Alex Green lost football, then he almost lost his life. The former NFL running back shares his chilling story with Go Long on our latest Happy Hour session. This may be our most compelling yet with Green, the ex-Packer, detailing his descent into a gripping addiction to alcohol, weed and cocaine. In harrowing detail, he relives the night he nearly overdosed. Thank you to those who joined the Zoom call and brough such excellent questions. As a reminder, these are always open to our paid...

The Chicago Bears have been in desperate need of a Big Bang at the quarterback position for, oh, 105 years. Hello, Caleb Williams. The Heisman Trophy-winner out of USC is unlike anyone before him, lip gloss included. Our extended two-part series examines where the Bears have been and where the Bears are going at quarterback. Let’s continue the conversation right here on the podcast with co-host Jim Monos, the longtime personnel who’s spent nearly two decades in NFL front offices himself....

There are quarterbacks locked into mega contracts. There are quarterbacks on rookie deals. And then there’s a third category. Detroit, Miami and Jacksonville all are in the midst of difficult conversations with their starting quarterbacks. Publicly, the general managers and head coaches involved speak glowingly about their guy under center. Privately, as always, the conversations are more contentious. Here on the Go Long Show with co-host and longtime personnel exec Jim Monos, we explore...

At No. 8 overall, the Atlanta Falcons shocked everyone. Their fans. The other 31 teams. You at home. Your grandmother who doesn’t care about football. And, without question, Kirk Cousins. GM Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., fresh off signing Cousins to his monster contract in March. With a week to digest, we examine this decision in its totality on the Go Long Show. Co-host Jim Monos, our longtime NFL scout, weighs in with his...

Brandon Beane played poker on Day 1, found his wide receiver on Day 2 and sure hopes the Buffalo Bills landed a few more long-term starters throughout the 2024 NFL Draft. It was an eventful weekend at One Bills Drive. Go Long has been tracking the direction of this team closely since last December’s three-part series, and wanted to take a moment to assess the state of affairs with the draft now in the books. On Sunday, I examined why Beane’s guts are a positive sign. Buffalo has lacked such...

Caleb Williams has been the presumptive No. 1 overall pick for months. And months. And few have questioned whether or not that should be the case. Meanwhile, LSU’s Jayden Daniels drew rave reviews from the personnel community in Bob McGinn’s draft series. Scouts would actually take Daniels over 58 percent of the quarterbacks drafted No. 1 overall since 2010, including Jared Goff and Kyler Murray. Friend of the show Conor Orr penned a fantastic read on this year’s QB class at Sports...

Greetings from Fattey Beer in Hamburg, NY. What a fun time. Thank you to everyone who made it out for our 2024 pre-draft hangout. We’ll definitely do this again very soon. So great to see familiar faces and say hello to new faces. Here on the podcast, WGR 550’s Jeremy White and The Buffalo News’ Jay Skurski both cut away to discuss the state of the Buffalo Bills, which wide receiver makes sense with Josh Allen and what happened with Stefon Diggs. Xavier Worthy — whom the scouts certainly...

A dozen smart football people can watch a full game of Drake Maye and draw a dozen different conclusions. We share different opinions here on the Go Long Show and thought it’d be smart to devote a full episode to this year’s enigma at the position — in addition to all of the best QB fits in Round 1. Should Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll do everything in their power to move from No. 6 overall to three? Could Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell view Maye worthy of a monster haul of draft...

There’s a very good chance Joey Mulinaro has organically worked his way into your life online. He’s one of the rare humans making social media a fun place. Maybe it was his Modern Seinfeld sketch on “The Big Game” or “The Accidental Like.” Maybe you caught one of his impressions — Saban & Belichick, Cris Collinsworth, Mel Kiper Jr., Mike McDaniel, Patrick Mahomes, Gus Johnson, Colin Cowherd or, most recently, his 15 impressions on Catlin Clark in 100 seconds. He’s always making people...

Eliot Wolf is the captain now. The son of Hall of Famer Ron Wolf has final say on draft day. He’s finally in charge of an NFL team. So, how will the New England Patriots boss proceed at No. 3 overall? This was a fun conversation. Go Long welcomes on Phil Perry, the excellent reporter at NBC Sports Boston, to chat all things Patriots’ direction, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy and what’s possibly running through Wolf’s mind ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft. It’s a new day in New England — Bill...

The calculated gamble in Orchard Park, NY is that this is addition by subtraction. Stefon Diggs wanted out, and the Buffalo Bills were much obliged. There are many layers to the Bills’ decision to trade their star wide receiver to the Houston Texans, a clear Super Bowl contender. In addition to last week’s column, here’s a podcast discussion. I’m joined by co-host Jim Monos, a man who has faced similar personnel decisions before. You can also weigh in with your opinion over at this chat...

Rule changes like this may seem innocent, but they add up. They crawl inside the psyche of defensive players to structurally change the sport. Yes, banning the “hip-drop tackle” is another absurd overreach by the NFL. Players have every right to lose their minds right now. Here on the Go Long Show, with co-host and longtime scout Jim Monos, we discuss what this means for the sport and it harkens back to a conversation with ex-linebacker Chad Brown. (Pod/Words) Also on this episode, the J.J....

The offseason is a time for hope — for players, for teams. Everyone envisions a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. That was Chase Edmonds’ state of mind exactly two years ago. Something special was brewing in Miami with new head coach Mike McDaniel, quaterback Tua Tagovailoa, wide receiver Tyreek Hill and Edmonds was positioned as the explosive running back central to it all. Go Long traveled to Florida the summer of 2022 to sit down with Edmonds at Dolphins HQ. With emotional detail, he...

The dust has settled. Big-money deals are completed. Butterbean knocked us all out via nonstop transactions. Who “won” free agency? Who “lost?” On this episode of the Go Long Show, we try to look past the mega-million headlines for answers. The Houston Texans are officially on the cusp. Kirk Cousins shakes up the NFC. And while the Pittsburgh Steelers have been widely praised for finding quarterbacks on the cheap, we’re not so sure this offense closed any gaps in the AFC. As always,...

Gerald “Smoke” Dixon brings the goods this episode. There is a 100-percent chance we bring him back on the Go Long Show soon. From 2014 to 2020, Dixon was a pro scout for the Buffalo Bills. As a result, he has many stories — and a ton of insight — to share. Especially at the quarterback position. For nearly two hours, Dixon dishes on everything: * Who pounded the table for Josh Allen inside the Buffalo Bills’ pre-draft meetings? Three individuals specifically made their strong opinions...

Free agency is one week away. Deals will be struck soon. The Atlanta Falcons may start the party, too. GM Terry Fontenot made it very clear they’ll be aggressive — the time to find a quarterback is now. For a full state of the franchise, I chatted with good pal Justin Felder from Fox 5 Atlanta this podcast episode. Felder offers his thoughts on the team’s quarterback shuffle, Desmond Ridder, Fontenot’s free-agent decisions (past and future) and the hierarchy of this organization. Who’s in...

The 2024 season is officially underway with the NFL Combine. General managers and coaches and scouts and agents all convened in Indianapolis to negotiate contracts and study college prospects. As always, the quarterbacks take center stage. This year, nearly a third of the NFL has to make a decision at the most important position in sports. Everything starts with a familiar name: Kirk Cousins. Will the veteran quarterback choose familiarity in Minnesota or earn every dollar he can elsewhere?...

One of the league’s perennially tormented franchises sees a glimmer of light. The Chicago Bears own the No. 1 overall pick and can build around any collegiate quarterback their collective hearts desire. USC’s Caleb Williams is widely considered the gem of this 2024 NFL Draft. But as always in the Windy City, this is… complicated. To make sense of this moment in time for the Bears, Go Long sits down with Dan Wiederer. You can read all of Wiederer’s excellent enterprising reporting at the...

The Chicago Bears have been in this position before. Many times. Another franchise-defining decision awaits at quarterback. With the NFL Combine set to begin next week — coaches, execs and scouts all descending upon Indianapolis — we forecast all QB movement. Will the Bears move Justin Fields to make way for USC’s Caleb Williams? If so, where does Fields land? What are teams getting in the mobile quarterback? Co-host Jim Monos has studied Fields closely since his Ohio State days. Kirk...

As the country shifts into full-fledged Draft Mode, the name “Chase Griffin” may not ring a bell. You won’t see the UCLA quarterback’s name appear in mock drafts. Griffin still has one year of eligibility and the former Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas hasn’t seen the field a ton. However, his impact off the field has been substantial. The two-time “NIL Athlete of the Year” has shown all college athletes how to navigate this new wild west. Griffin is the first active college athlete to...

Remember the days of Super Bowl blowouts? Me neither. Nine of the last 10 Super Bowls have been competitive games into the fourth quarter and that’s a win for all. Kansas City’s 25-22 overtime victory over San Francisco wasn’t always pretty but it’ll be remembered right there with many of the best. Patrick Mahomes asserted himself as an all-timer again. This is his NFL and he’s not close to finished. But the team’s Super Bowl MVP quarterback is not the only storyline. Steve Spagnuolo’s...

The Super Bowl is now two days away. As the nation gathers around their television sets, there will be many football coaches and scouts who watch Brock Purdy slingshot completions and wonder, “What did I miss?” But not Dave Boller. To get the inside story on Purdy’s rise, the “Go Long Show” welcomes on the longtime football scout who most certainly was a believer from Day 1. Boller knew the Purdy family as an Arizona guy himself and he tried to tell schools that the kid had it. Now, the...

To this day, Dallas Clark struggles to understand how he made it. Out of all tight ends profiled in “Blood and Guts,” his rise is most mystifying from a football sense. The kid from tiny Livermore, Iowa walked onto the Hawkeyes football team fresh off losing Mom in his arms. A traumatic ordeal. He was lost on the depth chart. His appendix nearly burst. He had collarbone surgery. He was a modern “Rudy,” mowing the field at Kinnick Stadium. But that’s the funny thing about the tight end...

This final podcast episode with Brett Favre, the Hall of Fame quarterback relives the euphoric highs (Super Bowl XXXI) and crushing lows (Super Bowl XXXII) of the greatest game in sports. He experienced both emotions. Favre details everything that led to this iconic touchdown pass to Andre Rison in Green Bay’s 35-21 title win over New England. Defensive coordinator Bill Belichick rolled the dice, and lost. Of course, the memory of Terrell Davis running wild is fresh, too. Those Packers were...