StarTalk Radio - StarTalk Playing with Science – The Big Game Special Edition feat. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Episode Date: February 2, 2017

SERIES PREMIERE SPECIAL EDITION: This special edition of the series premier of our new podcast, Playing with Science, features additional content by Neil deGrasse Tyson before and after the show. In between, hosts Gary O’Reilly & Chuck Nice huddle up for Sunday’s big game with Super Bowl champs Osi Umenyiora (NY Giants) & Santonio Holmes (Pittsburgh Steelers), astrophysicists Charles Liu & Neil deGrasse Tyson, & comic James L. Mattern. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.

I'm Gary O'Reilly. Chuck Nice. This is Playing With Science. Today, we're taking a good long look at the big one. The once a year circus that has the whole world watching. And that's just the halftime show yeah and if you're just lucky enough to get to play in this once a lifetime game man i gotta tell you you uh you're you're in a very elite crowd unless your name is tom grady in which case this happens

just about every single february get over it to help steer us through the defensive line and take out that quarterback. We'll bring you two-times winner and former New York Giant, Osea Menoura. Yes, and going for touchdown goal, we're also going to have another winner and MVP, former Steelers wide receiver, Santonio Holmes.

And of course, we wouldn't be without our special teams, and our hotshot today is none other than astrophysicist charles lu who'll break down some of the science behind the greatest show under us and trying desperately not to fumble on every play will be chuck and myself we make no promises wait wait did somebody just throw a flag no they didn't already oh outrageous all right let's get this thing started and Let's do it. And to kick things off, our first string, which we got astrophysicist

Chuck Liu, and we have the man himself, Super Bowl MVP, Santonio Holmes! Woo! Yes! What's up, Santonio? Hey. How's it going, guys? Good to see you, man. Thanks for joining us. Doesn't get better than that.

MVP. So, you know, what we're talking about in this show is basically the big game, what it's about, what it feels like. And, of course, we can't talk about what it feels like to win a Super Bowl. So we had to bring in somebody who knows what it feels like to win a Super Bowl. From a Charlie Sheen standpoint, winning is what Santonio Holmes does. All I do is win, win, win, no matter what. So before we get into what it feels like and all that, Santonio and Chuck, what we want to do is take a look at what we're calling the San Antonio Homes Super Bowl winning drive.

Yeah. Because, man, it was all you. So and then Chuck will let you break down some of the science behind what's going on. But it's not just one clip. We got to show like all the plays because the entire drive was basically just Roethlisberger playing a two man game with the man who was sitting right with us. So let's take a look. Yeah, exactly. That's basically what it was.

It was a game of catch. It was a game of catch that won the Super Bowl. Let's take a look at it. Game running drives in the fourth quarter. Or overtime. Part-time glitch. And here they come. And Roethlisberger escapes and throws.

And the pass is caught. Holmes reaches up. takes the catch. Washington 5. Ben pumps, throws, caught. Holmes. Francisco falls down. Holmes is going to take it inside the 10. He's going to get to the 5-yard line.

Little slot left. Washington outside left. Roethlisberger. Pass time. Goes to the back of the end zone. And it is caught for a touchdown by Holmes. To the corner of the end zone. Does he get both feet down? Left definitely.

Did the right tap as well. With control. He had that throw both feet down? Left definitely. Did the right tap as well. With control. You have that control both feet down. I say yes. I say both feet in, both feet down, and control of the ball. Amazing. Three partners are there. You've got three guys.

He had it on the other side on the plate before, though. Right. The right foot is coming up, but it's down on the ground. Is it down on the ground? Does he toe-tap it? As he has control of the ball, he has control all the way through, and that's the whole issue right there. After review, the receiver controlled the football, came down on both toes, inbounds, touchdown. We make no apology for playing the whole of that.

It's unbelievable. How long did it take you before you let go of that ball? I think when I got on the sideline, maybe. I gave it to one of the guys that put up for me. But, I mean, that was an amazing opportunity, you know, that we had to display greatness. And it was displayed, you know, by a team effort. Granted, it came down to making, you know,

four big plays at the end of the game. Yeah. But that effort of our defense to give us an opportunity, you know, to get back in place. They gave up a big play. Those guys scored with 5-0 running down the middle of the field. Yeah. I think that allowed our offense enough time to get out there and just have fun.

So, now, you know, let me ask you, when you're in the huddle, does the play, is the play called to you all, you know, so the last four plays of that drive is is that your number being called every single time no no so when you get in the huddle what's what happens with ross rothlisberger he's not calling your number so what happens uh bruce aarons um was our offensive coordinator at the time and the way our offense was set up was to beat on one side of the field we're playing versus man to man other side of the field we're playing versus zone and depending on the play call

and how those guys are set up that's where Roethlisberger goes and makes his reads and knowing that we had a I want to say a rookie corner at the time in uh Dominique Rodgers Camardi uh yeah not anymore not anymore but yes you're right at the time he's he's definitely established himself you know as a as a prolific cornerback in the NFL now yeah but at that time he was young and very aggressive and you can see in the video that he wanted to make plays uh uh to try to stop you know our offense but Roethlisberger with his famous punk fake you know kind of gave with me an opportunity to to get open and find the soft zones for me to sit down in so did since once you hit the corner of the end zone with triple coverage you thinking there is no way this ball is going to end up in my arms I never even saw

those guys on the football field, to be honest. The minute the linebacker stuck his hand out and he just whiffed at me, I stumbled, you know, getting off the line because I thought he was going to jam me up. And if he jammed me up, this play was over. Yeah, the play is over. If he gets you a little jam at the line of scrimmage, it's done, you know, because you don't have time to get to the back of the end zone then.

So he gives you a little whiff. You get behind him. Now, it kind of looked like, you know, there was a lot of, you know, and I don't know if that's just drama, but there was a lot of like, did he get his feet down? But the way you sat, once you caught the ball, you're sitting with your legs spread. You're cradling the ball like it's a little infant. Your head is down. Your teammates are hugging you. But you

could tell right then and there that you knew for a fact that that was a catch and a touchdown. So what was going through your mind when you're sitting there in the back of the end zone on the ground with your little baby football in your arms?

The main thing was thank you, God, that this opportunity came. It was because of a dream. You know, a young kid from a small town in Belle Glade, Florida, who believed that one day he wanted to win the Super Bowl. And I didn't care if I won three, four, or five, but I wanted a chance to win one. And playing in high school state championship games, playing in the national championship game, and getting the ultimate gold opportunity

to play in the Super Bowl, I couldn't ask for anything more. And my dream came true when the prayers were answered that I just want to win the Super Bowl, and this time I have to do something. I have to do something I have to do something that solidifies myself and my place uh in this football world that I have worked so hard to achieve but you take it a level further because that catch gives the Steelers six titles that's a

record that stands now so you know the dream just got better and better and better. Let's jump into the science here. Let's get the background on what turned out to be the dream. Yeah, exactly. So Chuck, take a look and give us a little breakdown from a physics standpoint when you are looking at a play, a pass play, and let's kind of get right to the touchdown pass because the touchdown pass is really the play that has a lot of physics going on. So can you take us through it? Like what is happening? Here's my question for Mr. Holmes. Okay. From the physics point of view, what was going on there was a problem, not just in jumping and touching, but in the rotation. Okay. Your feet were essentially the fulcrum for a big rotating system. Does that make sense? So you, your throw, Ben had to throw it high up so you could actually see what was going on. So the play really, and again,

it's an amazing catch, Mr. Holmes. I really appreciate it. I enjoyed it so much when I watched it. It's really about angular momentum, right? Ben Roethlisberger had to throw the ball high enough and away enough from you that the defenders could not block it, which meant that you had to reach out already. That means your body was already rotating. In other words, tilting downward and upward at this outward and upward and downward at the same time while you had to keep your feet tucked down and touched down in order to make that catch so you were reached out you're already having this rotation that was going on which would have carried you out of the end zone and then the ball came and added an additional angular momentum vector basically a torque to your whole body, which

meant that you would be like acting like a lever and it could have pulled you out and off the ground. So my question to you was, did you feel that tug when the ball hits your hands? And did you have to touch down with your feet, especially like twist your ankles, for example, to make sure to compensate for that additional added angular momentum. And if so, that is an amazing physical activity that you had to do in order to make that catch work. Thank you. When I was in high school, I always thought, how can I play in the NFL? And in order to make plays in the NFL, you always had to get two feet down and in bounds. So in high school and in college, I never followed the one foot rule to get my feet down and in bounds. It was always about two.

Coming to that particular play and even leading up until, you know, two years prior to that, me joining the NFL, I'm pretty sure there are plays that I've made on the sideline where I toe tap toe tap here and there to get to that point in the end zone knowing that I had no room to move that this was the only spot for me and to know Roethlisberger put that ball in the exact spot. I never felt myself come off the ground, but I actually thought that I stayed on the very tip of my toes. I can't hear him at all. But I do know that I, after watching the video, saw that my feet came off the ground, elevated by inches. And to know that I was able to hit the ground

before the defender was able to knock me out of bounds, it all made that big of a difference. And you probably do that second nature. It's probably just a matter of your repetition. You do it so many times, so many times, so many times, that you don't even think about it when you're doing it. Is that right? When you know there's only this much space in the back of an end zone or on the sideline, your peripheral vision has to come into a factor.

And by running so many plays toward the sideline and catching balls in practice and just for fun, The repetition, like you said, it became second nature. So I know that I'm in this place where the only other place I can go is out of bounds. Super cool, man. That's fantastic. Gentlemen, it's been an absolute pleasure. Charles Liu, brilliant. I think you'll be staying with us. Yes.

Antonio Holmes. Stay with me, guys. I'm still here. I'm just going to show you guys something real quick. Oh, really? Okay. All right. Watch out.

Here we go. Unexpected. This is kind of cool. This will be good. For those of you listening, we are via Skype with Santonio, and he went. Oh, snap. That's a Lombardi trophy that Santonio just went and pulled up on screen for us. For those of you listening without the benefit of video.

He's got the Lombardi trophy right there. Now, is that because you're the MVP that you get to have the Lombardi trophy? Hold on. I'm trying to take the glare away from it. Okay. But, no. All right. So this trophy was to every player.

We all need to get a replica trophy for winning the Super Bowl. And we were all asked to put something on our trophy just in case we won the game. So my coach, Coach Ray Horton, who was the defensive backs coach at the time,

had asked, hey, Tone, is this all you're just going to write just your name and wide receiver number 10 on the on your trophy and i was like yeah coach i mean that's that's basically it you know he said well i think you should write something else on there and i'm like what do you mean what's written on my trophy go on it's super bowl 43 mvp and this one is for the muck which is my hometown now this was presented this was written on this trophy two weeks before the Super Bowl nice wow very nice man I feel like I should share this with everybody and let you guys know that that my dream was to become a Super Bowl MVP.

And it's written right here. Well, that's very cool. Thank you for sharing. That is absolutely incredible. To show us not just the MVP cap, but the Lombardi trophy. There you go. That engraving. One more thing, guys.

All right. We got another thing. This is great. It's my birthday. It's like San Antonio is breaking out all the stops for us. Love it. Oh. Oh, is that the MVP trophy?

This is. That's the star. Pete Bozell. Yes, sir. That's the Pete Bozell MVP trophy. Yo, man, that's good stuff. That's good stuff. How big is your trophy cabinet?

It's not very big at the moment. I got the rest of the trophies at my mom's house. I just shopped with the few that mean the most to me, which is these ones. Yeah, yeah. And I don't think you need any more, to be honest. No, not really. Like, if you only had two trophies and those were the only two trophies you had, like, you'd be okay, you know?

No questions about it. Yeah, nobody would come along and say, like, where's your other trophies? I mean, all you got is an MVP trophy and, like, a Super Bowl trophy. I mean, seriously. Right. Where's your bowling trophies?

Huh, Santonio? Oh, you want a bowling trophy? If he pulls out a bowling trophy, I'm done. Wait a minute! Hold on, you can't see it, but it's autographed by me right here, Super Bowl XLIII MVP. This is at the Brunswick Bowling Lanes that we did with the Dirt and Lone Foundation.

You crazy. Antonio, man, you're too Foundation. You're crazy. Antonio, man, you're too much. Thank you so much for sharing. That is absolutely incredible. Hey, man, make sure you come back, man. We'd love to have you back on the show, all right, man? Sure. Send me the invite. I'll be more than welcome. All right, buddy. Thanks so much.

So, of course, the big game is the most social day of the year. Yeah, pregame, halftime, and maybe some football. Yeah, maybe some football. And, of course, to get a social look at the most social day of the year. Yeah, pregame, halftime, and maybe some football. Yeah, maybe some football. And of course, to get a social look at the most social day, here's James Maddern. James, take it away. Look, if you're not watching the big game, you're crazy, okay? Not even about football. Just a big party. It's an event. Look, you don't even have to know the sport to enjoy it. Go gamble. Yeah, don't even gamble on football. I got friends back home. They spent

three months worth of rent before the kickoff. Yeah, that's right. Gamble on how long the national anthem is. That's fun. If she holds a note too long, you're really going to get nervous. How about the coin toss? Coin toss is what it's about. I got a friend who financed a Porsche because he had tails plus the points. That's the American dream, yo. How about music? Who doesn't like music? We all like music because we have souls. Halftime show's the biggest gig of the year. Grammys ate nothing on the halftime show. Ever since Justin pulled out Janet's boob, oh man, anything can happen. How great was that moment? All those years in high school, me with that Rolling Stone cover with Janet with her boobs covered by some random dude's hands me turning it upside

down and sideways trying to see a nipple and then at halftime I got to see it that's the moment I stopped being an atheist thank you football how about that time Missy Elliott showed up out of years in exile still wearing a jacket that's a trash bag after all these years she doesn't want to wear normal people jacket no she goes hefty or not at all. Get your freak on, baby. How about the time that The Who came out? And for weeks we're like, no way they're going to play the same songs they play all the time they're on TV. And they play the same songs that they do every time on TV. They hate rehearsing, apparently.

We got fooled again, baby. We got fooled again. You know what else is great about the big game? Commercials. Yeah, what's more fun than gathering around the television after a bunch of foreign outs, seeing what out-of-work actor isn't themselves to lead a Snickers? Yeah, that's exciting. Get those paychecks, Betty White. It's also fun to see movie trailers. Yeah, I got friends who know nothing about football. They don't know why you don't punt on first down, but they love Marvel movies because they're nerds.

And if you talk during a Marvel trailer, guess what, baby? Boom boom, there's gonna be some furniture moving. My buddy will throw food at you if you open your beak at any time during a Marvel preview. A few years ago, dude left all this guacamole all over the place. Why? Because he wouldn't shut his mush while Guardians of the Galaxy trailers playing. You keep your mouth shut while Rocket Raccoon is talking. That's the 11th commandment. Get it together, baby.

Guys, enjoy the big game. It's gonna be a good time. I'm either gonna be rich or homeless. But boo, there's gonna be a lot of fun, baby. Bam. Okay, we are going to take a good time. I'm either going to be rich or homeless. But boo, there's going to be a lot of fun, baby. Bam. Okay, we are going to take a break. That's great. It's going to be tough to follow an MVP from Super Bowl. It's going to be tough to follow a bowling trophy. We are going to do our best.

We're going to get a guy who's won two Super Bowls. Stick around. Osi Omanura is up next. Welcome back. I'm Gary O'Reilly. I'm Chuck Nice. And this is Playing With Science. And today we're taking a real good look at the big game.

Yes, the game that's got everybody's attention, the game that gets the world talking. If it's not the halftime show, it's the TV commercials. But sometimes a game breaks out somewhere around about in the middle. And one guy who knows exactly what to do when that game breaks out somewhere around about in the middle and one guy who knows exactly what to do when that game breaks out is former New York Giants linebacker Osi Omanura there you go all right good welcome to the show all right not once but twice you faced up Tom Brady and walked away with the world's biggest smile.

And, you know, that is, let's look at who we're talking about. Ostensibly, this guy may go down in history as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. I mean, people are having that conversation. But you and your compatriots, see my little pun there, see what I did there? I see that. I see what you did. Did you see what I just did there? We were trying to ignore it. But no, you and that

defensive line will forever be known as the Brady Killer. Right. Because I mean, you guys really dialed up his number. You had his number. So here's what we'd like to do right now. OC, we have a clip of you and it may seem

a little unorthodox, but it kind of shows the importance that you had on that defensive line because wherever you were, there was always an offensive line breakdown. So let's take a look at this clip. Get a clear shot at Brady. Third down and 17. Brady in trouble again. Justin Tuck. So right now there's an injury on the plate.

He was having a tough time getting back up. Well, watch Justin Tuck. He's in here in the middle. He does a great job. They overload the side with O.C. Umanur and Justin Tuck, and he's able to get a clear shot as well. Good job defensively. So here's what I love about that clip, O.C.

Justin Tuck came away with the sack. Right. But that play does not happen without you on the outside forcing a collapse of the pocket. What you see is Brady steps up into Justin Tuck. And the reason why he's stepping up into Justin Tuck is because you're on the outside going, I'm going to get you. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think that was our whole game plan. We knew Tuck was going to be tough for them inside. But what we wanted to do is we wanted to force Brady up into the pocket. So we were coming with relentless pressure off the edge and he was just stepping right into

whether it was Justin Tuck, sometimes Strahan coming in the inside, Jay Alford. He just kept on stepping into the pressure, man. So he fell exactly for our plan, and I think we executed it flawlessly. Meanwhile, I can watch that game a thousand times. I can just keep watching that over and over. Why are we not surprised? We've got plenty of clips for you. Hey, Chuck Lue, Chuck Lue, do us a favor.

Why don't you jump in there and break that down? Yeah. Give us a little physics. Sure. Well, the basic point, which is just athleticism, regards in that play, you see Justin basically pushing in through the center. And then you've got offensive linemen moving in the direction of O.C. Now, O.C. has got to take down one, two, maybe three people, take them off, put them off

balance, and move them over, while Justin then gets a clear shot at Brady when he's trying to step up in the pocket. So, O.C., my question to you is, how do you, as one man, successfully pull off what is physically not supposed to happen and take down three men at once? Were you using speed? Were you using leverage? Just the basic idea that the low man wins? Or did you have some other strategy that allowed you to put more of your influence on them, even though they had more weight and more force behind them?

Yeah, it was a combination of both. Speed was my primary asset going into that game anyway. The low man wins also is a big factor in determining who's going to be able to push back the line of scrimmage. What you wanted to do is you wanted to use speed

and then try and turn that and get a little bit lower than the guy and therefore be able to win your individual matchup. So it was tough. You know, a lot of those, a lot of times there were two people on me, three people. They would slide the line that way to try and curtail what me and Justin Tuck were doing. But we were able to continuously get pressure on him.

And it was a great day. Osi, can you just break down what low man wins to the audience like myself who aren't real aficionados? Right. Well, low man wins basically is whoever is lower than the other guy. Basically, have more leverage on your opponent when you're lower than him. It allows you to generate more power from from your hips and then from your quads. And that's exactly what low man. That's what they teach. They want you to get lower than your opponent and you kind of strike your strike him from like a down to up motion i don't really know how to explain it that well but it's basically you want to sink your hips and then strike from

lower than him to create leverage and push him out of the way from the physics perspective it's straightforward because as soon as the man leaves his feet, he can't drive off the ground to produce force to go in your direction. So if you are lower than the other opponent, then that gives you the chance to increase the amount of push you can get off the ground onto him, whereas he has a decreased amount of force to push down onto you. So how you get into the angles, into the corners is what we're all about. You know, Osi, one of your most famous moves is the strip sack fumble, where you would come around the end, and then you'd do that sort of chop with your right hand, right?

Right, right. Usually a suspecting quarterback, which is the right-handed quarterback, who's like, you're coming in on the blind side. And you're able to take that arm and just remove the ball as a result, right? Exactly. Yeah, so let me ask you this, and I've always wanted to ask someone who uses that tool. When you bring your chop down, when you bring your hand down,

where are you aiming? Are you aiming for the hand? Are you aiming for the shoulder? Are you aiming for the elbow? Where is it that you get the maximum amount of force input onto the arm so that the ball comes free? For me, it was always the hand, always the hand. For some reason, like the quarterback, you know, they hold the ball, but they don't hold the ball quite as tight as you would expect because in order for them to throw it, they don't squeeze it. So pretty much any little thing that you do to the hand you know is going to have the

ball come out so i don't understand a lot of times when people you know take these shots at the quarterback when they have a clean shot at him rather than going for his hand because that creates a forced fumble which is basically the biggest play you can have on defense but what i would aim for is the hand and it would happen so fast it was like split second like i would come around the corner and then within like i don't even know it was like split second. Like I would come around the corner, and then within like, I don't even know, it was like a millisecond, I would just out the corner of my eye see it, and I would just reach straight for his hand, not his elbow or his shoulder. It was always the hand.

Brilliant. That's really awesome. That's amazing. So as quickly as a defensive play unfolds, in that time, your brain is processing the fact that you're going to fend off this offensive lineman get around him locate the ball and then strike the ball from the hand all in what maybe two maybe 2.3 seconds yeah it was it so to be honest with you i still don't understand i don't know how i was able to do that.

Even some of these guys who do it now, I don't know. I can't quite understand the way we're able to do it because it just happens so quick. You know, you come around that corner and it's like as soon as he's lifting his hand, you're right there. You just stick your hand out right there, knock the ball out, and it's out, man. But everything happens within a millisecond. Did you work on developing your peripheral vision, O peripheral vision oc as part of your practice and training we would i didn't work on it specifically i think we all had um we all did drills like during practice we would all do drills about you know knocking the ball out the quarterback's hand but for some reason i was just that's just

something that i was much better at than than the rest of the guys on our team. But I didn't work on an x-ray or anything like that, no. Well, I will, as a scientist, biasedly tell you, from my point of view, the reason you're able to do that is because your human brain is the best computer, far better than any machine that anyone could have, about figuring out exactly what your physical system can do in order to produce the maximum amount of force on that ball. You didn't have to write it down on a homework problem or anything, but your brain and your body were finely tuned to produce the maximum physical effect on your opponent. And I applaud you for that. It's really quite remarkable, really. Wow, look at that. High praise for OC's brain. quite remarkable, really.

Wow, look at that. High praise for O.C.'s brain. I've never seen O.C. I've never seen O.C. that quiet. So, O.C., from now on, whenever you talk to somebody and they're like, how are you such a prolific defensive player?

You can tell them, my brain. It's my brain, baby. My brain's faster than anything else. Go back to that Super Bowl. You weren't really supposed to win it, the Giants. Then all of a sudden,

was it helmet catch with Tyree? Changes the momentum completely. And at this moment, you're sat on the sidelines. How does it feel watching that unfold in front of you? Do we have that? I think we have that clip. Can we play that clip? Yeah, we do. So this is a – go ahead.

I'll tell you guys exactly what happened. Pressure from Thomas off the edge. Eli Manning stays on his feet. Airs it out down the field. It is caught by Tyree. Oh, my God. This ball is thrown, and Tyree just goes up for it like a basketball player. Harrison trying to knock it down.

And Eli, man, I don't know how he got out of there. I thought he was on the ground, and then he came out of the pile and just slings it. That's a great catch by David Tyree. So when you look at this, it just looks like a play of sheer will. Yeah. Right. So what are you guys thinking? You're on the sideline.

You're the defense. What's going on with you guys while you're watching this? Yeah, you know, the crazy thing is I didn't even see the play. Because I was watching the game, and then I saw, I knew it was like fourth down or something. I saw them grab Eli. And as soon as they grabbed him, I said to myself, oh, the game is over. We lost.

And I put my head down. You know, I could feel the tears starting to well up in my eyes. So I put my head down, and then all of a sudden I heard the crowd scream. And so I looked up, and I saw Tyree, you know, standing up with the football. I was like, wow, something crazy must have happened here and um I didn't get a chance to see it until later uh you know when I was watching it on the jumbotron I was like that was something incredible man so everybody else got to see the play except for me because I was so disappointed I put my head down because I saw them grab Eli who knew Eli had that kind of

athleticism there There you go. Who knew? I didn't know. Once a linebacker, always a linebacker. Never going to give a QB any credit. And I don't blame him because guess what? He's not hating. He is not hating on Eli right now.

I looked at that play and I was just like, who possessed Eli Manning to make that play happen? Because you know dog-gold well, Eli does not do that. But that's why I said it's like a play of sheer will. But still one of the most famous Super Bowl plays ever. And I'm going to share something with you, OC. I was there on the sideline when that happened. And I was at the game for Fox.

And I was on the Patriots sideline. Now, I don't know if you remember. First of all, you guys were hitting. You could hear the hits. You could hear the hits up in the firstots sideline. Now, I don't know if you remember. First of all, you guys were hitting. You could hear the hits. You could hear the hits up in the first and second level. That's how hard you were hitting. And I was standing for the first half of the game on the Giants sideline, and you guys were losing. But this is the one time in my entire life that I wanted the Giants to win a game

because the Patriots had beaten the Eagles in the Super Bowl. And I was no way I was going to see the Patriots have an undefeated season and a Super Bowl title. So I'm standing on the Giants sideline. You guys are losing, but you're playing very well. And I thought to myself, I am jinxing this team because I am an Eagles fan standing on the giant sideline. So halftime, I went through the tunnel and I stood on the Patriots sideline and you guys won. So you can thank me whenever you want. I appreciate it. I'll thank you now. I'll thank you right now.

I appreciate it. Hey, OC, do me a favor. We've got to take a break, right, Gary? We have. We're going to take a break. But you, my friend, must hang around. Got a little something special just for you. So, OC, I don't know if you know this or not. Can you use my initials too?

NDT. NDT? You know, you ain't nothing unless you got, like, some initials. But NDT is actually an athlete. I don't know if you ain't nothing unless you got, like, some initials, you know? But NDT is actually an athlete. I don't know if you knew that or not. Neil wrestled, did some crew. My man's, like, you know, he's— The ex-athlete.

Ex-athlete, yes. I think we're only in that category. So now let me just ask you, what do you see the common thread between all athletes? And you can make this scientific or emotional. What do you see as a common thread between all athletes? I would not put all athletes in the same all athletes category. Really? I think there's some categories of sports that have a certain stress level, training level, energy level, muscular skeletal

level that would distinguish them from other athletes. So, for example, if you're a world-class golfer, I don't know that they're going to give you a seat at the football table. O.C., do you consider golfers athletes? I, I, I. Okay, don't answer. Don't answer, brother. Don't answer.'t answer Don't answer

It's okay It's okay I'm getting a vibe here It's a no We got the answer It's definitely a no I'm not going to put you on the spot We got the answer

So What I found is They asked me the other day They were like Do you consider people Who play darts Do you consider them athletes I was like

What Let me just say this Let me just say this Here's the answer to that Any game you can play With a mug of beer in your hand is not an athlete. Okay? There will be others who disagree with you. For sure.

So what I found is that the, when I, and I learned this interviewing for StarTalk, when I interviewed professional athletes and they knew, or they saw some early photo of me coming off the wrestling mat, there was a little extra bonding, just a little bit of extra chemistry there that I felt in the interview. A little bit of respect that went beyond just, you know, what else I may have accomplished. And I value that. It's kind of like a brotherhood, if you will, of people who sweat and toiled and risked injury but get injured had to recover from injury does OC's position resonate with you because OC was a linebacker defensive end and there's an awful lot I would call wrestling going on at the line of scrimmage so OC do you see yourself as kind of part wrestler when you're playing middle linebacker or defensive end

yeah great question yeah I think um I think a lot of really good offensive and defensive linemen actually did wrestling. They wrestled because it's a lot of leverage. You have to be able to get up under your guys. So a lot of the really good ones were actually wrestlers also, yes. Excellent point because when I'm wrestling, I've got to know where your center of mass is and what is holding you up from falling down. Then I can hit that, and then you're down. Right.

Period. See, I get to add not only the fact that I've wrestled, but I have a degree in physics, so I know. So I got all the forces. Sometimes I might have to think too much about it, and then it's too late for me, but I'll know even how I fell down. Well, let me let both of you know that I, too, did wrestle, but I wrestled with emotional problems.

Just letting you know, I think it's just as valid. It's just as valid, man. It's just as valid. Yo, wrestling is hard, man. That's a really difficult sport. Really difficult. Did I tell you this? I say this all the time.

I don't want to overstate it. But if you ask anybody what sport is the hardest thing they've ever done, you'll get a variety of answers. Cross-country skiing, long-distance swimming, triathlon. If they have wrestled, they'll tell you wrestling. They'll tell you wrestling. They'll tell you wrestling. Right on.

Obviously, while we have the great man here, was there any real science behind once you get into the NFL and what that brought to your playing career and the defensive unit? Or did they just say, go out and do your thing? No, it was, you know, we had some really good coaches, but what I found out was once you got into the NFL, you almost had to start coaching yourself because the coaches, they don't really have enough time to sit with you individually and, you know, get you better. They actively looking for your placement every single year. So you almost had to have a sense of, yeah, it's the truth.

That's serious. That's some insight, man. That's some serious insight. So basically, they're looking for self-starters. The guys that can sit, watch the films, the guys that want to teach themselves, the guys that are motivated to do it on their own. Exactly. Those are the ones who succeed. Gotcha.

Wow. That's an incredible insight. But think about it. If you're in the NFL, you were the best your high school ever saw. You're one of the best in your college. So they can't still keep thumb sucking you when you come into the NFL. Am I, is that a fair statement?

First statement, man, there's just, they just don't have enough time for that. So you have to, you have to be able to, you know, be self-motivated and get out there.

The nurturing is over. The nurturing is over. Here's the school of hard knocks, quite literally, when it's OC playing. Certainly. OC is a former Atlanta Falcons. Okay.

And a man who has given Tom Brady two of the worst days of his life. Right. Am I correct? So let's throw forward to the next big game in Houston. What are your thoughts from a man who has some serious experience? Well, I think Bill Belichick obviously is the greatest coach we've ever seen in the NFL.

The Atlanta Falcons are a hot offense, great on offense, but I think Bill Belichick is going to find a way to kind of limit what they're able to do offensively. That being said, I think defensively for the Falcons, they have some excellent pass rushes, and the way to get after the New England Patriots is to, first of all, stop the run, and then turn your pass rush loose. And they have Big Beasley, Dwight Freedy, and they have some really good players who can really get after the quarterback. My thought is, my head is telling me the New England Patriots are going to win.

My heart wants the Atlanta Falcons to win. I'm going to go with my heart. I'm going to say the Atlanta Falcons. All right. Can I comment on that? Of course. I'm born and raised in the Bronx, so I'm a legitimate Yankee fan. And the Yankees have been in 40 World Series over the past 120 of them, right?

So we have come to expect to win. And then when you don't win, we're disappointed. We barely cheer them for being in the World Series. You got to win. So you get a little complacent. You get a little fat and happy about it. you get a little complacent. You get a little fat,

fat and happy about it. So I, I, I learned recently that Atlanta for all four of their professional teams, the, the, the baseball, hockey, football,

and basketball have one championship in their history. And it was the Braves in 1998. If I'm remembering the statistic, statistic carefully. So the city wants it. The city needs it. And I think they're hungrier than the Patri carefully. So the city wants it. The city needs it. And I think they're hungrier than the Patriots. And if there's that unmeasured extra factor,

you can compare all the numbers you want and who runs fastest or who's got the best plays. But at the end of the day, there's a little extra bit that a player can put in that can transcend anything that they've performed before. And if that were not true for professional athletes, no one would ever set a world record in the Olympics. Think about it. What is a world record? It's something you did that day that exceeded everything you did in all previous days you have ever performed.

So I'm going to give, so I'm with you on this. My emotions are with Atlanta because a city shouldn't go that long and have that many teams without a championship. Okay, well, Matty Ice and Julio Jones, O.C., is that the path to glory for the Falcons? No, no, no, no, no. I think they're going to have to lean heavily on that running game because, like I said, Bill Belichick, he's going to eliminate Julio Jones. He's not going to allow Julio to beat him.

They're going to double cover him. He's going to look for Matt Ryan, or he's going to make Matt Ryan use all his other weapons. I think what they really need to do is use Devontae Freeman and Tevin Coleman, who are not only outstanding runners, but they're also outstanding receivers, and they're going to cause a lot of problems for the New England Patriots secondary and their linebackers.

I think that will be their path to victory because Julio, I'm not going to say he's going to be a non-factor, but he's not going to be as big a factor as most people. Because they're going to try to neutralize him. That's, you know, of course. Now, let me ask you on the defensive side of the ball for Atlanta. It's been my observation, and I could be wrong, that when you get to Tom Brady uh the Patriots offense really suffers like I don't know I think he's a guy that's not used to being hit and when he gets hit he's like hey man what the F is happening what's going on guys guys guys they're hitting

me guys like I really don't like Tom Brady no I love Tom Brady I think I'm gonna tell you the truth I'm gonna be very honest right now I'm very honest I think Tom Brady I'm good I hate to say this I hate to say this you want to be Tom Brady is the best quarterback to ever play football okay it it pains me to say that it pain and and and it's only because he is a winner, okay? He is like the quintessential winner. But do I like Tom Brady? That's a whole other story. But am I right about the fact that when you hit him, you change his entire game?

Yeah, he just goes to one. That voice you used, that's the exact voice that he uses. Guys, guys. That's the exact voice that he uses. Guys, guys. That is the exact voice. Guys, they're hitting me. They're hitting me, guys. I've heard that voice. I've heard that voice.

See, in the locker room before the game, the guys are just going to huddle, the linebackers, the defense. We're going to get him to use that voice. And that's the key. They key off from there. I bet. All I want to say, Chuck, just you be hating on Tom Brady. If you can embarrass him and have him run away to another planet,

that doesn't mean Gisele Bundchen is going to come running to you. Oh, man. Breaking news. Breaking news. Look at Neil getting right to the heart of the matter. You know, Neil, you have done some tweets about the big game itself. Every now and then, just if I feel, my tweets are if I feel it in the moment, and then I just deposit them and look away. It's not like a movement or anything.

That's funny. I believe there's a certain president who does the same. But I believe we have some. Yeah, I think we've got some that can pop up. You dug up some of my tweets? I think we dug up some of your tweets. They're out there forever you should know that alright what do you have

what do you have alright go ahead Neil read this one this is just a few weeks ago sometimes I wonder if we'd have flying cars by now had civilization

spent a little less brain energy contemplating football oh my god you're losing your friend look at Osteen you are losing your friend. Neil's my hero, man.

Neil, you're my hero. No, no, let me just, let me explain. Oh, please do, please do. So first, I capitalized F in football for that because, and I use the word civilization, because the whole world plays football. You're a Brit. Don't tell me you guys don't invest a lot of brain energy thinking about who's going to play, who's going to win,

who's going to be in the World Cup. Don't tell me that. Eat, sleep, repeat. Just do it. So we have flying. So now I'm just saying a little bit less of that energy. That's all. Okay, okay.

I don't mean all. Just a little bit. Okay. We probably have flying cars by now. So I got called out for that. I got called out on that tweet. And so I'm going to backpedal on it a little. But you've got enough flying cars.

Because I was asked, if all those people who were football fans didn't think about football, it doesn't mean they're going to be thinking about flying cars. They might just be thinking about where to get the next bucket of wings from, okay? So, a chicken wing. So, I said, all right, maybe if they weren't thinking about just who's going to win or lose, maybe if they thought about how to make the game safer. Right. There's technology that you could bring to it.

That could possibly improve it. I mean, so the other ways that brain energy could be applied. I just love the fact that you clean this up while O.C. Umanura is on the line and you're just like, yeah, I also meant soccer. And all of a sudden it became my problem. It became my problem. But when you talk about the concussion and the impact, I think we're going to start to explore those areas with some technology.

So on Playing With Science science we'll be dealing with that that's a whole show that's a whole show it is a whole show oh see why we have you here do you have a question for his royal highness here something else that i always um not what not bothered me but i wanted to know what your take on this is sometimes when i think about like the internet or or you know planes or you know things of that nature. I'm like, are there some people who are just born with, with brains that can think on that level? Because for me, you know, the internet or, or think like, I would never have thoughts to do that. Like, are there people who are just born naturally smart and they just know how to, they just know

how to do things like that? Or is that like a learned process? That's a brilliant question. So let me answer it a couple of ways. One is, don't confuse being good at something with being smart. You should think of those who are good at something as those who were committed to doing so. You walk up to, who's our guy from the swimmer? Michael Phelps. You go to Michael Phelps and say, oh, he's a born swimmer. And then you find out the guy trained 50,000 hours

in the pool. Did you train 50,000 hours? No. Okay? So we're not honoring the drive to attain the talent as much as we're coming in after the fact and saying, oh, look at how brilliant they are. We'll say that about virtuoso musicians.

Oh, they're born playing the violin. No, they, you know, I hate to sound like my boy who wrote the book on this, the 10,000 Hour guy. Yeah. What's his name? I forgot his name, but we know who you're talking about. Malcolm Gladwell. Malcolm Gladwell.

But behind all of that is everything they've done for this. And I don't mean to give a too long answer to this, but I had a cameo appearance in Stargate Atlantis in one episode. And I rate myself a C plus in that playing myself. Okay. Rate myself a C plus. You're on critic. My own critic.

I'm sitting next to one of their star actors, and're between scenes we're in the director's chairs and i say oh so so how long you've been acting i'm just trying to make small talk they said oh well if you include commercials since i was five it was like whoa exactly and and and when i see them act what the director said okay redo it again but this time with a little, add some emotion in the beginning, flatten it out midway, and then look for longingly at the end. In one sentence, all of that gets conveyed. And I'm saying, I can't do that. And so they're tapping deep into a lifetime of that experience.

And so I think it's insulting to come up to someone with talent and say, oh, you have a gift. You were born with this. Excuse me. This world is for people who work hard. And if you're not working hard, then you'll know why you didn't achieve. And I got one other thing to tell you. Forget the fact that I taught matrices in eighth grade and gave my first public talk.

There is no teacher in my entire time in school who at any time would have said, he's gonna go far. Because my grades were kind of average. And in school, in school, it is the high grade people who they say, that's the person who will succeed. So the mindset, and you know, of course you know, we all been in class,

and we all know who the straight A kids were. We all know, and they were the teacher's pet. They got all the awards. And now think about who are the shakers and movers of this world. The greatest of the journalists, the poets, the comedians, the actors, the great attorneys. Ask them, did you get straight A's throughout school? Chances are not. Even the inventors of the internet.

Look at all the people. Al Gore. Al Gore. Al Gore. In bed at the end of the night. Look at the people who founded Facebook, a college dropout. Bill Gates never finished college. Michael Dell never finished college. The guy who co-founded Twitter never even went to college.

So to say the straight A is the person who's going to matter in this world, you don't understand how it is that people come to matter in the world. That's all I'm trying to say. Wow. That's your answer, you see. Great answer. Hit the bottom with that one. Appreciate it. And with that, I will just put something on the end of that.

So please, please stop saying that I can dance because I'm black. I worked hard at that. Okay. So I'm black. I worked hard at that, okay? So, no, I'm joking. Not in your case. You came out. No, I can't. So anyway, that is fantastic, man. That's a great answer.

OC, man, thanks so much. I came from Midtown, so I'm glad that I caught the tail end of this. OC, great to... Hey, man, well, listen, we certainly hope that we can get you back on the show again. It was really a pleasure talking to you. Thanks so much for spending so much time with us.

Yeah, anytime, man. Thank you guys, man. It was an honor. O.C., thank you kindly. Man, that was a good show. Wouldn't it? Yes. Yeah, so...

It's terrible that we're going to have to leave right now, but we leave knowing that this Sunday you're going to be watching the big game and hopefully thinking about a tremendous shot of a football pointing downwards as it comes your way. Thanks to none other than Neil deGrasse Tyson. Don't thank me. Thank the laws of physics. Okay, that's right.

I'm a conveyor of these things. So that's what you should celebrate. Okay, there we go. So thank you to the laws of physics. Thank you to Neil deGrasse Tyson. Thank you to Neil deGrasse Tyson. thank you to the laws of physics. Thank you to Neil deGrasse Tyson. Thank you to Neil deGrasse Tyson. Thank you to the laws of physics. Former MVP, Santonio Holmes,

and his amazing trophies, and of course to former New York Giants, Osi Omenura, and we would not be there without Mr. Chuck Lu. Yes. Sir, thank you kindly for explaining and breaking down all of the science behind those wonderful

plays in Super Bowl.