Fred opened the show with the news that Andy bought lunch from Tavolino Pizza Gourmet and introduced “Toyota Tacoma” who will be replacing Dan Tugender behind the glass. Fred also spoke about the announcement of the 2009 NFL schedule that takes place 7PM ET at CBS Scene, Patriots Place.

Regular opening caller John in LA called in to pose some potential Patriots draft combinations, talk about the crop of Cornerbacks and USF LB Tyrone McKenzie who is scheduled to visit the Patriots. Andy brought up the recent Debate Friday on Patriots.com that saw Andy and Fred go head-to-head over Pat White and the Wildcat offence.

Fred brought up his recent hypothesis about the payment of the top ten draft picks and come up with a theory that Peyton Manning’s rookie contract was to blame for the increased rookie salaries. This led to a discussion on incentive laden contracts in rookie contracts before the guys announced the sad news that NFL Films’ Harry Kalas had passed away.

Jim in Texas called in to talk about ‘Debate Friday’ and to discuss the Wildcat and previous offenses like the Run and Shoot. Jim also agreed with Andy that the Patriots should take Northern Illinois DE Larry English in the first round and if he’s not there maybe Everett Brown will be. The guys agreed that Everett Brown was one of the top prospects available and would be great value at #23. Jim then brought up Mel Kiper’s draft bible that had Boston College DT Ron Brace as the Patriots third round pick. Jim ended his call by offering some advice for the Gostkowski kicking challenge with an “inspiring” tale about a sparring match with a bigger guy and telling Erik that he shouldn’t be “afraid to fail” .

The guys then talked about recent news stories including “idiot” 911 calls, the rise in gun shootings and the Somalian Pirates before talking about the announcement of the 2009 NFL schedule.

Following a break Fred read an email from Sean McLoughlin containing some negative thoughts about the Pat White “experiment” before Fred got worked up over an infomercial. Andy brought up the recent signing of Steelers LB James Harrison with a nod to the potential contract that Julius Peppers would command. After a discussion about the economy the guys discussed other draft prospects that could play multiple positions in the NFL.

An email brought up a discussion about Bill Belichick’s draft theory and whether he looks to future drafts when choosing positions he’d like to draft. Al in Dayton called in, and after some kind words from the guys about his radio voice, to talk about his “favourite time of the year” with tracking the various mock drafts.

Following a game of over/under from an emailer and a brief Percy Harvin/Pat White comparison the guys talked about the distribution of Patriots Football Weekly which led to Fred explaining his phobia of grocery stores. Erik was then forced into divulging a story about when he hit on a checkout attendant several years ago.

The guys brought up a baseball video game commercial starring Dustin Pedroia, talked some baseball, Republican tea-bagging before reading some emails. The guys talked some more about lowering the rookie salary pool before coming up with some pun headlines around the Patriots drafting Larry English.

After Hot Amy challenged Erik with the meaning of an extremely long word Mike from San Francisco called in to discuss the rookie salary pool and offer some facts about it.

The show came to a close with an email from William Berry that offered some words to stump Erik of which he went 1-1.

[mp3]http://library.kraftsportsgroup.com/20090414_neplor.mp3[/mp3]

Today’s team: Fred Kirsch, Paul Perillo, Andy Hart, Erik Scalavino

Lunch provided by: Andy Hart

Callers in: John in LA, Jim in Texas, Al in Dayton, Mike from San Francisco

Andy Hart Caller: Jim in Texas Caller: John in LA Caller: Mike from San Francisco Erik Scalavino Fred Kirsch Lunch: Andy Hart Paul Perillo