NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - The SauceDog Spectacular

Episode Date: February 9, 2024

In a convention center full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler are LIVE from radio row in Las Vegas. The heroes open the show with a sit down with Sauce Gardner (04:47) and then preview Super Bowl LVIII with Nick Shook (18:02). The show is wrapped with the heroes catching up with Chris "Mad Dog" Russo (43:52).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Has in lost Mark to the desert yet. Hello and welcome to day two from Radio Row in Las Vegas of the Around the NFL podcast. It's presented by Draft Kings. Dan Hansis here, of course, with the heroes Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler.

I think we should start here, Gregie. Mark, how you feeling, dog? Because there were, it was a little touch and go yesterday looking at you. And I feel, you know, I typically feel terrible when that's happening. Because it's like people are having to listen to someone's voice that is not radio row ready. And Greg is looking at me and I understand, like, is this person going to fall? Get them. Get them. So, no, I would say I was at 12% yesterday.

I'm in about 48% today. Okay. That's great. That's great. In fact, we had... Shending upward, slowly. We took a car to get to Radio Row, and Mark leads with the fact that he thinks that he might be on the way out

and his illness is raging. And I could see the driver getting very uncomfortable in a March 2020 kind of way. Like, you know, in this huge, vast radio row, like a lot of people were huddling together and talking and catching up. There was a seat over by the wall over there. I was just sitting over there trying to respect everyone else's... As one does.

Destiny. As one does. It wouldn't be your normal antisocial proclivities that are contributing to that at all. Mark, let's be honest, you're sitting against that wall no matter what. Well, in this case, it benefited multiple people. Well, I hope you remember this. You say you have no recollection of what happened yesterday. None.

We had to. That sounds like more than a head cold, by the way. And I think it's got to be a big show. You know, so excited because this is the episode of the year for me, guest-wise. And reviews are in the premiere, the pilot episode of Mark's Man Cave. People love it. They love the energy. They love the tone.

They love the conversation. Coming up today, it's the sauce dog spectacular. Sauce dog. We have sauce gardener, New York Jets superstar. We have Chris Mad Dog Russo. icon of sports media both on the show today and if that's not

if that's not enough we got a pipe here we got a pipe in person which was an incredible surprise to me because I had it was off my radar Nick Shook who is so important to our show

during the season is here covering the 49ers and he had an interesting bar experience that we're going to get to later yesterday that really tied it to our show in a really neat way. So here we are.

What a show. Again, this is the sauce dog spectacular. With a little side of pipe. Well, I love anything with the side of pipe. And it's our preview show, too. You know, we're diving in. No one I'd rather do it with than shook. And no one I'd rather fawn over

and tell the same sort of stories as we introduce how we grew up listening to him than Mad Dog for the fifth year. We can skip that part this time. Greg maybe is less into that aspect of it. No, I love Mad Dog. I don't want to hear that. You know, it's like you could say some, you know, someone who was a pessimist could say that we cater some of our guest appearances

to our own personal interest. We've had two Browns. We're going to have a jet. We're going to have, you know, Shook is everyone's interest, but Mad Dog, our childhood hero. But you know what? You go do a podcast for 12 years and bring the guest on that you want to bring on. Who show is it?

It's our show, baby. Well, can I get, like, a pro-woman's tennis player on the show or something? I would say you could. We can get, we'll see if you get a Steffie Graff here. He has been getting out in the mix more lately. See if we get Steph. A little, now my, already I'm in the hole a little bit with the tenant, Cornicova.

Monica Sellis. Celis. In a big spot, yes. Let's go with the legends. A little Chrissy Everett. Martina. And by the way, Mad Dog, he loves talking tennis too. So if you were to get a tennis question in there.

Why don't you do that, Greg? I'm sure that would be of interest to our listeners. When he did solo shows, he talked tennis for an hour on a rip. He would love it, Greg. I think what Greg was indirectly saying is he doesn't want you to tell the story about driving with your dad in the car, listen to Mad Dog on Saturdays again. I think we've covered that. But I would love it because Mad Dog's going to hear it like he's never heard it before.

Right. All right. So let's get into it. I mean, enough. Enough. Because right now, as has been mentioned, it's time for the Sauce Dog spectacular. Part one.

Sauce Gardner. Of the New York Jets, all pro, former defensive rookie of the year, the best player on my favorite team in the world. This is cool. This is when it's cool to be here. What's up, Soss?

How are you? I'm great, man. I appreciate you all for having me. You know, it's a blessing to be here. Tell us, yeah, tell us what you're doing with Verizon. Now, it's always great to, you know, have my name and Verizon. They ain't mentioned in the same sentence. I'm a huge fan of them, and I just enjoy working with them.

Like I said, I'm here on behalf of Verizon, you know, the official 5G network of the NFL, the network that the majority, if not all of the NFL players, fans, and coaches rely on. So, you know, it's a blessing to be here. How do you feel about this is the sauce dog spectacular, kind of being the opening act here for Mad Dog Russo coming on later in the show. That's fire right there. I like that.

Okay, okay. I like that. I'm glad you're with it. You've got a sound effect and everything. I think that I saw that look in your eye when that played. Sauce, here's a theory to get into things. You know this Chief's team, your Jets, our Jets. We kind of beat them in week four if the officials didn't.

shenanigans, let's be real. I don't know if you could say it, but I could say shenanigans. By the transit of property, if the Chiefs win on Sunday, the Jets are the Super Bowl champions. Yeah, you're not. I guess Jets fans can possibly say that. But, you know, reality is everything. So if it's not actually saying Jet Super Bowl, then we ain't win it.

What was it like going up against him at that point in the season and everything? And what they kind of presented to you, like, How was it different? It was great. You know, they're competitive, a whole bunch of elite players on that team. You know, I still feel like we should have won that game. Oh, come on. You know what I'm saying?

Did they get you on one of those penalties? Yeah, they did. Oh, come on. You're going to penalize sauce in the fourth quarter of crunch time. It makes me sick, sounds like. It does. Well, what did you learn about Patrick Mahomes in that game? You got lucky.

No, I learned that he, you know how to. how do I put this? When it's crunch time, he knows exactly what to do. He knows the guys to rely on. He knows when and when not to do certain things. He's just a smart player. He made those big plays with his legs I remember in the game. And always an underrated part of his game.

And we're going to, I'm sure, see more of that. So it's interesting, two years ago, and you talked to a million people, and so probably don't remember. But like an hour after you were drafted, we had you. on the show right here in Vegas and I was giving you the sad sack jet fan routine of like one of the things gonna get better and you kind of cut

me off which I loved and you're like that's in the past that's over like I don't care what happened before I got here and of course then you and Garrett and us young nucleus is coming together and you've made steps of course still there's been disappointment in the two years for the team

and the Rogers injury was an all time blow for the franchise in terms of gut punch I'm usually an optimistic fan but I'm worried about where things are and how things go moving forward. Could you do me the favor of spinning things and making me and Jets fans feel good

about what's going to happen this year and maybe this is the year things change. Make Dan happy. Make him feel better. Or try, I don't know, if you could. I mean, Aaron will be back. The defense, we're going to do what we do. Special teams, we're going to do what we do.

Like I said, Aaron will be back. we'll be bringing some new pieces in for the offense and those new pieces are going to be great for the offense, great additions. We're going to dominate. I feel it. I feel the confidence. I felt it from day one.

I'm getting there now. You're working on a one-game winning streak against the Patriots. I'm a Patriots fan. And so I remember the Jets Patriots game at the end of the season more than probably the average NFL fan who was not paying that close attention to that game. But at that point in the season, and you kind of figured it was the end of Bill Belichick,

and so many things that happened for the first time in the Belichick era or a streak's ended. But the one thing he had left in life, the one thing he had left with the Patriots, was that winning streak against the Jets, and you took that away from him. How do you feel about doing that on his way out? Nice setup, Gregie.

That feels great. You know what I'm saying? I'll be lying up. I said that's not what we wanted to do, and that's not what our thought process was going into that game. we knew it could be the end of that Patriots era or whatever, so we had to make sure we sent him on his way the right way. But he's like a future Hall of Famer.

Couldn't you have just, like, given him that much? That one little bit that Patriots could hold on. I mean, he's already a future Hall of Famer. He's a great coach. You know, he's always done great things. He won multiple Super Bowls. He knows so much about the game of football. So it's like doing that would have just been an extra little cherry on the top.

It was no point of you. On the Belichick point. So this is I think before you were even born But when Belichick spurned the Jets And went to the Pats in 2000 And then went on the greatest run ever For a head coach and a quarterback with Brady I've been scratched my head

And yelling on microphone in the past couple weeks I cannot believe all these head coach openings Nobody went and got Belichick And gave him a second bite of the apple Like Brady got in Tampa Are you surprised that he's not going to be coaching this year How sure were you that he was going to pop up somewhere else and you might see him on the field next year i don't really know because i don't know

we're going to all of that you know when they come to job openness you know what they talk about with the other teams you know i'm sure those teams know that he's a great coach he's a hall of fame caliber coach you know what i'm saying so i don't know why he wasn't selected you know um that's not my place i don't really know i just know he's a he's a great coach and um i'll put him the best in the future can he get a job Well, maybe he will down the road. On the Jets front, because I feel like you probably have learned a lot in your first two seasons. And, you know, in college, everything's going great.

But you hit a team that's hit, you know, Aaron Rogers goes down right away. And it seemed like two years in a row, you've got this glowing Jets defense and an offense that just was struggling. You don't know if you're number one quarterback two times in a row. And it's like, how do you, because there are a lot of reports coming out in New York, how does the locker room stay unified? when the defense is doing one thing and the offense can't find their way. What have you learned about how to not have the team completely be a sinking ship?

I mean, we're brothers before anything, I'm saying? The football, that's the game. That's what we love to do. But, you know, the bonds and the relationships that you make when you're coming into this game and when you're leaving the game, that's what matters the most. So it's easy to maintain that bond, you know. You've got guys that's on defense that's closer with guys on offense. So it was just that easy, you know, to keep the locker room, you know,

keep the bond in the brotherhood. So you were named first team all pro this year, again, doing that back-to-back years to start your career. That's only been happened, you know, that's only happened a handful of times at that position, like in the history of the NFL. Usually it's players from winning teams, too, that get recognized. I think I was the first one. You're the first.

You're correct corner. corner you're on it i'm like one or three i just found that out uh michael marcia parsons Lawrence taylor and me that's that's an incredible uh achievement to start your career also incredible dexterity to keep giving guys like you know dab them up as they're walking by while you're doing the interview you're also the first person ever do that on our show you're so history it's just certain faces i don't i don't really get to see too much so when i see him You saw T.J. Hussman-Johnson. Yeah, T.J. Housmanzano.

One of my all-time favorite plays. I did want to ask you about the All-Price. Like, what do you think you did this year, specifically, maybe different than your rookie year? And that set you a part where you got the nod over some great players. Like, well, Jerry, Steve didn't get it. He's in this game. Charverius' work didn't get it. Jaylor Johnson didn't get it.

What did you do that put you ahead? Yeah, just dominating. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, Greg. It hit different. That's simple, Greg. It hit different when you dominating. You know what I mean?

But you've got to add things to your game from your first year. No, he doesn't. No, he doesn't. I do. I'm still finding ways to get better. I'm still finding ways to get better for sure. Hey, before we say goodbye, one of our favorite segments with guests, where we really get to know them is a little game we call 8 o'clock delight.

It's a speed round. First thing that comes to your mind, and then we'll say goodbye. Hit it. Eric, the producer. Springer Fall. Far. Jersey Shore, the Hamptons. Jersey Shore.

Tarantino or Scorsese. I don't know who that is. Jay-Z or Nas? J-Z. Chappelle or Kevin Hart? Kevin Hart. Friends of Seinfeld. Oh, French.

Are we alone in the universe? Are we, hold on. Are we alone? Like, are there aliens? I don't know. No. No, yes. Let me say yes, because I don't want an alien to pop up.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Sometimes you got to believe and stuff just so they don't, you know? Come and show you. the taser out. You didn't believe it. The Jets switch to the throwback jerseys full-time. I mean, come on, right?

I like that. But I do think we should have got some new ones, and never mind. I like that. Where is your defense rookie of the year award right now? At home, in my game room. Favorite ice cream flavor? Strawberry cheesecake. What's the movie or TV series you've re-watched the most?

I don't re-watch TV series. Ah, interesting. Have you ever seen a ghost? Yes. We'll get back to that. Minigal for Play 18. Minigal. Do the Yankees have enough starting pitch or depth?

I have my doubts. I have no got to watch the Yankees, but I'm huge fans of them. All right. Pineapples are pizza? On pizza? Yeah, your name? I had it before and it's good, but no. Are people inherently decent?

People inherently decent? Yeah, are people good at their heart? Yes. Okay. And the final, oh. Would you time travel if you could? Is it backwards? Do I get to choose forward or backward?

You could choose probably a question. All right. And finally, this one's from my dad, Keith, who's been a jet spend since the name of days. Who is the toughest receiver to cover in the NFL, right now? I don't know. I can't answer that. Can't do it? It's not just one.

Because you shut them all down. I can't just put one. I had the name multiple. I didn't name multiple. You got it. Tyree, Stefan, Amari Kublin, Taylor Wado. Okay.

You know what I'm saying? They don't have a chance. That's the great Sauce Gardner. Sauce, I can't wait. Next year, we're not going to be able to do this because you're going to be playing in the Super Bowl. But the year after that, or maybe a couple years down the line, we'll do this again.

Thank you very much for having us. And have a great Super Bowl weekend. Thank you, thanks, Sasa. For sure. All right, there he goes, Sauce Gardner. I'll tell you what, I already do. use that particular carrier, phone carrier, but... You would have been convinced.

I might sign up again after... Yeah, I think, well, he made it clear that the vast majority of NFL players, coaches, and fans use it, so... Well, he... He's not wrong. I do not have a second phone. I have my NFL official phone, so we have no choice. Greg, doesn't have a burner?

A beautiful. It's a beautiful thing. Greg, you don't got no burner? No. That's good. It always makes me suspicious to the people's like, you don't have a second phone. I think, what's going on in your second phone? I think the same thing.

But people look at us like we're crazy. Anyway, that was good with Soss. I wouldn't say that I now feel better. The cell about why things are going to be okay. Really boiled down to really what the Jets party line is, which is, well, Aaron's back. Maybe that will be enough. Maybe. I don't know.

I think Soss is like, what more do I need to do? I don't think he's the one going to be making the, like, huge speech before week one. That's not his, his spot. Just, why don't you guys be as excellent as me, and then we can be somewhere? Right. Like, yeah, you know, go get a couple right tackles, get another receiver, and then let's see if we can not fall apart in horrific fashion. All right, we are just getting warmed up.

We're going to take a break, and when we come back, a friend of the show, extraordinaire. We'll join us. All right, welcome back. So, scheduled guest, Nick Shook, but Nick has run into some issues with getting through the masses and into Radio Row. So we do have a fallback plan sitting to my right is Dave Ely, news editor, chief news editor, NFL media. Luckless in love, but a good man with a good heart. Dave, welcome back to around the NFL. And also bald, so I feel like I'm covering for Shook as well.

I noticed you pushed the mic up higher. out here, so I appreciate that. So not quite Nick, but I feel like you can fill in. I was approaching from a distance and saw a balded white, and I thought, well, that must be shook. And then I realized, just seeing the dimensions, and I'm not a tall person either, so it's no knock on you. That is absolutely not Nick shook. But what is happening in your love life, I want an update. We've only got a couple minutes here. Wow, so we're just diving right into it. I knew we were not going to talk football. Well, before we get to that, I just want to give a little background. So I ran into Ely yesterday last night that's called the

NFL house. They invite all NFL network and NFL media and NFL New York office employees and UK to a venue. And it's a nice scene. There was bowling. There was booze, food, all that good stuff. You know, Zuzer, we had a, we had a meeting with some I-Heart people. I had a couple titos. Then we go to this event. I meet up with Handsome Hank and, you know, I have a couple more. Then Dave rolls over with his posse, Dave and the Dave Posse, and you know how Dave does. Dave starts. He's going to Dave. Dave's going to Dave. Dave's 100% Dave. And that's what we love about Elyle. Got to be Dave. You know, all of a sudden, we have a conversation that I didn't recall until this morning and I get a text about, all right, so when am I coming on the show? And I had

I had apparently agreed to have Dave on today's show. And then I had to let him know the bad news that Nick Shook, who just walked by, so you're about to get bumped again. Later in the night, I contacted Shook, or Shook contacted me, and he took your spot, but because Nick was late, you are now here to talk about anything you want. I mean, thank you for letting me talk

after what felt like a two-minute introduction. To go back to what Mark... That's how the show works, Dave, just to let you know. But yeah, Dan did agree around 10 o'clock last night to have me on. I had no idea what he was talking about when I texted him this morning, and it was great. I did say, like, I guess promises from 10 p.m. at open bars don't mean anything anymore.

Yeah, I kind of apologize. I wasn't blackout drunk. I just didn't remember the conversation very well. It kind of came and went and didn't stick around. It's like any scheduling with talk, talk with Dan. Just assume he'll never remember it. Yeah, I guess so. Whatever.

But yeah, so the floor is mine? The floor was yours because Shook's here now. But just want to say we've been kicking around some ideas for off-season shows. And the idea of, you know, finding Eile A Mate would be near the top of the list for, like, a spinoff summer show. Yeah, I think we'll wait until then for that update. I don't love find Ely A Mate as, like, the name of the show. But I think maybe we can workshop that, but yeah. How are things going?

Because you're going full, Dave, the shirt. You guys have said full Dave so much. I'm not quite sure what that means. Maybe I'll take that answer off the air. Dave, we got 30 seconds. Mark, things are going fine in the Love Life Department. I'm still single, but you know what? It's a journey.

Those are two different things, but okay. Right. So there's the options. You could go like half Dave. You'd go three quarters. Dave, you've chosen to go full Dave to hit up what it means. Love that. I think we've reached our end up here.

Yeah, so Dave, we have to bump you. Not unlike how your college sweetheart had to bump you from her long-term life plans after Cam didn't dive on that fumble in 50. Yeah. So thank you for joining us. Can I do a Super Bowl prediction really fast? No, I don't think so. All right.

Let's welcome on Nick Shuckie. Thank you, Dave. There he goes, Dave Ely. That was a good appearance, I thought, by Dave. We're just going to keep rolling. I love that feel. One of his best. Was that the best Ely performance?

I don't know. It was pristine. It was, you know, concise. Come on, Nick. And now another bald white rolls over. This one, different than the last. Also bearded. Different stature.

Here you go. Sitting down with us now is none other than, man, you're trying to get this pipe? Oh, we got this pipe. Nick Shook now sits down with us. Yeah, and apparently Ely's short because this thing's way down here. Ely's taking some fire here.

We love Dave. He's 100% Dave. Shooki. So here's a great story with Shook. So last night, I'm coming back from the hotel after I had agreed to have Dave on the show. And Shook hits me up.

and says, I'm at the hotel bar, and you're not going to believe this, but what? The pipe was within five to ten feet. Yeah, we're a little wobbly here. Of the pipe god. The namesake himself was right there, and I was frozen in time. I was actually going to go somewhere else. I saw him, and I was like, I can't leave. And then I was trying to muster up the courage.

Wait, who is this? J.R. Smith. The former Cavs, Knicks, enter probably five other teams great. Who, you know, he is the original pipe. And to see, so two pipes in the same bar right next to each other. Feels dangerous. I never talked to him. I chickened out.

I blew it. Why, Nick? I don't want to be that guy who's like, hey, can I get a picture? You don't need to do that, but you can just drink up a conversation. Well, the problem is I would have walked up and been like, I was in downtown Cleveland for Game 7 in 2016. That's even worse. You're my second favorite cavalier. Like, I would have just exploded with adoration.

It would have been bad. It's like, how come you didn't know what the score was the year after that? Yeah. No, that would have been a bad one. That's George Hill's fault. Anyway, so, Chucky, you are boots on the ground. And thank you, because it's great to have someone here that is covering the teams. You're covering the Niners for NFL.com.

Check out everything that Shook's writing up over there. What is your, like, overall vibe about what's going on around the NFC champions? Well, everybody likes to talk about the rematch, but that was four years ago. And the Niners have been pretty quick to point out that that was four years ago. A lot of things are different, but one thing that those returning players who were on that team have repeatedly said, there's two. One is talent won't win this game, and whoever executes will win this game, who plays better. And the other one is they're all bent on washing away that feeling of losing. And you even add a guy like Javon Hargrave, who lost the Super Bowl last year to the Chiefs, same thing.

We don't want to feel the same way we did the last time we got to the end of this game. I mean, so the one feeling I get from the Chiefs is that, you know, they've been here so many times, so many of the same players. there's this calm and ease and a sense of like, we're just going to do this and we're not concerned or isn't fear? Like, do the Niners have? Because they've been up the upper echelon, too. Do you sense that they also go in with that kind of calmness and serenity? Or do they, is there a little more pressure on them?

No, I think, actually, I feel like they're not operating with very much pressure. There is a professionalism, a bit of what we've been here before. What it is is there's less of a circus. You're still getting those, you know, off-the-wall questions and everything else. but it's not like it was if you followed a team that had been there for the first time in many years, and they're all really just happy to be here. They know the task at hand and what they have to do,

and they also know that the challenge is very great and that this is a team in the chiefs that people have not beaten in the last few times that they've been in the Super Bowl. I hesitate to get too deep into the psychology of the team because, look, it's 53 players, it's 45 players on game day, and it's just a couple of... Well, you don't believe in momentum, things like that.

I'm just saying like it's very hard, We've found this over the years to figure out which team's going to play well based on how they act during the week. But I do think there is something with the 49ers potentially that they got over the hump in the NFC in games they were expected to win in games they didn't play well. I don't know whether to take that as like, okay, they got past that and you're right. Now they're in the biggest moment of their life. They got to it and it's somehow almost a release to get past it. or to be more focused on the fact, which I keep hitting, which is that their last three big games, you know, they played not,

they didn't play to their best ability, certainly on defense, but even offensively in two or parts of all three of those games, they weren't at their very best. Yeah, that could go two ways. You could either say, look, we haven't even played well. We're playing with house money. You know, imagine if we actually put together a good game and do what we're supposed to do for four quarters,

we should be able to win against anybody. But on the flip side, you also have that fear in the back of your mind of what if we lay out another clunker in this time? we can't come back. We can't overcome the hole that we've dug ourselves in the first half. And that's going to be the big test because they're facing a team that has plenty of experience and knows exactly how to win these games. And if you think about the psychology all the way back to Super Bowl 54, they were in a great spot to win that game before it all fell apart. So they have to avoid that as well. It didn't used to be a thing that there was a 10-point

comeback in the fourth quarter of a Super Bowl. The Patriots against the CX were actually the very first. And then it's happened a ton of since. I mean, it's Mani Sanders, Jimmy G. It's a whole different story in that game. And the question for me, part of this matchup is we've all been impressed by the chief's ability to just kind of turn it on and get to this point. But even, you know, when you look at the game by game here, there's still not the old chiefs in terms of offense. And I'm wondering San Francisco's defense has been pretty disappointing down the stretch. They've been able to get by, even with the struggles. How do you like the game from a matchup standpoint?

Let's like focusing in more on the secondary and the coverage against the Chiefs' wide receivers. And, of course, there's Kelsey. But, like, the ability to keep MVS from making the play that he's made the last couple weeks to really open up and give the Chiefs that extra dimension that they've lacked so much this season. Yeah, I think it's really important that you point out, what you just did, that this is not the Chief's team that we came to know a few years ago. They're not the super explosive team that they used to be. I think about that one hallmark play from 54, Jet Chip Wasp,

where Tyreek gets open and Mahomes has enough time. to run that play and it's a game changer. That's not this team anymore. They don't do that anymore. Mahomes is best in 0 to 10 air yards. The short pass is getting the ball out. So it's going to be hard to kind of compare the two different

situations. But if I assign confidence points because you look at it, I mean, nobody really knows which way this game's going to go. It's not like there's a heavy favorite in either way. But if I assign confidence points of it and try to make sense of it, I feel the best about the Chief's defense. I feel okay at best about the Chief's offense. I feel all right about the Niners

offense, especially if they get their momentum rolling, I know you don't believe in Greg, but we're going to talk about it anyway. And then the Niners defense, they're talking about they have effort issues this week. That's concerning. So that's the unit I have the least confidence in. So I do still kind of side with the Chiefs. Yeah, we talked about the effort thing and how that just that word, it's an ugly little word that's being thrown around. And is there a reality here where their defense collapses here with Mahomes leveling up?

And all of a sudden Kelsey goes 11 for 174 and two touchdowns. and it's another red and yellow confetti day. I think that's certainly a possibility if you just look at the trending nature of the two teams. There's another world where, like, that being told about your players, like maybe writes the ship. And, like, but again, we don't know how that actually works behind the scenes. But I do like the fact that, like, the chiefs are a defense that has been consistent.

They're playing their best. Like, they've allowed the fewest yards after the catch of any team in the league. That matters against the Niners. That matters against Debo Samuel. and it's a team that has gotten to the quarterback. And if you can get, you know, Carloptis and Jones into Brock Purdy's bee house, I think you've got a beehive, bee house, whatever would be like...

No, you had it right the first time. It's a bee house. It's one of those things. I mean, beehive doesn't really make sense either. If you make them uncomfortable, I mean, like, I think that when Brock Purdy's made mistakes, that's been a big factor. I mean, Mahomes, when he's thrown multiple interceptions,

he's overcome that, and they still have won the game. It's like that who, Purdy is in a different world when the mistakes start to occur. Yeah, I think, Keisha just called me live on the show, and I just thought this could be a chance for Lakeisha Wesleyan to just, like, join the program now. Sure. You are live on the NFL, around the NFL podcast, Keisha, right now. Oh, okay, whoopsies, sorry. Okay. Love you.

Talk later. Wait, who's winning the game, Alkees. Give us a score. Oh, my. Oh, man, I'm still stuck on Ravens Lion. You've got to get over that. I would say, I'm going to still go Chiefs, man. Okay.

That's all the analysis we need. Chiefs, man, there it is. Keesha, see you next week. Talk to you later, Keish. That was nice. I just felt like that would be nice to get her into the show. Back to the cess dog point. Cess, what you were saying?

Oh, good to hear of Keesha. No, as we're saying, if you can just, because I found it interesting that you had Brock Purdy at number seven in your QB index and down at number nine was Mahomes. And that flips the script from what some people think how this will play out, who these quarterbacks are. Really? I got one more shot. End of season? I got one more shot. It comes out next week.

Well, here's the thing, though. You said you were only so confident in the Chief's offense. Like, I'm really impressed with what they've done throughout the playoffs. I mean, they were fantastic. And that's all that matters to me at this point. They were fantastic against the bills. They were excellent, I think, overall against the Dolphins. And they did show some vulnerability. against the Ravens in the back half of that game where the Blitz really affected Mahomes in a negative way. But I did think that the game script was a big part of that.

I mean, they were throwing way short of the sticks on third down with a lead and being extremely conservative. And so that's actually one of my big questions of this game is it's weird to say, but like how aggressive will Patrick Mahomes be? Because I tend to think Steve Wilkes is going to look at that. And he's going to take some chances. It's not like they're just going to be sitting back there in a shell coverage or anything. They're going to go for some situations where they leave their guys in one-on-one situations, and will we get a little more of an aggressive Patrick Mahomes instead of just the taking a profit, Patrick Mahomes?

Yeah, I think that's the only way that you get an early control of this game, because you cannot afford to do what the Ravens allowed themselves, the position that they got into in that game, which is Andy Reid's opening script basically worked to near perfection, the chief's dominated time of possession, they got the stops on defense. They had control of that game before the Ravens were able to adjust and shut down that offense. So the 49ers have to take it to them. They have to do what the Ravens did in the second half early and then play out the adjustments from there.

But I think, you know, even back to your point, Mark, what you said about Brock Purdy is incredibly important to the value of Christian McCaffrey to this game. And I think Isaiah Pacheco as well. I think the running game is going to factor way more into this than we're probably talking about because, of course, it's a quarterback-driven league. But I think if McAfree ends up making the impact on the ground, breaking tackles, you know, picking up extra yards and that sort of thing, that'll keep this offense afloat against the chief's defense that's done a really good job of limiting opposing quarterbacks. So even if Purdy's not on, if you can rely on McCaffrey heavily, then they'll have a fighting chance or even more than a fighting chance. They will. I mean, the idea of McCaffrey getting, what, 25, 27, 30 touches? Yeah.

It's all, it's in play because, you know, he's so incredible. And I just, I love watching that guy play. You know, no one turns just a zero to three-yard gain or a seven. to 12-yard game like him. And he's, I think, almost, it's a little under the radar, like his ability to maybe just go off and have, you know, like that Marcus Allen-type Super Bowl game. Like, that's certainly something I'm thinking about when I'm trying to decide who's going to win this game. Now, one other thing, like, kind of circling back to Mahomes, who's been so good as a

scrambler. And he's healthy this year. There's another bad ankle that he had in the playoffs last year. You know, can't. And the Niners, the last time these teams played, which again is ancient history. But they did a nice job for most of that game messing with Mahomes. And then he got loose and they had that nice comeback, obviously, to win that. Are they going to be able to keep Mahomes in check because that is the part of his game?

Because he can't beat you deep as much anymore. He's still an assassin inside the short yardage. But it's those runs that are ripping the hearts out. like how the Niners do they have the personality think to handle that and keep him and check their way. It's the runs, it's the extension of the play. It's not even that he has to cross the line of scrimmage, but just buy more time to throw. I mean, I looked at that third and five that they converted against Baltimore early in that game where Travis Kelsey essentially ran a route that was equivalent to when you take your kid to a diner

and you get the kid's menu and it's a piece of paper and they give him crayons and you just start scribbling. Like that was the route that he ran, and they pulled it off with an incredible completion. That's the stuff you really have to worry about. If you're worried about him actually getting out and running, you're in deep trouble. They do have the personnel for that. Obviously, Fred Warner is a great linebacker all around, and he's good in coverage. And he's fast enough, but he's not necessarily the eraser of a mobile quarterback that you might expect him to be or want him to be.

You're not going to put a spy on Mahomes, right? He's not that type of dude. I don't think you do that, yeah. But if you can take away his scrambling, you already know the personnel, they don't really have that deep game, then maybe you're in business. It's just, it's an interesting to see how they combat it. It seems like Mahomes also, because it's, it's, the plays breaking down, it's out of pocket stuff, and he knows exactly when to go and where to go. and he leads the league in first downs on the ground. And, like, you think of other quarterbacks

that Josh Allen's as being, like, more dangerous on Terra Fermo. But it is Mahomes that, like, in these huge moments, last year and this year, have done it with his feet when in the most critical third-down moments and big yardage moments. I thought of it, by the way. Not Beehive. It's kitchen. It's the kitchen.

I know, but I'm using Beehive because he's back in this area where all these, like, enemies and things that can sting you or moving around. Like a horn's nest in war. You know, the bullets are flying. I mean, I'm creating a new term. I didn't know that. I thought you were searching for kitchen. It just came to me.

I mean, obviously, I went down a path that was, you know, needed a little adjustment. In the honeycomb. I like that. That's a little workshop. That feels like a sweet place. I do remember, you know, when my cousin hit that beehive when we were back in the forest, just looking back there when I was 10 years old and he didn't know he was swatting a beehive. And it's not what you want to do.

And he got stung by 27 people. Are you just giving us the plot of my girl? Yeah, I was going to say. That's a. Yes. But it really happened. And he got stuck about 20. 27 times. I got it like two or three. My other cousin got three.

Did you run outside the funeral home and Dan Aykroyd came after you? We just sprinted back home. Greg has no idea what we're talking about. Greg escapes again. Just two B-stings, 26 for the cousin. Well, he's the one that hit it. So, like, you know, my running ability was a big factor that, that game. Well, he also tripped him. You pushed him down on your way. I'm trying to transition it back. Athlete, yeah. Hushed him down.

I do think the coach is with the willingness to stick with the run is a big deal. One of the most memorable moments of that AFC championship game to me was when the Chiefs got to the six-yard line in the second quarter and they just ran two inside runs in a row. A four-yard run for Pacheco to the two, and then a two-yard run for a touchdown. It was like, when was the last time we've ever seen the Chiefs do that? The second run was against 10 men in the box.

Yeah, there's like, oh, you can't ruin the box against eight. It's like you can if you want to, if you're a good running team. They did it. And I think both of these teams, when you look at the opposing off defenses, That's the vulnerability. So Janahan might have some regrets of how he handled his play calling in the Falcons Patriots Super Bowl. Reed's been knocked plenty for not sticking with it. And so I think that's just one issue.

Like who can just be comfortable and stay with it? Because we know these quarterbacks, they just refuse to get sacked. So it's tempting to just throw the ball all the time. But I think that's the way you attack. I mean, that even marks a change from last year, Super Bowl, when the Chiefs got down on the goal line and they ran the same play in opposite directions. and one of them was the wrong formation and still worked, and they scored two touchdowns that way.

They didn't do that this time around. They trusted the run game. It's a bit of a throwback. That's them adjusting to the fact that they know they might not have the personnel to pull off what they were able to pull off in previous years. One weird, like, they did play a year ago in the regular season, and there's some connected tissue and some of it does not connect,

but Chiefs 44, 49ers, 23. The Chiefs ripped off six touchdowns on seven drives, and it was close, but then the Chiefs went nuts at the end. In that game in the final three minutes is when Brock, Pardy entered to throw his first NFL passes, and here they are again. I like that. That was kind of peak cheese. But did you know?

It was also Christian McCaffrey's first game as a nineer. And did you know that Sam Darnold is the first quarterback from the class of 2018 to make the Super Bowl? Okay. What? Is that a backhanded shot at Baker Mayfield? Well, I saw Sam yesterday. He ain't here. The Pro Bowl MVP?

Sammy look confident? Does he look ready to go in if Brock fails? Sammy looks content. He looks like Teddy Bridgewater on the sideline for the line. And he's like, don't put me in. I'm good. I'm cool. I'm just happy to be here.

Shook, here we go. It's time for the game of the week presented by Draft Kings. And I, you know. What should we choose? Well, I don't know. It's up. There is no Pro Bowl game per se.

But the kick-tack toe is pretty elite. Yeah. But we're going to go with Super Bowl 58. What do you think? Give us your pick. Niners favored by two money line minus 120. That moved a little bit. I was here one and a half.

Ooh, out of the Tick-Tac zone, as they say. Look, I talked about confidence points earlier, and that's really what I tried to use to come to a conclusion on this. And I don't like to be the guy who's like, they've been here a million times, so they're definitely going to be better. That means you're going to be that guy. But I'm going to kind of be that guy.

Because, look, the Chief's offense was terrible for most of the season. They had glimpses, and they weren't good until the playoffs. Like you said, Greg, that's all. that matters, I feel confident enough in them that if they find themselves in a situation where it's 20 to 23, they're trailing by three, it's the fourth quarter, and Patrick Holmes has the ball, and he authors a couple of signature moments, and they score a go-ahead touchdown, and it's Isaiah Pacheco running in from seven or eight yards out. Okay, get specific. Speak your piece. And it's 27-23 chiefs over the 90s. They do it again. I'm struggling

with my pick. We're going to make the rest of the heroes are going to pick on Friday's program. And you just gave me a lot to think about, Shucky. Shuggy, what do you got going on the rest of this weekend? You got friends coming in? Anybody? We don't have friends coming in, but we got some more coverage to finish up today. We got some stuff to you tomorrow.

We're going to go head over to the Madden Bowl and watch the top two Madden competitors who are also best friends face off for the final championship game of their competitive series. Sell it, baby. Best friends? Yeah. This is like when the mega powers exploded, Macho Man and Hull. Wait, but they're not NFL players anymore in the Madden Bowl?

Oh, no, no, no. It's all, like, highly competitive e-sports kids. Greggy, come on. Stupid good. I've played them, and they have destroyed me. I mean, I, you know, you don't need to come after me for my Madden Bonafides. I covered the Madden Bowl in 2008 for Patriots Giants. And it's just like, it was like at a bar.

Yeah. It wasn't that big of a party. And you got to sat down and do segments with, I did a segment with Marshall Lynch while he played Madden in the Madden Bowl. So don't come at me with my Madden Bowl. Bonified. Apparently, you've put me in my place. And you're going to be at the Madden Party as well? Yeah, I'm going to stop by there on Friday.

He's going to do a stop-by. You know, see what else happens. If Killer Mike gets out of jail, we're going to be able to watch him. Big Boy, Green Day. Yeah, he'll be funny. He's not in jail. He's not. He's out? He's out. He never was in jail.

Just arrested, but it was not. The PR flack, Greg Rosenthal. I'm just, I like to be factual. I like to double source my facts. Maybe you've gotten a little loose with your wording. Was he in jail? No. Yes, he was.

He was detained. Is that technically a jail? Are you in jail in the back of the police car? The prison. You're tangling with the law, though. He was arrested. Words matter. Yeah.

Words matter. The irrelevant of a podcast. Words matter. No, that's it. Words matter. And I'm happy to be here. Happy to sit down. This is great.

We've done it remotely all year. I love being in person. I was texting with the boys earlier that you're such an important part of our show every season on the flagship Sunday program. so to be able to reunite in person and see the pipe up close, by the way. Yeah, you didn't have to cover Falcons Bucks this time.

You got a real game. Yeah, the game of the week. Not the F-tier game. A-tier, baby, because there's only one left. Chucky, back into the huddled masses. Yes, you go. I'm going to go fight my way out of here. It took me forever to get down here.

All right, and don't, you know, don't let Ely, because Ely was throwing you under the bus a little bit. He said, oh, he turned in the wrong way, and let him know that... He said you got lost. He said, oh, he got lost. I was right outside. I had to walk all down and around and upstairs.

So just so you know, next time you see him, that sometimes, you know, he's not looking out for your best interest. So maybe if you have to say something face-to-face, this is the time for that. You know, that's a bald on bald betrayal, and I'm going to have a long, long, hard thought. Think about that, yeah. All right, very nice.

Thank you, Nick Shook. We'll take a break, and we'll be back with the Mad Dog. Down on the Draft King Sportsbook app now and use code ATN. New customers can bet five bucks to get $200, instantly in bonus bets, only on Draft King's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of Super Bowl 58 with code ATN. The crown is yours. Beware of the door, like in the mad door on sports radio, 66,

WFAN. Wow, wow, wow, you saw that at me there. That's 30 years ago. It's a deeper cut, I think. That's a deep cut. Yes, it is. And, of course, that is the voice of the great Chris Mad Dog Rousseau. I stumbled upon on YouTube a clip of all the different stings from the old place of work.

And I was looking for the one specific one that starts with Beware of the Dog, which didn't get as much run. You're right. Mike probably didn't like that one. Yeah, of course. We were just talking about you went to see you too, and I was talking about I'm a big fan. And they're playing some deep cuts. That would be the deep cut of the WFA and Jambos. a pretty big fan to know to beware

the dog was part of that jingle. That is, again, that has to be at least 20, 25 years old. Oh, at least. That you've found. Anyway, I haven't seen Mark's face glow like that all week. You've actually cured Mark's sickness just by playing. You haven't been feeling well? Mark, Mark, I'm not, but I would say that

it brings you back to a childhood innocence. It's wonderful, so thank you. Very good. Good to be with you guys again. It's so good. How are we doing? We're doing great, Chris, because like, and everyone now was talking about the Russo Third Act and everything. We've been, even if there was no. You like the first act better?

No, well, no. Well, there is a nostalgia factor, but I think we're all as fans of yours just so pumped up to see this. And I'm curious, I'm curious from a, like a fame standpoint, because you know the, you know the business better than anyone. Like, terrestrial radio back in the day, WFAN, everyone was listening to you and the dog. And I'm sure you were, couldn't go out in public without people. But now you're on this national platform. I'm like, are you more famous? Do you get recognized more now than you did in 1995?

I don't, yes, I try not to make too big a deal about it, but you do notice it from a first take standpoint. There's much more notoriety. I do a lot of things on first take that have been doing forever on the radio, and nobody's saying anything forever on the radio. What's an example? You know, the example would be shut up and play the game. Shut up and play.

I said that a million times. Really, Steve? Really, Mike? I mean, I've said that a thousand times. There is a lot of them, you know, my old sayings, you know, my wants, you know, the pauses. You know, I used to, I put the pregnant pause in there. There's a lot of little examples which I've always, I'm using now that I've always used. And now people, wow, look at that. I've never heard of somebody do that before.

I've been doing it since 1989. Right. Of course. But now they've picked up on it. So as a result, you get noticed to Luma Board. Chris Mad Dogg, Grosso headlines the Mad Dog Sports Radio. channel on Sirius XM and host the channel's anchor program Mad Dog Unleashed weekdays 3 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Central, noon Pacific. You can also see them on MLB Network's high heat.

And of course, as you just said, ESPN's first take. I think when I kind of watch the arc of the Russo career, which is now like, let's be honest, you want to talk about like Mount Rushmore, like in terms of longevity and a notor, you are at a high level. I think what surprises people. And I think, Mark, what makes Chris have the success is you're so real. Like, that is who you are? People are, it's authentic. And the authenticity, especially in not to take any shots at like that genre, there's so much of it is play acting. And you're saying things you maybe don't believe.

But I know when you're face up on the camera, like Bono on the Zoo TV tour, like you are being yourself. I think that really matters. And like when we talk about the announcers, like, Romo when he had his big rise and Olson who gets a lot of pop now it's because they authentically love the game and you hear that as well you can't fake that stuff. No, 100% the gummies is a perfect example. I say the gummies

and that's not embellishing it, the gummies are real and you say that people it's relatable to people and I think that is probably the key to this little run here is the fact that I say things that the average person wishes he could say or do and I say it for them

and I say things that they're uncharacteristically they don't necessarily listen to. Now I said that on F-A-N and I said that on Sirius for 100 years. Now I say it on the TV. It gets virus viral, it gets the clips and if you get involved with ESPN

you get in that machine and they churn it out so you can't miss it. But not gummies before first thing. No, no, definitely not. You have to be sharp. That's after you sign your next contract that don't care anymore. You have to be sharp to be, you can't be fooling around. No, you use to work with Molly here at NFL

Network and I love when you... He's a great kid, by the Mali expression or whoever else you're with, whether it's Stephen A. Smith, they're just like looking at you. Oh, Spagu. That's a good one. Hey, they look at me. Really, Chris, this is what you're going to say? No, I've gotten in trouble a couple of times, but they, for the most part, allow you to do what you want to do. And, you know, the other key to the whole thing, relatability is one. Passions the other thing.

Oh, yeah. And I still enjoy it. You know, I still love watching a game, and I watch the games, regardless of working or not, I would still watch the games. That's a big factor, too. Like, before we get into this game, there was. was an incredible rant that you had a couple weeks ago, coming out of the Chiefs, Ravens, AFC title loss for Baltimore, where, you know, like, Greg is part of what you'd call the Lamar. Me, and a lot of people see him as, like, the MVP, and I see that.

I, I'm a grew up a Browns fan, so I have some issues with the Ravens to begin with. But that experience and that playoff game with Lamar Jackson, you seemed irked by what happened there, and I thought you spoke from the heart. And it's like, I think you connected with me and my own, irate anger about the whole thing and how the season ended up the Raven. I like this. Mad Dog v. Greggie. Let's go. I'll move out of the way. I thought you were going to say Campbell because I did that thing with the field goals with him, which got a lot of attention. You're right. See, the thing that would bother me about Lamar

is, remember, I work, when you're working on ESPN, they all love Lamar. He's the greatest thing in the world, da-da-da-da-di-D, and he had won two playoff games. So I will go the the exact contrast to that because I want to say, hold on now. That's not put him in when Shannon Sharp said, you know, he wins this Super Bowl. He's going to be one of the all-time great. and take it easy. First off, he hasn't one to two games yet. And, you know, he has one Super Bowl doesn't make him one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. And then he lays an egg. Now, listen, they had a lot of issues in that game. He wasn't all of it. They flowers fumbled. They were undisciplined. The chief scored first possession. So it wasn't

all him. But he didn't do anything in the game to rescue his team from their demise. And that's what a great quarterback has to do. A great quarterback has to recognize, all right now. They pay me $40 million. We were down 17.10. We haven't played. Well, I got to do a job here. I got to get this team. Down the field, get some first downs, stabilize everything. And he didn't do that, and he hasn't been able to do that in a big game.

And that is the reason why when people put him on this unbelievable level, I get turned off on it. You know, think about it. He's not better than Burrow. He's not better than Josh Allen. He's not better than Mahomes. He's probably not better than Matthew Stafford, right? I mean, he certainly was this year. And Stafford was great. And then Stafford against the Lions was tremendous.

He was heroic in the game. And he won a Super Bowl. If I asked you right now, the biggest game of your life, you want Matthew Stafford or you want Lamar. You're taking Matthew Stafford. You have to. 370 yards against the Lions. He was banged.

You have to. This is a tough one because I love me some Stafford and thought he was the top three MVP pick this year and wasn't getting a lot of love. When I rewatch that Lamar game, I realized just how poorly he played. Like watching the coach's film and seeing it again and taking the emotion out of it

that my reaction to the game was partly what you said, which is there was a lot going on. And there was, of course, that was true. But it was also his worst game of the year. He was even more of a disaster. So you watched it on the film and he was worse than he thought. I thought he was even worse than I thought.

And I'm a huge fan. And that's a tough spot for him because that's just how the playoffs are. But I also just think he's a two-time MVP as a 26 year. Part of the reason everyone loves him is because there's never been anyone like him. He's the greatest running quarterback in the history of the league,

and he's going to have to adjust his game because he's no longer that guy. If he was that guy still, he would have scored on that play in the divisional round where he got free a little bit. He might have had a bigger run when he caught his own catch. That's true. He doesn't have the explosive. So he's going to have to adjust, but he's 26 years old.

And I just get sick of these great players in the middle of their career, having this same conversation over and over. And then they inevitably do win the title, and they do play better. Well, it's not inevitable. That's part of it. It's not inevitable, but it's the same players over. Like, we had it with LeBron. We have it with Dirk Nowitzki.

We have it with a million, you add it with Paul Pryor. Like, you have it with a billion different people who eventually get over. People thought Matthew Stafford was one of the most overrated quarterback. And it's like, and it's like, maybe you don't talk about him like that so much when it's actually happening. And understand there is an arc to his career, and he's a 26-year-old, who I believe. because he's in that organization, is going to get chance after chance after chance. And one of those, it's going to turn out different.

Maybe he won't even play that well in it, like Peyton Manning didn't play that well in his winning Super Bowl in 2006, by the way. No one ever brings that up. That's a good point. To me, you... He's feisty. The commander. Well, I'll get fired up.

You measure quarterbacks by 16-game samples. I think that's the best way. Yeah, you know, I got to measure them in what they do in a big game. That's all. No, the problem that Lamar has, you know, Lama Holmes is not going anywhere. Nor is Josh Allen, Nor is Burr. And he's not as good as those three guys. Stroud, too, is now there.

Stroud's another one. Good job. Stroud's another one. And Herbert, you know, with hardball there, he's good. Just say Aaron Rogers to make the Jets kind of feel better. And the Jets. Yeah, there you go. I will say that.

Couldn't for you. I'll put the jet. So you can make an argument that the beginning of next year in the AFC, you could take five or six quarterbacks ahead of him. You could take the big three, big three, no issues, and then Rogers is four, and Herbert is fine. Wait, what's the big three? Well, Alan, Burrow, and Mahomes.

He's not. as good as Josh Allen, no way. Burroughs got to stay on the field. I think if Lamar Jackson missed half of his career, so in two of it four seasons, Lamar missed that in the past two seasons. Burrell beat Mahomes on the road. Yep.

That to me, you can't do a better than that. But Burroughs another example. Like people, like that first playoff run Burrow had, he didn't play that well. He actually struck, that was his worst three-game stretch of the year was the AFC playoffs, and he made the Super Bowl.

So it's a team score. That's when it gets a little unfair. You're right, because we, Burrow doesn't carry that around because the team, the field goal kicker went nuts and they had that match to the run. And he also won a championship game, a championship in college too.

I think that carries into it a little bit as well. And I know he had an LSU. He had a great team, but he was great in college. And he beat anyone against Sabin and Tua in Alabama. He scored 45 points. I think that comes into the, you know, the feeling when you think of Burrow is maybe he isn't played quite as well and you look at it down deep as the record would indicate,

but you think he's played great because he's had big games. You know, it's kind of funny. It's like that thing where you're watching the TV inside the TV, inside the TV. It's when Greg and I both during that conversation go,

that's fair, that's fair. And it's like Chris Russo invented, that's fair. That's fair. I say that a lot of those wacky things. We listened to you so many years that that's just ingrained in my head. Oh, that's fair. That's fair.

I do say that, oh, let's be honest. Mike used to say, let's be honest all the time. I say that too, too. But I do like, I'm going to take Kansas City in this game because I'm going to take Mahomes and Reed

over Shanahan and Purdy. I'm a kicker. That kicker's a good kicker. We were talking about yesterday. And Moody stinks. And his close game, Berkin, he don't miss kicks this. He's hit the down straight. He's incredible. And bad weather, too,

and minus 50 degree weather, he goes out there and makes kicks. I like him. I think the Chiefs win a close game. Before we let you go, Chris, we always need to dig in on what's Chris's Wash and what there's more to Russo, especially you know, the gummies get popped. Mark, you had heard something around, Chris.

You guys share a passion for something. Well, Dan and I along had a debate, an ongoing debate about the JFK assassination. Oh, geez, yeah. All right. And, you know, we're with IHartRadio, and we know that Rob Reiner did it, the JFK. And I had them on. Well, it's good. Just kind of wondering.

There's also this thing floating out there where they have duo pictures of Brock Purdy with various pictures of Lee Harvey Oswald. There are places where they do. So I was just sort of wondering with the whole. And some people think Brock Purdy's a patsy. So, you know. Well, there you go. Where are you with the whole JFK assassination and everything?

And Oswald's birthday is the same as mine, 1018. Really? Yes, go ahead. Well, where are you with the whole, where are you on the whole thing? I mean, the Reiner podcast is excellent. I haven't heard the last two yet. There is no doubt in my mind. If anybody thinks for one second that Lee Harvey Oswald, there is evidence that he may not even

killed that cop. I tip it. Outside that movie theater, there's evidence. Did you know, did you know, that they found two wallets and the police both said they were Lee Javier Oswald's who you found two wallets they found one at the scene at the thing at the at the movie theater and they found one in the and the depository I mean come on two wallets this wasn't a guy with a lot of money and he was he was a CIA

operative well there's a picture of him so-called in a CIA file down in like New Orleans but there's another one overseas and it's basically like the double of Mike Ditka that they're trying to tell us as Lee Harvey Oswald's again a moustache a a moustachioed, heavyset man, and they're passing that off as Lee Harvey Oswald. It was Brock Bertie's dad. I remember, again, if anybody says I don't pull, Oswald did it by himself, you have to answer me this one question.

Okay. Why did Jack Ruby kill him? All right. Jack Kirby didn't kill him because he was trying to prevent dismay for the Jacqueline Kennedy and the Kennedys. I feel bad for him to get their event. The Ruby situation is, that's fair, that's fair. I have to say my stance has been, and Mark hates it,

and you do as well, I'm sure now, that someone, and I don't know where Greg stands on this, but we're going to hear from Greg on it too, but there's something destabilizing to us as Americans to society to think someone so inconsequential as Oswald can change the world with a shot from the depository. So your nature is to say, well, no, that couldn't be it. It has to be a larger conspiracy because this is the president of the United States.

This is the most powerful man in the world and a special person. I named my son after John Kennedy, Jack. But I understand there's, like, is there someone in the grassy knoll? I think there are, you know, Reiner thinks there's about three or four shooters. You know, the Warren Commission, 1976. You know who ran that Warren Commission? Alan Dulles. He was in charge of all the information they received.

You know, Alan Dulles is the guy that Kennedy fired for the Bay of Pigs. Now, how the hell is Alan Dulles? Yeah, fog of war. I mean, how is he the guy? that is during the Warren Commission who, in 1964, said that Lee Aviazzo was an only show. There's too much smoke there that think they did it by himself. Okay, well, I've got... You disagree?

Go ahead, Greg. No, I don't... I think Slimar Jackson did not do it. I don't have a take on this because I'm uninformed, regrettably, in general, about this topic. But I do have a... It's not a conspiracy. It's something that I've done some reporting on myself. Dan likes to think of himself as the ATN media insider.

I am. And I have sources in this very building that tells me Chris Mad Dog Rousseau was involved in what we'll call an incident yesterday coming into the building where he was very upset that they were trying to take the tags off of his backpack. Did you hear about this? And I want to hear what happened here. Can you confirm this? Yes, I will confirm. That's good reporting, Greg. That brown bag right there that you see is a bad.

that I've had for a long time. Nice leather. They have. Nice strap. Those little tags there at the top, those yellow and green tags, I've had that bag for 25 years. And so a lot, maybe 20 years, a lot of the tags I had on that bag were from events that I had been at, whether World Series, Super Bowl, so they had a little sentimental value.

I bought the bag Monday, nobody says it were. I come in Tuesday, and the guys there at the X-ray machine, where we got to take the tags off. I said, what? Why you got to take the tags off? Well, we got to take them off. We're assigned to him. So why didn't you take them off yesterday? If you would have told me that, I would have left the bag here today and not bought the bag. Well, we got, so they grabbed scissors and they start cutting the, cutting the tags. So I was upset and I gave them, and I never do this. I gave him one of those, don't you watch first take deals? Oh, you gave him an airfo? I hate that. You hit them with a deal. Don't you know who I am? And the answer was no. So as a result, I got my

bags. I got my bag tags cut. Matter of fact, I have all the tags in the compartment there. I was going to use it yesterday as a what I'm mad about segment, but I didn't get around to it. But I was annoyed and I noticed in the last two days they didn't have anybody cutting with the scissors. There was nobody there doing that on Wednesday and Thursday. Yet there were Tuesday, which I can't understand. So my little tags that I've had on our dopey bag for 20 years, 15 or 18 of them, World Series, NBA Finals, U.S. Open. You know, they put the tag guy when he goes through the x-ray machine with your little bag to put a little tag on it. All of them are gone.

So that's what bothered me, Greg. Good job on your part. This is an exclusive. That was good. Did you know that? You didn't know that one? I got scooped on that one. I didn't want to tell them.

That's good job. Well, and that guy has been fired now, so I wonder what he does next. I hope he wasn't. And that's what somebody said, Chris, really, you're making a big deal about your stupid tags. And it only was five minutes. Greg caught the bad five minutes. So I deserve it.

I have to give him the credit for digging it up. There you go. Nice job. Greg, you're a muckraker is what you are. I was not there personally. Yellow journalism. All right. You guys have been doing this show a long time.

How long? This is season 11. This is, you want, what, once a week doing a season or once every other game? Or five days a week? We do, what, five shows a week? Five shows a week during the season. Five shows, Monday through Friday. Other digital stuff.

Sunday nights, you know, after the games, we got a show. Monday night, after the prime time games, we have a show, and then a couple during the week. And if you want an NFL plus subscription, we can get that to you. Two shows a week. You'll work Sunday night and Monday night and then two other shows during the week. Yeah, Tuesday, Thursday, yeah. How about when is it a Saturday game at the end of the year?

You worked those nights too? Detroit Dallas on New Year's Eve. Did you work that day? I mean, those are tough. And we got young kids and everything. These are tough with the holidays. They keep on building out the schedule. Oh, it's a joke.

I mean, a lot of mouths to feed for the NFL. Offseason, though, too, four shows a week during the off season. Oh, do you really? Oh, we crank. Good for you. How long is each show? Oh, they're getting longer by the year. 60 to 18.

80 minutes. That's a hell of a job. That's a good effort. Thank you, Mr. Rousseau. And it does sincerely mean a lot coming from you. Don't get that nonsense. That's a good job. It's true. I mean, the tag incident, that, the put in danger, your reputation, we're now restoring it right now. All right, again, check out Mad Dogg on Sirius and everywhere else where he is blown up. He's a superstar, and we're happy to have you every year. It's a great tradition. You guys do a great job. What do you like in the game?

We have to, we have to announce it tomorrow. What does it really matter? We can. I can't say until I picked Chiefs Niners before the year and picked the Niners to win off a pick six in the final two minutes and so that's where I'm going. He's staying. How about you? How about you? I have the Chiefs 2317. All right. You're the best guys. Thank you, buddy.

All right, welcome back and I mean Mad Dogg is the best. Also the best if you are a football fan if you love the game and the history of the game. Just looking over my right shoulder and there he is. Doug Williams, Super Bowl 22 MVP, the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, unbelievable story to him.

It's everywhere. It's all around us. It's almost like if you lived in a land with only hot people, hot people aren't hot anymore because everywhere you turn, there's like an NFL icon walking by about, and then a second, then a third, and it's like it's almost oversensitive, oversensatory explosion. I was almost nine years old for that Super Bowl, and that's the, the first one. I really remember when it happened. And that actually is a good example. And I think I thought it at the time, too, like, blowouts can be entertaining. Because I remember

when that was happening thinking like, this is crazy. This is great. Touchdown. Touchdown. And it was just like this fire show. It's a good, it's a good topic. Because I remember I was seven and I was not young enough to be plugged in, but I remember running through the living room with my cousin Matt and my uncle Bob and my dad were watching the game. And my, the Broncos were up 10-0. Yeah. And then we came back in from outside or whatever we were. And all of a sudden, it was like 35-10.

Well, it was, I think I saw it at 35 in the second quarter. That broke records. That's what it was where that blow, that quarter was so exhilarating. Like Timmy Smith, the running back, who had been a non-factor, came in over. But I will tell you one thing, I watched that game in horror because it was two weeks before that the Broncos nipped the Browns in the drive. The drive. No, the fumble.

It was the fumble. And so it was like, I'm watching the Broncos get the doors blown off. thinking like, wait a minute. Right. The Cleveland Browns could have taken this team. So, anyways. Anyway. And then the first one I remember truly watching was Bengals Niners.

And I'll always remember, like, I think it was really cool that I was watching with my dad. And then the start of the Bud Bowl, that was the first Bud Bowl commercials, which I was like as invested in the Bud Bowl as it was. Tim Crumrise's broken leg, which was horrific. They almost pulled it off Cincinnati. Anyway, Mad Dog was an excellent guest. You knew he was going to be. Greg, I got to say. That was incredible reporting, and it is on brand.

You took the risk to bring it up. You don't know how it's going to go, because that was a moment. He was acknowledging Chris, that was kind of a diva behavior. He was fired up, but it was something that had to be uncovered. That's the job of a true journal, so I respect that. He doesn't strike me as a guy who takes things, like, too personally. You know what I mean? Like, he's got to fire back.

He's going to have fun with it. I was watching his, you know, facial expression as Greg was telling that story and didn't seem too, like, too disturbed. It could be his last appearance on the show, and that would be also on brand for Greg. We'll find out next year. This is an incredible sauce dog spectacular. I mean, I wouldn't say they both had the same level of energy between sauce and Chris Rousseau. Different vibes. Different vibes, different people, different places in their lives, but both titans in their respective genres.

All right. And by the way, what do you get, Sestog? What are we doing? What are we doing in this business? You picked this Super Bowl before the season? I picked it correctly. Why are we hearing that as a comment made off the cuff in the middle of that interview? I would have loved to lead with that all week.

I don't know. That's branding, baby. I mean, two things. I was alerted to it. I didn't even remember I picked that. And then people were saying, like, you know, use it as an explosive secret weapon at some point. I could be wrong, but I think we did talk about this on the show last week. I don't know.

I don't believe it's very briefly that you mentioned. Perhaps, but I mean, I also... That's a good job. That's a good job by you. I also didn't know that I did. And, you know, when you make those picks back in August, and so I don't cling on to them. I know, like, I don't... I'm not on the, you're on a pick show, Greg, and, like, you...

To me, it's like I made it in August. It happened early in the morning. I'm still holding out hope for my Eagles Chargers banger. I have go. I had Jets, which, you know. I get why you did that. V-9ers. And, but again, by the transitive properties of the conversation with Sauce today, it really is kind of Jets Niners.

Yeah. I mean, Sauce didn't even really buy into your theory, but. I don't know. He said. It's tough to get Sauce to buy into a lot of theories. What did he say? He said reality is, like, important or something like that. He's into reality.

I think reality is overrated. That's like fair. It was also notable that he didn't know who Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino were. But he's much younger than us. He is. I think that's from a different world. All right. So, so good job.

you on the prediction and we're going to have our you got to stick the landing though of course now now we need to know uh who you will pick to win the super bowl and we'll we'll share those picks on tomorrow's show we're also going to have a more fun guess so just make sure you you check out our friday show or last show before the super bowl and and mark we've been concerned about your health of the last couple days uh it's come up in front of guests they seem to be alarmed when they realize how close a sick person is to them uh gregg and i are on some level alarmed knowing there's a big weekend ahead of us. We're in Jeopardy, yeah.

But you are going, and this is an amazing thing, you're going to NFL honors tonight. I do not believe I will be going to go into that. I don't, I think that is. I thought you're going suited and Boone tonight. Like the person I was planning to go with is also, you know, in dire straits. So we will see how any of that.

Well, I'll let you know. Maybe it's early in the day, but. All right. If I go, if you do go, if I go, if I go, if I go. It's not that early. It starts in like two or three hours. Yeah, it seems like a long shot. If I go, I will file a report.

That's what we're looking. for. All right. Thank you everybody for listening. Like we said, we'll be back Friday and then the weekend. And then the big game. We're getting closer day by day. Until then, you know what you got to do. Heat the call.