John Madden (“Boom!”) and Pat Summerall (“Nothing doing!”) on Sundays. Hank Williams Jr. on Monday nights. A sport not yet dulled by the suits on Park Avenue. Favre and Aikman and Young and Kelly and Elway and Marino.

Football peaked in the 90s.

But it wasn’t without its issues… especially at the end of the decade.

One year after Jerry Rice clearly fumbled in the NFC wild card, Bert Emanuel clearly caught it in the NFC Championship Game. And that’s with the implementation of instant replay in-between. A moment like this can change the trajectory of careers. So, yes, Shaun King recalls that night in St. Louis quite vividly.

This week, I caught up with King to relive that game, those Bucs teams and go deep on quarterbacks today. King watches the game closely, and always offers sharp, unapologetic analysis. Audio and video is above. You can also access this conversation everywhere you pod, including Apple, Spotify and YouTube.

I’ll post the written transcript of this chat with King this weekend as well. Just landed in Charlotte for this year’s APSE convention.

Discussed on the pod…

* The 1999 NFC title. To this day, Shaun King is convinced that Tampa Bay was better than the St. Louis Rams. They lost that night, 11-6. But as you may recall, the final Bucs drive was riddled with controversy.

* What-if’s. King has many from his time as the Buccaneers’ starting quarterback through the 1999 and 2000 seasons. That Rams game was full of ‘em, and one loss at Lambeau Field in the 2000 finale — off a missed 40-yard FG — proved to be particularly damaging.

* NIL Madness. King was an assistant coach at South Florida from 2016- ‘19, and his finger on the pulse of this modern college landscape. On this podcast, he solves everything NIL.

* King played with five Hall of Famers in Tampa, and shares a story of Warren Sapp’s freak athleticism.

* The quarterback market today. Numbers continue to skyrocket. King’s on-board with the position having its own salary cap.

* How do teams screw up at the top of the draft so often? King was never a fan of Trey Lance and Zach Wilson. He doesn’t see Drake Maye doing much any time soon, either.

* Michael Penix Jr. Back at USF, King recruited Penix. He was convinced back then that the quarterback would be a star. He sees this situation playing out beautifully for the Atlanta Falcons. Haven’t chatted with anyone this bullish on Penix before.

* Aaron Rodgers, he says, is the most selfish and self-centered quarterback of this generation. King’s mind is blown that the quarterback had the audacity to blow off New York Jets minicamp. He explains.

* What it’s like being confused with another “Shaun King.”

Go Long is your home for longform in pro football.

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