00:00I agree with the sentiment.
00:01I saw this on 92.3 fans' YouTube chat while we were in break there.
00:05It's hard to hit 100% on every single press conference,
00:10which is why we usually kind of just go to the,
00:14hey, Todd said this, it was funny, and we kind of move on.
00:17This is a very important week, though,
00:20and I think Todd should have some foundational knowledge here.
00:23You've got McCarthy saying what he's saying.
00:25Jared Verse has already had exchanges with Cam Hayward
00:28going back to the last game,
00:30and I do think this is the game where he doesn't have to come out
00:34and say, bleep Pittsburgh, call everyone inbred yinzers.
00:38That's what I'm here for.
00:40That's what you're here for.
00:41That's what the station is here for.
00:42Agreed.
00:43But you can address it as a significant moment
00:46and understanding in public.
00:49I want to hear my coach understand the significance of this moment
00:53as opposed to saying, ah, it's important, but it's not important.
00:57November 29th, Kitchens wore the Pittsburgh started a T-shirt
01:00to a movie theater on his 45th birthday.
01:03His daughters had given it to him December 1st.
01:04Browns lost that match 2013 in Pittsburgh two days later.
01:07And that's why they lost was that T-shirt.
01:09Like, you know, I think he went for the rallying cry of it all,
01:12and maybe Munkin realized that.
01:14Don't get these guys too high, too low, anything in between.
01:16Just treat it like a normal game.
01:18Keep this thing moving.
01:19And then after the game, then you can dance on the graves.
01:21Yeah, I guarantee you, Todd Munkin has not thought about
01:23Freddy Kitchens one second since Todd Munkin and Freddy Kitchens
01:28went their separate ways at the end of 2019.
01:30Now...
01:31There's a lot to learn from in that Freddy Kitchens year.
01:33Listen, if he ignored...
01:34And what not to do, there's a lot to learn from.
01:36I wouldn't just wholeheartedly dismiss it.
01:38If he ignored the tape of Deshaun Watson
01:41because there was just nothing, no reason to go back and watch it.
01:44But he lived the Freddy Kitchens thing.
01:45That was his life.
01:46Yeah, but if he's...
01:47All right.
01:48216-474-0092.
01:50Is Munkin downplaying the rivalry a bad look?
01:53Here is Cam Hayward talking about the Jared Verse comments
01:57coming off the Thursday night win
02:00where Jared Verse said the Steelers played dirty.
02:03This is Cam Hayward yesterday on The Rich Eisen Show.
02:08Double teeing, sliding, chipping.
02:10Are those not allowed in our game?
02:12Those are legal.
02:13Okay.
02:13I imagine you're on the business end of similar action.
02:17No?
02:17Yeah.
02:18Yeah.
02:19I got the bruises to prove it, but we don't whine about it, baby.
02:22It's part of the game.
02:23And so, you know, I'm looking forward to this game.
02:26It's going to be a fun game.
02:27Both teams are in position to, you know, do a lot of work in this division.
02:33As they say, the AFC North is on fire, and I'm glad I'm in the kitchen
02:37because I like it that way.
02:39But those are words that were said, and they will be addressed.
02:42How are you going to address them, Cam?
02:45You don't play against Jared Verse.
02:47What are you going to do?
02:47You're going to take cheap shots at Brown's players?
02:50I believe Minka Fitzpatrick has already done that.
02:52Mason McCormick has already been on the record saying that he's going to get him back
02:55because Jared Verse swung at McCormick, and he said, I'm going to get him back.
02:59So, like, I agree with you.
03:00I don't know what Hayward's going to do specifically.
03:02That doesn't really add up.
03:04But, like, McCormick, the guard, seems like he's got a lot of problems right now with Verse.
03:07It seems like a lot of the Steelers have built a rallying cry around that idea
03:10that Jared Verse cried about it after the game in their eyes.
03:13Their eyes, not mine.
03:14Cried about it after the game and then took punches at them
03:17that they thought were below the belt and dirty.
03:20I think this is a great – one of the reasons why I wanted more from Munkin is
03:24I think the Browns are in the Steelers' head a little bit.
03:27I think the way they won –
03:28That's what I said yesterday.
03:28They're in their cage.
03:29They're clearly in their dome.
03:30So, I think this is a good thing from the Browns' side of things.
03:33I think, by and large, that a lot of the bulletin board material stuff,
03:38I do think that gets overplayed.
03:40I think it's apparent that the Steelers want this one.
03:43And I also think it's apparent that the Steelers hear all the whispers
03:46in the same way they think the Browns do.
03:48I think the Steelers hear all the whispers about who's real and who isn't.
03:52And they might be a little bit more selective in their listening
03:55to who thinks the Browns are real and the Steelers aren't real.
03:59Does that make me a little concerned for Sunday?
04:01No, because I'm already concerned for Sunday.
04:04It's already a game with giant implications.
04:06So, the idea that it's got some extra energy to it
04:08only makes the game more exciting.
04:10Well, another thing to add on to that,
04:11Jalen Warren already saying that the Steelers are playing
04:13with a chip on their shoulder.
04:14Like, they desperately want this one.
04:16And it's not just because they're 5-2 and this is control of the AFC North.
04:19They feel like the Browns shouldn't have won game one.
04:23At least I'm just reading through the tea leaves.
04:25They feel like the Browns shouldn't have won the first matchup.
04:27And they feel like the Browns played dirty to get there to that win.
04:29And so, like, there's a lot that the Steelers are obviously banking on this one.
04:32I'm hoping Browns fans are taking this in the way I am,
04:36where I'm, like, in my head when I hear Cam Ward, the audio,
04:40I'm thinking, screw this guy.
04:41Who did I say?
04:42Cam Ward.
04:43Well, when I hear Cam Ward, I also think screw that guy, too.
04:46Yeah, me too.
04:47But when I hear Cam Hayward, I think screw that guy.
04:49Not screw that guy.
04:50It's fine.
04:51Cam Ward's a fine person, it seems like.
04:52I just think he stinks at football.
04:53I'm saying Cam Hayward this time.
04:55I can understand he was a little tough because I mixed up my camps.
04:58I'll throw in Cam Newton there, too, but I don't think Cam.
05:00I think it was the Ward part.
05:01Yeah.
05:01So, maybe he went Denzel Ward.
05:03Maybe we can cover it a little bit.
05:04Hayward, Cam Ward.
05:05To bring it back, when I hear Cam Hayward, I think screw that guy.
05:09When I hear Jalen Warren, I think screw that guy.
05:12And I hope Browns fans are leaning into this because, like, you know,
05:16I think Terry Pluto wrote a great article about, like, you know,
05:19maybe it's time to stop being overly concerned about how real this is
05:23and just enjoy it.
05:23If you can't get excited about this game, all right,
05:27whether it's any myriad of reasons, you don't think it's real,
05:30you don't like Deshaun, whatever it is,
05:33I don't know I can do better than this game.
05:35There might be more important games as the season goes on
05:38because you just never know what the stakes are on any given Sunday.
05:41And certainly, a win or a loss changes the weight of every game after it.
05:45But, like, this is a game where they want it, you want it,
05:50head coach seems to kind of want it, but maybe not all the way want it.
05:53But, like, this is why we love football.
05:57That's what this game is shaping up to be.
06:00And I'm kind of, I don't think there's hyperbole you can put on this game.
06:04That's how much crap has already been talked.
06:06Because we haven't had a lot of that leading up to most of these games.
06:09I mean, it's easily the biggest game of the year for the Browns
06:11and biggest game of the year for the Steelers,
06:12which makes it even more of a puzzling move that the NFL thought to themselves,
06:15we're not going to flex this game.
06:16We're not going to go ahead and put this game on a big national primetime TV.
06:20And, oh, by the way, we're also going to give CBS, like,
06:2330% coverage of the entire game.
06:25Good news for our buddy Ross Tucker.
06:27Ross Tucker not on that game.
06:28He's covering the Ravens this week.
06:30He's going to have, like, the majority of the country watching.
06:32But, like, two five-and-two football teams, maybe not.
06:35216-474-0092.
06:37How important is Sunday for your buy-in?
06:39I kind of already feel bought in because I'm not burdening myself with the idea of,
06:45oh, is it real?
06:46Is it sustainable?
06:47Because I think that takes away some of the joy we feel in a victory Monday
06:51if you get caught up in that kind of thing.
06:53I understand there are.
06:54I don't know whether I'm in the vocal minority or the vocal majority,
06:59but I can't quite tell.
07:00I think people still need to see some more.
07:01I think they need to see more from Deshaun in particular.
07:03It's another 300-yard game from Deshaun and you do against the Steelers.
07:06I think it's going to go a long way.
07:08I think the answer more lies, Nick, in how you feel in prepping yourself for Monday
07:13if they lose, what your reaction would be.
07:15That, I think, tells you more.
07:17Because if you're going to take Monday if they lose as ho-hum, as all right,
07:21well, hey, can't expect them to win them all,
07:24then I think you have hit a level of contentment with this Browns team
07:28that suggests that they've passed the test for you.
07:31I'm going to call my shot right now.
07:32My reaction on Monday if the Browns lose will be screw the Steelers.
07:37I hate those guys.
07:38Kind of what my feel is right now.
07:41I don't think the game's going to change any bit of that.
07:43Yep.
07:44But I know that's the emotion.
07:46Are you preemptively ready to give the Browns a Peterlin pass, so to speak,
07:50when it comes to this game?
07:51No, it's an important game.
07:53It's not the end-all, be-all.
07:55Meaning it's not the end-all, be-all.
07:56You can win this and still make the playoffs.
07:59But this is the kind of game.
08:00I do think this is the kind of game.
08:01I think how you react to this game matters.
08:04I do think this is the kind of game that there is more to gain
08:08than there is to lose.
08:10Like, I think this is one that rubber stamps you.
08:12I think a loss is, well, it's hard to beat teams twice inside five weeks.
08:17Yeah, but again, if that's the reaction of like,
08:20oh, well, I guess we went out there and tried,
08:22but this one wasn't meant to be because it's hard to beat a team twice in five weeks.
08:26And everything that accompanies that,
08:29then you're hitting a spot that you feel really good about this Browns team long-term already.
08:32There will be no melatonin munkin from Nick Wilson on Monday.
08:37I just have to get really creative about being excited.
08:39Not excited.
08:40Having a high energetic outburst about a loss.
08:45You could do it.
08:46I don't like the way that came out.
08:47You could do it.
08:48It got confusing to me.
