Games with Names - “18-1” with Eli Manning and Tedy Bruschi | 2008 Super Bowl XLII: Patriots vs. Giants

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

On today’s episode, we kick things off with Super Bowl XLII aka “18-1.” Jules & Sam check out what was going on in the world back in February 2008 (5:48). We break down both teams as we revisit this game (15:32). Tedy Bruschi joins the show to give us the Patriots perspective (24:17). Then, we’re joined by Eli Manning (1:01:06). The guys wrap it up and score the game (1:32:41).Support the show: http://www.gameswithnames.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. February 3rd, 2008. University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona. 1.15 left in the fourth quarter. The New York Giants trail the undefeated New England Patriots by four. Eli Manning drops back, escapes the pocket, and heaves one downfield. And he caught it. He f***ing caught it.

This is 18-1. Hello. Welcome to Games with Names, presented by WinBet. I'm Julian Edelman. And I'm Sam Morrell. And we're on the search for the greatest games of all time. Today's episode, 18 wins and one giant loss. Super Bowl XLII, Pats versus Giants.

Today we're going to be joined not by one, but two very special guests, Teddy Bruschi and Eli Manning. It was a tough one for the Patriot Nation that day. You weren't there yet, but it still stings a little. It's David versus Goliath. This team was undefeated. My gut reaction as a New York sports fan is this is as good as it gets. I mean, we're beating Boston, who is always going to be the rival, right? Always a rival. And then this is one of the greatest teams ever assembled. I mean, this is an 18-0 team. Brady, Moss, Welker, Dante Stallworth. That offense was crazy. Brady's the MVP on top of it. So beating the GOAT in the Super Bowl when they're undefeated,

no one picked the Giants to win. Yeah, you know, no one really did. And it proves to you any given Sunday in the National Football League is a real deal Holyfield thing. And it's pretty impressive. My first impressions are I remember as a kid, I was in college then. Giants sneak into the playoffs, but they had this chemistry. They had this formula.

They came on late. They came on late. And they were playing their best football at the end. They did it the absolute hardest way you can do it. They had a win and get in game to get in the playoffs they get into the wild card go on the road on every i think it was they were on the road every game right or they had to look good i remember jeremy shock he went down and that was a real bummer because he was looking awesome for us and uh but i remember

week whatever week we played the Patriots in the regular season. Late in the season. It was late. And I remember the Giants lost, but they barely lost. It was one of those fights where I was like, damn, the Giants are good. I didn't realize how good they were until that game. And that's one of those games where as a player, especially if you have the immense amount of pressure that the Patriots were going through that whole year. Because it gets tough.

They were going for it. The whole humble pie and thing, humble pie bull thing that they had going. But to play a team that you could eventually maybe see again that played you really tough. I was thinking about that. That's why I thought we had a chance going in. And we got Jack. What's up, Jackie?

That was week 17. Wow. Patriots escaped 38-35 in New York. But the Giants fought. I remember being like, we could beat the Patriots. Jabbar Gaffney on the deep return. Remember that? Was it that game or was that the Baltimore game?

But regardless, I don't remember. Let me check on that. This was also the game Randy set set the td record uh for most in a single season 23 he was a he was a phenom that randy moss was one of the coolest teammates to have i mean he was just you saw all the crazy things he did in in in the game but in practice he was doing even crazier things like randy. What kind of stuff? Give us a taste. He'd just have these nonchalant one-handed catches with the guy mauling him and stuff, like one-hand catch, toe tap, sideline.

You can't do that in the game for the Patriots or Belichick. If you miss one of those. When you're Randy Moss, you can do what you want. All right. He's that caliber of a player. But the best thing about Randy was coming in on Saturday and hearing about him watching 60 Minutes on Friday and hearing him break down, you know, murders

and all these things that anything that happened on 60 Minutes, you know, Randy would have his, he's so country. He's got that, hey, Edelnut, you watch that 60 Minutes? I'm like, no, Randy, I didn't. He goes, well, this motherfucker tried to kill his wife to get the shit. That's how he would talk. And we would have to stop the meeting, the receiver meeting, and Randy would get in there.

And I remember Chatty O'Shea, he's our coach. He was a first-time coach at the Patriots that year. And he would sit there, and you could just see him shaking his head like, Randy, we got to coach something. He's like, hey, wait up, Chadio. I got this shit. I love the ideas of you guys coming in unprepared because Randy Moss is breaking down like a forensic files or something.

He's like, sorry, guys. We got to talk about this. That's how it was. But he was an awesome teammate, man. And it sucks that they didn't get to finish that off. I remember another Giants win, NFC Championship, Giants, Vikings. I was at this game. I was in the last row of the stadium with my friend and his dad, and the Giants beat the Vikings 41-0.

Kerry Collins just went the fuck off. Kerry Collins. They said he was thirsty. Oh, yeah. He liked Grandpa's old cough medicine. Yeah, let's just say he was an oh yeah he liked grandpa's old cough medicine yeah let's just say he was an old thirsty old guy the word in the street is that he needed a ride to the stadium so i never heard that but that's coming from you but let's go back in february 3rd 2008

uh number one movie was fool's gold this is back when matthew mcconaughey was not cool i thought he was cool he was cool but he's how much cooler did he get when he was in like wolf of wall street and true detective and he was on like a 10-year run of like shitty rom-coms i like rom-coms though they're they're pretty i mean you're a how to lose a guy in 10 days i mean was that was that was a Heath Ledger or something? No, that was McConaughey again. Another one, yeah. They're all lumped in the same, but, you know, it's always...

That's how you know they're not good. You would never say, ah, Godfather, it's lumped in with all the other shit, you know? No, they're all right. It serves a purpose, but these aren't good. There's good rom-coms. Good date movies. Good date movies, Sam. I know you just joined Raya. Why don't you, you know, take a little's good rom-coms. Good date movies. Good date movies, Sam. I know you just joined Raya.

Why don't you, you know, take a little of those rom-coms. Julian, you could get laid if you took a woman to see Saw. You could be like, you have that kind of game. I've seen it. No, it's absolutely not.

But the number one song in America, though. And I appreciate the Raya reference. Thank you. Was Low by Flo Rida and featuring T--pain who's a big twitch guy now that's a good song got them apple bottom jeans in the skirt something something she hit the flow yeah we got that that was a good song. That was pretty good. That was like straight college, going to the club in Akron, Ohio.

Where were you in 2008? I was in New York. I was at college. What college? I was at NYU. I went to the parade. NYU, what a smart guy. I went to can't read, can't write, Kent State. Shout out Go Flash.

Made the NFL. Star football player. I mean, we all can. I don't know if you've seen the NYU sporting teams. I could have probably walked on that basketball team, and I stink. No, usually the NYU people own the sporting teams, Sam. But let's get back to what were some ridiculous trends of 2008? Ugg boots.

I will say this. I never wore the boots, but I got a pair of the Ugg slippers at home, and I love them. The best. I did an Uggs commercial back in the day. Did you? I did with Tom. Tom joined in 2010, obviously.

It was all over Boston. There was like an Uggs billboard. I think he said Ugg when Eli made that pass to Plaxico. Yeah, that was more like, think he said, oh, when Eli made that, uh, pass to Plaxico. Yeah. That was more like, uh, uh, uh,

uh, what else did we have? Oh, slippers are good. We had Kanye shutter shades. Remember those? Got it. You got,

you got, well, you got to block the haters. I guess you got to block the haters. Hey, Kanye, he's revolutionary. I love him.

Great. He's crazy, but I like him. I like him. Hey, you want your rock stars crazy. You know, it's just. I love him. He's crazy, but I like him. I like him. Hey, you want your rock stars crazy, you know? It's just kind of, you know what that reminds me of? It's kind of like linebackers.

I remember we had a linebacker come in. I won't say no name. He's a good friend of mine, but it was his first day as a Patriot. And I had to go across the middle, and I jacked him up, and Coach got mad at me because you're not supposed to hit really in, in practice. And like, I thought it was kind of a soft play on his, on his behalf.

And so Bill started yelling me. I remember yelling back. I was like, I want a fucking linebacker that eats a steak with his fucking hands. Not with the fork and knife, Bill. And like, everyone was like,

what is he talking about? What are we? That's what that reminds me of me of of what were we what were we talking about i forgot what we're talking about i think toughness and tough yeah i think we're talking about like rock stars rock stars that's what it was like you want your rock stars a little crazy you want your linebackers you know nuts yeah you want a nutty i want to i want a crazy wide receiver too while i'm at every once in a while not all of them not all you need receiver too while I'm at it every once in a while. Not all of them. Not all of them. You need a guy like you, but every once in a while you get an AB,

you're going to win a little bit. Dude, this is January 2008. Fucking Heath Ledger died. That was sad. That was brutal. He was such a good actor. Such a good actor. Also started in rom-coms.

10 Things I Hate About You is a good rom-com. Great movie. But that's what I'm saying. That's a well-written rom-com. Was that in Seattle? Was it in Seattle? I believe it was is a good rom-com. Great movie. But that's what I'm saying. That's a well-written rom-com. Was that in Seattle? Was it in Seattle? I believe it was in Seattle. Love Larry Miller as a dad.

That was like, that was right before, that was right after The Joker, right? No, that was, 10 Things I Hate About You was right before. No, no, I'm talking about when he died. Yeah. It was after The Joker. Pothimus Oscar, he's one of the only ones to, I think Peter Finch from Network got one.

Wasn't he like method acting that one? That's the rumor i guess that like you think he that he he created demons in his head yeah what did he he did he overdose or he had he had like an upper and a downer or what did he do he something along those lines i yeah i think i don't know it was a combo of pills it was a it was a it was a lethal cocktail i mean it is tough when you give that good a performance and you die and then jared leto shows up and he gives a bad performance and lives you're like what the hell hey you gotta die for this joker role that's he raised the bar that high he raised it that high that's that's the kind of guy he letcher was tom petty played the superbowl halftime he was amazing they amazing. I love Tom Petty.

What is up with this? Who do you think was on more pain pills, him at halftime or the Patriots and Giants that game? Jack, do you have a fun fact about Tom Petty? I do. This is a personal fact. My dad will not listen to any band that played the halftime show of the Patriots Super Bowl loss.

Wow. Who played against it in, so it was Tom Petty here. And then the second Giants win is the Chili Peppers. That's a great band not to be able to listen to. I was going to say, that's too bad. Too bad. You lost out. It's too bad it wasn't like Lady Gaga or something like that.

She's great, but probably not your dad's cup of tea, I would guess. No. So now Anthony Kiedis and Flea remind my dad of Eli Manning. Damn. Wow. I can't listen to Flea because I just had bed bugs. But Elliot Spitzer prostitution story broke in March 2008. That was huge in New York.

The governor succeeded, luckily, by a gentleman named Andrew Cuomo. Hey. Who never did anything wrong. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Don't you think? I think we're like, dude, why couldn't you just bang prostitutes and not try to sleep with your coworkers?

Just bang whores like a gentleman like Elliot Spitzer. Not when you're married. That was the beginning of those awful politician step-down speeches where the wife is just standing there. I'm like, don't make her stand through it. This is brutal. Didn't they ban or didn't prostitution become legal in New York now, though? I'm not the guy to ask, Julian.

I'm on Raya now. Oh, sorry. He's a Raya. He's a Raya member, folks. Dude, in the sports world, February 2008, what do we have? Well, lots of stuff. First off, the Utah Valley lost 76-50, completing an 0-29 season. A defeat season?

A defeat season, yeah. So they just got defeated every week? That's rough. You know what? I feel bad for those young kids. That's almost as hard to do as an undefeated as a college athlete though like they're probably getting motherfucked at basketball practice all day yeah then they got to go to class then they got to study and then they got to do it again

and lose 29 times in one season feel bad for those kids hard to have any swag when you're losing that much and you want to be a swaggy college athlete that's part of the fun i would think yeah i went to kent state bro it wasn't like you had swag we had swag but it wasn't like anything special it was you did you go oh and 29 no but we did go like three and six or 39 that's not as bad though yeah we got a uh daniel day lewis won the oscar for Will Be Blood. There Will Be Blood. That was a dope movie. Great movie. Fun fact, There Will Be Blood and No Country for All Men

filmed at the same time in the same part of Texas, Marla, Texas. And they say that during one of the oil, they were one of the fires of the scenes of There Will Be Blood. There was so much smoke that it almost affected the No Country for old men am i am i right on this one guys do you go no country or there will be blood which one do you like better there will be blood i like daniel day lewis i love them both i think i lean slightly no country yeah javier bardem so scary in that man he really was that's that the awkward scary

that's like the scary like you see down the subway and you like see someone with that kind of look and you're just like, I'm watching him the whole time. Oh, dude, I got my mace ready. It's about to go down. I mean, I remember staying in shitty motels doing comedy and thinking like someone's going to break in with an air gun and shoot me in the head. That was the effect Javier Bardem had on me in that movie. Now, with the air gun, for the forensic, is it harder to find out from an... It was an air gun nail? Why don't we call Randy Moss?

He would know, right? He would definitely know. Randy would know this. See? That's the kind of guy Randy was. Do you like true crime, too? Sometimes. It gives you anxiety.

I feel so bad for people that make those decisions that have to go down that road. Like, damn, thank God I don't have that mindset. You know what I mean? Because it's fucked up on all parts. The people that murder, the people that get murdered, and then everyone involved who's a part of those families. Yeah. You know?

So it's like, it's a fucked up thing. I watch a lot of it. And I will, I mean like the jinx the staircase the ones that give you some closure zodiac zodiac is that san francisco that's hometown hero hometown my my mom was a hero i shouldn't have said that probably you're canceled oh this anti-cancel pack us let's get into these teams sam i'll let you go with your New York football. Giants first, of course. 10-6, second in the NFC East. But they had playoff wins over Tampa.

I remember that game. I really remember Dallas because they had Romo, I believe. That was a good Dallas team. Was that the Flub Snap Romo game? It might have been. I don't think it was, actually. I don't think so. That was not. It was not.

Green Bay, that was the game. I mean, Brett Favre was still there. I remember it being it was, actually. I don't think so. That was not. It was not. Green Bay, that was the game. I mean, Brett Favre was still there. I remember it being freezing, that game. And I remember I met Amani Toomer once, and I said, is it true that you guys put chili flakes in your socks and let it absorb in your socks? And he goes, no, who told you that? I was like, I don't know.

I've never heard that. Probably some message board. I've never heard that in my life. I know. I don't know why I even said that. I felt so stupid. He was like, what are you, an idiot? I was like i don't know i've never probably some message board i've never heard that in my life i know i don't know why i even said i felt so stupid he was like what are you an idiot i was like sorry note to self for next time you talk to like a like a childhood like you know one of your fans or your one of your heroes don't ever ask a question like that i know i fucked up i feel terrible it's all right no it's not all right it's time i feel amani you were a

great guy and i'm sorry uh this was a fourth season under tom coughlin who grew i didn't like him at first he really grew on me he almost got fired this year yeah he was almost getting fired every year he helped tiki barber to learn to stop fumbling which made me like him a lot and tight he also you know he aged so much throughout giants coach he went from like tom coughlin to emperor palpatine overnight. How red did he get? So red. When it was cold. It was the reddest face. He looked like his face was melting off. I kind of, I found it charming, actually. The Giants, the Giants were, we were good, dude.

They were very good. I'd say we had nothing to do, I'd cheer a lot, though. You were part of it, you know, you were part of it. They were very good. Who'd they have on there? We had a loaded team offense. We had, you know, obviously the modern-day thunder and lightning of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs,

and amazing receivers and plaques before he shot himself. We really missed him after that. And Imani Toomer. That's really the worst nightmare. When you're a fan of a player and you're like, what happened? He shot himself. And you're like, is he okay? He shot himself in the leg.

And then he got arrested because the gun laws. Yeah. Like, it wasn't registered. It wasn't like, all right, you shot yourself. Here's a band-aid, go home. It was like, all right, now you got prison time. Here's what happened. He watched a lot of Dateline

and he was trying to have a gun on him for protection and it went off. That's my theory. Plax, you're a great guy. You were a Super Bowl champ. I'll say this too. I was at the game, the Knicks game a week and a half before the Super Bowl with my sister. And as we're sitting at the game, Plax comes on the big screen, points to his ring finger, the garden explodes. It was one of those things where my sister's a big Giants fan. And afterwards,

she's like, I think I need my first jersey to be Plax. She had gotten me an Eli jersey. We went to Modell's, got her a Plax jersey. It was set that the Giants would win in that moment. Defense, we had Strahan, OCU Minora, Tuck, Antonio Pierce. That was a loaded D, too. I mean, that defense was stout. I mean, the defensive line. Girth.

Girth. Thick. Rock hard. Very, very good. And that was like after that game, everyone was like, is that the blueprint to stop Brady? Just get pressure upside in the middle of the pocket. I mean, when you have those four guys that were playing defensive line for the Giants, I mean, I don't think every team can shadow that.

But let's get over to the New England Patriots. Obviously, they were 16-0 during the regular season, going for 19-0 in the Super Bowl. First in the AFC, Brady set a record with 50 touchdowns. Randy set a record with 23 touchdowns. Randy set a record with 23 touchdowns. There was also, you know, no one really remembers, but the Spygate thing. I don't know. It was something.

It's a big deal. Yeah. You know, it's pretty, pretty big. Yeah. I mean, who wasn't recording each other? I mean, that's what. What? Clearly, they weren't recording the Giants.

They clearly did not record the Giants on this one, but I don't know. It was something like that. Gave them a little motivation. Not enough. Clearly the offensive additions this year, they had Dante Stallworth coming in, had big plays that year.

Where was he before? Philly? Philly. Yeah. He was in Philly. Wes Welker from a division opponent, the Miami Dolphins stud, and Randy Moss. One of the best receiving three ever.

It was a very good receiver, Corey. And you had a Jabbar Gaffney that a lot of people forget was an unbelievable route runner and a great four receiver. They traded a fourth-round draft pick to Oakland. How did that happen? Because remember that was when – I don't think randy was like as motivated there remember but still he's still randy moss i mean the raiders you know at that time it was a little tough to play there i think yeah welker led the league when gruden was there he never made a mistake ever yeah you know welker led the league in receptions along with tj who's

your mama who's minzada who always has something great to say about me. Come on, TJ. We used to work out together. Why do you always have just throw shade all the time? We get it, bro. You had a lot of catches. Randy Moss, like we said, caught 23 in the regular season. Tuggedy's setting a record.

The game. The Giants came into this game a 12-point underdog. It makes sense at the time going in. It did make sense, but then Giants became the first NFC wild card to ever win a Super Bowl. People don't realize how hard that is. You've got to go in three games just to get to the bowl. All on the road.

All on the road. They were 10-0 with their last road games. They were on fire. We talk about it, but sometimes when the team comes together just at the right time, their confidence is off the charts. And I'm sure being 12-point underdogs, they're looking at that like, oh, we're not. We almost beat you in Week 17.

That definitely fueled their fire for sure. I mean, it's not always the best football team that wins. It's the team that plays the best that wins, Sam. You'll learn that as this podcast goes on, as we go over these important games. It's good to know. It's good to know. The team that outplays the other team usually has a better shot.

Always has a better shot. What do we remember from this game? The helmet catch is the iconic. The David Tyree getting with Rodney Harrison, your boy, all over him. shot yeah that's what do we remember for this game the helmet catch is the iconic the david tyree getting with rodney harrison your boy all over him yeah that was epic that was crazy that was two separate insane plays in one that was eli breaking free he was down wasn't he i thought he was down no he was he was dancing he was twirling he was a ballerina holding was there a holding call no one holds just let him play well i mean asante samuel dropped that pick that was the game a lot of

close calls there was a lot of couple there was another pick almost a drop pick who's the other one that was uh randall gay ooh randall gay had a drop like an attempt to almost pick it there the pats had their shot. That's not what you want to say at the end of a game. You're a player, and you say, man, if I would have made that play. That's something that will always haunt you. Yeah, I mean, insane finish. The final Brady drive, I was kind of like, of course,

of course Brady does the drive. It was such a defensive game. I didn't think Eli was going to be able to charge downfield the way he did. I mean, look, they played grade D. They just didn't make the big plays. People want to talk about Eli, oh, this, oh, that. I tell you right now, that man has played some of his best football in the biggest games he's ever played.

I'm a huge Eli fan. I can't wait to interview him because he's so ecstatic when it comes to his personality. We're going to get into that. Things we may have forgotten in this game. It started with the longest drive in Super Bowl history, 18 plays, 63 yards, 9 minutes and 59 seconds, ended in a field goal.

This was Strahan's final game with the giants which i mean that was an epic career all i remember is coach belichick wore a red hoodie never seen him wear a red hoodie not a good idea he got cocky he i don't know what he i don't know if he got what do you got jackie that was 16 plays on the first drive and then a little rundown on Bill in red hoodies. He is three for three all time when rocking the red hoodie. 0 for 1, most notably, in the Super Bowl. 38 games in a gray sleeveless cutoff with a record of 29-9. I'm going to have to get back to that red. I don't know if we'll ever get back to it, though.

This one hurts. This one hurts. Before we get to the Gaming Corner presented by Winbet, we have a very special interview with the man, the myth, the legend, Patriots royalty, Teddy Bruschi. Man, Teddy Bruschi was so good. A heartbeat of the New England Patriots during those early dynasty years. Part of the old regime that turned into the Bill Belichick regime.

I mean, he's just seen a lot. He's been through a lot. He's seen now in the TV world his team go on and do great things. He's Mr. Patriot. All right, let's hear from Teddy. And Sam, we're here, and we're joined with the man, the myth, the legend, Teddy Bruschi, older brother of mine, three-time Super Bowl champ,

led the NCAA at defensive line, I tell you, at the University of Arizona in sacks. Arizona legend. Arizona legend. Yeah. Proves his versatility by changing From the defensive line

To becoming one of the smartest Middle linebackers We've all seen the legendary plays In the snow game where he does The snow angel with the pick six We've all seen it all We see him on ESPN Looking handsome as ever

Very handsome man What's up, guys? What's up? Thanks for having me. Teddy. Two California kids who are three-time Patriot champions just on separate ends right here. That's right. We sort of got them all represented here.

And, Jules, it's always great talking to you, buddy. I mean, we've developed a great, great relationship over the years, man. I'm glad to be talking to you. I appreciate you coming on, Teddy. And we have to get it off right away. The kind of legend that Teddy is. So I'm a rookie. And the first time I get in the building,

what they do in the Patriots building is they test you. So they have all the stars and all these big play moments in the team room. And they always have to, Bill will get up there and ask you, who's this? Who's that? Who's this? Oh, that's Logan Mankins. Oh, that's Russ. Oh, that's Teddy Bruschi.

So we get there. So you're automatically, they build this huge picture for, there's like five Patriots that were on the team that were like part of this huge dynasty that was like the best franchise going into the before they won the six seven or whatever four five six and teddy was there and and he was just this guy that it was like surreal to have in there so i the first time i interact with teddy i see him on in the training room i think he was reading a book and he was getting like he had like two trainers working on him and we go out for a special teams period and and we line up against each other and i had

to do this stab thing on him and we go down they blow the whistle and i stab him and i touch him and teddy with the intensity i told you about looks at me and he says hey rookie don't you ever fucking touch me again and then so i had to go with him the next time so the very next time i had to stab the air i was stabbing the air because i had to show the coaches i knew the technique i had to show them that i was taking in the classroom work. So I'm sitting there with Teddy trying to stab the air, but it was fucking nuts, and that's the intensity,

because when we entered this podcast right away, you could see Teddy give the eye. Oh, and he sneered at me pre-taping, seeing I'm wearing an Eli Manning jersey. I'm like, this is the 18-1. I got to show out. Yeah, I knew we were going to discuss that season. And I guess I'm already just a little a little irritated knowing it's coming.

But, you know, it's over the years I've come to accept that season. But Jules, that that story you're talking about, like we've had this conversation, how that it was full circle for me, because when I was a rookie in almost the same situation, it wasn't special teams, but it was offense and defense. We used to have a tight end by the name of Ben Coates, and he was a great tight end. And I was a rookie trying to do the same thing on him, trying to put my hands on him

because that's what you're coached to do and all that. And the line from Ben to me was, as we're walking back in between reps, after that rep, he said, hey, rookie, you ever touch me again like that i'll break your fucking arm and i looked at him like i said i guess this is what it is now so i knew never to touch ben coats like that again so i gave you a little bit of the ben coats treatment there and you said someday that'll be me talking to a younger person about that about 12 years later 12 12 13 years later yeah me and

the crazy thing is though it like he wasn't being an asshole or anything he was just the vet you know he was he was getting his work in he was doing his his techniques and that's just how it is it's changed now teddy nowadays is it's changed you can't even call a rookie a rookie anymore you got to call them the r word because you know that they're all you know entitled and and what do you think about this new generation do you think you could be a veteran player in this year this day and age with how these guys are going you know i sense the transition i think 0809 was my last training camp of how it was getting to be. And I still think it's doable. I don't think you can be the old school, get off my lawn type of old man type of,

this is the way it is. You respect me. It's much different now to where it's almost, you have to earn their respect first. And then you can give them the hard love after that. But if you show them right off the bat that you're going to be an asshole and this is the way it's going to be rookie and all this and all that, they may go into their shell a little bit. So it's a little bit different dealing with today's athlete. I like to think I could adapt and still find a way to, you know,

if you got to establish trust first, that's fine. That's just the way it is. But once it gets to the point where games are now coming, it's not OTAs, it's not minicamp, it's no preseason anymore, man. It's serious. Hopefully you've developed that relationship now where you can have sort of those serious conversations. But definitely it's sort of backwards now than it was before to where you earn in respect rather than respect should be given. So that's the main transition that veteran players have to deal with.

And that's a leader type answer right there. And it's crazy because when I got in the locker room, he was probably thinking of us the same way we think. And vice versa. That's just the older guy who becomes wise. If you play in the league a while you kind of you see things but we do have to talk about this 2007 season 18-1 now let's let's put a little context into this this was the year after they go to the 2006 AFC championship they're up what 21-3 at halftime? Yeah. 21-3 against the Colts, Peyton Manning and the Colts.

They owned the Colts throughout Peyton Manning's career. Peyton could never beat the Patriots. They go into the Dome. It's a little different circumstance. They come back. They had a great year. They lose that game. Then they go on.

They sign Wes Welker. They sign Randy Moss now after that year and I know how a losing season is in New England how shitty of an offseason because you have it in the back of your throat all year and you have to see all the clips and all the bullshit what's the mindset going in after you have some of these key additions the shitty loss after you know the year before like did you you guys definitely felt something was special was coming but what was the mindset because you were one of the big leaders you you know mcginney or everyone you know all the all the big guys yeah it was you know not until that

week one opening win versus the jets that you know you sort of had an eye opening of, holy smoke. I mean, Randy Moss, you know, because Moss had a little bit of a tweak of his hamstring when he got there in 07. So you didn't get to see a lot in training camp. So as the week one opener started to come, he started to come back a little bit and give you a little taste. But it just, he just exploded in the week one matchup. Everyone remembers the old, the deep over where Tom just threw it all the way to the left side where he outran the safety in the corner to the pylon on the left side, the offensive left side. And that's when we on the defensive side of the ball are looking around on the bench like we got something here. So after that, seeing him in combination with Welker after that game, that's when we really

knew that our offense could be explosive, which is very different than what it used to be in similar championship years of 01, 03, and 04. Brady was coming into his own special teams in defense were the theme. And then of course, Brady. This is when you got the full, I guess, quote-unquote Tom Brady coming in the 07 season where, I mean, you saw tastes of it in 04, but in 07 it was like, this guy can't be stopped. I mean, you saw the transition from Tom really becoming that type of Tom Brady. I mean, what did that look like? The first time I really noticed that there was a different Tom was probably in the Super Bowl

versus the Carolina Panthers. Now, 01, 01, Tom was, you know, just don't turn the ball over, give it to Kevin Falk, give it a little check down. And, you know, just once in a while, break your tendencies, throw it deep and all that stuff, let the defense run in game and special teams do what they do. I think Tom was only responsible for two touchdowns in the entire playoffs. He ran for one in the snow versus the Raiders, and he threw for one in the Super Bowl versus Patton. All the others were Drew Bledsoe touchdown,

special teams and defense. So to see from that all the way to that Carolina half, that second half where he's making throws left and right, because we couldn't stop Carolina in the second half because we were gassed. DeLome had us figured out and Tom Brady just ended up picking us up. So that's when you start to see like, all right, he's ready to just take over the team and become MVP type of player, that type of player, all the way to 07 when he's throwing, I think, 50 touchdown passes. And it's just absurd. So to see that growth was incredible. And then to see it continue as an analyst was just, I mean, it just hasn't stopped. There's got to be some stories of like young Tom, like we all know the football, the transition, the, this, the, that, what is the,

what's the funny shit about Tommy that we don't know? Like, you know, over what they used to have the bar, the rack over in Boston. I heard, I remember hearing a little, I mean, what, what are the things that no one knows about old TB, how goofy he is that like, I want to hear a young Tommy story. I know hearing a little, I mean, what are the things that no one knows about old TB? How goofy he is that like, I want to hear a young Tommy story. I know you got one. Yeah, the no, I think people just see him. I don't know, you use the term celebrity quarterback now, and it's what he's turned into. And that's, that's great and everything. But I mean, he used to be, he used to really play the little brother role, the little irritating little brother role in terms of scout team quarterback to always talking about what he can do and always talking trash during two-minute situations.

And we'd just laugh at him because also his voice would get so high. And it sounds like an eight-year-old boy just complaining and also usually still trying to get the team fired up at the same time. It was really comical. And that's how we saw him start. Is that the best quarterback ever or Jared Kushner? No, I mean, yeah, it's the guys, let's go, the whole voice and all of this.

It's like, oh, look at Tommy trying to fire up a team. It's so cool. That's cute. That's cute, Tommy. I still have that sort of picture in my mind of him, but I definitely witnessed the transition, but I still see him. I mean, as you know, that, that, that kid that still came up when nobody thought he could. It's crazy. Cause I saw a completely different version of that. You know, I got in and he was 34 by that time. And I saw the, you know, the developing of the celebrity quarterback. And then I became that little annoying brother that used to piss him off. So that's where that transitioned in.

You know what I mean? Now, going into this game, you guys, I remember hearing all we heard about was humble pie when that streak started going. Yeah. You know, you guys started winning ball games. It wasn't like you guys were beating teams like, you know, 14, 16 or whatever. You guys were blowing the socks off people. Offense explosive, defense playing like one and turning the ball over in opportunistic moments. Like just an overall fucking great football team.

Going into the super bowl you guys what was it 12 and a half points 20 12 and a half point favor yeah like are you going into this thing i and i know the mindset that bill he's probably cutting you down the whole week you guys are not this you guys aren't that but like deep down on the team and i know the leadership of the team but there's got to be some, something that clicked in that like we're going to, we're going to, we're going to blow these fools out.

Yeah. They, they got close to us in week 17. Yeah. Yeah. They, they, they're on their cute little run.

They got their, their run game and a really good defense. We're, we're the fucking Oh seven pats were the best team in the history of the game. Like that ever seep into your mind. It was hard not to, I think around week, um, starting week 14, when we're

on the verge of being 16-0 in the regular season, that's when you really start to think that we just can't be beat, fellas. We just got to finish. And the real pressure was getting to the Super Bowl because, fellas, I mean, if we finish the season 16-0 and you lose in a divisional round or you lose in the championship game, you're a laughingstock. So you at least got to get to the Super Bowl, definitely. So you get there and it's like, guys, all we got to do is finish. We know this team. We've played them before.

We just got to finish the job and do it again. And that was the whole theme of the entire year, why Belichick coached us so hard and why we felt like sometimes we didn't even win a game the entire year is because he sensed what we could become. He knew that, I mean, it was going to be hard for a lot of teams to beat us if we played well and we did. And yes, going into that, it was a tough, hard foughtought game versus the giants in week 17 to get the 16 you know mark but we felt confident going in you know it was something that is we just got to go finish the job and that's the confidence that we had i mean

i mean i think about it now what happened of, of course, and losing the game. But, you know, it's just, man, I've just been on both sides of the spectrum to where you're winning Super Bowls when nobody expects you to. And then you're winning Super Bowls when everybody expects you to. And now you're playing the role of everyone thinks you're the best that's ever been. So how do you play that role? The target. Yeah, couldn't get it done. The target on the back. That's what people don't realize. I mean, we see that with the Kansas City Chiefs nowadays and all these teams, they go out and they win a Super Bowl and they have these unbelievable teams.

But it's almost, it's not easier to win your first. It's almost, it's just hard to stay at the top because you become Americaica's most wanted you everyone is circling when they play you you guy coaches are getting paid if they beat you players are getting paid if they beat you and that's how a lot of guys think people don't realize how hard it is when you have that target now the game doesn't go the way you want and as a professional athlete when they don't because Because I've lost Super Bowls too. You always think as an individual, man, there's four or five plays

I wish I could have fucking had back. If I would have done. Do you remember any specific of those kind of type plays? That like, I wish I had this fucking playback. If I would have done that, you never know. Fourth quarter, the Giants are driving in their last series and there's a fourth and one. Junior Seau and I were rotating at the time. He had dime responsibilities. We both were on there. I had nickel and regular responsibilities. Junior was

in regular too, but it was a fourth and one situation. And I believe it was Hedgecock at fullback and Jacobs was the tailback and it was a fourth and one situation. And it was a lead right at me. And I took on the fullback and Jacobs was still able to squeak by and like reach over for the first down. I think about that play all the time. I mean, if I would have gotten that stop, could I have sent Seymour from the right side, maybe a rip call, maybe a Louie call to move the entire line? Could I have jumped over Hitchcock, which I've done before, just jump over and sell out rather than taking him on? So yeah, as you can tell, oh yeah, there's a lot of plays individually and a lot of plays team wise that you think of during that, during that one game, Superbowl losses, big losses, but especially this one,

that fourth and one, I mean, of course there's the Harrison play. There's the Asante Samuel drop. There's the Ellis Hobbs all out blitz in the, in the, for the, for the touchdown to Burris. It's still fresh in my mind. Beautiful. It's all beautiful. Teddy, be honest with us. How seriously did you take Eli going into this game? Shoot, I always respected Eli. I mean, you saw him as goofy, of course, and you knew at times he could throw it into a team meeting, absolutely.

And all we had to do at times would just catch it, but we didn't catch it. I mean, did he still in that play to Tyree? Was he running around like a chicken with his head cut off? Absolutely. Did Vrabel have him? Did Jarvis have him? Did Seymour have him? I mean, they're all running at him and man just throws it up. But that's the Super Bowl, man. You get catches like an Edelman catch, like you bobble it twice and he catches it six inches off the ground, those type of things. We've been on one side of them, and we've been on the other side of them.

And Eli just had a little magic against the Patriots in the Super Bowls. Yeah, Teddy, you weren't around, but like you said, the blitz zero on you know in the short red to plaxico yeah short story i had to hear randy bitch about that on friday walkthroughs to dean p's for two years oh yeah you know you know how randy is hey dean you gonna throw out that bullshit blitz zero again lost me in my motherfucking ring you remember yeah oh man and you know the veterans you have that you sign like it's a great move i mean for teams that have won it before to sign players that haven't before you know what i

mean um so you want to win it for junior you want to win it for Randy for Moss and it's just like oh shit what did we do that was yeah that blitz zero you got drafted by Parcells you played for Carroll and then you also played for Bill yeah

when was the first time you met Bill and what was your first impression of this guy? He was on the coaching staff, I believe, a little bit, right? He was. With Parcells. He was a DB's coach. He was a DB's coach and never heard him.

Never heard him at all. He was just coming off the Cleveland. I mean, I wouldn't call it. It's borderline embarrassment. I mean, how that all ended over there with the relocation and how he got ousted and that. So, I mean, he was sort of just licking his wounds and coaching defensive backs. And I never really had a lot of interactions with him during that year in 96. But the one thing I remember is we were in a meeting once, the defensive unit, and all of a sudden Bill spoke up

in the defensive unit meeting, which he rarely did. And he spoke up about offensive linemen and how they get out on screens and how the DBs should really play it. And he is dropping F-bombs left and right and these fat asses and all this and all that. I'm like, who is that? I mean, really, who is that?

Damn, he's sort of funny, you know? And it was like, who is that? I mean, really, who is that? Damn, he's sort of funny, you know? And it was like, oh, that's Belichick, man. I was like, oh yeah, that's the Cleveland guy. Yeah. You know? So that's, that was my introduction to Bill. I mean, it was like, oh man, yeah. It didn't work out too well in Cleveland. Good to have him, all this stuff. I didn't know about all the New York giant defensive coordinator days. Our defensive coordinator was Al Groh, you know? And Bill was just sort of, you know, that year after you lose a job and you just accept any point, any positional meeting on a coaching job on a staff and you just, boom, hide behind the scenes. And then that was him.

Now, the ironic thing was this, after we lost that Super Bowl in 96, Belichick went around the plane because Parcells, him and Kraft were having problems and Parcells was ousted. And Belichick went around the plane talking to guys, like younger guys, like he came up to me and talked to me about the season and how, you know, we got a bright future and all that stuff. And he went to various other players like Laurie Malloy and other guys. And I was like, maybe that's our next head coach. So that was, that was sort of weird on the plane ride back, but that was 1996 Bill Belichick. So you saw the trans, you saw him go from like a crotchety guy who's a grump to, you know,

to coddling you guys and then going back to a crotchety grump all in a few years. I mean, that's, that's the Belichick way. I mean are like the patriot way guy that you think of you know like when you think of like who's a like who set that culture it's a guy like he's a founding cornerstone it's it's guys like him kevin falk troy brown willie mcginnis yeah i mean lawyer malloy yeah i didn't get to experience him as much but there's there's always that group of patriot that like they kind of they regulate the locker room. You learn as a young player, you either get like them or you're not going to be there. It was great. It was great being there when Bill was also learning to be Bill, you know, and seeing him from where I mean, I was lucky to have Parcells lay my football foundation.

I mean, Pete Carroll wasn't bad. I learned to play linebacker under Pete Carroll, you know, but I mean, we just weren't used to the whole college type of atmosphere because we had Parcells. Yeah. Yeah. So it was a little bit different. And Pete learned as a head coach toward his tenure there, but then Belichick comes back in and then we go, I think it was five and 11 the first year. And he is learning to be a better head coach at the same time as, you know, myself and Vinatieri and a lot of guys were there. Bledsoe was there. Vrabel. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, no, Vrabel wasn't there. Can't forget Vrabes. Yeah, Vrabes came in 2001, the next year. 2001. Absolutely. So it was good to be there to learn to sculpt what ended up being what it is. I got to ask you, Teddy, I mean, coming back from a stroke in 2005, winning comeback player of the year, there was a vibe that Boston athletes were just like the toughest dudes.

Cause it's like, you've got you coming back from a stroke. Paul Pierce gets stabbed a bunch of time and misses like two games or something. There was something, I mean, what was that like for you? I mean, was there a moment after having the stroke where you're like, am I, is this my career? Is this it? A lot of moments, man. I mean, something like that. I mean, you hope to have somebody to call, you know what I mean? It's like I was out, so my doctor, I was like, hey, doc,

give me the number of the guy that's done this before so I can talk to him and ask him all the questions, like all the questions I got. Like, well, my brain going to explode. Is the is my heart going to be OK? Because they put a device in my heart and he was like, so there's silence on the other line. And I'm like, Doc, Doc, what's up? He said, Teddy, you'd be the first. And I'm like, shit, let me hang up and call you back and let me repeat this. You know what I mean? So that was the hard part about it, not having, you know, someone to lean on and ask them about it. But, you know, you get to a point where it's like every career has a comeback. I mean, Jules had his too. And

it's about five years, 10 years down the road. I just knew I would have regretted it if I didn't give it a shot. So, you know, that was that was my comeback i mean it happened to be medical not physical type of you know knee shoulder or anything like that but you know there's a lot of mental and emotional uh healing that had to go on too especially that just shows the kind of guy teddy is man like he just always proved people wrong it's fucking it was just a it was a pleasure to like be in the same building with him. That's the aura he gave off because of the big play moments, because of the hard work, because of the overcoming of adversity. And it was like, it was insane.

It was literally an insane experience. And I only experienced them for camp. Yeah. Let me tell you just my perspective of it was, I don experience and i only experienced them for camp yeah like let me let me tell you just just my perspective of it was i don't know what's harder okay what is harder is it to to establish okay establish a championship culture or maintain it and that's what when when jules came in i mean that group that maintained the Gronkowskis, the Edelmans, the McCourty's, Hightowers, Mayo was there a little bit. Yeah, Slater, absolutely. To maintain

that, I don't know. It's a great argument to see what's harder, you know? But I really thought it was just as hard. And to see it as an analyst, from the analyst perspective, I thought was super cool that, I mean, it was so easy to talk about my former team just beating up on everybody and still winning championships. And that was a fun part of my job. And that's the thing. They set the standard. Like, I can't even count the amount of times you'd be in a fucking team meeting

and Bill, you know how Bill is. He's breaking down film. Look, you guys aren't fucking Teddy Bruschi. You're no fucking Willie McGinnis. I've coached a thousand fucking players. We had to hear that until we finally got there, until we finally got one. And then once you got one, then you're like, well, fuck. They got three.

So let's try to keep it going let's fucking let's you know what i mean it was an inspirational type thing that motivated our team to ultimately set that standard and keep that standard well we we were in college around the same time jules and i so teddy bruski is how you described a beer you get the shout out in the movie ted yeah i mean you're kind of you're you're immortal in boston uh drinking and sports how does that feel i was i remember when i saw that clip for the first time i mean they're in the movie and it was like oh damn did he just say that that was the coolest thing i had ever seen you know walberg so of course walberg being a big old patriots guy but having the little bear say that did,

it was, it would have, it was, it was super cool, man. I loved it. I loved it. After that,

everything kind of changed. Oh, eight Brady gets hurt. Oh nine. Like, yeah. Yeah. The emotion after that,

like that's, that's gotta be the low of, of, I mean got to be the low. I mean, you experienced the ultimate highs. But after that game, the emotions, that was just deflating. How did you deal with it? How did you try to move on? Did you move on? Was that it?

Well, first of all, it was good to have a few Super Bowls still in your back pocket to realize that you've still won a few. That helped. That helped a lot. But it was, man, I mean, you've lost them, Jules. I mean, but to lose the one, I mean, you had won Super Bowls, you win Super Bowls, but this was the super bowl we were trying to get um i mean biggest upset in super bowl history i mean you got a team that's trying to go undefeated i mean you're hearing everything about the dolphins and all of that stuff during the whole course of the year man i it took me a while it took me a while to get over it, bro. I mean, I still have thoughts about it and I'll give myself questions in my mind. It's like, would I trade all three of those Super Bowls for the one 19 and 0? Think about that. Would you? Sometimes I answer yes, but most of the times I answer no.

Let me give you a little Jewish tactic. Why don't you start with two and maybe they would take it. You get two, so then you give them two Super Bowls for a 19-0 and then you got one and another. A little negotiation with the gods. Which one would I give? The football gods. Then again, I mean. Which one do you give up?

Do you give up the first Brady? Maybe Brady's not Brady if he doesn't get that first one. But the first one is the one we broke through. I mean, and then the other two were back-to-back, which I hold on to. Our group going back-to-back. I know. Your group, Jules, never did it.

Never did it. We went up. Never did it. And that's in the back of my head too, Teddy. Yeah. That's in my fucking head too. Don't think I don't think about that. Like, geez, we never went back-to-back. Yeah. head too teddy yeah it's in my fucking head too don't think i don't i don't think about that like

geez we never never went back to back yeah i think if anything with that 18 and 1 team it just it gives me an incredible perspective i mean geez i mean to have all the success that we had and then to have the biggest defeat that anyone can possibly think of. So I got a lot of experiences in this head through winning and losing championships. And I know what it's like to win the biggest of games and lose the biggest of games. And that's a unique perspective that a lot of people don't have. But that's just a small consolation prize, man.

I had to ask you one thing before you go, because you mentioned him briefly. But I mean, could you throw some shine on Junior Seau, who is an NFL legend? Oh, your buddy. Yeah. I mean, I remember when Pete Carroll and Bo Pelini were here, he was my linebacker coach. And it was like, I'd be watching Junior Seau in terms of how he played. And I loved the way he played. And I wanted to, I use it as an example for myself in terms of effort and just instincts and to become a teammate of him and to just have the impact on a team. The minute he walks in the locker room, you know,

just this guy had so much energy. One of my favorite teammates of all time and one of the, probably the best linebacker of all time. I mean, just so blessed to being able to play with him. The whole buddy, buddy, buddy. You know, that's the whole junior thing, playing his ukulele in the locker room. There'll be another, never another, never another.

Absolutely not. I loved that guy too. I played with him a little bit that 09 year. Teddy, thank you so much for coming on. I'm sorry we had to talk about this bullshit game. He requested it. He was- Sorry we had to relive a New York classic, Teddy.

No, it's important, man. I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, Teddy. You can talk about the New England Patriots in so many angles, man, from controversies to victories to losses. I mean, there are multiple books about it. It's because the team was so impactful over so many years. And that guy sitting next to you right there, Jules, is a big reason why, too. So love you, buddy. Good to talk to you.

I love you, man. And I appreciate it. And like I said, thank you for everything that you've helped me with. He's always came and talked to me, you know, giving me words of advice and terrible times, great times, how to handle this, how not to handle this. I've seen his kids grow up. It's been unreal, man. So and he's a fucking stud on TV.

Thank you for coming on. You got any plugs for anything? What for coming on you got any plugs for anything how's that you got any plugs for anything you good bro i'm not here to plug i'm here to talk to my boy that's my guy my fucking guy i love you bro thank you so much bye jules wow i mean that was so cool that teddy comes on to talk about an l i think it's you know a lot of it is that the guy won so much, he's secure talking about a game that they didn't finish in. Yeah, but you could definitely see it still gets him.

As it should. Eli Manning heroically pushes the Giants past an undefeated Patriots team. How could that not hurt? I literally thought he was going to punch you in your face through the TV once you said you were a Giants fan. Yeah, no, that was intimidating. You kind of puckered up. Oh, my butthole was a raisin, my friend.

Minute made. It was a tight little bunghole when he stared at me. That guy, that glare, I would hate. Can you imagine running a ball against that dude no and i i've heard old stories my brother's you know he works a little construction out in roseville and that's where he's from in that area and there's just crazy stories about how he was just an animal he's like yeah like he was my brother was telling me a story that like four of his friends that were all together like got beat up by teddy bruski at once

like he was that monster nicholas cage and con air yeah it's crazy he was the terminator he was teddy the teddy eater damn the teddy eater he was that tough. Yeah, he was insanely tough. All right. Teddy was amazing. Before we talk to Eli, let's head to the gaming corner presented by WinBet. What is this segment? Let's explain to our listeners. So every week, we're going to make a bet to make this a little more fun,

have a little fun with our guest. What's our prop going to be? Our prop bet. What's our prop going to be? Our prop bet. What is the prop bet? So every week we do a prop bet. Makes the interview a little more fun. Either us or the guests, we have to get them to say something. For you, I'm thinking this time over under times, you can bring up Phil Simms while talking to Eli. What's a good number for that?

Three and a half. You mean you can hit four? I could probably hit four. I'm a Phil Simms guy. I think he's the best quarterback in the history of the New York football Giants Super Bowl MVP I know he didn't play in the second one that they the team won but uh you know he was a Kentucky boy he's uh he's one of those guys that you want to have in your corner competitive all these stories I've heard firsthand from him because he always talks about him, about how fierce and fire he was when he explains it to me daily on Inside the NFL,

which is streaming on Paramount+. I have to represent Mr. Sims. How about I give you one too? Sure. What do we got? This is like your little wet dream. Sure. This interview.

I've had two since we started recording. I know. We get it. New York, this is the best thing. We beat Boston. How many times can Sam fanboy out with Eli? How many? I mean.

I want to say this is going to be a high one. Five and a half. Let's put this at five and a half. I can easily hit six. Are you kidding me? We're going to see. high one. Five and a half. Let's put this at five and a half. I can easily hit six. Are you kidding me? We're going to see. What's a fanboy? Fanboy.

Who's going to measure my erection, guys? I got you with the ruler over here. Thank you. Perfect. Jack, you're always on top of things. You can't get anything by Jack. He's got that ruler always waiting. He's like, this one's a half.

See, we can't count it. But a fanboy, you're going to give him a compliment. What is that? How do we break this down? Yeah, just any time I kind of build him up. Build him up. Yeah. A build up.

That's going to be at five and a half. Yeah, I'm hitting that. Five and a half. All right, guys. We're going to hear from the Eli Manning. My favorite Manning, by the way. My favorite Manning. I love way. My favorite Manning. I love Peyton.

Love Peyton. Me too. But I'm an Eli guy when it comes to the Mannings. Actually, I like Archie too. He's kind of like the godfather. How about Cooper? You know, Coop and his little segments that he does on, what is it, ESPN or something?

I don't know. I'm still trying to warm up to Coop. I'm more of an Eli and Peyton guy. Eli is obviously my guy. I like Eli, too. Classic. But before that, let's take a quick break. All right, now we heard from Teddy Bruschi about this 18-1 game.

Let's go over. Let's talk to the Super Bowl MVP of that game, the great Eli Manning. He's my favorite Manning. Okay, I'll give you that welcome eli manning i just want to say i apologize a pre pre-hand beforehand because my my co-host sammy over here is like die hard new yorker loves the giants loves the rain my only giants jersey eli yeah my sister got it for me when you got drafted. Why would you apologize for that? That's what I want.

Well, I don't want him to fanboy out on you. Never. This is how I dress every day. This isn't special because you're here. I believe it. This is exactly. Well, Eli Manning, a 16-year pro, two insane Super Bowls against both New England Patriots.

We all know that. Two-time Super Bowl MVP. Four-time Pro Bowler. Eli got it done in the regular season, too. Brother of Peyton and Cooper. Son of Archie. And honestly, the better half of the Manning cast. Eli Manning, thank you for joining us, bro.

I appreciate that. Oh, appreciate it, fellas. Happy to be on. This will be fun. So we have you here to talk about the 18-1 disaster game for the New England Patriots. Depends your perspective. I have fond memories. I have to tell you, Eli, that was, as a New York sports fan,

maybe the greatest game in my life to watch as a fan. I mean, that was – going into that game that's such an intense you saw them in week 17 i believe it was yeah and it was a three-point loss how did you feel going into that game everyone calling you 12-point underdogs yeah you know i think that the fact that we did play them the last season of the regular, you know, last game of the regular season helped us out. I mean, the fact that, you know, it was also kind of a unique situation where we had already clinched a spot in the playoffs. They had obviously already clinched a spot in the playoffs that last regular season game.

And we could have sat out. We knew they were going to play because, you know, they're going for the undefeated season. But Coach Coughlin kind of said, because, you know, they're going for the undefeated season, but coach Coughlin kind of said, Hey, you know, in that first meeting, you kind of come back on, on, on Monday and say, Hey, we're, we're, you know, just say, no, we're playing. Everybody's playing. We're playing to win this game. And, you know, so you kind of set the tone right there for us to go out there and go against the best team in the NFL, you know,

maybe the best team ever and kind of hang with them for four quarters. Offensively, we got back and were playing pretty well, put up a lot of points. So, you know, we kind of rode that momentum through the playoffs and kind of said, hey, if we see these guys again, you know, we can hang with them. And maybe we just make that play in the fourth quarter that gives us a chance to beat them. I agree completely. Anytime you play a team that you're not really familiar with in the fourth quarter that gives us a chance to beat them. I agree completely.

Anytime you play a team that you're not really familiar with in the regular season, you end up seeing them in the playoffs again or something. You have that taste. You already have that in your head, that technique they do. You see how players play. You get a familiarity with the team. So I always used to love that. Now, Eli, did you really think you were going to win this game?

Did you guys go on this? Were you guys that confident, or were you like, fuck, you know, we're going to get our asses kicked. These guys are fucking 17-0, 18-0. Do you watch the people saying that on TV? Like, are they saying, like, block out everything? How did you deal with this? That's crazy pressure.

Yeah, you know, I mean, I think you go into every game thinking you can win the game. We knew it was going to be tough. And we're kind of thinking, hey, we're going to have to score a lot of points just because of how explosive they were offensively because of the game we played earlier in the season where we kind of had a lead and then they just got hot. And all of a sudden sudden they just become unstoppable, and they're scoring points. And so, you know, we knew we hung with them before, and so we just said, you know, I do an interception early in the fourth quarter of that regular season game

that kind of put us behind. They scored, took the lead, and we couldn't get it back. And so, you know, we kind of said, hey, we're a play away maybe from winning that first game. So I think you always go into a game, you know, liking the game plan, feeling good about things. But we understood, hey, it wasn't going to be easy. And, you know, it's one of those deals we might play them.

If we played them 100 times, you know, maybe we win 97 of them. Or we lose 97 times. But, hey, you know, there's a chance. You know, this could be that game where we catch the breaks and we play our great game and we can beat them. Now, how much did you pay Asante Samuel for dropping that interception on the last drive? You know, it was a throwaway.

He weren't going to get his feet in bounds anyway. I agree with Eli. It was not even close. It was not even close. Yeah, I mean, and I relate to that mentality, going into every game thinking you can win. When I'm at the YMCA going against 13-year-olds, I'm like, you're fucking dead.

Exactly. I get it. It's a mindset. I get it. I'm like you guys, you know. Peyton played us a bunch throughout his career. Did you guys talk any a bit that week? Did he give you a little lowdown on what he had to do

to go out there and play your best game? Yeah, you know, we definitely talked just because he, you know, he'd gone against New England so many times and just kind of said, hey, any themes about kind of what they do or the timing about, you know, how they change up? And I think that's a great thing about, you know, New England and their defenses is that they're very multiple. And they can all of a sudden just say, hey, this is what we're doing this week

and show, you know, a defense they hadn't shown all year. And so he kind of said just, you know, a few things were just, hey, expect they'll have something new kind of the first couple series, first two series. And then as you make adjustments that third series, they're going to have even something, you know, different now. And so you're kind of always guessing that then, you know, they might do a first half, they're playing, you know, a certain defense, all of a sudden second half, you make all your adjustments. This is what we're going to do now. And now they're playing, you know, they've made their adjustments and changing up defensively. And so you just got to be kind of prepared for that. And they got to. And so that's really, it was pretty accurate to what they did. And they just had, they had a new defense. They had shown it a little bit against San Diego prior, you know,

where they kind of had, you know, double in Plexiglas Burris for us and then kind of had, you know, had extra safety in the box to stop the run. But he would kind of try to run out like a two-inverge strong with Rodney Harrison in the box. But he was kind of playing the flat corner position, basically, but from the inside. And so they were doing that a lot to take away Plaxco and then also try to stop a run. I remember Rodney Harrison. I believe this was the year he got suspended for steroids. And then he came back and I was like, he's still on the steroids. They didn't, they don't just wear off. You got to suspend him longer. And I was, I was,

yeah, he was a intimidating player on the, on the pads going into this, you won three straight road games. I mean, all, I would assume, you were underdogs in all three of these games too, so that must have boosted your confidence. What do you think going against Tampa, Dallas, Green Bay, all tough games? Yeah, all tough games on the road, but, you know, we had been a good road team.

We lost the first game of the season. We lost on the road to Dallas, and then we won seven in a row on the road. So we were actually a better road team than we were a home team, which is not normally the case. So we kind of just said, hey, this is what we are. We're kind of these road warriors, so let's embrace it. And almost say, hey, we're excited we're going to be on the road for four games if we got to win a Super Bowl.

This is where we play our best football. So, yeah, took it into Tampa and just kind of the mindset. They were good on defense. Offensively, they weren't scoring a ton of points. It was one of those games, hey, let's play smart. Don't give them anything. Don't make it easy for them. Hopefully,

we can get a couple long drives, run the ball, short passing game, and just score enough to beat them. That's kind of the way it turned out. Our defense played great. Really the same, you know, Dallas was a team that was, was rolling. Roma was playing great.

They were scoring a ton of points. They were good on defense. DeMarcus Ware. And so, you know, that was just kind of a, you know, we didn't have the ball much. You know, I hit a curl route to Amani Toomer and he kind of turns up and goes, you know, goes 60 yards for a touchdown. And then of turns up and goes, you know, goes 60 yards for a touchdown.

And then we had a drive before, you know, the two minute, you know, two minute drive before the half where we scored another touchdown. So, you know, if you look at the numbers, we didn't, we didn't move the ball all that great, but we didn't turn the ball over. We didn't do anything. We got after Romo and got some sacks and then kind of, you know, a great cold game in Green Bay, which is just an awesome Brett Favre, Lambeau Field, negative 24 degrees, Coughlin's face is still got ice on it to this day. You look like a basset hound. It was crazy. I thought he looked like a cherry.

Yeah, it's a great stretch of road games, and we were playing our best football going into the playoffs, which is what you want. Now, Eli, you're a tough, gritty guy that plays his best game in the biggest moment. Did you ever talk to Phil Simms, the New York veteran, the guy who's always around the facility? I work with Phil Simms on Inside the NFL, streaming on Paramount Plus, of course. And I have to hear Phil Sims talk about, oh, I go in there.

They got to break down this. Did Phil ever give you any words of advice? Did he ever say anything? Especially in that first one. This is the first one. Right. And, you know, I don't think that, you know, anything specifically for that week of him being around,

but he was definitely around, tried to pick his brain. A lot of it was kind of around the old Giant Stadium where the wind was blowing. He had some great advice saying, hey, this certain end zone is always windier. It's tougher to throw it down there, so you got to be careful of those fades. If there's a chance to kind of let the corner run out, if you're in the red zone,

and so you can switch it to go to that other end zone, you know, try to do that. And so, I mean, just the numbers of touchdowns thrown in his career and my career versus one end zone versus the other was pretty incredible because of just the wind and the way it would blow in that old stadium. But he was always around. I always tried to ask him for advice just on managing games,

on dealing with everything in the NFL. And so he's always a great resource for me. I do have to confess, you know, I'm wearing my Phil Simms T-shirt right now. I didn't want to be a complete Giants hater. If you see that, he's my favorite New York Giants quarterback. You're my favorite Manning. You're my favorite Manning. That's big. There's a lot of Mannings

that are studs. Phil Simms never beat him in a Super Bowl, so that's probably why he feels that way. I get it. You talked about long drives. You start this game off with a 10-minute drive. Was that partially part of the game plan let's keep this offense off the field let's have long drives we'll make them one-dimensional we can make you know what I mean

is that what you guys were really thinking no yeah 100% I think that was definitely it wasn't a game where we said hey we're gonna take a a ton of shots and have all these big plays and gadgets and try to – it was really, hey, let's run the ball. Let's, you know, have a short passing game. Let's try to just, you know, get at the third and manageable, be good on third down. So, I mean, you know, really the game just started off the way we wanted to. You know, kind of had a third down early,

hit Steve Smith on a little option route to the left. And it's like, all right, you can take a breath and we can go. And, um, you know, like you said, yeah, we had about a, uh, a seven or eight minute drive. We settled for a field goal. Obviously you'd love to get a touchdown there, but kind of under the circumstances of a lot of us in our first super bowl, you get the ball first and you take seven or eight minutes off the clock and you get points on the board. You know, that is, that win and uh you know really we only had one possession really or and we kept them to one possession in the first quarter yeah and it's got to be it's you got to be

confident when you take that much time off the clock and then you get to have your boys go out there that defensive line that you guys had was just insane osi and strahan and and all those guys talk i mean can't talk yeah what was did strahan this was his last year he was such a beloved new york legend as well and did he say anything to you guys that like fired you up he seemed to have that energy yeah i mean we knew we kind of knew it was his last year and i think you know when you have a team and you have, you know, your leader, which he was, and a vocal leader, and always gave the pep talks.

But, you know, when your leader inspires everybody and you want to win for him, like, you know, I wanted to win a Super Bowl for me, but I wanted to win one for Strahan, right? 15 years, had been to a Super Bowl one other time and lost. Had never got a, you know, never been a Super Bowl champion for a guy who was, you know, was obviously going to the Hall of Fame, had been a, you know, still holds the record for most sacks in a season.

All these unbelievable career, but no championship. Like, you wanted to do it for him. You wanted to prepare better play better and and go out there and have your best game so he could you know kind of walk off and and have that championship and and put a stamp at the end of his career you know that's Eli that's kind of how I felt with with Tom I was trying to get him four and then five you know he had so many great things I just worked so hard to want I wanted him to be you know that guy and I understand completely how you you feel on that now the first half I mean

pretty much blood bat defensive battle turnovers sacks going to halftime what's the mood in the halftime yeah I mean I think we feel good we feel good about where we are. I think the whole mindset was this, hey, we just got to keep it close. We got to keep it tight. They're talented, so it's just whether it's scoring a lot or you

never expected it, but it became that defensive battle. Our defense was playing great. I think defense line was getting after Brady some. Antonio Pierce, defensive linebacker, kind of the captain of the defense. We were switching things up. If we had a, you know, a blitz to the right side and they saw Brady kind of making calls to, you know, to pick that up.

We had calls to reverse it and bring it the other way. And so they were throwing a lot at them and doing a great job of kind of, you know, the first time, you know, I'd ever seen our defense do that or really a defense do that, be able to communicate and kind of audible on the defensive side and not just like check the cover too, but like really change up the whole blitz. And zone blitz is where defensive ends are dropping now.

You know, Strahan was rushing. Now he's got to drop and tuck. But you had smart guys that could handle it. So I think we felt, hey, we're in a good position. Let's just keep, you know, let's keep doing that. Play smart. Don't turn the ball over. Don't give them anything.

And, hey, eventually we'll make some of our plays. We'll make some adjustments at halftime. We got to see what they're going to do at the second half. They'll probably have a new plan. So just be ready to make adjustments again. Game of adjustments. Now, the Coughlin-Belichick, they were always, you know, they were together on staff in the Giants.

Like, did he have anything to tell you personally? Like, all right, Bill's going to try this bullshit. Or he's going to do this. like all right bill's gonna try this bullshit or the he's gonna do this like hey watch out for this fucking shit you know watch you know did he have anything like that you know uh confident said he's he uh that belichick is always gonna look for an advantage in some way there's that i mean there's any any way to get some sort of advantage. Really? Sounds like he lacks character, if you ask me. Right. And so, you know, and sometimes it may border on what's, you know, what's correct or what's right or what's, you know.

Spygate. He can't. No, I'm not calling anything. He said he can't help himself. He just, whether it's with, you know, hard work also and preparation. Are you calling Bill just a cheater? Is that what you're saying right now? He's looking for an advantage, and that's sports.

You heard him. He can't help himself, just like Bill Cosby. And he does it through hard work also. He's not trying to go the easy way and not do it through preparation, but he wants an edge, and he's always going to look for it. And so that's not what I said. Again, this is in context. Oh, of course.

Of course. Bill Belichick, monster. Terrible person. Tom Coughlin, generous soul. Did he say anything to motivate you guys? He seemed like he was a good motivator. He seemed like he adapted. Yeah, you know.

Did he almost have a heart attack when he tried to motivate you yeah no i mean i don't know do you ever remember a halftime speech that like really you said all right yeah that was it now i'm gonna try harder because of that halftime speech i mean you're in a super bowl and you're trying to win a ring i mean do you really need to be motivated what can someone tell you that shouldn't? I mean, you're already in the biggest moment. And so, you know, there's not a whole lot you can say that's going to be like, all right, now we're going to play harder. Like, you're in the moment. It's just really about making those adjustments,

getting with your offense coordinator, getting with your offensive line, your running backs, maybe receiver. Hey, we did this, you know, signal already in the first half for this. Now it's change it up. Let's go to the second one. So just a few things that you're going to try to do to make a play. Yeah, it's all about making a play. And they had – I mean, they were just trying to keep it close.

I mean, that's the kind of team they were. They were like a dogfight team. Let's run the ball. Let's set up a little run action. Let's play penalty-free, turnover-free football and let our defense go out and win the game. Now, 245 to go in the game. Brady gets the touchdown pass to Moss.

And Moss had been contained to this point. Moss contained the great game. You guys played him good. Now, I'm bringing this up because from there on out, every Friday practice, I heard Randy Moss. Because when you guys got the ball back, we had the infamous helmet catch and everything. But it instantly brings me back to the time

when you guys threw the touchdown pass. Did you know it was blitz zero? Yeah. Clearly. Yeah. Clearly. time when you guys threw the touchdown pass did you know it was blitz zero yeah clearly yeah clearly i had to hear randy moss bitch at dean p's for three years every friday practice saying hey dean that fucking blitz zero eli and plaxico got that shit dean better throw that bullshit out like i swear to god i have nightmares of that but when you saw Tom go and he goes and drives it, are you like, oh, this motherfucker, they're going to do that?

How nervous were you in that moment? I mean, this is like what every, I guess, football quarterback dreams of. But at the same time, like, this is a scary stage to do it on. No, man, I think this is what you dream of. I mean, this is kind of as a kid in your front yard, you know, walking around with a football. It's like you want to have a two-minute drive in a Super Bowl to go win a championship and win a game.

And so, you know, this is why you practice two-minute drives. You know, my favorite part of the whole week of our practice and preparation was on Thursdays. We did a live two-minute drill versus starting defense. Really the only time we would go kind of ones versus ones, offense versus defense. And it was just great work. And they might not technically play the same defenses that we might see in the game, but it's just good to work on the two-minute drive because you're going to run your staple

plays. You're going to run the plays you've run the most and you have a great feel for, and it's just practicing scenarios. Sometimes you need a field goal. Sometimes you need a touchdown. Sometimes you're backed up in your own 10-yard line or you're at the ball at the 40-yard line. Every week was different. We worked at it.

We were always pretty good at it. We're excited about it. I remember Strahan good at it. And so, you know, we were excited about it. And I remember Strahan, he's walking up the sideline saying, hey, the final score is going to be 17-14 because we needed a – you know, we're down four. We couldn't settle for a field goal. You know, we're down 14-10. So the final score is going to be 17-14, and that's it.

That's the mindset. And we go out, first play, hit a mining tumor, a little curl route, kind of get things going. Would you like to get a completion? You got to like to get positive yardage on, first play, hit Amani Toomer, a little curl route, kind of get things going. Would you like to get a completion? You got to like to get positive yardage on that first play. Amani was so clutch, too. He was so big. And then we have a fourth down.

We have a fourth down call with Brandon Jacobs, a fourth and one. I mean, that thing was close. I mean, that's the unbelievable thing about sports. That was close, Eli. That was – what about the. That was close, Eli. What about the holding penalty? Did you pay the refs, too, after paying Asante Samuel? The holding on the – I mean, were they not holding when you – Me?

Me? No, I went in the grass. They were pulling on his jersey. They were pulling on me. You can't call that in a Super Bowl. You can't blow the whistle. They do that to keep guys safe. There's no being safe in a Super Bowl. You can't blow the whistle. I mean, they do that to keep guys safe. There's no being safe in a Super Bowl.

You got to let the guys play. I respect it. I respect it. You know, so I think it was good. You know, it was maybe close being called, but, like, not really. Not in that moment. You got to let them go and, you know, roll out, just throw one deep. And, you know, whenever you just throw a ball high in the middle of the field to like a crowded

area, good things happen, right? What did you say? So did you literally chuck and pray? Did you chuck and pray? Did you say a prayer? It wasn't exactly a chuck and pray. Was that a chuck and pray? It was a team meeting.

Doing a team meeting. Rodney Harrison, I think Tyree was giving Rodney like a piggyback ride when I threw it he was like on the back and you know throw it and of course he catches it off the helmet and it's just I mean I didn't know if he caught it I didn't know if it hit the ground

I mean it was just it's not the ideal situation that's not how you imagine it as a kid kind of going on the two-minute drive. It's like almost getting sacked, rolling out, being third and five. You're running out of time. I mean, it's more a little bit of desperation. If I throw it away, it's fourth and five. We got to get some yards. We're running out of time here. We got to get a chunk. And so Saul Tyree just said, I got to give him a chance. And, you know, he made the play.

Did you think when he made that, you're like, we're going to win this game? Was that just like? No, because I mean, I think a lot of people say that. They're like, oh, as soon as we made that play, I knew we were going to win. I'm like, I didn't know. I mean, how is that? You know, we still had to score a touchdown. We still needed 25 more yards, 30 more yards.

And so, you know, we still had to make a third down conversion, hit Steve Smith on a few plays. And, you know, the Patriots just played in that scenario, kind of in the red zone, two minute. They played, you know, they played quarters coverage, quarters coverage, or eventually they're going to come out all out zero. So we kept going trips right and kind of having a good play versus zone and quarters to the three-receiver side.

And we just had Plex go. You know, just kept putting them on a fade. And we just said, hey, you know, if they come out blitz zero, we're going to work the fade. They'll probably be off. If you want, you can give a little slant move, maybe get them to jump. And, you know, finally they came with the all-out blitz.

And, yeah, the corner kind of, you know, a lot of times, you know, finally they came with the all-out blitz. And, yeah, the corner kind of, you know, a lot of times, you know, we used to have like a hot adjustment. You know, if they blitzed, you know, you could run a quick slant. And so he kind of gave the little slant move. You know, he got 6'6 on 5'7 and Hobbs. I was just kind of – I threw it really before he made the break because I know they got one more coming that we can block. So just throw it high, really kind of throwing a jump ball

where he could just body up. And, you know, I didn't know he was going to be open by seven yards. All fun aside, that was pretty cool to see. You know, I'm an underdog guy myself to see someone like you, Eli Manning, come in there against the world. No one thought you guys were going to win that game, and you proved everyone wrong, man. And that'll be probably one of the best wins as a competitor you could ever have.

When you go and you prove everyone wrong, eat it, New England. That's what you basically said. No, wait. And you know, I mean, obviously you've been around Tom a bunch and I've been around him and I never mentioned either, you know, that game to him. You should. That would be

awesome if you just brought it up all the time. I mean, the guy's got six MVPs and seven Super Bowls. I know, but you were his kryptonite. I know, but I'm just saying he brings it up. He brings it up. It still bothers him. That game, especially that one, just because

they win that game, they go down as the greatest team in the history of NFL. They can't say that because the Dolphins still have that undefeated season. I got more letters from old Dolphins players and coaches.

And every time I saw them, they thanked me. Cause like, and I see Brady's like that freaking, you know, seven season Superbowl, like, yeah, like it hurts them still, which is good. I like, I kind of like having that. I like that part of it. So you said this is the greatest team of all time that the Patriots team, you said that. I mean, they, so, the Patriots team. You said that. So if you guys win, are you saying the Giants? No, they would have gone down.

If they win that game, they would have gone down. Is your Giants team the greatest football team in the history of the NFL now? No, the 71, right? 71 Dolphins. 72, right? It was 72? Yeah, it's 72 Dolphins. They're the only undefeated team

to go through a whole season and win a championship. And so, I mean, if the Patriots win that game, they could say that, and they would have been the greatest. They're not the greatest, and since they're not the greatest and we didn't beat the greatest, does that make us the greatest? We were the greatest team that season. We were the best team that season we were the best team

that season because we happened to win that game now do you guys go have like a barbecue at the Manning household and like you and Peyton and Coop just chimes in and Archie's probably on the grill making the burgers like you guys just sitting talking old war stories

about how much you guys hate Brady no no You guys just sitting talking old war stories about how much you guys hate Brady? No, no. No? It doesn't come out. He's too good looking. We respect Tom. Yeah, it's like what's the hate about him? I bet you Brady's having that cookout.

Yeah, good looking guy with just those spirals and winning games. How do you hate that guy? Yeah, but in his cookout, he's bringing you up He's bringing you up, Eli He hates my mom If it weren't for Olivia Manning Tom would have like 12 Super Bowls Probably

Can we get that t-shirt made up? Tom Brady hates Eli's mom Yeah, we're going to sell those now Quoted by Eli Manning Tom Brady hates Mrs. Manning Yeah, exactly're going to sell those now. That's a big shirt. Quoted by Eli Manning. Or Tom Brady hates Mrs. Manning. Yeah, exactly. There we go. Merch.

Hey, Eli, it's a pleasure having you. Anything else you got on that game? You're probably over talking about this game. Give me some insight. I love talking about it. I love talking about it. You got to be over it. It's got to be kind of boring now.

Everyone's like, oh, you guys killed, you know, David versus Goliath, da-da-da-da. I mean, I remember the cover of the New York Post the next day. That's an iconic cover. I mean, was that just insane to be walking around New York after that? It was good. It was good. I didn't have to buy a beer in New York for a good bit after that.

So it was just uh yeah to go i mean you've been on you know you've had parades after you win a championship but you know to be in new york city then the canyon of heroes where they've had you know war veterans and you know you know yankees going through this parade just the amount of people that have been through there and we get to go and and you have 3 million people, confetti flying all over the place. There's people lined up for miles down side streets. That was pretty awesome. I've been to Mardi Gras.

I've been to some parades, but nothing like that. Did Rudy Giuliani flash his titties at you when you won? He's a big flash guy. Who was the biggest, the most New York person to reach out to congratulate you? Who? Everyone, probably. Did Billy Joel say hi? Yeah.

No, I didn't get a call from Billy Joel. It was kind of pre-text a little bit. So you weren't texting that much. It was the old, like, T9. You know, you had to hit a lot. So it was kind of the short text. You had some calls, you know, from, yeah, you kind of have some presidents, some now ex-presidents. Which presidents are you of?

You know, it's like, you know, I had a little letter from George W. You know, the Donald, I think, you know, called and left a voicemail at the time. He was a New Yorker, you know, so you had, you know, some, you know, Jeter, who's like the, I think, you know, the number one New York athlete. Did Phil Sims hit you up? Yeah. Phil, Phil definitely called. Yeah. He was definitely, he was definitely excited and excited for the Giants and what we were going through and kind of was on that ride with us. Is your brother a little – is Peyton a little –

he's got to be a little jealous about your record against Tom. I mean, I know Peyton's knocked us out of a few AFC championships and all that, but, like, you really are the kryptonite to Brady. Like, do you ever feel that he's a little jealous of you? Peyton? No, I don't think. I think Peyton. No?

I think maybe for a little bit because kind of early on, like, he couldn't, you know, beat him. But then it kind of evened out. Went to Denver, he knocked him out, you know, knocked y'all out of a couple AFC championships in Indianapolis in 06. You know, they won that AFC championship game down a bunch. So I think it all kind of eventually played out. Well, we appreciate you coming on, bro.

No, appreciate it. It's a pleasure having you. It's a lot of fun. Love what you're doing. Love the show. And, you know, likewise, huge fan, huge fan of you. Just the way you competed, right? I mean, just every day, just getting after tough catches.

You know about making a big time, awesome catch in a Super Bowl. So, you know, it all kind of evens out. We made one, you made one. It all works out. I guess. You made a couple more against us, though. So we'll leave it at that. Yeah, he's lovable. He's the man. He's like, he made a couple more against us, though. So we'll leave it at that. Yeah, he's lovable.

He's the man. He's lovable. New York royalty, a true New York legend, and a gentleman as well. He's my favorite man for a reason, all right? Okay? Sorry, Archie. Sorry, Coop. Sorry, Peyton.

He's great. I mean— He deserves it. Really a special— He deserves that one. In 2011, he didn't deserve that one. I mean, he deserves it. Really a special. He deserves that one. In 2011, he didn't deserve that one. I agree to disagree. He's a New York legend for a reason.

That is the, you can't go any higher than that. Going against a Boston team that was 18-0, you just can't, you can't go any higher. Eli, he was clutch as hell. He really was. I think he's gonna be a hall of famer he should be in the hall of fame i think you and he should both be in the hall of

fame and i enjoyed watching the mutual respect right there i like seeing him say like yeah like the way you competed that's that's cool for me to see yeah that was just him being nice because he took my soul in a Super Bowl. Should we go through the prop bet from what we hit on that? All right, so I fanboyed. I was three under for the fanboying. I mean, you've got to count these as two, though. This right here, no?

If we count the jersey and the hat, it was a push. All right. Mr. Sims, he was well represented in this. Eight over. Mr. Sims. You really were. You were really filleting Mr. Sims here. I was six over?

Damn. Six Phil Sims mentions we counted, so we cruised to the over. Wow. Hey, you know, you got to give respect to respect is earned and mr sims gets it he does get it what's the legacy for this game i mean this is to me this is brady looking human once even though he he did make the drive at the end it was like oh wow you can beat tom brady yeah i mean the legacy of this is this is gonna go down this will always be remembered because just like Eli was saying this could have been

the best team in the history of the National Football League and arguably in sport like the way they were blowing people out and the way they played Brady Brady to Moss, they were humiliating teams. Brady to Welker. Brady to Dante Stallworth. Brady to Falk. They had an all-star team. This has got to be. I mean, I don't know if I've heard it,

but I feel Brady would give up two Super Bowls for this one. Really? I feel he would give up two Super Bowls for one super bowl that's he'd still be at five that's actually a great question for him yeah he'd still be at five be at six right because you know he is seven right now yeah but if you give up two and you get one back you're six i'm not a math guy neither are researchers apparently jesus that was that was terrible. Yeah. Yeah, no, six.

But I think it's important to have seven for him because Jordan has six. And when you look at the actual, seven is such an impressive number. So I'll tell you a story. Yeah. It was like 2014, the off season. Me and Brady are training in LA at his gym. And he has the location of where the Super Bowl is on his whiteboard in his home gym wow and it's like march and i'm like what is that he's like oh that's where we're gonna go play the last game i go we're gonna we're gonna get you to to pass joe bro we're gonna get you

to pass joe montana because they're four you know four symbols he goes he looks at me with like that golden stare of those sizzling steel blue eyes with a very tight chin and says i'm not going for montana I'm going for Jordan. Wow. That was three before he was even – that was three before he was there. Wow. That's crazy. I guess if you see it, you can be it. Yeah. He's done it.

He willed it. He willed it, and that's something you see. But the long-term implications of this, say Brady goes out and wins this and the team goes out and wins this will he have that same motivation that same killer instinct i think he does don't you think just just him being a killer like you can't i can't picture tom brady at half speed he's not a complacent guy no you know he retired for like a month and he was like i can't i can't can't, you know. He's playing too well. And that's, you know, the way he takes care of his body, the way he prepares, he's got

that template down now. Do you ever try that diet he does? What is it like no seeds or something? You're too much of a foodie. I'm a foodie. But when I was playing, I was actually real disciplined with my food. Really? Yeah.

You weren't like Brandon Marshall where you ate McDonald's every day? No, I used, I used to use a lot of the TB12 methods. food really yeah you weren't like brandon marshall where you ate mcdonald's every day no i i used i used to use a lot of the tb12 methods uh but then like when it said you couldn't like eat tomatoes or like a red pepper no pizza i don't know red pepper i mean i think red pepper like a like a bell pepper isn't that that's you know you're healthy when you're cutting out peppers. Do you know what the rest of the country looks like? Have you seen the rest of America? Can you imagine being like, I don't do peppers.

I'm not on a... I was on a comedy club diet for like 10 years where I was like, yes, I'll have the mozzarella sticks on the side. This dude's cutting out peppers. I'm such a pig. I mean, that's why he's gotten better looking he looks younger but that's money too right yeah i guess that is money yeah it does have a lot of money hotel inspired condo that's pretty badass yeah like did he get like a concierge in the front too oh yeah i mean he got full doorman love it full doorman love i wish he still had that place

room service if i find a tomato on this burger, you're a fucking dead man. Definitely had the chefs and stuff. I mean, he's- What's Tom eating? He's not doing tomatoes. He does a lot of smoothies. He eats like a bird. He has a couple berries. Berries?

Yeah. What the hell? I don't know, bro. It's crazy. Don't let him lie. Don't let him lie don't let him lie bro every like at friday like or a night before game like he'll have his like his own meal like a tb12 like meal that's prepped for him by our chefs they'll have like his little tb12 on on the plate and he goes over and he'll eat it and then if no one's looking he'll

you bet your sweet ass he goes to that wings the wings buffet part and he'll grab two wings and he'll eat him while no one's looking at him like two wings he loves wings you know this dude's disciplined when him falling off it's like he had two wings last night little do you know what lawrence taylor was putting in his body i love it like the giants of like the 90s i think like babe ruth old school players like they're living on hot dog cigarettes they were smoking cigarettes and tom brady's like i fell off hard the other night guys i had two wings you guys are like yeah dude you're allowed to have two wings you're he's a wing guy he likes wings who is who doesn't love wings no but he specifically like our hotel wings they're like these breaded wings oh hot hot wings chicken barbecue there there there was a there's a

buffalo one and then there's like a plain one everyone will go the plain it's like a little fried chicken he'd be not on those bad boys to tv12 die in my butt i love picturing tom brady sneaking fried chicken or or or he does or he'll take a bite of something and then like spit it out he just wanted to taste it are you accusing tom of having an eating disorder what the hell no i'm just joking that's amazing dude it It's crazy. Well, did we forget anything, Jack? We were pretty clean that episode. Sam, you were correct. Rodney Harrison was suspended the first four games of that 2007 season.

Got to correct Eli. He undersold that first drive. Actually, it was nine minutes and 59 seconds, 16 plays, 63 yards. It ended in a field goal. The 72 Dolphins were the last undefeated team. And Bloomberg was actually the mayor in 07. Gotcha. But who knows?

Rudy still could have been there. Rudy still could have flashed his titties. Still possible. Wiener whipped his dick out at the next one. All right. How about a Wiener and he's a dick guy? Isn't that weird? Like Bernie Madoff.

Is that really weird? Madoff. He made off with money. Is it really that weird? Or is it like... If your that really weird? Madoff. He made off with money. Is it really that weird? Or is it like. If your last name's Wiener, you're just fucked. You're just like, I'm going to send people dick pics. That's my name.

Hopefully you have a big dick if you have a Wiener as a last name. I think he was doing okay. I don't remember the picture. How was he doing? I mean, he's doing horribly in his marriage. So I hope he's doing okay with his penis. They don't correlate. They don't. They don't correlate. They don't.

They don't. Not a good move. Now, what do we name this game? This is either the 18-1 or the 18 wins and one giant loss, in my opinion. Either one of those. The helmet catch? The helmet catch works, too, but for me, it's like that was an incredible play, but it's bigger than just that incredible play.

It's an incredible game. That play was insane, but to beat this team is really what I remember as a, as a sports fan. I really think Eli Manning may have paid the refs and Asante Samuel. Seriously. I mean, he dropped it. It was wide open. Ah, dude.

Holding. I think Rodney Harrison paid someone to get back in so early how the hell did they let this dude he was still jacked he was still yacked up on roids it's insane rodney harrison was already terrifying this dude's putting a needle in his butt to make himself stronger i can't wait till we get him on here and so then we're gonna play back everything you just said to him while while we interview him as long as it's on zoom i'm okay with this we're gonna have him in studio on this one let's give this let's let's give this bad boy a score stakes for me it's like i know you don't want to give

out this is at least a nine five you can't get higher than this it's new york versus boston i would say 97 i mean if we're allowed to do that, I'm going 9.8. I mean, it's got to be up there. Star power. It's up there, dude. Because you look at all the names in this. Strahan's a huge name. Huge name.

I mean, the guy is basically Oprah now. He is. He's everywhere on TV. Yeah. Eli's the biggest athlete in New York since Jeter. Pierce. Antonio Pierce was great. Tuck. O.C. Uminyara. And then of course

you got Belichick, Coughlin, Brady. Those are Randy Moss. Welker. This has got to be a 9-8. 9-8. Alright. We're going two 9-8s. Love it. Gameplay. Dude, I'm going high on this, too. Are you?

Because the fourth quarter is really what it's all about, and it's an incredible fourth quarter. I mean, I like dogfights. I like dogfights. It was a dogfight. That first half, when you go in, what is it? Was it 3-7-3? 7-3 at the end of the half, and I believe, yeah, I mean.

Like, this is the Super Bowl. So if you're going as a whole, the end of the half. And I believe, yeah, I mean. This is the Super Bowl. So if you're going as a whole, the fourth quarter is like a 9.8. But if we're going as a whole, what are you looking at? Is it dragging it down to like an 8.5 or an 8.7? What do you think? Jack, what do you think? You know I'm a homer. I give it about a one.

Well, as a fan, you never see brady get hit so i remember seeing brady get sacked and being like what the hell like i was loving it it definitely i mean the gameplay had to be eight nine eight nine is fair eight point nine overall yeah the name it's a good name i mean people know that name 18 and one that it's a demoralizing. Like, if you're a Patriots fan or you're someone from New England, Boston, and you see 18 and 1, that, I mean, that hurts. And just for that simple fact that it hurts you so much or hurts us so much and it makes you feel so, I mean, it's a pretty good name. I'm going 9-4.

What's up with these digit name games that are just killing it right now? 28.3. This. What are we looking at average here? We're coming in at 9.475. That's good. I mean, look, we might have even done it a little dirty. I mean, it could have been even higher than that, but it's a classic.

That's a flat A. That's incredible. It's a flat A. That's incredible. It was a good game. I mean, it's going to go down and always be remembered. I think it was a great game. I'm not going to sit here and rain on their parade, rain on your parade. It was a good game. Even if you ran in our parade, we still would have gone

and heard an amazing speech from Michael Strahan at that parade. That's all for this episode of Games with Names presented by Winbet. Thank you so much to our listeners. Thanks again to all our sponsors. Follow us on all social medias, Insta, Facebook, TikTok. At Games with Names. Games with Names, YouTube. We're on it all at Games with Names.

I'm Julian Edelman. I'm Sam Morrell. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next week. I'm Renee Stubbs and I'm obsessed with sports, especially tennis. Tune into my podcast each week to hear me and my friends in the community break down the latest matches, including the US Open. Plus hear from some of the biggest names in the sport about what the future holds. It's about belief.

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