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00:00Tackle Spencer Brown on his defensive line counterpart, Deion Walker.
00:06Deion Walker has been doing very well.
00:08I wrote a story about him at The Athletic, published yesterday,
00:12a story that I started working on over the summer
00:15when a former coach of his said this guy can be Defensive Player of the Year,
00:20and he wasn't telling me that on the record or for hyperbole.
00:23We were just talking, and I was like, wow, you really think that much of him?
00:25And he's like, oh, yeah, this guy is something else, and he's figuring it out.
00:32And the story was going to run week one as a preview,
00:35and we ended up pushing it back, and you're always nervous as a writer.
00:39What if he gets hurt?
00:40What if he stinks?
00:42I think even if he'd gotten off to a slow start,
00:46what was being said about him still resonated.
00:49Similar to Jim Leonard, I'd still write that story even after two weeks.
00:55Of all the things that people had to say about Jim Leonard
00:57and how good he is and how smart he is and the overachiever,
01:01and he's just undeniable.
01:03In any phase of his life, he's been undeniable.
01:08So, yeah, even if Deion Walker had gotten off,
01:10and that's also, he's a defensive tackle.
01:12That's right.
01:13A quarterback can get off to a bad start, a receiver, a left tackle even.
01:17A defensive tackle getting off to a slow start, you can hide him a little bit.
01:21Or you can, as a story, you know,
01:23people are going to take your word for it.
01:25Well, for the same reasons, it takes a long time for people to notice a guy
01:28at defensive tackle becoming an all-league type of guy.
01:32And then, lo and behold, he has two great games.
01:35And I think, eclipsed by Greg Russo's splash plays,
01:40the fact that he has four sacks, three of them strip sacks,
01:43but Deion Walker is playing incredibly well.
01:47And, you know, it's funny because you mentioned Deion,
01:52defensive tackles, you generally hear about them Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
02:01That's right.
02:01And the reason why is because the film breakdown guys have gotten a look at it,
02:06and you see the highlight reels.
02:07Oh, my God, look at what this guy did.
02:09Or maybe even Monday, you know, you see it.
02:12You're just trying to do that early content.
02:15Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:16You got the NFL dudes that, I want to say it was Louis Riddick was going big,
02:21going off about Deion Walker.
02:27But he plays in such a way that it's hard to deny what he's doing.
02:33When you're batting down three passes, two of them on one series to force a three and out,
02:41and getting the sack late against the Houston Texans.
02:44So he's making an obvious impact in this game.
02:49I want to say in this game, in this sport.
02:52Yeah, I know what you mean.
02:53But in this game on Sunday, he's going up against an offensive line that-
02:59Depleted.
03:00Especially in the middle.
03:01So this could be an even more explosive game for Deion Walker.
03:05Put himself on the map.
03:06Portions of WGR Middays brought to you by Tim Hortons.
03:12Don't drink coffee with pizza.
03:14It's Pizza Friday, and it's brought to you by-
03:16So Tim has chosen the Tim Hortons line.
03:19I've chosen the-
03:20I chose the pizza today, but that doesn't mean anything.
03:24It's no knock on Tim.
03:25They're doing it right.
03:26It smells so good.
03:27You want to smell this?
03:27No.
03:28You sure?
03:28I got it over here.
03:29I got it right in front of me.
03:30I know.
03:30It smells-
03:31I think it smells even better right there.
03:33This is like an air freshener.
03:34This is great.
03:35Put this back over here.
03:36I'll be right back.
03:39Start your day strong with Tim Hortons and the Bills.
03:42And WGR.
03:43Phone lines are open for you at 803-0550.
03:45It's WGR Middays, driven by Northtown Automotive.
03:49With Brad, Tim, and Owen.
03:50Tim's here.
03:51I'm here.
03:52Owen's over-
03:53No, Owen left for a little bit.
03:54He'll be back soon.
03:55But we're all in the same gang, right?
03:57What up, G?
04:01No?
04:02He said, what up, G?
04:05Have you been-
04:06What's going on?
04:06Did you kill his microphone?
04:07I don't hear G.
04:08I need to turn him on.
04:09Turn G on so that when he says, what up, G, he goes, what up?
04:12What up, Tim?
04:13There we go.
04:13Did you get a talking to, maybe?
04:15I thought maybe it was like, G, you're not allowed to speak anymore.
04:18I did not get that talk.
04:19It's too much.
04:20You said, what up, three times in the last four days.
04:23Don't talk anymore.
04:24No, yeah.
04:24Too much talking for you.
04:26Too much, G.
04:27It's like in acting or the SAG card.
04:30When you have a background player, what do you call them?
04:34Extra?
04:35An extra.
04:38There's a reason why you see them, especially on a show like Saturday Night Live.
04:42They're in the background, and they're being extra demonstrative because they're extras and they want to be noticed,
04:46but they're not allowed to talk because the moment you open your mouth, you get paid an extra rate based
04:51on union scale.
04:53So I was an extra one time in a movie, and that was a thing that was like, do not
04:57speak.
04:57You were an extra in a movie?
04:58I was.
04:59What movie?
04:59I was in Play It to the Bone.
05:01I remember that.
05:02I can't think of what it is.
05:04It's a boxing movie.
05:05It was Ron Shelton, which was White Men Can't Jump and Bull Durham.
05:09He wanted to do a boxing movie.
05:11Yep, yep, yep.
05:12It's Woody Harrelson, Antonio Banderas.
05:14Okay.
05:15Um, Tom Sizemore.
05:18Tim Graham.
05:19And they spelled my name wrong in the credits.
05:21Come on, really?
05:22Yeah.
05:22What'd they do?
05:23I think it is G-R-A-E-H-A-M or something like that.
05:28Extra ladder mixed in there for no reason.
05:29That stinks.
05:31Did you get paid?
05:31Look it up.
05:32Did you get paid for that?
05:33Oh, yeah, I got paid.
05:34And I got paid bonus because I was a specialty extra.
05:38What's that mean?
05:38I wasn't allowed to talk, though, because I was.
05:41You were a credential or something?
05:42Like you'd play a.
05:43I was a, they brought in actual boxing reporters to be boxing reporters.
05:48Right.
05:48And so they, we were.
05:50You weren't just a guy in the background.
05:51You were a boxing reporter in the background.
05:52That's why I got a credit.
05:53Oh.
05:53Yeah, because they wanted to authenticate it.
05:55So a lot of people in town who cover boxing were ringside at the fight and in the news conference
06:03and things like that.
06:04I watched a Buffalo-based movie that I stumbled across.
06:07I don't even know what streaming service it was, but it was called, like, One of the Good Guys or
06:13something along those lines.
06:15And it was very obviously a, you know, low budget, whatever, but you've got Buffalo in the title.
06:21I'm going to, I'll try it.
06:22And it, the opening credits are, you know, City Hall and the lake behind it, and it looked awesome.
06:27And I stuck around for the whole thing.
06:29And there's one character in the movie.
06:32It's, you know, I don't recognize anybody because it's this low budget kind of private, you know, whatever thing.
06:38But there's one guy who plays, like, the loud mouth at the bar.
06:42He's a conspiracy theorist, and he just, he's always yapping.
06:45And he's like, he's annoying.
06:46You know, two people are having a real conversation, and he's over there talking about how we didn't really land
06:50on the moon, you know, that kind of stuff.
06:52And the guy looked familiar.
06:54I'm like, how did they get this?
06:55I don't know who it is, but how'd they get an actor that I recognize in this movie where I
06:58don't know anybody?
07:00And then the credits roll, and I see his name, and it's Bill Kennedy.
07:04And I didn't even, like, look for loud mouth at bar.
07:06I just saw the name Bill Kennedy.
07:08I'm like, I know a couple guys named Bill Kennedy.
07:11But also, wait a minute.
07:14There's an umpire, a Little League umpire, who I talked to quite a bit and ended up, I have his
07:18phone number now.
07:18I'm going to send him a picture of this thing if he's not listening right now.
07:21They're like, what are you doing in this movie?
07:22He's one of the producers.
07:24I didn't know this about him, that he's involved in that.
07:25But Bill Kennedy, the umpire, is the loud mouth at the bar.
07:29In this movie that I watched the other night, and I'm sure he got paid.
07:32Well, I'm not sure how it works with independent films.
07:34If there's even, there's probably nothing, nothing going on there.
07:37But anyway, shout out to...
07:38I don't know what the union rules are, but...
07:41I don't know if the union would be involved.
07:42He's a producer.
07:43He gets to pay himself.
07:44That's right.
07:44Yeah, if a movie even makes money, I don't know how any of that stuff works.
07:49But I recognized the guy in a movie, thought, what else is he in?
07:52And oh, he's in a chest protector and a face mask, umping behind home plate in Little League
07:58games.
07:58And I've talked to him, and that's how I knew who he was.
08:00Is he a good ump?
08:01He's a great ump.
08:02The reason I have his number is because he's such a good ump that I took it in case we're
08:07ever short an ump.
08:09That's who I go to.
08:10So shout out Bill Kennedy and that movie, even if I misquoted the title.
08:13And I don't know where it is available.
08:15I just found it the other night and watched it.
08:17For the record, though, G, you have not been spoken to.
08:20You are allowed to actually talk into that record.
08:21Yes, I am allowed to talk.
08:23Good.
08:24You should be.
08:25You should be.
08:25I like how you talk, G.
08:27You're a great talker, G.
08:28Don't let anybody tell you different.
08:30I don't care what everybody else is saying about you, G.
08:32Who's that?
08:33I think you're great at it.
08:35G is Gianluca Fulcinetti, by the way.
08:37We always call him G because it's easy to say.
08:39Yeah.
08:39But the guy deserves credit for the work he does.
08:42He handles the video.
08:43When you see the broadcast on YouTube.
08:45The clips that you see on social media.
08:47It's beautiful.
08:48That's G.
08:50Gianluca Fulcinetti.
08:51Now, he'll be called G most of the time.
08:53I'm going to call him G all the time.
08:54But every now and then, the guy deserves some credit.
08:56I appreciate it on G's behalf.
08:58I appreciate you saying his full name.
09:00Because he's not allowed to say it.
09:02You have to say it.
09:03He appreciates it over here, G, because you've already reached your maximum of words for the day.
09:08Unless you upgrade to the fancy package.
09:12Dan in Dallas, you're on WGR High.
09:15Hi.
09:15How are you?
09:16Great.
09:17Okay.
09:18A couple.
09:19I have two questions and a comment.
09:22I live in Dallas, so I don't get as much media about the Bills as I would like to.
09:28Do they cover the Cowboys down there much?
09:31Duh.
09:32Yeah.
09:32Oh, all right.
09:33Just checking in.
09:34Yeah, Jerry Jones is still very controversial.
09:38I see.
09:39Yeah.
09:40So, here's my first question.
09:42The Bills have two road games against the Rams and the Raiders.
09:47Has there been any mention of them perhaps staying out on the coast?
09:51They are.
09:52For the duration?
09:53They will be staying out in between.
09:54They have a practice facility in Southern California that they are going to work out at during the week.
10:00Yeah.
10:01And I'm not sure when they're heading into Vegas, but probably the day before.
10:05Okay.
10:05There is a schedule for them that they have, but, yeah, that's what they're doing.
10:10Okay.
10:11My next question is, six months ago, the Bills announced with some fanfare that they had added a great coach
10:19to their staff named John Fox, who's a name that we all know.
10:23And I have not seen or heard a thing about him since.
10:29What is he doing, and are we relying on him for anything?
10:33And then I have a comment about the Bills' usage of running backs on third down.
10:40Now, I get that Ty Johnson is out and that he offers certain advantages on third down, presumably because he's
10:50a good pass catcher and he probably is a better blocker than James Cook.
10:54But I've seen now with Ty Johnson out, they're taking Cook out on third downs and putting in Frank Gore.
11:00Now, nothing against Frank Gore, but he's a practice squad player.
11:05When you put Frank Gore in a third down, you're pretty much announcing to the opposition that we're not running
11:10the ball.
11:12So, I question that strategy.
11:14So, if you could bring me up to speed on John Fox and comment on the third down usage, I'd
11:22appreciate it.
11:22All right, Dan, get out of the way.
11:23That thing that's backing up is getting closer.
11:26Whatever that is, watch out.
11:28It's Jerry Jones.
11:30John Fox is around.
11:32He's around quite a bit.
11:32Now, he's a defensive-oriented coach.
11:34You take a look at his track record.
11:36Back in the day, defensive coordinator here, there, head coach.
11:39He's been talking with Jim Leonard a lot.
11:42Usually when I see John Fox around practice, he's walking off the field with Jim Leonard,
11:46and I'm sure that he's having discussions with Joe Brady quite a bit, too.
11:52But, yeah, no, John Fox has been around.
11:53There have been some stories written about him and his impact.
11:56In fact, we're kind of late to a break, but, well, we'll talk about Ty Johnson in the
12:00running back when we come back, because it's good to get into.
12:04I'm Tim Graham.
12:05That's Brad Ryder.
12:06That's G.
12:07That's Senior Advisor Dan Dale.
12:09We know what he does around here.
12:11This is WGR.
12:11You're welcome.
12:12You