A few programming notes...

We're off and running at Go Long, your home for longform this 2024 season.

It’s a Football Friday!

However you celebrate, I hope you enjoy.

Personally? I cannot wait for the continued emergence of Syracuse Football. Bust out the Rob Konrad jerseys. The alma mater is back, baby. Feels like yesterday that ‘Cuse was getting humiliated by Penn State in the Carrier Dome, 55-13. The G-Rob Era (R.I.P.) was rough. Only naive freshmen went to the games. There were approximately 2.3 million better things to do on the hill. The next year, Doug Marrone barnstormed into town — ripping his jacket off, rolling up his sleeves, claiming this was his dream job — and, soon enough, off he went to the NFL. Then, Marrone quit on the Buffalo Bills.

Made the trip with my Dad for their win over Georgia Tech and, gotta say, the atmosphere inside the dome was electric. Now, they’ll host Stanford tonight on ESPN.

Would love to hear everyone’s football-watching, football-attending plans for the weekend. Let us know in the comments and the Gameday Chat.

We’ve had a busy two weeks to start this 2024 NFL Season, so I thought it’d be smart to take a deep breath and answer a few questions I’ve been getting.

Once again, THANK YOU for making Go Long your home for NFL longform.

A few thoughts…

— Our 2024 Attack Plan is here, icymi.

— Your investment is always put directly back into the business. Go Long will continue to travel the country to sit down with players and coaches to pursue an original story worth your valuable time. Most recently, I spent a few days with the Detroit Lions. One story from our visit went live today: Ass-Kicking Origins. I cannot wait to share the other soon. Each Friday, you can expect a lengthy feature story.

— We launched a new show at Go Long. The goal of “How the NFL Works” is to take you places other podcasts cannot. I’ll be chatting at length with people throughout the league — current/former players, coaches, execs, scouts. Video, audio and Q&A transcripts for all episodes will be available to our paid subscribers. First up, I chatted with one of the sport’s finest quarterback whisperers: Quincy Avery. We’ve experimented with a few different types of shows in the past. For two seasons, I posted up in East Aurora, NY at Mister’s Bar & Lanes with Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie. He was a riot. Last year, we had “FAVRE” with the Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre. He obviously had countless stories to share. In the interest of best serving everyone — intensely curious football consumers — this felt like the best pivot. If you’re on our free mailing list, it’s a perfect time to upgrade to access each episode.

— MAILBAG. Each week we don’t have an “NFL works” episode, I’ll answer your questions. Submit any and all to golongtd@gmail.com.

— VIP members! Be sure to email me if I haven’t mailed you a full Go Long swag pack. As a VIP, you get a hoodie, a signed copy of “Blood and Guts: How Tight Ends Save Football” and two new perks: a free complementary subscription for a friend and a virtual press pass. Is there a question you’re dying to ask a player? Let me know. I’ll do everything I can to get it answered. Let me know who you’d like to send a complementary subscription to as well. (Subscribers can always upgrade to our top tier.)

— While we were thrilled to have former NFL exec/Super Bowl champ Jim Monos pen a weekly column, my pal has another career opportunity working. Unfortunately, he can’t fit in the column now. The good news is we’ll still try to record an occasional podcast. Always love Jim’s independent football brain. You’ll hear from him again here.

— There are always three ways to access everything at Go Long: Your email inbox, GoLongTD.com and inside the Substack app, which is extremely user-friendly:

— Every single Sunday, you can hang out with fellow Go Long subscribers from around the world. Man, is it fun. It’s been so great getting to know so many of you. Hey, you all need a place to vent and to articulate your thoughts. I’ll post the link about an hour before the games kick off. You can follow along on your laptop browser at GoLongTD.com, and inside the app.

— We’re on YouTube. If you’d like a break from all the shows your kids love, here’s our Go Long TD channel. I post clips from various podcasts here. Here are a few from this week’s shows.

Thanks, everyone! See you Sunday.