Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Paul Pabst shares takeaways from Super Bowl Opening Night

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote were joined by Dan Patrick Show executive producer and Score contributor Paul Pabst live from Radio Row to discuss the latest Super Bowl storylines.

Rahimi Harris and Groot. Midday's tidal two on Chicago Sports Radio. Ten seconds to go. Rams at the 30 down by four. Shotgun snap to Stafford. Shets in the pocket. Plenty of time. Winesh. throws to the near sideline, caught 50-yard line and out of bounds. Makua. The clock and one. Oh, they keep the clock going. It's over. It's over. Seattle is one. The Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl. Now all I hear is Come on, Marshall, courtesy of Westwood One, our friend Kevin Harlan, on the call. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 670, the score.

Let's go live out to that Super Bowl, the Bay Area. And when we say area, we mean it. The commute is rough. Joining us on our Circa Resort and Casino Hotline, Circle Las Vegas.com. It is our friend Paul Papps, host of the tailgate, Saturday mornings, at 7 a.m. right here on 104, 3, The Score, and the producer for the Dan Patrick show.

I see you are traversing the entire bay. How is that going for you, Paul? Lela, as Brent Musburger said, you are looking live at San Francisco, because that's where I am right now. We are just across McCove where Barry Bonds used at the home run, home runs, and the Giants Ballpark. I think it's called Oracle now, Pack Bell, whatever was called back in the day. The Dan Patrick Show set is right there.

So, like you said, there's a lot going on here. a Bay Area Super Bowl. The game is in Santa Clara, but an hour from here. The Super Bowl media night or opening night last night was in San Jose and the media center and most of the events are going on right here in San Francisco. So yeah, Paul joins us on Twitch. Twitch.t.com slash the score Chicago if you want to check out his scenic view. And yes, I believe it was Pack Bell when Barry Bonds was hitting home runs at the time. Yeah. Now it is Oracle Park. And I'm just glad you're not across from Levi's because that means you're next to a substation. And then you might trip, break your ankle, and then you

never heal again. Well, you know what's weird out here? They have these driverless cars and they're like, they're not Uber. Yeah, Waymo. Marshall, I had no idea about Waymo. I went to cross the street the other day and there was a car with no people and I'm like, I had a staring

contest. I didn't know what to do. Are you going to try it? I have been in a Waymo. I was in one in Phoenix and it's an interesting thing. It's pretty standard for people out there though. They're used to it. I got to tell you. I'm old school. I'm like a Chevy Nova 3 on the tree.

I like old school cars and people, but I'll try to embrace this this week and get back to you. We'll flag down a cab for you after the show just for fun, just to feel some Pauley Papps. What's going on out there, man? What were the highlights for you last night? Did I see you? Were you wearing a suit by any chance last night? That's not on brand for me, Grotie. I own a suit and I'll be buried in it, but I don't.

Okay. I thought I saw you. That's why I got it. You got plans for it. Mark, that's why we got into radio, so we didn't have to wear suits. I know. Amen. And by the way, I loved you announcing the FM stuff over at Weiner's Circle on

Rightwood the other day. That was fantastic. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Yes. Had fun with the friends over at the Weeners. You've been there before probably many times.

Oh, I live six blocks in the Weiner Circle, and that's most of the reason I bought in that neighborhood. But I'll say media night last night was subdued. There was not a huge press contingent. The players are so conditioned now to give you nothing. I think a lot of. of people were asking Drake May about its shoulder and he said fine, fine, fine, a hundred

times. But I think it's I can't tell if it's an issue or not. Over the past few weeks, Drake May has not thrown the ball a ton. Their offense hasn't been great. Their defense has carried them to the Super Bowl, which is fine. Can't imagine him not playing at 100% and winning this game. So

they set a shot of him. Social media by the Patriots today and it was a shot of him throwing the ball. So I think they're trying to announce that he's fine or get people to believe that he's fine. Yeah, I I think that's probably the biggest X and O angle here is just quarterback health because it played into why the Patriots are in this position to begin with, Paul. What else did you glean or hear from what was said by the players when it came to opening night? A little bit of the Seahawks.

There's a lot of people who've never been here before. I mean, almost everybody on the Seahawks has never been here before. So someone says, describe the experience. He goes, I haven't had the experience yet. I'm just starting out. And I think Sam Darnold has been interesting. We had Sam Darnold last week on the Dan Patrick show, and he's a bit tired of talking about the Jets days

and his struggles in the past. The only thing we got out of him was that, how would Sam Darnold five years ago have handled this moment? He goes, Sam Darnold five years ago wouldn't be in this moment. I was overthinking things. I was judging myself. I was not just playing football. And he says now at 28, which for him,

he came in a league at like 20 and a half. And he was like 21 years old his first start. I think he's a guy who's way, way more mature. And it's like he's shell-shocked by the jet stays, but they're in his rear view window. And we look at this Super Bowl, a matchup between two defensive quarter or two defensive coaches. It seems like, oh, we got something?

We have breaking news. Oh, I like breaking news. I can't believe it. I love this. Paul, the Bulls have made a train. Get ready, Papsed. Get ready. Yeah.

So this is from Shams Sharania, just in. Chicago, Minnesota, and Detroit have agreed to a multi-team deal that sends Jaden, Ivy, and Mike Conley, Jr. to the Bulls? Love Mike Conley Jr. He's a stud. Kevin Heter and Dario Sarge go to the Pistons. Sources tell ESPN.

Detroit also receives a 2026, as I have to dial it up. First round, protected swap from Minnesota. Man, I like Dario Sarge for the Bulls, but I get it. How old is Connolly? Seriously. He's like 35, 36. He's like 37. Oh, he's got a beard.

He's got gray in his beard. Very popular man in the NBA, though. He got a max contract at one point. Mike Conley's 38 years old. 38. Go ahead, Polly. I know you guys are going to have people on to break this down, but my first reaction list is it's step one of a second trade. I don't think that this would be the only thing you did.

This might be a roster move to get the roster ready to do something else. Well, I see it as one thing. They're getting players in that timeline. What we've been told is the Boozellis Giddy timeline with the addition of Jaden Ivy. I think he's here for real, but it is good to see them unloading a couple of contracts that were expiring, and Kevin Herder and Daryo Scharge in this deal. I'm his Herder, too. I enjoyed Kevin Herder. Kevin Herder brought a little something.

A little something. Yeah. Grady loves a little bit of an edge guy, and I feel like Kevin Herder had a little bit of an edge. Yeah. Not just the red hair. More than that. I want to get back to Marshall's original question now that we got to the breaking news. Paul Pabst is who we're talking to, our friend who has the tailgate on Saturday morning,

Stan Patrick's producer right here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Do you get a sense, Paul, that this might change the math, if you will, the arithmetic with two defensive-minded head coaches going head to head after we've seen so much offense versus offense versus offense when you get to the pinnacle. And this might change the way we look at whether a defensive head coach is the right move for so many of these teams, especially after what we saw. this offseason with all the head coaching changes? Well, I think it's going to, I remember when the Patriots signed some defensive players

in the offseason, like Milton Williams, not a household name, but he is a killer for them. And they built a really strong pass rush up the middle. I think that maybe the difference in the NFL these days is Miles Garrett cost you $45 million. But you can get some defensive tackles that could rush up the middle and make things uncomfortable for half that. And so I think maybe that's how the league may change. And, you know, if there's any team that could use a pass rush up the middle, it's the Chicago Bears. I don't know what they're doing for the draft, but they have to look at the free agent market and say,

we addressed the offensive line last year, especially the inside of the offensive line, and the inside of the defensive line might be a priority this offseason. Paul, I know you're there on a national scale, but is there any Chicagoness that you've come across so far and the people that you've talked to and the buzz that you might be hearing about that? Yeah, there is, Mark. I actually have been taping a few people for the tailgate show on Saturday. I just talked to Mike Tarrico. A little name dropping there. Mike Tariko was just on set. And he called a Packers Bears game with a big touchdown play. And he even said that the energy at Soldier Field this year was off the charts from the past when he's called games every for.

Mike Trico's called games everywhere. He brought it up. I didn't ask him about the energy. And then the other one was Albert Breer of the Monday morning quarterback. He's a very smart football guy. He says that the football consensus of the Bears is they've got a really, really nice window for the next few years. Now, I know we can talk about a harder schedule next year. But this is his words, Caleb Williams on a rookie deal, a June day on a rookie deal.

Kyle Munangai cost you almost nothing. And I know you're going to have to maybe let some guys go here and there, but you have a lot of talent on rookie deals. And again, Caleb Williams, in a year and a half from now, we'll get the big bag. But for right now, they're kept friendly and a really good team. So he was very positive about the Bears. Well, and I think that that's something where when you see it get put together, you know that I guess, you know, the big name we've talked about.

it. There is a path. There is a path for the bears to get one of these big-name pass rushers potentially. But it might cost you some real room down the line. Yeah. I think the other thing that I've noticed here, and I got a little melancholy as a bear's lifelong Bears guy, is that when I went to media night last night, I was looking around and I was like, you know, the Bears could be here. They really could. And that's not, you know, rose-colored glasses. They could have very easily taken that game against the Rams. And I just don't think, I think the Bears would have clearly been to other dogs against Seattle, but they're beatable. Sam Darnold had bad days before against the opportunistic defenses.

And so I got a little bun. I'm like, boy, this was a really way too early window for the Bears to be in the Super Bowl, but it was pretty close. All right, Paul. What's the entertainment scene like? What have you eaten? What are you going to eat? Where are you drinking?

Are they good? Because I know you love a pub, but that's usually, that's the Chicago thing. I don't know what did you get cooking out there in San Fran right now. Well, I'm better at that than breaking down. defenses. I've already went to a Cajun restaurant in San Francisco, which was really weird, but it was great. They're known for Chiappino.

The Italian dish, Lely, you may know this. It's like a seafood, pasta dish Chiappino. I guess it was originated here in San Francisco. So I've already had two helpings of that, because I want to embrace myself in the culture. But, you know, on the Dan Patrick's show, our call time is 4 a.m. So the social

scene at 5.15 p.m., you can get into any restaurant. No, I think that the Chupino is like, it is definitely one of the specialties. I just tend to get seafood when I'm near a coast. That's just how I kind of put it all together. They do good sourdough in San Francisco as well. And garlic. Yes, all of those things.

Garlic fries at Oracle is always like a delicacy thing. Yeah, great looking stadium. And we had the president of the Giants on, and we were discussing old stadiums. And he said, he actually compared it to Wrigley Field. He said, there's stadium here for the San Francisco. Giants, they're not moving. They're not going anywhere. They'll just make slow improvements around it, inside it, and keep it as long as they can. I think that's what, even if you're a Cubs fan and you have problems with little developments around regularly field, it's still in the

city. It's still the place you love. And you have to embrace a little bit of the culture and the development, or you have to move to the suburbs, which nobody wants. I always say, if you have a bay or ocean, if you want to call it, as your background, you're winning. You probably want to stay there. There's no more beautiful scene in Major League Baseball. than that ballpark. It's gorgeous out here. The sun is up. It's not to Chicago weather.

But the other thing we talked about, and I did ask Albert Brewer about this as well, I said, can you picture the Bears moving out of Chicago? And he goes, I got to tell you, nationally, I don't go to that many games. He goes to one Bears game a year. But he goes, that lakefront you guys have,

he goes, every time I go there, I'm like, this is unbelievable. And we take it for granted. We talked about this Mark and I on the tailgate before. I think sometimes Chicago people almost don't realize how beautiful the scene is. I'm here in San Francisco, and this is a great space, but there's no high rises above me.

There's no museums on other side of me. Lakefront in Chicago, and I know this can of worms of the bearer stadium is such a big topic, but when I talk to people in national media, they're like horrified by the idea of them moving on Chicago. One more for you, for me, Paul. Is it too early, or can I ask, do you have a pick for Sunday's game? I'm going to pick with my heart with Sam Darnold.

I think he's a good dude. who got a rough deal with the Jets. He's really hit his stride. They've got a full service team, special teams. Jackson Spets and Jigba is as good as it gets. I saw him last night. He's six foot 190. He is a normal looking human being.

He is a freak show on the other. I mean, we're in different shape, but he and I are the same height weight. It's distributed in different areas, but he is a freak show on the field. I got to pick the Seattle Seahawks. He's also very, like, subtle and soft-spoken. You know, he's not that his play

is outrageous and like speaks for itself. But yeah, his... Leila, you're 100% right. I saw the guy. He's very subtle. You're 100% right, Leila. I saw him. I'm like, that's J.S.N?

I mean, he's, he looks like a guy who would, you know, maybe like play Division III football. He's a normal-sized person. And he's standing around all these huge guys, but he is an absolute freak out of the field. Sounds like you got a stack tailgate show. By the way, we're, I don't know if you heard, but we are FM.

We're 104-3, the score. I hope that you remember that. for your tailgate show. Yeah, FM. Mitch told me to make my voice sound better to match the FM, so I'm working on it, a little whiskey, maybe some cigars with DP, but I'll be ready

to go for FM day. That just made me cough up my tea, because you know what I'm thinking? People hate my voice, no matter what? Be you, Pauley. I like the idea of thinking of a PD to say guys, you really got to really enunciate. I need that base to really come out. Maybe a little whiskey.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A little whiskey. Make it a little smoky. Like to me more. Like a demie more. Yeah, yes, there you go. I just watched a few good men the other day. That's a great example. You watched a few good men, but you won't watch the other guys. Oh, he's never seen the other guys. Can you judge him for that?

He's never seen the other guys? Yeah, I can see seeing the preview of that movie and going, what is this about? But it's fantastic. You got to see the other guys. I didn't not like it. I just started watching and I enjoyed it and I haven't gotten back to it. I don't know.

I don't understand my own system of watching stuff. I really don't. Mark, you're a football guy. You don't start watching shows and series until late February. Yeah, well, like I said, I am running out of excuses. So you're right, but late February, I'll start to begin to think about the potential of watching it. I'm in with you. I'm in. Awesome. Well, at least we have the consideration portion. The potential for the consideration. I hate this so much. I'm not even going to pretend anymore.

Like, I can't entertain the silliness. Paul, thanks as always for joining us. Keep us post on what's happening over there at the Super Bowl. And good luck traversing the Bay Area. Appreciate you, Paul. Yeah. Anytime. I listen every day. Keep up the good work. Same here. That is Paul Pabst, producing the Dan Patrick show. That's why he's out at the Super Bowl. And he's the host of the tailgate Saturday mornings at 7 right here on 104-3, the score. Pipsed.

I know we have a Bulls trade that just happened. And we'll sink our teeth into that for sure. But at the same time, we end our show of fun stuff here. And in this new spirit of FM and whatnot. And whatnot. I say we play the hits. And one of the hits is the ether that was dropped. James Hardin by Mavericks broadcaster Brian Demaris. So in the spirit of James Harden

wanting yet another train, you get it next.