OverDrive - Willson on the Seahawks and Patriots in the Super Bowl, Darnold's journey and Vrabel's impact

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NFL, the Seahawks and Patriots advancing to the Super Bowl, Sam Darnold's solid journey, New England's greatness back, Mike Vrabel's incredible role and more.

With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. Our good friend Luke Wilson, of course. If you smell what the rock is cooking.

It'll be a big part of the featured event. There he is. Aizie, stay humble. Aizie, stay humble. Now, they're trying to steal our slogan, Luke. It's embarrassing. Don't let them do that. Don't worry, noodles. Again, you know, it's funny how you and I have grinded.

We've gone through the process. We've trusted. We've stayed humble. We have one small blemish, a one-and-a-half-point blemish. Matthew Stafford played incredible last night. We didn't calculate that someone on their team couldn't catch a punt. That's the only thing we've missed this playoffs. Right.

And all of a sudden, Hayes wants to run his mouth in the group chat. No, listen, I'm just pointing out, I would be concerned about the whole mojo if I bet against my former team, you know, in a big game like that. That's me personally. I can't speak for anybody else. But, man, you bet against your Seahawks, and they're going back to the Super Bowl. So, again, there's something a little funky here. I didn't bet against them. Well, I took points thinking that it was going to be a one-to-two-point game.

It was never going to be a one to two points. It was a four-point game. It was a field goal game one way or the other. Who do you think is going to win? I think you thought the Rams were going to win, but maybe not. I don't want to put words in your mouth. He called it. I have 100% faith in him.

We're 8 and 4. We're feeling good. My buddy Brian from the Roxy in Vancouver made a picture. I put it into the group chat, and Al's brother started torching it right away. and then you guys tried stealing. We should put it on the screen, that beautiful picture that says, stay humble, my friends.

Okay. And it's Luke just sitting there. I'll send it to a group chat. You guys sound like the Iron Shee. Can I ask, I do have one question. When the Blizzard came in, it was a typical AFC game that, as we said, was going to be decided by a field goal.

Did anyone on your team take accountability for such idiocy? Because that might have been a layout of the week. The guy did not take receipts. responsibility. And I told him last night, Partsy, I said, Al's brother, unfortunately, this is on you, chum. And he has nothing. I like that accountability. I like that. Always pointing fingers. I noticed something during that Hawks game, that stupid penalty that dude took.

It's one thing to take an undisciplined penalty. But then when your hero teammate comes over and tries to give it to you, God, I just saw them looking at each other on the sidelines, Luke, and I was just like, that, that, guy's more mad at his teammate for trying to be a hero and give it to him in front of everybody. I don't know what you made of that transaction. The haunting penalty and the Adam touchdown the next play. You know, it was at a moment there where especially the way the Seahawks were rolling offensively where I'm like, this game, if Matthew Stafford doesn't score here, like this game's going to get away from them.

And the idea that they finally got a stop and then you've got to go over there. And again, I think you're fine here. I think you're fine there. And then it's probably the last couple things. And you can see actually there, if you were to run that back, number three is the teammate you were speaking about on the sideline, is trying to get them out of there. You know, it's just one of those things where you can see it coming kind of late. You're talking smack to coaches, you're talking smack to everyone.

And then the fact that the next play is a touchdown, double move, boom, over your head. I'm against him too. Yes. And all of a sudden the Rams are right back in this thing. it was funny because when I watch this stuff, guys, I was saying to a couple of the producers above Jay Studio. I'm like, there were moments in my career where, and you can call me whatever you want for this,

you could have said anything in the world to me, anything, and I would not have taken a penalty. Like there is nothing more important than this football team, this moment, this game in my life. So I always find it confusing when it's like I get the edge, you want to talk smack. But like the idea that you're even flirting with the line of getting that penalty against a quarterback like Matthew Stafford, players like Pook and Akua, Devonta Adams looked incredible last night. Like if they're up 30 and you want to kind of be a jerk, I still think it's gutless in a way,

but it is what it is. again, I can't bathe them making that decision personally. I just can't do it. Yeah, and yet they survived in the end. Sam Darno, we talked about the last hour. Like, he's got a chance to pull a 180. He was a bust seeing ghosts like three years ago.

And now, I thought he was phenomenal yesterday. Yeah, he's been great all year. Number one seed in Seattle. They were this close to number one seed in Minnesota last year. So that's two different coaches, two different OCs, two different playbooks, two different divisions, two different divisions, two different divisions. And I thought he was great yesterday,

and now he's favored to win a Super Bowl, favored to be a Super Bowl MVP. If he closes on this, how do you put it into perspective, like the turnaround and the reputation of Sam Darnel? I mean, it's an iconic run. It's generational. Yeah. You know, and it's not just like one team.

You know, he was pretty much cast away. To me, there's like an overarching theme here that as the NFL and football, I'd say in both sides of the border, with the CFL as well, as the game evolves, it's become a game where coaches are just as important right behind the quarterback. And you look at Sam, and he's a prime example where it's like you get ran out of town and everyone talks about the Jets

and Adam Gates and all that. He was in Carolina. Right. Like we forget about the Carolina. with Baker at the same time. He was in Carolina and it's like absolutely not, get this guy out of here, here. I wouldn't say his time at the 49ers was bad.

He just was a backup. And then even more telling, it's like he goes to Minnesota, has an unbelievable year. Unbelievable year. It has two bad games. The final game of season and the first playoff game. And they let him walk.

Look. And again, if you're a Vikings fan right now, you're probably asking yourself, what would our season have been if Sam was our starting quarterback? Crazy. No kidding. Crazy. Because they finished strong in many, man. People didn't notice that. Correct. I think they're 8 and 9 by the end of the year. So what does that assessment go apart?

Do they just say, you know what? We didn't like those two games, and we could never trust him in big moments, and they said we're cutting bait? You know, O'Don, if you want my honest answer, and this is a bit blunt, but I'm not even exaggerating. The amount of cowardice that is in the NFL when it comes to making decisions, I'm being serious, guys. I'm sure it's in a lot of pro sports.

I know, but I don't think that that word's applicable here. It's stupidity and the wrong assessment. It's not cowardice. Yes, but why I say cowardice is because guys know, but they're afraid to say it. Because if they're wrong, they take the blame. You know, it's so easy to be in the way. the front office and be like Sam Donald's not a guy. He can't lead us to a championship. Because if you're the guy who says yes, he is a guy and stands on the table and bangs your

fists, it's like, okay, we'll ride with him for a year, but if he's not, we're all going to come back and point the finger at you. So the NFL and the way it's situated in those, you know, meeting rooms is, and I think the bills are prime, prime example of this recently, it's It's not really conducive to like guys sticking their chest out and demanding what they want. And the prime example is Keone Coleman. What happened in the press conference? The owner goes, well, I was in there. Keon hasn't worked out.

Bean didn't want him. McDermott did. And again, it's somewhat applicable where it's like, back to Sam, I can promise you that there are guys that had the opportunity to keep Sam. But it's like, yo, this guy's MO or his reputation. not as a human, but as a player, is not very good right now, and I'm not willing to risk my career

on how well he plays. If we go out and draft a kid, he has four years to fail, which means I have four years with him. I think that's the important point, too, is they had McCarthy, and it's like, you know, we can give him a year or two, right?

Because he's coming off an injury, and we stuck our necks out to pick him. Where, meanwhile, you look at it, if they kept Donald, traded McCarthy at the height of his value, you could have got something in return. You would not have gotten likely a first round pick in return, but something. There would have been teams that would say, yeah, we had them high on our board last year. We'll give you a second round pick for him or third round pick.

Now you're stuck with McCarthy, who looks like a mess. Maybe he turns it around. Maybe he's a Donald, maybe. But now Donald's sitting in the Super Bowl, man. It's just, if you're a Viking fan, you've got to be furious. It's a massive mess. Massive mess. Something to Chew on brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar this January at BP get delicious mouthwatering pasta starting at 1199 every single day.

Enjoy the pastas you love at prices you can't miss. Hustle on your local BP tonight. Asking online with the Patriots back in the Super Bowl, who do you think is most pissed off to see them there? Josh Allen, Bill Belichick, or Gerard Mayo? Dude, let me go first part. This is a slam dunk. It's Josh Allen. Yeah, I'm on.

I would be the same way there. Like, I think it's a hoodie down in Carolina. No way, dude. I think his rep gets crushed it. Look where he is right now. He's at UNC campus. Exactly. Going to the same bars I used to, and it's all over for him.

I think it's the hoodie. Hey, I think it's the hoodie. Go ahead. Time out, man. First and foremost, I'm not a Bill Belichick guy. You guys know that, you know, because of my time with one of his disciples in Matthew Patricia.

But this guy's got how many Super Bowls? He's got nothing to prove, and he's got a 25-year-old girlfriend right now. He don't care about any of this, man. He don't care. And I'll say this, Vrable is one of his disciples.

The way they played yesterday, it looked like I wouldn't say Mayo was applying his... Mayo's third here, but but he probably is pissed. He probably sit there South Loathing and say, well, if I had, you know, May I got him as a rookie,

look at him the next year. If they, you know, all these kids grew, they were a young team that grew. But here's my case for Belichick is I think he is obsessed with his legacy. I think he's got an ego like anyone else. Oh, for sure. When Brady left him, he won. Yes.

And then he got gassed and pushed out. And it was like, well, Bob Kraft doesn't know what the hell he's doing. Bob Kraft is sitting there back at a Super Bowl here. Right? So Belichick's out. Brady's thriving, Brady's winning, Bob Craft is winning. This guy's in Carolina getting pumped. His girlfriend's, I don't know what the hell.

She's doing running his show. Cheerleading. I think Belichick. Cheerleading camp. Yeah. I mean, Alan is a, I understand your case for Alan. I get it. But Alan could have played himself into this situation, like I said this last hour,

where if they were 14 and 3 and won the division, they'd have Chargers, Texans, Broncos. You know, they'd have a different path. and everyone's talking about that path. But I think it hurts Belichick that much more. That Brable steps in right away and takes a young kid and Bob Kraft back at the Super Bowl. I'm buying into what you're saying, but I think at the end of the day,

Belichick can at least say, hey, I got six rings as a head guy, where Josh right now doesn't even have an AFC championship. It stinks, man. And I'll tell you what I think to just add a little bit of insult to the Patriot side of it is to correct me from wrong here, but Sam Darnold is from the same draft class as. Yeah, I think he went third and Alan went seventh. So it gets the point now where in that draft class,

and Lamar was in there as well, right? That's right. I mean, guys, two years ago, if we were to sit on the show and you were to say, who's going to be the first quarterback to go to the Super Bowl from the 2018 draft class, the idea that Sam Darnel was even on that list? Crazy.

He's made it to the Super Bowl before Lamar or John. Well, and you can throw Drake May into that. May and Sam Donald are there before Josh Allen. It's a, yeah, that's why I would still roll it. Like, it's got to sting for Buffalo fans. It's got a sting for. And again, guys, I don't keep harping on this. I probably sound like a broken record.

But to me, you know, coaching matters. How does Rayble go in here and take that team, were they four and 13? Is that correct? Yeah, four and 13 last year. Two years in a row. Two years in a row. and just walk in and be like, and we barely missed the one seed, barely miss it,

and now we're going to the Super Bowl. Like, it means so much in this game, more than any other sport. And not just from an X and O standpoint, from a culture, getting to buy in, understanding what the coach asks you. Like, I loved watching Vrabel at the end of the half yesterday. He's screaming at somebody to get down

so he can call his final time out, literally sprinting down the sideline. He's completely clueled. in. Third and nine with three-ish minutes left in the game. We're all sitting there like, oh, they're going to throw it and get a first down. He runs wide zone and accepts getting zero yards and then he's screaming at the offense to get off the field. This guy understands what's going on here. He couldn't have been more in tune with what he needed to have happened. His whole thing yesterday was, I am going to go down if Stidham beats me in a blizzard,

but I am not going to go down by us fumbling, us throwing the ball errantly, and he of that. And it was like, beat us. He kept saying, beat us, beat us. Again, third and 11, just zip it out of bounds. Don't care. Third 9, 3.30A. We're watching it now. I'm like, I wonder what they're going to do. Here's wide zone for everybody for a total of zero yards. Run, run, punt. And then get off. Look at them. Get off. Get off. I'm dying. I'm dying. Amazing. Harts, do you think the quarterback, I know, like we talked last week where it seemed like everybody was worried about Drake May saying he's young, we don't know if he's ready. And I know the weather was bad yesterday, but good weather, good conditions, if he's going to have to make him a lot more plays. A lot more plays.

Do you think he's capable? I think he's capable, yes. But I really think this is, if you want to ask me to preview this whole thing, I think that Seattle is heavily advantaged here. But there is a caveat. You got to be honest, though, part. No, no, no, no. Hang on a sec, Jamie. You might have the pet. No, no, hang on a sec.

You got to be honest, parts, because we already know our move. We've had meetings. We know our move. Let's just talk ball. Be a baller. I would heavily lean Seattle on paper, heavily. Okay. But what gets strange, and I do bring it back to my Super Bowl, the one we lost to,

not the one we won, the one we lost to the Patriots. I would say that that Super Bowl as well, talent-wise, we were much better than New England across the board. But what New England has, and they have shades of it from the Belchick era, are these games or they just seem to steal moments, steal plays, situational football. You know, it almost happened to the end of the half. I just mentioned with the Vrabel timeout.

Like, if the Seahawks come out and have a Tarek-Wollen moment against New England, Vrable knows how to manipulate game. They say that he's like the greatest knower of the rules in the NFL, just knows everything. So coaching-wise, I love the Seahawks. I really do. I think they have a tremendous staff. But Josh McDaniels has, you know, the OC there has played against a lot of great defenses.

He was the OC that played the Legion of Boom and managed you to find a way to score 24 against us in the Super Bowl. 28, excuse me, lost that 28, 24, I believe. This guy's got two weeks. Vrable, on the other hand, they're not going to have a big margin of error availability to beat Seattle. They don't have the guys to do it, O'Dong. But the way they play, and you saw this yesterday,

they don't make mistakes. So if Seattle comes out here and has that turnover or they have that moment, that penalty, I can see this thing getting flipped on its head. That's where I love the matchup on paper to go Seattle, battles away. But this is a greasy staff. It's a veteran staff. It is a staff that is loaded with Super Bowl

winners. So I think that coaching, I would give a slight edge to New England, which matters a lot. Yeah. Well, I guess because of the weather, their plane, you know, they were basically stuck in Denver last night.

And it sounds like Braebel said, no curfew tonight. Go have a great time. But the bus leaves at 8 a.m. tomorrow. morning. If you're not on it, you don't play in the Super Bowl. I love that messaging. Go have a great time, but Super Bowl prep starts tomorrow

8 a.m. You'll be there on time. This is something that I think would be a fun combo, because I do hear, you know, even when I was playing out here about the hockey world. The hockey world is very infamous when it comes to curfews and road trips and things of that nature. The NFL's just not like that,

Hayes. It's like what you just said where it's like, hey, because the majority of guys don't have guaranteed contracts. Like we always love, oh, the top five free agents got 60 million, 70 million, you know, whatever. It's like the majority of the NFL are making great money, but it's like I signed a three-year deal and one year's guaranteed, you know. And if you want to be that guy, it's a very clear message in the NFL. First off, we don't have road trips because generally, like you said, you leave right after the game. So there's a curfew everywhere. On every team I've been to, we have curfew when we fly in

and we fly out immediately. Snowstorm you want to stay the night. They got a win, they got a week off, go have a night out. If you're not a bus at 8 a.m., you're probably getting cut. And like, not if you're Drake May, but if you're like 40 of the

53 guys in that team, like it's just understood. If you want to double cross this team, go do something illegal tonight and your name's not, Stefan Diggs or Drake May, Like remember here, and this is going back to the Super Bowl, they lost against the Eagles. No one knows what happened.

Malcolm Butler. Malcolm Butler got bench or a Super Bowl. Yeah. Something happened. Something happened. But if a guy goes out and has a good time, like say they go and, hey, let's have a good time, but somebody gets overserved, don't you think that the leaders on that team would make sure that kid was up? Like, I've been on a team where a guy was buckled and was going to miss the bus.

Missed the bus, and they brought him out in a shopping cart. There was a guy from the Falcons back in the day. You flipping through the yellow pages the night before the Super Bowl. Yeah, that wasn't San Fran too. I don't know who it was, but he just won the Man of the Year, and I think he was clipping through the Yellow Pages the night before the Super Bowl. Dude, he was. Doogie, what was that guy's name?

Because it was, it was a man. Big story. I think I remember that now. I thought the one guy went to Mexico, didn't he? No. This was the night before the Super Bowl. He was playing for the Falcons, man. Almost positive.

That game was in Santa Clara. Almost positive. We could do a little tour. We'll go take a look at where he was where he got clipped. But noodles, just answer that. What we would do in what happened in Seattle quite a bit was our coach would be like, hey. Eugene Robinson. Eugene Robinson.

He was up to no good, man. Listen. I want to be very clear. Guys, I want to be very clear. Guys are up to no good in the NFL. Of course. But it's like understood that like you can you can be up to as much, you know, debauchery as you want to be. But when the meeting time is there, you are there and ready to go. And when the game, balls kicked off, you better ball out.

Yes. Like I'd say this team we won the Super Bowl with in 2013, partied more than any. If you were to take the amount of partying that team, did, I would almost combine it with my next seven years and say that that first year we partied more than the next seven combined. But it was like, even me as a rookie, I would be afraid to go with some of the vets because I'm like, dude, this is like, you better buckle up, Lou. I'm 23 years old.

I know this thing. I'm not used to this guy. I'm just not about that yet. Veteran lifestyle. Yeah. And like they'd all be in the steam room at 6.30, 7 a.m. on Saturday because Friday is the big night in the NFL. You know, and they'd be kind of stretch and tell in the steam room, letting everyone know what happened last night, piecing all together.

Stretch and ten. I love the veteran in the steam room the next day. So hungover is my favorite guy in pro sports. Yeah, stretch and tell noodles. Yeah. Oh, you used to say that, the old grizzled vets in the steam room or just so hungover. But they're there. And on Sunday, they balled out.

Yeah, got to be there, man. I think one of the greatest beers in the world is after a win, and you just get a cold beer and go in the steam room and hammer it, and it's just a really nice thing in life. It's beautiful. You know what's fun for me? This NFC championship win yesterday brought me back to this moment, and it's unfortunate because it's closed,

but in Seattle we had this bar that was really like a Mexican restaurant. It was called pesos, and there's nothing special about this place. And you guys love going there. It was the greasiest place in town. And it was like, we're in the locker room after the game. You know, the media's in there. They get out and everyone's like Pesos like, say hello to your family. Do what you've got to do.

But like it is a absolute race to Peso. But they probably left you alone there, right? They probably left you alone. And it was like a whole area was kind of blocked off for us. I remember the wildest Pesos night was after the, it was after the NFC championship against Sam Fran. that was a wild one. I'll leave it there.

I'm not sure we can get into a more store. I already know the scene. The owner shuts down, turns the lights off, but keeps it open for you guys, whatever you want, hammer beers, other goonery. It was,

yeah, a lot of, I wondered, I'm like, I wonder where the guys go in it because pesos is shut down. I'm like, I wonder where they go now.

It's disappointing. That's disappointing. The young guys just can't keep it alive, man. It's unfortunate. We've got a Super Bowl intact. Seattle. Real quick.

We've seen it before. We saw it 12 years ago. I know. I'll see you guys in Santa Clara. Yes. I'm a little confused here. I'm hoping Dougie can chime in here. So it's 8-4 and the number is 14.

So there are 14 points up for grabs in the Super Bowl. All right. So this is not over. That's why I'm saying humble. It's not even close to you know. Stay humble. I don't understand if the win number is 14. Well, I'll explain it to you.

So because it was a total, there was 26 points up, like total in the whole thing. If you get to 13, it's tied. I think tide would probably go to us, right? Like, that's kind of how the Ryder Cup works. You've got to knock out the champ. You've got to beat the champ. So the Super Bowl is. Amen to that comment.

Absolutely. Two points for the spread, two points for the total. So we will pick which one we want. You guys will get the other one. And then there's five props each worth of point. right so it's we're each accounting for seven points but it's the way we're doing it throughout the playoffs is if you get it right you get the point if you get it wrong it swings the other way so this is my only question he said there's 14 points said two points of the spread

two points of the total there's four or five props we're at nine five props each dude that's 10 that's 10 total and then 14 that's what so we're each going to do a quarterback each do a running back each do a wide out each do a tight end and then there's going to be one other kind of yes or no prop that we get to determine, right? So if you want to do coin flip. Now, are we still rocking this? We're like if you guys have, let's say a tight end prop. We will call the over.

100%. And the under hits, we get the point. You get the point, yes. And we're canceling out, Doogie. We're not doing like coin toss or blue Gatorade this year. One of us could pick a coin toss because it's a black or white. You know what I mean? Like you can't do one like Gatorade because it's just there's seven.

different options or whatever. You got to be two options. Yes, exactly. So if there was a fumble total, you could bet that if you wanted to. This is where I get a small bit annoyed here, boys. Well, it was explained weeks ago. Yeah, I'm just saying,

it was in the email, you want grease. You want grease noodles. So we've grinded, you know, five and one, we've stayed humble, we've grinded, it's 8-4 lead, and now all of a sudden, like,

the game starts, and we get the length, of the anthem wrong. You can do that. You can do that. And they get that coin toss right. And it's all the sudden, 8, 6, before the games, even the balls have been kicked. That's exactly what we plan on. That's so greasy. And then we're going to win the spread. We're going to win the total, and we're going to win this thing by 16, 17 points. That's not very humble you. Well, I'm not pretending to be. I don't like that slogan.

Listen, we'll be fine. We'll be fine. We need to stay humble. There is that. There is. Stay humble. I'm going to go Iron Sheik. I'll make you humble. make you humble. There's the chic old school. This thing's wide open. We're wide open right now. All right, buddy.

Well, we'll do this again later in the week, and we'll catch you in San Fran. Can't wait. There he is. Luke Wilson joining us around the table. Again, we're off to San Francisco. We're going to be there at the Super Bowl next week. Of course, the game on CTV, TSN.

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