Is there anyone who's ever said, you know what, we need to be more defensive oriented and more running oriented, although they are running the ball to sort of fit the elements late in the year?

Yeah, I mean, they did lead the league in rushing last year.

I mean, James Cook was the number one rusher in football, so they can do that if they need to.

I kind of sense that Joe Brady wants to lean into Josh Allen's arm a little bit more here, and throwing it through the wind was never a problem for Josh in the old place.

And with the contour of this new stadium having a higher profile, and... incorporating what the engineers call wind confusion.

The wind in the stadium is going to be far lesser than it used to be.

They believe they've cut it by more than 50%.

Do you expect the offense to look different and in what way or more similar than last year?

How are you preparing for that? What are you guys gonna be talking about when it comes to that defensive line?

Yeah, I think, believe it or not, guys, as, as exciting as, uh, the prospects are with, you know, the outside linebackers coming off the edge and affecting the passer more this year than we've seen in the last couple of years, um, Joe Brady is making stopping the run the point of emphasis here.

And while, you know, this team was in the lower third in the league in sacks last year, I think they were 21st in the league with just 36, let's not forget, guys, they were 28th against the run, 30th in yards per carry average against.

That's been priority number one from the jump with Jim Leonard, the defensive coordinator, and Joe Brady.

Like, Joe told us in a production meeting this summer, he said, "I don't care if we don't get a single sack.

You are not running on us." So the, the priorities are pretty clear.

It's not that they don't wanna rush the passer and don't wanna get sacks, they just wanna make sure that the players know we have to stop the run.

So tell us about that chess match and what you're thinking about for that.

Mm-hmm

... no help for the tackles, and you know that they're gonna come up with a different formula.

I know Deion was dinged, so was Spencer, who was basically playing with one arm by the end of the game, um, which I think for fans made it all the more surprising that they didn't devote more help to them in pass protection.

So I expect a much different approach with the pass pro game.

That's number one.

Number two, I think you have to be encouraged by the effectiveness that the run game had in the matchup last year.

I mean, I know Cook busted off a 40-plus yard touchdown early, but the team averaged six yards a carry, and I think Joe will tweak the run game in such a way to make the looks pre-snap appear different, and I think just by the virtue of the fact that they don't have a fullback anymore is gonna facilitate making the looks appear different pre-snap.

Right.

How is training camp? How did it go for the Bills? How would you characterize what the preseason and camp, the two-a-days, everything was like leading up to this moment?

Yeah, I mean, I would say the headline on offense in, through the preseason was DJ Moore, the trade acquisition from Chicago.

He has exceeded expectations and has firmly established himself at the top of the pecking order in the Bills' receiver room, which was what they were hoping for.

Um, but the on-field chemistry between him and Josh Allen, uh, has been noticeable each and every day, and it only got better as camp and the preseason wore on.

So I think the expectation is he is gonna be a major component and hopefully a major improvement for Buffalo's passing game after it took a little bit of a step back last year.

So that's probably the highlight on offense.

And then on defense, um, it's the new scheme under defensive coordinator Jim Leonard, um, coming in with a 3-4, uh, front and changing this defensive system for the first time in a decade.

What is the leadership gonna be like? What do you think the impact will be, at least in the short term? What are your thoughts?

So what are you genuinely optimistic about for the future of the sector?

I'm really optimistic about the ambition in Europe, well, let's say the EU and UK, just separating them out, uh, for political expediency.

I'm really...

And, and that's ambition.

So they're, they're setting the direction.

There's other challenges around UK and, and EU that I won't get into.

I'm really optimistic, and this, this might sound a bit strange to some people, but I'm really optimistic about this latest Chinese Five Year Plan.

What's something that you've changed your mind about over the course of your career?

No

... which, which kind of, I don't wanna-Be a stickler, but it kinda ruins the story [laughs] just, just a touch.

Um, but he was, I think he, he may have thought that this was actually, it was like bordering on being sort of a 7:30, uh, or, or Four Corners expose-

[laughs]

... of discussion in intervention is, is my supposed need to get my shirt off.

Which I, I always insist to the producers that this is not me doing it, and I've done it less and less recently.

'Cause as you, as one, as one matures, one needs to, to show less-

Yes, interrogation.

'Cause he tried, he tried to hold back, and, and I had to reassure him that it was, it was okay to be completely honest and, and to, and to really, yeah, air all the, the dirty Brown family laundry to, to coin a phrase.

[laughs]

Mm

... of discussion in intervention, is, is my supposed need to get my shirt off.

Which I, I always insist to the producers that this is not me doing it, and I've done it less and less recently.

'Cause as you, as one, as one matures, one needs to, to show less-

[laughs]

You know, they're, they're sh- they're short on time, short on budget, and, and I'm the, uh, I'm the only person still in the room.

So yeah, they do.

They're quite often they, they wanna know if this, this couch works with this floor rug and, and I just, just say yes, just 'cause it's just-

[laughs]

So it, it, it's, um, you know, there's drama, there's intrigue, there's, there's, there's pressure.

Um, there's these very complicated relationships that are playing out o- on the, on the set with these couples.

And I guess the b- the big difference here compared to other renovation shows that have come before is that viewers can actually win the houses.

What you like about the series, what you think is different about the series, and what you want us to look out for.

It's very much like being a vet.

Basically, it's the most important emotional object in your life is your house or your dog, and they end up costing you a lot more than you ever expect.

So there's drama, there's intrigue, there's pressure, there's very complicated relationships that are playing out on the set with these couples.

And I guess the big difference here compared to other renovation shows that have come before is that viewers can actually win the houses.

water and it's

both seconds? I've got a really interesting mental image of it as well.

But, you know, with kayaking, you've got one decision.

... hatted career."

Yeah.

And, and it does, it does kinda draw upon everything I've, I've ever done and, and condense it into one, one little package.

Um, and I think at, at a time where, um, our media landscape feels like it's, it, it's, it's constricting a little bit and, and you're seeing a lot more studio-based shows, understandably.

I, I get, I get the need for that.

But to actually work on something that has scale a-and genuine surprise and, and newness, I think, is really, and originality, I think, is really, um...

It was a real thrill.

How are you feeling about things a few years on?

What would you say to them?

them?Yeah, and actually, a lot of the book I, I kept, uh, this audience in mind because being on this show is call after call of mistakes, of, of shame, of regret, of guilt, of, of money mistakes, relational mistakes.

Um, I would say, um, the goal is that we would take our pain and it would turn into somebody else's hope.

I want someone to read this story and read the things that have happened in my life.

It's the same thing with you, with your bankruptcy.

We hear what happened when you came out of the bankruptcy, and it gives people hope of, you know what? I- if, if he can get out of that hole, then I can get out of the hole that I'm in.

And so I think Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." And so the goal is to, just like the mission statement here, is to inject hope into people's life.

How did you unlearn shame, if, if I could word it that way? Or, or what would your response be to someone who's just kind of wallowing in some shame?

What put it on your radar in the first place? Talk to me about your first billboard or the inspiration to get started here.

The inspiration was I was actually just driving past one day after day, noticing it was empty.

But let me go back a little bit before that to tell you the inspiration of why I even started looking for side hustles or passive income, and, and billboards became that vehicle for me.

So got married right out of college the same day I actually graduated.

We were so broke.

We had two cars, but one of them that you had to get in through the passenger side vehicle or through the door to get into the vehicle, and that was not fun, right? Like you're having to crawl in and crawl over.

That's how broke we were.

... or you have to talk to the landowner and like, "I wanna sublease this little corner." Like, if I wanna go the building route, where does that start?