The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Big Suey: The Cuban Heisman Speech (feat. Josh Pate)

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

"You taught me, 'If the AC is broken, you open the window.'" Josh Pate is here to talk all things College Football including the Pavia Filter and the future of the Michigan job. Plus, the Funniest Thing of the Sports Weekend includes a cheap Tom Brady, and Tony explains why Fernando Mendoza's Heisman speech was only Miami-ish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey guys, Tony here. Tomorrow, at 8.30 Eastern, it's the Emirates NBA Cup championship game on Prime. This year's quest for the Cup has delivered incredible moments and jaw-dropping highlights, and they've all been building towards this, the final two teams. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship live from Las Vegas Tuesday night at 8.30 Eastern on Prime. And if you're not a prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up today for a 30-day free trial to get started. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship game tomorrow at 830 Eastern,

Only on Prime. Restrictions apply, see Amazon.com slash Amazon Prime for details. All right, kicking things off with Smyrinoff, the official vodka sponsor of the NFL and the number of vodka in the world. Chris Cody, you're here. Smearned off.

Wow, you're on the money with Smeerrrrrots. Chris, you know what goes great with Smeerrrr off? Yes, but I'm really talking about game day fit. The style's got to match the vibe. Smeer off. All right, here's the deal. Game day is everything. And that's exactly why your fit has to match the occasion.

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Please drink responsibly. Smyranov. Number 21 vodka distilled from grain, 40% alcohol by volume, the Smyranoff Company, New York, New York. Please do not share with anybody under legal drinking aid. Smyrnawere no purchase necessary must be legal U.S. resident 21 or older. Sweepsteak starts 1215, 2025 at 12 a.m. Eastern and ends 1.23, 2026 at 11.59 p.m. Eastern. See official rules at program website. Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right?

Don't place parleyes on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero. Always drink your Yeagermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion. Everything else? Everything else. Wearing clean underwear every day?

Well, that's just a personal decision. Brushing your teeth? Obviously smart, but not a rule. Never pee pee on an electric fence. Okay, maybe there are two rules. But the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Yeagermeister must be drank ice cold. Or don't drink it at all.

Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it. Drink responsibly. Yeagermeister liqueur 35% alcohol by volume imported by mass Yeagermeister U.S., White Plains, New York. Welcome to the Big Suey, presented by Draft Kings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebitard podcast.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this image. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar. This episode of the Dan Levitart show is presented by Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours.

Happy Chinooka. This guy is really good. He is prolific. Josh Pate comes on live on Saturdays and all over your week, giving college football analysis and information that is instant and very strong. Josh, thank you for being on the program. Give me the precedent or historical comp to the surprise that Indiana is this year. Man, oh man, I guess you'd have to go to college basketball, Dan, to find the most ready

parallel for it. I'm just not sure it really happens in college football. And I also want to remind people, like last year was, the flash. You know, if you were to have what we historically in sports would call a flash in the pan, last year would have been that, right? You've got a guy who takes over a bottom dwelling Big Ten program. Indiana exists in the Big Ten so that Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, etc. can rack up wins. He takes over that job. He imports his James Madison roster. James Madison makes the playoff the next year, mind you. Indiana makes the playoff and then

gets better the year after that and makes the playoff and is the number one overall C.E. I don't know what the parallel is for it. I will tell you sort of the whole side lane of all this has been how bad it makes other coaches look because every other coaches out there begging for patience and they're trying to sell their booster class and their administrative class that it takes two, three years minimum. And that used to work.

And now all of that's burned up because your fan base and your donor base and your AD even knocks on your door and says, hey, you've got infinitely more resources, at least we thought, then Signetti has it, Indiana. Why has he been able to do it? And they really have no answer. I've been maintaining, arguing that Vanderbilt had its best season ever, Missouri, best season ever, Texas Tech best season ever, Indiana, best season ever. Is there anyone else? And is this just a product of what you're talking about? You can just get a coach now. And a coach and quarterback can go from North Texas to Oklahoma State. And you can fix your program by just doing it that quickly. I think you can. I think there's a lot of truth to that. I also think it is fraught with vulnerability because you could also try it and crash and burn

or you could have what's happened at Florida State, where you go and you do it one time. You portal your way to success one time and it sort of crystallizes this belief that you can just do that every year. And really, that's not anyone's aim, Dan. That's not even Signity's aim at Indiana. That's not Clark's aim. I'm in Nashville, down the road at Vanderbilt. That's not their aim. Their aim is really to build through high school recruiting.

It's just they realized, what are we doing? We're really building through high school recruiting just so the big boys can come in two years from now when they've developed on our dime and they portal out. So they've got to lean a little more heavy in the portal than that. But I also think there's this other thing happening. So as the portal, as NIL is elevating the level that those programs can operate at, I would also ask you, look around the country today versus a decade ago. Tell me where the dominant line of scrimmage play is. nobody, your Alabama's, your Texas's, nobody has dominant offensive line play anymore.

And that used to be the catch-all. That used to be what completely yanked your lifeline out of the wall. Was their ability, the big boy's ability to just lean and lean and lean and football's a game where you get to put your hands on other people? And so at a certain point, you're powerless because it's not college basketball. No one really possesses that. They have it in spurts, teams have it in spurts, but no one wire-to-wire possesses that, even among the playoff teams right now.

was dominant. On the offensive and defensive lines, the way Bama would have been a decade ago, the way Georgia was even five years ago. So I think those two things happening at the same time have opened the door for some things that we used to say could never happen in college football. How much would you argue with me if I said Texas Tech should be favored to win the championship? I'd argue a little bit. I've watched them a couple of times really, really up close. And the only thing that I would kind of push back on is I don't know that they would have the quarterback play to get them over the top. Like, I think. eventually quarterbacks have to win games.

You guys are going to, we're all going to watch Miami and A&M Saturday. For example, those are two really good pass rushes. Those are two teams that can shut the other teams run game down. And it eventually just comes down to, can Carson Beck really have a few series that he puts together where he wins a game? Can Marcel Reed do that? Well, I would ask the same question at Texas Tech. And I do think that they have a defensive side of the ball.

This is littered with Sunday talent, littered with SEC Big Ten talent. can they win three of them? Can they string together three of them? And do I think that they could consistently do that enough to be considered the favorite? That's where I'd push back a little bit because even though everyone's fallible at this point, I think I trust other quarterback situations more than theirs. Hey Josh, big fan, go freight, the Michigan job. You've been ahead of this story and your most recent podcast shed a lot of light on it. How quickly do you think that we actually see this job filled? Because there's a lot of questions to be asked in Michigan and its leadership. If I'm a head coach, am I signing with a program that may be under

scrutiny? Will I still have that same AD that hired me? Yeah, look, it's really interesting how that search is going to happen, actually. We just saw a Penn State search where, for better or for worse, the athletic director ran point on it. I don't know that that's the way the Michigan search is operating, but I also don't know what the future of Ward Manual is there. In fact, they may just be putting that off until they hired a head coach. That is a very, very strange situation. I will grant you to jump into. The counterpoint to that is, you know, a little birdie flew in my year last night and told me, do you realize since we fired Ward, we've actually had an uptake in our NIL contributions? Reading between the lines, that tells me there were a lot of deep pocketed people up there

that were not very happy, just with the general direction, just with the general existence of the program with Sharon. I think Sharon, if you zoomed out to 50,000 feet, was always kind of looked at by a lot of people up there as a bridge coach. We're going to put you in place at the tail end of the Harbaugh stuff right in the middle of the NCAA stuff. We don't know what's going to be on the other side of this bridge and it's really foggy. Well, the fog lifted, the worst case scenario didn't happen. And then you're just stuck with a coach that truthfully was bottom quarter to bottom half of the Big Ten from a caliber standpoint. And then you get this mess dropped in your lap. So it ends the way it ends. I think they look at it and say, it really doesn't

or which direction we go, we're going to upgrade. Whether that's true or not, that's what they believe. I think they're really ready to spend. And I think a lot of candidates are going to be sold on that idea. It's not false, by the way. I mean, it's like an untapped oil field up there from an NIL donor perspective. And it's the Michigan job. And, you know, if you're going after Kalin DeBoer, yes, I always thought it was going to be really hard to pull him away from Alabama. I still feel that. I know they won't give up until they actually get him looking them in the eyes and saying know, like a Twitter statement's not going to do for them, and I get that. I don't think they're getting to bore. But if you go after a Kenny Dillingham, for example, if you go after

a Jed Fish, those guys probably given their current situation versus what they could inherit in Michigan, could be willing to say, you know what, I'll assume a little bit of that risk because of the reward that I think I could bring us and it could bring me there. So to answer the first, first part of the question, I think it's going to go on a little bit because I really do think they insist on getting a firm, firm no from Caitlin DeBoer. That could be as early as Friday night or Saturday of this week, or if they just keep winning, it could be as late as into the new year. And they got to adjust their timeline accordingly, probably if that happens. But I do think once they get the no, and I do think it'll be a no from Caitlin, you move

on to like a Kenny Dillingham or a Jed Fish. I think that's when you start to really see Rubber Meat Road there, because I don't know that either of those guys are able to turn down the full force of what the Michigan offer would be. I'd take that job in a second if I were DeBoer. Get out from under all the saving stuff and just start over in a place with happier. Same pressure. Yeah, but you're not following the guy. I mean, you're following the guy after the guy.

I don't think it is the same pressure, actually. And it's a place where you're new on hope. You're not stained. But put this on the poll, please, Juju at Lebitzard Show. Is Josh too young to have little birdies flying in his ear and look up for me why it is that it is a little birdie that flies into someone's ear with information? is it carrier pigeon related? Josh, you mentioned a couple of months ago that you believe that there is a job, a big job that is going to open up because something is happening. Were you talking about

the Michigan job? Yes, I was talking about the Michigan job. I believed that that job was going to open up because I thought it had two possibilities. The first was just competitively. This is, I believe I said it after they had lost the Oklahoma game. So you still knew that you had the trip to USC coming up. lost that one, and you had the Ohio State game coming up. If they lost one other game along the lines, I thought they could have fired Sharon just because competitively, they didn't think that he was meeting the standard, but that was also armed with the knowledge that there was this other stuff going on in the background. Now, it would be a total lie if I told you, man, hey, I knew Michigan had cause to fire him right in and there. They didn't even know they had

full cause to fire him until last week. So I just thought if they're looking for a reason, Maybe they're given a reason on the field, but all I, look, all I was doing at that point was echoing what a lot of people in the business were saying. And that was, hey, with the Penn State job coming open and, oh, Florida just fired Napier and, oh, LSU made a move. As all that hurricane started to swirl, I kept on getting told, hey, the Michigan job may come open. The Michigan job's probably going to come open. And at that point, if you remember, no one was considering that as a possibility. Michigan was ranked. They were fine.

They had come out of the NCAA scandal stuff. So that was really not on the radar. And I was just thinking to myself, man, with all these other big jobs opening up, if Michigan gets thrown into the fold here, what is that about to do to the hiring cycle? And it did get thrown into the fold just after the other jobs already got taken. Greg, Cody, you had a great many objections to Pavia's behavior this weekend around the Heisman ceremony. Well, look, it was a Cinderella story. right. Mendoza is the first Cuban American ever to win the Heisman. He was great with his speech.

Indiana, Cinderella story. It was a wonderful night. And then Pavia, the runner up, embarrasses himself in his school by what he wrote on Instagram. I'm just wondering what your thoughts were on that. I learned last year that if you're going to take Diego Pavia, you've got to develop this different filter. I called it the Pavia filter. It's a reference I've used several times where that's just going to get caught in the filter. Now, you could choose to reject him, not like him, and I consider that last year, at which point I would have just been turned off by all of it.

Yeah, I hate that kind of stuff. Can't stand it. I just learned that, hey, man, if I'm going to let him in, like if I'm going to accept him, if he's going to be in my bubble, I'm going to have to accept to a certain extent that you don't get the kind of competitive character that you get, whether you like it or not.

You don't get the kind of competitive character you get from a guy that's five, on a good day playing at a Heisman level without a little bit of that mental edge. Because I don't think if he has that, that you know what about him, I don't even think that he's there to begin with. I think it's just been mandatory for him. The other part of that, I'm interested to see what you guys think about this, because I don't get tied up in the Heisman a whole lot. But the award says it's for the most outstanding player in college football. And if you eliminate everything you think about Diego Pavia off the field or the way

he runs his mouth or everything like that, I don't know that I saw a more. dynamic player more important to their team this year than him. But my working theory on why Mendoza won in such a runaway fashion was with all the coaching search stuff happening in the middle of the year, I don't think people paid a whole lot of attention to the Heisman race until the last weekend of the season. And that's why you go into that Saturday, Diego's like a co-favorit with Fernando Mendoza. And by the end of the Big Ten title game, which was a 13 to 10 game, Mendoza's odds are like minus 3,000. I found it curious that that kind of performance, was like the end-all-be-all indicator in the Heisman odds market.

But there's not an outrage for me either way. But I do think, yeah, Diego Pavia, man, I learned a long time ago, you're either going to accept that with him or you're just going to have to toss him out entirely. Cam Ward threw for 2,000 more yards than Mendoza. Like, that was just given to him because he was 22 touchdown, zero interceptions in the red zone, and we didn't expect anything from that football team. He had two moments. Pavia did not have two moments.

He had the moment against Penn State, and he beat Ohio. State. It's all he needed to win that trophy. Pavia, more passing yards in one fewer games than Mendoza and led Vanderbilt in rushing, I think seven of their 12 games this year. Yeah, I'm with you on that. It's silly, but when you have an upset of that kind, like, it doesn't make any sense to see Indiana be good at football. They were good once with Pennix. I think in the last 20 years, aren't they like 50 or 60 games below 500 in the last 20 years? And all of a sudden, they're beating Ohio State and they're who is the favorite?

Who's the favorite to win the championship? If you believe Vegas, Ohio State is. I don't know that Ohio State feels that way right now after what Indiana did to him. So look at me, I'm shaking as I talk. I have no idea. Okay, his YouTube channel, you have to watch and subscribe

at Josh Pate's CFB and he's the host of Josh Pate's College Football Show. A lot of good information there. Josh, thank you for being on. We appreciate it. I appreciate you, Deb. Hey everyone, it's Jeremy here.

Happy holidays. And I know that during the holiday season, my personal favorite part is getting to spend time with family, spend time with friends, reminiscing over years past of the holidays that we've spent together before. But in my case, there have been some years. I haven't been able to be around, mostly because of work. I'm lucky to live near my family. But I know for some of you, that might not be the case. And if there's distance between you or even if it is a work conflict, you don't have to feel disconnected. from your family during the holidays.

And a great way to stay connected is 1-800flowers.com because they make it easy to bridge miles, to bridge distance, to bridge time with gifts that just say, I'm thinking of you, so that the people who have always

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looked freshly picked, and it instantly brought this burst of holiday cheer into our household. It was really wonderful. It made it really happy. Beat the holiday rush and save up to 40% off Christmas bestsellers at 1,800flowers.com slash Dan.

That's 1,800flowers.com slash Dan for up to 40% off Christmas bestsellers. Folks, listen up. You know my holiday pattern by now. Every single year I tell myself, listen, Chris, you're going to be thoughtful this year. You're going to get good gifts. You're not going to be lazy. You're not just going to get gift cards. And this year, guys, I have news. I pulled it off. No panic. No sad little card. You know what I gave? I gave an aura frame. Like, why is it so hard to find a personal gift these days? It's for the people I'm closest to, my parents, my wife, my in-laws, my kid, the most important people in my world, I have no idea what I'm supposed to get them as a gift.

But one thing I know, people light up when they get photos. People love photos. So I loaded up my aura frame with all the moments I know they'll love, my daughter being adorable, random selfies, group pictures where none of us are looking in the same direction. I kept adding them because aura lets you send unlimited photos and videos right from your phone any time. And the best part, you can preload the thing before it even ships. So when it's open on Christmas morning, all the

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Frame Sell Out Fast to order yours now and get it in time for the holidays. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994, 44, 48 teams, these giant stadiums, the whole continent turning into one massive party I cannot wait. But actually getting tickets to any of this? Yeah, that part, brutal. That's why the game time map has been a total lifesaver.

It gives the advantage back to us, the fans. You can track price drops in real time, get alerts when steeds opened up, grab tickets the second they hit the app all back by the game time guarantee. I'm on the app looking at World Cup matches in Miami, because you know I am not missing that. I'm scrolling through every section in the building, behind the goal, midfield, lower bowl, upper bowl, and the deals are good.

I had great seats locked in within minutes. The experience is so simple and intuitive. Two tabs and I'm done. And the price, no surprises, fees are included. The seat views are my favorite feature, and you'll get a full panoramic look before you buy. Take the guest work out of buying soccer tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime map,

create an account, and use code Dan for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code D-A-N for $20 off. Swipe, tap, Ticket, go. Download the GameTime app today. Don Lebertard. I'm not going to apologize. I wouldn't expect you to apologize. You're a giant infant. Okay. You have no control over your emotions.

You have no control over your emotions. When you're calling someone you know an idiot, I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. And you're a fool for saying it. Okay. Stugats. You were a fool. I was kind of following.

Oh, you're locking in right now. You're locking in on eyes? Yeah, all right. Let's drop the gloves, pal. Let's drop the... You should be thanking me. For what? Every day.

For what? For what? For what? For what I've done around this character? And the second shit gets real for you? You want to come at me and call me a fool? Huh? No, no, no.

Seriously. Seriously, pal. I've added 10 years to your career. This is the Dan Levitar show. with the Stugats. A number of different college football things that I want to get to with you guys. You like the Mendoza speech. You like the Miami speech.

You liked the Cuban kid reaching the masses at the downtown athletic club. I mean, he's the most Miami player who's ever won the Heisman trophy. The Keynes have had two high. Leiseman winners, neither one of them were Miami guys. He's the most Belen players to ever win the Kauffin. He's the most Belen slash Columbus. He went to both schools, right? He went to both schools.

He would take offense to being called a Belen kid, though. Really? Greg, respectfully. Okay, I like you, Greg. That was not a Miami speech whatsoever. That was a Columbus speech. If you want a Miami speech, I will give you a Miami speech. Would you like a Cuban, would you like what the Cuban- Miami-Hisman speech should have sounded that?

I would love that. So, because you're a Broward guy. Okay, he did speak Spanish a little bit. Porly. Poorly. Okay. Porly, I mean, come on. Have some pride.

But would you not agree that he's the most Miami guy to ever win the Heisman? He ranks above the two Keynes who won. Yeah, Vinnie Testaverdi and Gino Toretta don't give off a whole lot of Kendall. They're from New York and California. Although looking at Vinny, not speaking, but looking at Vinny, Vinny could pass for Cuba. Yeah, yes. I do believe he could. We can claim him.

We can claim Vinny. Just visually. Tetade. Where can we put you, let's go find you a Heisman room, write up a speech and do a dead. Let's go, go to the Heisman, go to the downtown athletic club elsewhere in our building and tell me when you're ready. Tell me when your Miami speech. I'm going to write it up right now. It's going to be a Miami speech. Like if I would have won the Heisman, this is what it would have sounded like if I would have won. Excellent. I want to do funniest thing from the sports weekend with you guys here as Tony gets that ready. And then we'll close out the segment with Tony's Heisman. speech but are you guys ready to do funniest thing from the sports weekend okay uh get the imaging ready here uh because i have a nominee and also do me the favor video of just finding for me a photo

so i could present it to the audience of uh a seattle seahawk named brady russell just find me a photograph of brady russell and put it on the screen i will wait for you as i nominate uh what was for me, the funniest thing from the sports weekend. It involves Brady Russell. Hit the imaging, Chris. Hey, people. Tell us what in the sport made you laugh hardest this weekend. In this segment we call What Make You Laugh this weekend.

Ha ha ha. So I don't know if you guys saw this during what I'm going to call the Philip Rivers game because I do believe that a whole lot of people in the 4 o'clock window didn't care about Green Bay and Denver. certainly didn't care about New Orleans and the Panthers. Panthers still in the mix. Panthers are in the mix. Awful.

I heard the announcer shout, holy guacamole on the late hit that won the game for the Saints there. I hadn't heard a holy guacamole on television in a while. Put her on the poll at Levitart Show. Do you love when the sports announcer yells holy guacamole? But my funniest thing from the sports weekend is that in the Colt Seahawks game, the Seahawks at one point ran a little a rollout Sam Darnold

he threw it to this guy, Brady Russell and what happened is he just simply dropped the ball. He was open and he was wide open and the rollout fooled the Colts and they just threw it to Brady Russell and the announcers torched him as soon as he didn't catch it when this is what they did. They're like

that's his first touch this season and that's going to be his last touch this season. He will never be trusted again in that situation as long as he lives. The announcers just buried him. He will never again get that touch. Those teammates will never trust him again to catch the football in that situation. Never? That's what they were doing. They crushed him. I have rarely heard an announcing team annihilate a nobody the way this announcing team went out of its way to point out that Brady, that poor Brady Russell, who dropped that ball will never again catch a ball in his experience

playing football. Mike Ryan, what was your funniest thing from the sports weekend? Well, I wanted to go with one or two things. Hopefully we have the video of Messi playing passes with a politician that was basically granted a make a wish in India. The reason we do not have a championship trophy

parade for Inner Miami is because Messi just decided to take millions upon millions in going to India and subjecting himself to this kind of stuff. By the way, there was a full-on riot. God. Full-on riot at one of the stadiums because Messi was kind of shielded by huge throngs of people, and the only people allowed on the pitch with Messi were politicians and privileged people.

These people in India lost their minds, started throwing the seats from the stadium. It was a full-on riot. I also have a 1B, which was Roy on Friday saying he needed to get his legs under him for a media skate. You realize I paid for that, right? Paid actual money. You missed the championship being won. This is your title, too. The Dan Levitard show with Stugats owns the Cyclones.

This was a victory for all. David Dwork was there. Jordan McPherson was there. Roy left us at the altar. I knew you guys had it in the bag. Roy, what was the funniest thing from the sports weekend? I want to show a picture from WW's Saturday Night's main event and John Cena's final match just before he tapped out the goonther.

He had a smirk on his face in a sleeper hole. They look like one of those memes saying, what opinion do you have that's going to have you in this position? We're going to get back to that. Zaslo was there, and I want to cover more of this. Zaslo was in attendance for that. Sina submitted the first time in his career. He's a quitter, his punctuation on his career. One of the rare times you will see a scripted event end up amid the headlines in sports because a guy has done something that's so dramatic. There is nothing other than wrestling.

that is like this where you get a major sports headline that was a phenomenon that was scripted. Jeremy, what was the funniest thing from the sports weekend? Both funny and relatable. Josh Allen admitted that he throws up every single game on the sideline. They caught him this week. He's surprised he hasn't been caught more often, but every game he throws up. Dennis Erickson used to do that before games. That's why the bills aren't going to ever win Super Bowl.

Probably different reasons. Chris, what was the funniest thing from the sports weekend? I mean, the Chiefs being eliminated from playoffs before the dolphins. What are you laughing about, Greg? What Mike said about Dennis Erickson. I've witnessed some of that without going into detail. Go on? I mean, you know, that kind of thing.

I covered you one for four years. Greg, what was the funniest thing from the sports weekend? I have a quick addendum to what Mike said about Leonel Messi's tour of India. Erected in India was a statue of Leonel Messi. Now, it's common in the statue game for statues to be slightly. larger than life. In this case, the Messi statue is 70 feet tall. That's right, 12 and a half times bigger than the 5-7 Messi. Put it on the poll at Lebitard show. Is 12 and a half times bigger than the human being too big for a statue? Yes or no? Zaslo, what was the funniest thing

from the Sports Weekend? So on the Fox pregame show, I don't know if you know, but Tom Brady, he's a broadcaster for Fox. And he was in studio with those guys. And they were making a list. They were doing rankings of, you know, best gifts because of the holiday season, you know, best gifts that a player has given his teammates. And very high up on the list, presented as such by Aaron Andrews and Chris Thompson, was a gift that Tom Brady gave his offensive lineman one time. Tom Brady, of course, that's when his team went undefeated in the regular season. He gifted his old line. Ready?

Brand new luxury SUVs. What a class act. You guys. What a guy. Hey! I want you guys to pay attention. There's a catch. There's a catch.

Tom Brady, stop stealing our line. The catch to all this is the cars were on a one-year lead. What? Mayors. Mayors can't be cheesers. Come on. Come on. One year. Here, I'm giving you a gift, but you can only have it for a year. I wonder if he had to actually pay for that or just do a sponsorship deal with the car dealership where he comes out, does autographs a couple of times, and all his offensive linemen get a one-year lease.

You know it. But that is so cheap. That is so cheap. If I'm the lineman, I would rather get a Kia than I can own than a one-year lease. It's not that cheap and that something like that probably costs a great deal of money. A one-year lease on a luxury vehicle like that. What could a monthly lease be a thousand bucks? No, it's going to be tens of thousands of dollars that will end up costing him per lineman. Yeah. So like 50,000 bucks is what he paid in totality for his offense.

It sounds kind of cheap. If he paid anything at all. What's your guess, though? Do you think he paid his own cash or he just had a deal with the dealership? Yeah, totally the deal with the dealership. Beggers can't be choosers. Yeah, what does that even mean? Another funny thing from the weekend, you can't deny that this was funny.

Everything related to Philip Rivers was funny, including that he played beyond where it is that perhaps you thought he would play, but can't throw the ball downfield at all. Like, it's going to be just bubble screens and screen passes and slants, and there's just nothing else there. But I did like watching his high school team watching him, because he's a grandfather and his high school team. How cool must that be for a high school team to watch their coach,

like be with them on Monday with no indication whatsoever that he's ever going to play again, and they're young enough that they actually haven't seen him play? Like, my guess is that seventh graders, sixth graders might not have been paying a whole lot of attention to Philip Rivers' playing days, and then he plays in the game. And among other things, Mike Ryan bet for him to have more. than half a rushing yard. He ended with negative one-half-runs rushing yard.

Exilarating, though. What a great goof bet. I will say, I followed him with the bet. Oh, come on. That was the one show of solidarity that I had with the old guy. Negative five yards. Oh, there was no chance. That one where he fell down. Oh, yeah, that's good. Then he got up and started to run.

He got, he did almost get a yard on that play. He almost got Mike Ryan's 0.5 of a yard on the play where he fell down and just crawled around. I can't believe he was able to get up there. One of my favorite bets ever. Can I read you this tweet that Chase Daniel, read the former quarterback, retweeted about Philip Rivers.

Listen to this. No coincidence that Rivers goes back to the NFL right before his health insurance clock runs out. When you have a 20-person deep roster at home, you got to do what you got to do before the five-year clock is up post-playing. Now the clock resets. That's pretty good. there to get 10 kids, a bunch of health care that comes in, grandfathered in, literally grandfathered in on Phillip Rivers because he has so many children.

He was solid, dude. That was, I mean, like, he was good. Physically built solid. He had a touchdown pass, which is more than you can say for the Seahawks. The Seahawks won with only field goals. But for him to show up on a couple days notice, clearly at his shape, haven't played in five years against what is reputed to be the league's toughest defense with the league's. most brilliant defensive mind calling the plays.

That was really impressive. Everyone just running like a six yard out and he throws it like as soon as he snaps it, just like lobs it and it takes them like that. It just, I love that. Hey guys, Tony here tomorrow at 8.30 Eastern, it's the Emirates NBA Cup championship game on Prime. This year's quest for the cup has delivered incredible moments and jaw dropping highlights and they've all been building towards this,

the final two teams. The Emirates NBA Cup championship live from Las Vegas. is Tuesday night at 8.30 Eastern on Prime. And if you're not a prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up today for a 30-day free trial to get started. The Emirates NBA Cup championship game tomorrow at 830 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com slash Amazon Prime for details. Hey folks, it's Mike Ryan. Happy holidays to you and to our tremendous partners of almost 20 years, Miller Light. It's the 50th anniversary of Miller Light. It makes the holidays special. It makes the football game special. It makes family gatherings and friendship time

extra special. I make all those times Miller time. And during the holidays, most of my favorite memories start the exact same way. I crack open a Miller Light, take a look around to my friends and family and think, yeah, this was a right call. Whether it's a late night hang after a holiday party or standing around a fire pit with a family, Miller Light just fits. It's a taste you know you can depend on and it's brewed for flavor with simple ingredients like malted barley, rich balanced toffee notes and that iconic golden color. And at just 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces

it lets you enjoy the season without weighing you down. Miller Lite, great taste, 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com slash day and find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Tis Miller time. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee

Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right? Don't place parleyes on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is one when it hasn't hit triple zero. Always drink your Yeagermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion.

Everything else? Everything else. Wearing clean underwear every day? Well, that's just a personal decision. Brushing your teeth? Obviously smart, but not a rule. Never pee pee on an electric fence. Okay, maybe there are two rules.

But the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Yeagermeister must be drank ice cold. Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly. You're finally starting to get it. Drink responsibly. Yeagermeister liqueur, 35% alcohol by volume,

imported by mass Yeagermeister U.S., White Plains, New York. Don Lebertard. Imagine if someone told you you couldn't have a Corvette. Stugats. I'm a grown-ass man who's not filthy rich. I can't afford a Lamborghini. Well, I probably can, but that's possible. Hey.

Hey, Craig. This is the Dan Lebatar show with the Stugats. So he puts them in position for the game-winning field goal. I mean, to show you, look, he hadn't played in forever, okay? It was third and seven, and they still ran the ball so that they could attempt a 60-yard field goal to take the lead. That's how much they trusted me, you know, in a big spot. they make a 60-yard field goal to go ahead with under a minute to go. It was so cool like he was going to win this game on the road in Seattle.

I don't know what the fix is. I'm so tired of these NFL games where one team gets the ball back with 35, 40 seconds left. And it's just so easy to get into field goal range with that little time. At the end of that game, what you had happening at the end of that game is the Colts run the ball to get. into position for the 60-yard field goal. And then Seattle comes back and takes the lead with a 57-yard field goal. The field goal kickers have gotten too good. They're eliminating some of the drama from these things where the quarterback

doesn't have to put together a game-winning drive. He just has to put together a game-winning throw. And very low-key, I think the new touchback rule also helps. Those five yards make a difference when it comes to all those long field goals. Maybe like under two minutes left, the touchback, I don't know, it's not at the 25, you know? It's ruining the sport, the longer field goals. It's ruining the drama. It's not ruining the sport.

The games are all so close that you can't ruin the sport. It is ruining the drama that you're speaking of because that particular game, it was 60-yard field goal, 57-yard field goal, and then Philip Rivers haunted from the beyond on the situation he's always in. I still got to go 70 yards and I've gotten 11 seconds. I can't believe we got it, though. It looked like we wouldn't get it. but Philip Rivers down a score with one minute left. It was such great nostalgia, and then he hit the field goal,

and then we saw Philip Rivers on the sideline, John F. Folks, and being charged up, it was a great nostalgia trip. I've actually heard Shane Gillis talk about how much he loved the Philip Rivers interaction, where Philip Rivers, five years ago, had a touchdown at Jacksonville, and he just is running like a little kid next to the Jacksonville defensive lineman. He's like, 90-yard touchdown, 90-yard touchdown. And understandably, the Jacksonville defensive lineman goes to the referee and says, do you see how he's talking to me? And Philip Rivers is like, what?

I'm not allowed to be excited. I'm not allowed to be excited. And the Jacksonville defensive lineman is like, just don't do it near my ear. And he's like, I will do it near your ear. I will be excited near your ear. So yesterday, what ends up happening, though, is that Philip Rivers gets you the game-winning drive. Then Seattle gets the ball back, and they have the game-winning drive.

And I was denied my Philip Rivers purgatory because he had timeouts and 11 seconds left. I think they had all three. They had all three, but he immediately just drops back and the first time he's throwing it downfield interception. Because... I had that over-interception that cashed. On that last play.

Kidman? That's an interception waiting to happen. A 44-year-old guy who, hadn't played in six years. Come on. The over-under on I&T should have been 2.5. This was a fun curiosity that ate up the 4 o'clock window. But can you give me some Fernando Mendoza sound from the Heisman ceremony? This is not from the Heisman that I have.

This is from him after the Big Ten championship. I love this sound. Give me some sound to just set up Mendoza before we go to Tony and what should have been a more Miami-Hisman speech. It sounds so beautiful. I want to give all the glory to God. We were never supposed to be in his position, But by the glory of God, the great coaches, great teammates,

every we have around us, we were able to pull this off. Whoever thought the Hoosier be here, but now the Hoosers are flipping champs. Let's go. Flipping. Flipping champs. Everybody said that that sounds the way Jeremy looks. At Levitard show, put it on the poll. Does an excited Fernando Mendoza sound the way that Jeremy looks.

And let's go out now to Tony, who has totally prepared his Miami. There he is. We go to Tony right now. In the downtown athletic club, he is going to give us a more Miami speech than the one Mendoza gave us. Do you need anything from us over here, Tom? No, Dan, I'm good. I'm ready to go. I'm just very thankful. I just wanted to get this off my chest really quick so we can wear it so you know exactly what it looks like when I have had it when I have had it around my neck here. Cuban roots. Okay, so this is what I would have worn over the suit. I would have worn it just like this, kind of, just so people knew and I would have flashed it. So when you're ready, I'm ready to go. Dan, I got my speech written out. I'm very excited. All right. Let's do this now.

This is Tony's Fernando Mendoza Heisman speech, if indeed it had been Maximum Miami. All right. Let's do it. Here we go. Wow. Primero can nada, Garcia, God, bro, because without him, I'm not here. I'm probably stuck on the Palmeiro trying to get to the airport. And we all know how that can be at rush hour.

To my parents, gracias for all, you taught me that if the AC is broken, you open the window. If the door is closed, you knock louder. And if that doesn't work, you break that shit down. I want to thank Miami, not South Beach, not Winwood, not tourist Miami. The real Miami. I'm talking about Miami Hurricanes, Tailgate parking lot football as a kid at the OB. Talking about Westchester dads yelling like their Bill Belichick at Tamiami Park. I'm talking about Kendall Rush Hour traffic that builds character.

You wonder how I learned toughness. I learned it from having to play dominoes against drunk deals on Noce Buena. You know that they cheat and you know they don't let you wear. win. So you've got to learn to be tough. I learn patience and discipline waiting for 45 minutes to go back into the pool because my abuela said that I could get an embolia if I swam too early after eating. I still don't know what that's supposed to mean. I guess it's some sort of mental thing. I don't know. An embolia. Is that an embolism? Yes. An embolism if I swam too early after eating. To every Cuban-American kid watching right now, I want you to listen up,

especially the ones trying to explain the rules of football to parents and grandparents who have no idea what they're looking at. To the kids that have to hear, quanto, when you tell your parents just how much your equipment costs. Quanto? Yes, I have to buy all of this. This is for you guys.

They told us to be quieter, to be smaller. To be less Miami, they said we'll never play in college football, let alone in the NFL. But nah, that's not going to happen, baby. We're loud. We're late. We're Cuban, and we're not apologizing for it.

So tonight, this Heisman isn't going in a trophy case. Dan, you know where it's going? It's going to La Carreta on Burn Road, Pasoan Casuela. Miami, this is for us. Te Ammo, Miami! Let's go! Congratulations. That was well done.

It was weird that Mendoza thanked his teammates. In retrospect. You think? I want to, in honor of Tony here, give you a top five plays from yesterday that no one's talking about. Number five, because there are plenty to choose from here, and I'm doing this.

I'm doing this. I don't know if you guys noticed how many plays yesterday were impossibly well done with a precision that's surprising and yet no one cares because some of these games

and moments weren't as important as some of the others. So you got in the Giants Commanders game, you got Tracy with a touchdown catching it on his back. He wasn't in any way open because Bobby Wagner

had him cover. the entirety of the field and it was a touchdown anyway. I need the fan. Thank you. You've got in the Chargers game, I don't know if you guys saw all of the catches. Herbert to Harris, I don't know how that ball was not moved as he caught it. Callais Campbell blocking a field goal because he's still giant.

Monteric Brown for Jacksonville had the single greatest interception I've ever seen. I've ever seen. No one cares. Full body extension caught it with the back of his elbow. What a catch. Nobody cares. No one will remember it. It's not something that anyone is going to end up paying attention to in any way. And then, of course, in Carolina, the late hit that resulted in the holy guacamole. You can't lose to the Saints in that spot for the division. And you saw Todd. Have you guys ever seen Todd Bowles when they lost to Atlantic? cursed like that? That was nuts. Yeah, we played it on Friday. It was crazy. While not being angry. While he kept his same tone. While making sure he blamed all of his players. That was wild, but still alive, still leading in the NFC South. Colby Parkinson's touchdown, counting. That didn't make the list.

What? We all have eyes. We all saw that. He was down a yard before. That was someone where they reviewed and Dean Blanino's like, I don't know what. I don't know what they're doing. That was weird. Yeah. Also weird, Miles Garrett sacking that many people quietly because his team stinks and nobody cares about any of their games. He's the best pass rusher there's ever been. And what? Better than L.T. I mean, he's doing single season sack stuff that no one's ever done.

You can give it to, if you want to give it to Reggie White or Lawrence Taylor, you're welcome to do it. But I'm willing to say that Miles Garrett is the most unblockable thing that there's been in the sport. And you can argue it if you want. He's going to be in any short conversation that you're having about this. An interesting question to me is, will he be cheated out of the D.Poy Award because his team is so awful? Can you give me the sound again of Todd Bulls cursing while not actually angry? What do you tell them in the locker member? It's inexcusable. You don't make excuses.

You got to fucking care enough where the shit hurts. You got to fucking care enough where the shit hurts. It's got to fucking mean something to you. It's more than a job. their fucking livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? Well, you can't sugarcoat that shit.

It was in the f***ing excusable, and there's no fucking answer for it. That's for no excuse for it. That's what you tell them in the locker. Look in the fucking mirror. Still shocking. Greg, to your point about Miles Garrett being punished for being on a bad team,

it is precedent from a long time ago, but Cortez Kennedy won D-Poy going 2 and 14 with the Seahawks and was even named APMBP that season. Yeah. No, that's fair. Maybe there is precedent, but I'm honestly wondering about that. Like, who are the depoy candidates? That's always a tougher award to pinpoint than the offensive. Jeremy, can you please give me the origins of a little birdie told me? So some date back to William Shakespeare, some date back to Greek mythology, where they have Odin's Raven.

But this can be traced back all the way to the Bible. Ecclesiastes, the original Hebrew version, which says, curse not the king no not in thy thought and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber for a bird of the air shall carry the voice and that which hath wings shall tell the matter anyway god bless you babe and enjoy chanuka