here ready to ask.

Dennis Koulatsos  30:24

But if you have nothing if there’s there’s nothing for me to report. So you’re wasting my time, especially these days, we can listen to the press or we can watch the presser and draw our own conclusions based on what you’re saying. But to waste the professional reporters this time being there it just analyze lunches of all places and not acknowledged the biggest question that’s portrayed now in sports. You’re not talking about Aaron Rodgers. They’re not talking about the masters. We barely talked about Oreos opening day, we’re still talking about Lamar Jackson, the press conference, and not just here in Baltimore, but it’s been talked about all over the country.

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Nestor Aparicio  30:59

Well, I’ve given my two cents on and I’ve given my life to it and anybody that watched Wednesday, imagine how I was treated privately.

Dennis Koulatsos  31:08

Right? Yeah, that’s pressed imagine that publicly how

Nestor Aparicio  31:11

he stood up and told Jerry Sandusky to shut up and Pete Gilbert, and I don’t even know who was in the room, my guy, I was offended on behalf of Lou. I said, I’m offended on behalf of hell. They all took it that day, because I was paying Luke to be there. thanks to people like you, you know that we have a small local economy, you’re in a local business. Sure, no, I’m paying someone good money, putting rural farms gas in their, you know, in their coons fork driving, leaving their family to go do this work to be told, the most important question you can ask. And there’s no thought of what that mirror does to the integrity of the reporter. All right, in the mind of you, and in the mind of a fan to say what’s Jamison Hensley made of that he’s allowing this while he’s trying to feed his family. And they threw Aparicio out and he owns a radio station. So they can do this to anybody under and that’s what I pointed out seven months ago. And that’s, and that’s really dangerous tennis. It really is. It really is. Because I’ve seen what what the baseball team what it’s done to downtown. And the Ravens have just been this thing for 27 years. And now I see people selling tickets. I just it’s amazing how pissed off people are. You know what I mean? Like I just everywhere I go, people have as much interest as they’ve ever had in the ravens, but less confidence than they’ve,

Dennis Koulatsos  32:30

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here’s my final saying on this. Nesta leaders that don’t listen, eventually found themselves surrounded with people with nothing to say.

Nestor Aparicio  32:39

Say that again. I want to get that when it gets to leaders,

Dennis Koulatsos  32:41

leaders who surround themselves with people that leaders who don’t listen, eventually find themselves surrounded by people who have nothing to say. Right? There’s nothing to say. But they say

Nestor Aparicio  32:53

it all behind your back. Right. I mean, they still they still feel it. And then you have to have some emotional intelligence to manage it. Yeah, you do. You I mean, and that’s sorely lacking. And then last thing and it’s your show, we’ll get to this Monday but and we could talk more about it. Hayden Hurst Orlando Brown, Hollywood Brown, Lamar Jackson. All different backgrounds, races, colors, Creed’s colleges positions. They’ve all asked out Chuck Clark, they’ve all they’ve they’ve all asked out and all of them have been disgruntled with their Baltimore Ravens experience. And

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Dennis Koulatsos  33:31

that’s true things different air and every situation is different.

Nestor Aparicio  33:35

I agree. But the one thing they have in common is they were all unhappy here

Dennis Koulatsos  33:38

they all wanted with every franchise there’s guys always unhappy you got but if

Nestor Aparicio  33:42

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all your first round draft picks it coons for one of the leaves in three years, it was able to administer and score well here. If I don’t know I’ve had good people leave my company to diminish me. But if

Dennis Koulatsos  33:53

I don’t have a game plan for those people to grow them, they’re going to leave and they should leave. If I have a run heavy offense and Hollywood rounded and getting targets How can I expect them to be how can they expect 170 pound receiver to be happy blocking 85% of the game? I can’t How do I expect Hayden Hurst to be happy when when Lamar Jackson locks in the mark Andrews when Hirsch is wide open, waving his arms up and down. How can I how can I keep Allender brown happy when he’s got the feet of a right tackle but he wants to get paid and he’s using the excuse of his late father God rest his soul. But he’s a left tackle why you know and the other part of it is you don’t have to appease him Orlando Brando would have kept because a Ronnie Stanley certainly with his health. That was a mistake just because he didn’t want to be here. Doesn’t matter a lot of guys don’t want to be at a place but they’re under contract and have a choice to make and guess what 99% of them show up. They play because they have to they have to feed their families daily. There’s a big game checks. Right there’s only three players that have ever set out and I’ll tell history didn’t work out well for any any one of them. Who were the Emmitt Smith. Not me. So that was held out

Nestor Aparicio  34:55

not a year but but the year was it with me cost themselves some money.

Dennis Koulatsos  35:00

wouldn’t be on Bella two defensive tackles sweet name but I forget right now but my point is just because a guy isn’t happy working what’s a change doesn’t mean you have to accommodate him either. And I think that’s a mistake the cost was made he made it too easy for guys to leave he’s made it too easy he should have dug his heels and I think John’s

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Nestor Aparicio  35:16

guys around like like Mike Tomlin we want we want volunteers out

Dennis Koulatsos  35:19

here to conversation with Atlanta Brown Jr. Right let’s you want to be left tackle compete with Ronnie Stanley take his job, knock yourself that puts you under your under a rookie contract and I have you and either player set out a or b Come in compete. Ronnie Stanley gets hurt, he steps in or he does a great job. Guess what, maybe the Ravens do resign Orlando Brown Jr. But they had him under contract that didn’t have to accommodate them.

Nestor Aparicio  35:43

By the way, Luke had an interesting observation because he always does. And he sat in that room being bullied by Chad Steele in front of everybody. And he had an observation that they didn’t even want to say Lamar, his name, that the notion that they’re done with him is they’re done with it. You know what I mean? Like the notion you can’t bring his name up, says to me, he can be quarterback in his team, no matter you know, they’re going to find an exit. And that might be a really ugly exit of the Colts just given them a pic or something. You can’t play with him and they don’t want him back. And it’s so awful that he’s never going to get on a plane here again. And it might be that bad. Right? certainly feels like it might be that bad Lamar

Dennis Koulatsos  36:22

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for the for the fourth overall pick straight up might be the play for them that way that they still have the 22nd pick of the draft and look at that’s their best deal. And they feel that they can move forward. They’re going to move the franchise forward.

Nestor Aparicio  36:34

And then what are they going to say to the fans about why why they’re five and 12. Next, they don’t care. They don’t care about that.

Dennis Koulatsos  36:39

I don’t think it’ll be five and five, I’ll think there’ll be a 500 team no matter what. But either way, it’s I’ll be competitive. They’ll be like there’ll be competitive and if they pick if cheat a strategy or with a fourth overall pick us what the fanbase will happy. relatively happy

Nestor Aparicio  36:53

fanbase will be happy when they win and none of the rest of this matters. And that’s probably

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Dennis Koulatsos  36:56

there you go. Got a new offensive coordinator that got some they got some good things going on there too. So that’s true. As always, I appreciate your time. Great segment, keep doing great things stay well.

Nestor Aparicio  37:07

Sorry, I’m so disgruntled on opening day Springsteen’s in town we’d be happy about that. There you go. My ham cakes

Dennis Koulatsos  37:12

crabcakes and Springsteen Bill plug are good friends over there at Bally’s here 15 7am WNST we’ll take a quick break and come back right after this.