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23 Questions with Sam Monson
January 14, 2022
No. 1
How did you find out about the NFL in your native Ireland?
I moved around a lot as a kid. My dad is/was a surgeon. We lived for a year in Minnesota when I was 7 years old, and I picked up the game from there. Then was just lucky it was around the right time that the sport expanded in the UK and Ireland and became easier to consume around the time I was growing up, going to college etc.
No. 2
What’s the Sam Monson-PFF origin story?
I got lucky again. Neil Hornsby created the idea and the bedrock of PFF but needed manpower to help him get through games. He turned to an online NFL message board we all used to talk NFL before the days of Twitter. All of the OG PFF crew came from that message board as guys that knew football and knew Neil a bit. Without that there’s no way I’d be hired by PFF today, lol!
No. 3
Who is the funniest person at PFF?
I think it depends how you measure it. Austin Gayle has some great jokes, but he’s a high volume shooter. His strike rate isn’t high, but shoots so much he’s going to nail some great ones. Eric Eager is funny, but not as funny as he thinks he is, lol. Tyler Sovchik and Mike Quinn are two guys behind the scenes on the video team that are pretty funny, and Rick Drummond one of the management team that’s been at PFF since the early days.
No. 4
What would you be doing if you weren’t analyzing football?
No idea. I toyed with going into law for a while before PFF. Did a year of a legal diploma. Did a journalism masters. A History/Politics undergraduate degree. Either a journalist of some kind or a teacher maybe.
No. 5
What’s the best football game you’ve ever witnessed?
Super Bowl 49 I think was a pretty incredible game. The famous Texas vs. USC Rose Bowl game was also incredible, and the Boise St vs. Oklahoma game all those years ago was one of the best.
No. 6
Super Bowl 56 prediction?
GB vs KC I think is the most likely lineup right now.
No. 7
Under-the-radar 2022 free-agent?
Cedrick Wilson, Cowboys WR. Guy’s barely featured until this season, but he’s a talented player that can have a bigger role in a receiving corps not quite as stacked as the Cowboys.
No. 8
Is Russell Wilson a declining player?
He’s not playing as well as he did the last couple of years, but then that was his career peak. It could just be regression back to where he was before, which is very good, but not quite at the Aaron Rodgers/Patrick Mahomes world. There’s enough in his game this year that’s been a little concerning that you’d probably lean on him not being quite the player he used to be.
No. 9
What team will Aaron Rodgers be on this time next year?
Green Bay. I’m starting to think he just loves the drama. And he’ll struggle to find greener grass many other places.
No. 10
What team will Russell Wilson be on this time next year?
Denver. If the Rodgers thing doesn’t materialize, Denver gets desperate and needs to make SOMETHING happen. Wilson is next up.
No. 11
Better QB in five years… Herbert or Burrow?
They’re both so good right now, never mind in 5 years. They’re stylistically quite different, and actually the opposite of the players you might think they’d become at draft time. I’ll still lean Burrow.
No. 12
Better QB in five years… Lawrence or Mills?
Lawrence. Mills has flashed this year, but I’d still be surprised if he’s a starter long-term.
No. 13
Can Baker Mayfield be fixed?
Can he? Sure. Will he? Harder question.
No. 14
Should the Ravens pay Lamar?
Yes, the entire offense is built on his shoulders.
LIGHTNING ROUND
No. 15
If you could time travel, where would you go?
I’d be really curious to see ancient Rome or Ancient Athens or something like that first hand, or even a city like Carthage that was wiped from the earth. Failing that, alllll the way back like 15,000 years to see what existed before civilizations that we recognize as the first.
No. 16
What’s the last series you streamed?
Foundation. Thought it was pretty good actually.
Lately it’s a Hello Fresh thing called firecracker meatballs. Ginger flavored meatballs with rice and green beans with some kind of spicy mayo.
No. 18
What would your dream vacation consist of?
Some kind of split between adventure and chilling. Island hopping in Greece or the Philippines but with a luxury base of operations.
No. 19
If you could only listen to one artist or band for the rest of your life, who would you choose?
If I can only have one I need a prolific artist. Aerosmith maybe. You’d get some mileage out of Bob Dylan.
No. 20
Do you believe in aliens?
I believe the probability of life outside of our planet is very high. I believe the probability of X-files style aliens walking among us or abducting people is very low.
No. 21
What’s your all-time favorite book?
Probably the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams is a fantastic author. One of the people I wish I wrote as well as.
No. 22
If you could devote a year to researching someone's (non-football) biography, who would be your subject?
Either Sulla or Marius from Ancient Rome. They fought a civil war and Sulla marched on Rome to take over as dictator during a time of the Republic. I don’t know enough about why.
No. 23
Recommend a favorite charity or cause.
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