The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Favorites - Guest Tiki Barber

Episode Date: July 14, 2022

One of the greatest New York Giants of all-time, friend of the podcast Tiki Barber joins Action Network hosts Chad Millman and Simon Hunter to talk about about Russell Wilson, the value of teamwork, his reality show athletic prowess, a new partnership with Knights of Degen and so much more. #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The Favorites podcast is presented by Fandual Sportsbook. There's no better place to make every moment more than with Fandual. I love betting with Fandul because they've got great odds and markets for MLB, PGA Tour, tennis, NFL futures and more. Plus, their app is safe, easy to use, and when I win, I get paid out fast. If you're new, just download the Fandul Sportsbook app to get started now and sign up with promo code favorites so they know I sent you. You must be 21 and over and present in select states only.

Gambling problem. Call 1-800 next step or text. Next step to 533442 in Arizona. Call 1-800 gambler or visit fanduel.com slash RG in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Virginia. 1-888-8-9-77-7-7-7. Or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. 1-8009 with it in Indiana. 1.8777-7-7-0-stop in Louisiana.

1-877-Hope-N-Y or text, Hope, NY, 467-369 in New York. Tennessee Redline is 1-800-889-9-8-8-8-9-9-8-8-2-4-70 in Wyoming or visit 1-800 gambler.net in West Virginia. Welcome to the favorites, the podcast from the Volume Podcast Network. I am Chad Milman, Chief Content Officer of the Action Network. I am joined as I am every show by my co-host, my BFF, my companion, my compadre, professional better, Simon Hunter.

Hello. Hello, Chad. Dog days of summer, brother. Just count the days till football starts. Listen, you're a massive, avid, rabid, Philadelphia Eagles fan. We've had our upcoming guest on the show before. Let's keep it clean. Let's keep it nice.

Because we're going to bring in our friend Tiki Barber. Of course, New York Giants football legend, host of Tiki and Tierney on WFAN in the afternoons. Also, you can see him on Real Housewives of New Jersey as an all-star softball player. We are now in business together because Tiki works with the folks at Knights of DGEN, the new NFT, who we have a sponsorship and description partnership with. Tiki, well, come on, man. Good to see you. I'm glad to be back with you guys.

Simon, are you telling me that you are not comfortable betting the over with the A's last night? Because I suggested that to my listeners yesterday. And it kind of panned out. And as Cameron Maven said, who I'm actually starting to like as a broadcaster. He said, you try to sneak the cheese, the high cheese by the rat. It takes more than that. It was awesome. Before you started doing a show, did you care about baseball?

Did you care about the NBA? Have you found yourself needing to become a fan of sports you didn't care about in order to fill many hours of talk radio a day? My issue was I didn't grow up a baseball fan, at least not a fan of the teams in the city that I currently reside. I grew up as an Atlanta Braves fan only because TBS had the Braves. had the Braves on everywhere and all the time. So in Southwest Virginia, I watched the Braves.

Dale Murphy and Glenn Hubbard and all those guys in those early late 90s, early and late 90s days. That's why I was a fan of. So when I came to New York, I didn't really care about the Yankees or the Mets. But ever since I started Tekey and Tierney on the national level with my co-host, Brandon Tierney, who's an enormous Yankees fan, he's kind of slowly taught me the vernacular. of baseball. So I've learned to talk the talk, so to speak, and become interested in it.

So, yeah, I've always been a basketball fan, never had really a team. You can just kind of, as you know, dive into basketball mid first, second, third quarter. Don't really give a shit what's happening. And by the time you get to the end, it gets exciting. Well, it's also, it's a high school drama, everything about. And like, right now all the time, you know, between the Knicks and what they did on draft night that was so convoluted and confusing. And now the Nets between Kyrie opt-in, not opt-in, finally opting in, is KD going to stick around? You got enough fodder to last until football starts. No, without a doubt.

Look, the Knicks are just kicking it down the road, kicking a can down the road. We got time. Our fans are patient. They've already proven it for the last two decades. It's all good. We've got another couple of years. It's true. Simon, do you have any memories you want to share with Tiki about Eagles fandom?

Because I know how much he's broken your heart over the years. No, I mean, me and Tiki are good, man. I would say for my two favorite players, Tiki was number two and number one was Lawrence Taylor. And it was just, I just, my earliest memory is, remember watching him. I don't know if he picked him either a running back or Y receiver, but it looked like, like one of those, like, orcs, like picking up a little human and just slam him into the earth. It was just like, who is this man? And then Waterboy came out, say years later, and there he was again.

I was just like, okay, so this guy is a freak on the field and he's hilarious off the field. I was all in on Lawrence Taylor. But Tici, we had this error where when he came in, it was like him in Westbrook. And there was a couple other running backs that, again, not saying you guys were undersized, but you were different. You could catch the ball. You could run with it. Yeah, you could do punt return. I mean, all of it.

I loved it. Like, that was just a really special air for me. And that was when the Eagles were, you know, we couldn't get over the hump. We just didn't win Super Bowls. We kept one in the division. And here come the Giants. They would just always either get in the wild card and they would go further than us. So, you know, it was a weird time where it was like, I didn't hate Tiki because I loved

the way he played so much, but made I hate Eli. Like, I really hated Eli. But then Eli did what we all wanted. He took down Tom Brady. So I eventually loved Eli, like the old Shucks, Eli kind of vibe, you know? So it's just funny at all. It comes full circle. where I don't really have ill will towards the Giants,

but like the Cowboys, I hate the Cowboys more than you could ever believe. I think it's just, you know, where I'm at New Jersey, I have a lot of friends who are Giants fans. It's just part of life. Like we argue, we fight about it. In the end, we really don't care. I have Dallas friends who I don't talk to the whole week. Like Dallas Week, we don't talk.

So it is funny how that's changed where I just think maybe it's a New Jersey thing. There's just so much of us together of the Giants fans, these Eagles fans. It's not as bad as it used to be. Chad and Simon. We gave you the game plan on how to beat the New England Patriots. They've only lost three Super Bowls and they've been to NFC East teams. Yeah. New York Giants twice and the Philadelphia Eagles, as we all know.

But Chad, you asked the wrong question. Simon loves this barber. He hates the other barber. That's right. That's right. Who went 92 going like this, the Donovan McNath to send him home. Go home, Eagles. Closing down the vet.

I was say my last memory of the vet was that a pick, a pick six to end our hopes and dreams are going to a Super Bowl. There it is. So you asked the wrong question, I did. I totally did. I completely forgot about that. What do you think of this off season?

There's been a lot of news, especially with the Bucks. Last time you were on the show and I want you to remind people, you told this great story about Bruce Ariens and Bruce Ariens' relationship to you and your family, remind people of that story. story. And then what do you think of sort of the transition? So Bruce is the man. He's always been the coolest man in the room. And that goes all way back to college at Virginia Tech, where Bruce and my father, who I've rekindled my

relationship with about eight years ago when my fifth girl, my fifth child, but she's a daughter was born. And my second wife reached out to him. And it happened to be not too soon after I had done some interviews with Bruce Arians when he was with. the Pittsburgh Steelers. And so Bruce and I kind of reconnected. And it reminded me to reach out to my mom and ask her about, you know, dad and Bruce known each other for a long time. And they were roommates at Virginia Tech.

In fact, the first black, white athletic roommates at Virginia Tech in the late 60s and the early 70s. And they were inseparable. They called themselves Salt and Pepper. Bruce was a quarterback. My dad was a running back. They both had, you know, some records for some times down there. And they've been my babysitters.

They were our babysitters. And we were babies. I've known Bruce literally from the time I was born until now. And so when I saw the news come down that he was retiring and it was late, you know, it wasn't like right after the season. This was, this was late. I texted him and he called me back right away. And I said, well played.

Very well played. And he knew exactly what I meant. right? He wanted to go out on his own terms, despite all the nonsense you heard about his relationship with Tom Brady. That just wasn't the case. He and Tom are great. He wanted to, in some ways, ensure that Todd Bowles was going to be the next head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And it worked out perfectly because Todd, I think, is the right man for the job. Bauer Leffowitz is a really good and up-and-coming coordinator. And he got some looks, particularly with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he's still not quite ready, right?

He's still a little unseasoned. I think it's a perfect situation down there in Tampa. And Bruce gets to sip on his brown liquids, wear his cangle as opposed to the Nike sponsor, or the NFL-sponsored Nike caps and chill and be around as a paid executive of the bucketeers for as long as he wants to. That dude's living the life, man. He got a late start when two coaches,

of the years and won a Super Bowl and I'm biased, obviously, because I again, literally have known him since the day I was born. He turned himself into a Hall of Fame coach in a very short amount of time being a head coach. He's the man. Love that dude. How do you think that happens? Why is it that a guy like Bruce Ariens who everyone acknowledged was a brilliant offensive coordinator and led so many teams to so much success? And honestly, if not for that shot with the Colts, the head coach gets cancer and Bruce Aaron comes in and Chuck Begano takes over. Chuck Begano gets cancer. Ariens comes over and then he gets a shot with the Cardinals.

Why does that happen? And then there's guys, you know, if you shake Sean McVeigh's hand, you're getting a job. Well, you know what? I'll tell you why. For 30 years. Chad, you watch golf. I do. You watch golf, you know, you see these guys on tour and they have these homogenized swing.

Huh, that's the same swing. Who is that? That's whoever. Who is that? That's whoever. You can't tell anybody, except for Jim Furek, by their swing. Bruce Ariens, if you've had any interactions with him at all, and I'm not even talking about a personal interaction.

I'm talking about just watching him on television is not your average cup of tea, right? He is going to tell you exactly what he thinks. He does not give a you know what and will tell you how he feels. And let's be honest, that doesn't fit into the mold of what an NFL head coach supposed to be like. And so he never got a chance. He never even got the interviews when he was crafting champions

out of Peyton Manning, out of Andrew Luck, out of caution Palmer, or at least some sort of not really NFL champions, but champion level quarterbacks. He crafted all of these great quarterbacks, but he never got a chance because he was so unconventional

until he got to chance in an unconventional way. When Chuck Pagano goes down against with the sickness with his cancer and Bruce is thrust into the head coaching role and obviously they had a fantastic year that year and he wins coach of the year as an interim head coach. That just never happens. He then gets an opportunity to go out to Arizona and he wins another coach of the year and takes them all boast to a championship out there. And so you started to see how good of a coach he was, which everybody who knows the game knew

already. And once he was in Arizona, he kind of just could write his own ticket. He got really close, almost had a chance to win a championship, decided it was time to hang it up after a little bit of a health scare. Not a serious one, but a little of a health scare. He hung it up, went to the booth in CBS. But, you know, you can't cuss in the booth on CBS. And so it just kind of was kind of out of his element.

And he wanted to get back in the game. And the opportunity in Tampa presented itself. And he ran with it. And we all know what happened after that. It gets Tom Brady, went to Super Bowl and it was just, he was the man. Well,

I'm interested. I'm interested if he comes back, Bruce, because I do think. No, he's not coming back. He's done now. Yeah,

he's shocking because I do think he's such a good coach. And I know he didn't say there was anything to that whole Brady drama, but. No, I think, I think AIDS is catching up to him. I think he's, he's,

he's coastal a really long time. Like, we forget it now. I mean, he started in the mid to late 70s. He actually got fired at Virginia. attack. The whole staff got fired because they had a kid that passed away after a extensive night of drinking, I think, this is the story. They punished him by running him. He went back to his

room and he died. And so it was a part of his history that's not like one of his favorites, but it's part of his story. And he couldn't find another job until he got hired. When he went down to Alabama, he worked on a bear Bryant, and got the job at Temple, had great success. made his way back into the NFL. And before you know it, he was, you know, crafting great quarterbacks and winning championships as a coordinator or a play caller.

So that it's, it's unique, right? He's one of a kind. He really is. Well, I'm going to miss it because I love his offensive style where it was just a couple little short passes here and there, but it was all about the deep ball and getting the ball downfield. So no risk.

I mean, I had this time, like you said. No risk it, no biscuit. There's a reason why Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning both had 52, to 5% completion percentages their first year. Because he made him throw the ball on the field.

Stats don't matter, right? I know we think they do, but they don't. Brady decides to come back. Ariens retires. Todd Bowles, the head coach of the Bucks. There is a huge shift in power dynamics from the NFC to the AFC. Even though the Rams just won the Super Bowl, you look at the,

the chiefs. You look at the chargers. You look at the Raiders. You look at the Broncos, right, just in the AFC West. And then you think about look at the Bengals, look at the Ravens, look at the Buffalo Bills. Like the conference is loaded. When you're looking at that now as someone who was long time had a radio show and they've been covering the NFL forever, but also now as someone who through your radio show, you guys talk about gambling. Like it's a big part of what you do day to day. Of course. How do you stack up the AFC?

I see the AFC as being cannibalistic. I mean, they're going to eat each other. By the time, this is why the NFC probably has an edge. If you were gambling for the eventual Super Bowl champion, it's going to be a rough grind. Once you get to the postseason, whether it's the wild card or whether you're the number one seed in the in the in the in the in the in the in the afc you're going to grind your way to a to to the super bowl and it's not going to be easy whereas the nFC it feels a little bit less treacherous and

there are teams like the rams just to stick on them for a second who had to spend all the money that they're spending they are i mean the cliches are mortgaging their future but you know what they had to mortgage their future because they were a team that spent so many years in st louis coming back to LA, or let's face it, there was apathy towards football in Los Angeles. Nobody cares. There's significant entertainment options, right? My disposable dollar can go anywhere. Is it going to go to a football team that's going to leave us in a couple of years like the Raiders did?

And like L.A. did before, like the Rams did before. No, well, you know how you get them back? You win some championships. And so you pay Aaron Donald $38 million or whatever the hell he's making. All right, you're going to play, you know, Jalen Ramsey, whatever you're playing. All right, go ahead and do it, right? It's worth it. Cooper Cup, he's going to get broke, all these guys, right?

You do it because you need to win as many championships as you can in this window as possible. Sean McVeigh was the perfect coach for it because he's a genius. He's a football lifer. He has the ability to create complexity, even if it's just for complexity sake, and make you think and outthink yourself as a defense. And that gives him the advantage. So I love where the Rams are and other teams just can't stomach that, right? They just they get so fiscally responsible and beholden to this salary cap that they can't think about it.

So the Rams still have the edge in my mind and the NFC. From the AFC, really the most intriguing one to me is the Denver Broncos. because like I love Russell as a as a player. I think he's corny as hell. I think some of the things that he says, you're just like, dude, you don't really believe that. Until you actually talk to him.

And then you're after a while, I mean, I mean, like we talked to him for, I did a game last year. I talked to, we talked to him for like an hour. And after a while,

I'm like, this fucker actually believes what he's saying. He's not, he's not just cliched it, man. He actually, actually believes the words that are coming out of his mouth. Like, I feel blessed and honored. And, you know, it could have been worse. And so I see, I need to own this moment. Right. Like, man, he's selling it. I was like, all right, cool. I believe it. And that's why he said

success. If he brings even just a little bit of that to a very talented Denver Broncos team that is one of the most underrated receiving cores in football, they are going to be a force to be Reckin. Not to mention Javante Williams, who I love coming out of the back field. And, you know, they have the talent to be, to be a contender next year. So they're the team that might surprise all the others. But we'll see. How does that play in the locker room with someone, when someone like Russell Wilson, who is so outwardly sort of, you say corny, there's a lot of ways to sort of frame it.

Scripted. You want to be nice. It sounds rehearsed or it's just. you know, he so believes in the prophecy, and I don't mean in a religious perspective. I mean just like in the power of positive thinking, right? That's right. That's right. Does that he's falling? Chad, if he's bawling and he's making you better, it doesn't matter what he says, man.

I give you an example for my years when Jesse Arm said, you remember Jesse Arm said he was the leaders of our defense back in the day. And, you know, Strayhand was really the catalysts as he's, you know, he's got to have to quarterback and all those sacks that he had. But like the real emotional leader was Jesse Armstead. He'd get up and he'd give these like speeches before the game. And I swear to you, I couldn't understand the words that were coming out of his mouth. I couldn't. And I knew what he was trying to say, but he was doing it authentically and with this passion. And he bawled every week. And so we bought in. We just like, all right, whatever he said. Let's go.

it's it's it's the other extreme but it's the same thing right as long as you're a baller and and people know that you're committed to it then they're going to follow you and people follow russlewilson you know tyler locket was a perfect example we like tyler is is the he's completely up he's like reserved he's very laid back title locket came on he was saying everything that russell was saying like almost verbatim it was it was it was it was it was it was it was like melded into his mind and maybe he was just regurgitating. But still, he spoke it like he believed it. And that's what happens when you have, that's leadership, man.

Like it's, we always try to define it. We're like, how do you become a great leader? It's like be authentic and emotional and unbelievable, but most importantly, consistent in what you do, right? That's what Russell does. And whether you think he's corny or scripted or whatever, he's the leader and he's a great leader and it's proven year over year over year. Simon and I have had many debates on this show about Russell Wilson as a quarterback.

I'm with you. I think the guy is a superstar. I think it elevates the Broncos. I think it immediately makes them contenders. Simon, please give Tiki, former professional football. player, longtime member of the media, studied more film than you and I could ever possibly study. Please give Simon, please give Tiki your take on Russell Wilson. I do agree with you.

I think he's a really good quarterback. I just think people always complain, like how this guy never get MVP, all this other stuff. I just never think he's been the best quarterback. And my argument against him for Denver this year is he's going to be a 34-year-old quarterback who's 5-10, 5-11 playing against behind one of the worst offensive lines on football. Like, I'm with you. They got a great offensive weapons, but I'm just nervous about Russ this year. So it is interesting you picked them. I told Chad, Denver's going to be the darling of the media this year. Like then people just like the new toy. Again, going from Drew Locke to Russell Wilson, this man could talk all that shitty wants.

I'll like Russell Wilson every day over Drew Rock. He can be corny as hell. Denver guys are probably ecstatic being like, holy shit. This is what a real quarterback is. So I do think Russ is good. Do I think he's top five, top seven, like he's. used to be. I don't know, man. There's just so many good young bloods out there, like really good, talented guys. Like, again, people have Lamar Jackson outside their top seven. They forget how great Lamar Jackson is. It's always about what have you done for me lately. So, Jack could be right. I could be hating too much on Russ. I just, I'm a little worried about an older guy undersized. Historically, we've only seen him and Drew Breeze and Doug Flutie be this size and play this late in the career. None of those guys won championships after their 31st birthday.

So there's just a lot there for me to think about when I'm thinking about Russell. Is his offensive line in Denver worse than his offensive line in Seattle? Statistically, it's like literally almost no difference. It's all about the weather that day, right? Exactly. But I'm with you. Like he's losing D.K. and Lockett, though, you know what I mean? It's like, it's just going to be interesting what Judy can do because I'm with you.

Like, I love Denver's young talent. And I can't judge him because they had Drew Lockett. Like, Drew Lockett is so bad. I can't judge Denver. So I'm with you. It's just really exciting for this. Cortland Sutton is there. Tim Patrick, who is sneaky good.

KJ. Hamler, nobody talks about. I saw that kid play at Penn State, and they had a solution for blitzing at Penn State. Just go deep. And they even make Clifford look good at Penn State. So, I mean, they got a lot of talent. You're right. It's about protected Russ.

But if anybody can thrive without upfront protection, it's Russell Wilson. The question will be, will he allow this offense to be diverse? This is really the only question. Or will he demand that it's about him? Because that's what broke down in Seattle the last year and a half or so.

It had to be about him. It means something to him to win that MVP. It really does. Really, just to get votes and he hasn't gotten any. If he allows this offense to just evolve into what it becomes as opposed to dictating it, then I think they have a chance. Otherwise, it might get a little dicey.

But do you think that how much of that do you think at the end of those that time in Seattle was just about him wanting the personal accolades or him believing so much in himself and not believing in the rest of the team with the way the talent had degraded that yeah he needs to have the ball and if it's not going to be about him he doesn't feel as comfortable with their shot to win yeah well it's interesting because maybe there were three quarterbacks that i that were at my era and later that I would trust dictating offensive game plans, right? One was Peyton Manning.

Maybe Drew Breeze, maybe, but probably not even Drew Grease because he was synonymous with Sean Peyton. And I know the genius of Sean Peyton's mind, being that he was my offensive coordinator for a few years. And just historically, you know how that's been. And potentially, potentially Tom Brady. But again, I also think that was very coordinator-driven. So in truth, there's maybe one.

There's one quarterback that I would trust can come in and say, all right, this is what we got to do, you know, because I've done it and I can do it and trust me. And it was, and it was Peyton, right? He brought basically his offense from Indy to Denver. He executed it kind of without a coordinator. We know, we know it was in Adam Gaze, who probably didn't do shit. But basically, he had an all-pro type season with a non-entity as a, as a, as, as, you know, we know what it was. coordinator, right? And that's because he was that guy. Russ is not, I don't think Russ is that guy. I think Russ is, it needs the, he needs to defer a little

bit to the bigger picture. And he doesn't always do that. This baseball season turned K's into cash and big hits into big wins with Fandual Sportsbook. Right now, new customers can step up to the plate with a no sweat first bet, up to $1,000. To sign up, place your first bet, and Fandul will give you up to $1,000. $1,000 back in free bets if you don't win. This week, my no-sweat bet would be the Atlanta Braves over the dreadful Washington Nationals. I love betting with Fandul because they've got great promotions

every single day with an app that's safe and secure. There's no better place to bet America's pastime than on America's number one sportsbook. Download the Fandul Sportsbook app and sign up using promo code favorites to get started with your no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. Must be 21 and over and present in Arizona. Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, and permitted parishes only. Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, or Wyoming.

First online, real money wager only. Refund issued is non-withdrawable free bets that expire 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. Gambling problem. Call 1-800 next step or text. Next step to 53342 in Arizona. 1-800 gambler or visit fanduel.com slash RG in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, and Virginia, 1-888-78-9-777, or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut, 1-800-2707-117 for confidential

help in Michigan. Call the Tennessee red line 1-800-9-9-978-9 or visit 1-800-gambler.net in West Virginia. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm fascinated by the idea of like someone who can, who practices what they preach and whether or not that has an impact, right? And so you can talk about the authenticity and whether it's Russell Wilson or for you guys, Jesse Armstead for the Giants when you were playing there. It's the fourth quarter. You've been getting the shit beat out of you all game. You need to have a play on third and one, fourth and one. You know the ball is coming to you. You know the

play is for you to plow yourself into the offensive line. Is there anything? from pregame to halftime to in that huddle that can be said to make you more successful. No. It's got to happen. It's got to happen by trust. So I'm going to tell you this little story. It takes a little time, but I just gave a presentation for the New York Credit Union Association. And I had an audio visual that I used. And it was, you guys may remember, the 95-yard touchdown I had against the Oakland Raiders on New Year's Eve, 2005. We were backed all the way up because Luke Pedigoo jumped outside.

And we were on the five-yard line. And in my mind, I'm like, all right, we know what play we're going to run. They know what play we're going to run. It's called 36 power. So backside guard pulls to the front side, leading fullback, tight end is over there. It's all going off tackle to the right side of our offense, right? They knew the play. Like they were cheating.

They knew the play. They were calling it out. Power, power, power. They knew exactly where the pay was coming. The ball snapped. I stick my foot in the ground. I go up the middle of the hole, a middle of the field, I make a safety miss. I get to the sideline and score 95-yard touchdown.

And on first blush, you're like, damn, that was a hell of a play that Tiki made. Right. But the reality is that we were all on the same page. So they cheated their linebackers, forgetting that the backside lineback was on the line of scrimmage. Right? So by cheating, they created a hole.

And so what happened? Luke Pedigut, my left tackle, he blocks two guys because one's coming off the edge and he blocks his guy and the other guy coming off the edge is sweeping way behind. He has no chance. He's out of the play. Sean O'Hara, left guard pulls. Sean O'Hara smashes the detackle. So it creates this vast gaping hole because Chris Snee blocks off his guy. All the flamenum is going to the right side, around the edge. Everybody's going out there. But I see this massive hole in front of me. So what do I do? I'm a smart running back. I just run through the open hole. It's right there. It's not where the play is supposed to go, but screw it. I go right to the open hole. The safety's coming down too fast. I make him miss, but the corners come in the earhole me.

I can't make him miss. But what happens? Plexico Burris, earholes him, crushes him, right? Seals it. So I have, I get the edge. Plexca doesn't stop. This diva wide receiver, you know, this guy who scores the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl a couple of years later, you know what he does?

He turns around and runs with me and blocks the guy in front of me. And then you know who comes from the other side? Amani Tumor. Tume comes fly. He's always. another side of the field. It comes flying across the field and clips off the last safety and they both escort me 95 yards down the field for a touchdown. On the sideline takes it for one of the longest touchdowns in giant history.

Mike, we talk about a return guy and look at the patience that he has and watch him set up these blocks. He sets up Plexico, Burris right there to get the last little push and then he finishes the route. Outstanding patience. Outstanding play call. And so everybody says, oh, that's a great play by Tiki. You know why it worked? is because we all knew what we were doing. We all knew how to take advantage of the situation. And so it's not about, it's not about, like, want to. It's not about like, oh, yeah, we worked harder than them.

Yeah, maybe that works sometimes. You've got to get two yards in a cloud of dust. But when you want to make big plays happen, it's being above it. Like, it's being, like, your mind has to be above, like, the physicality of it. And you have to be able to think it in real time. And all of our guys did it. including me. And we had this huge play that was the first score of the fourth store of that game.

It was a big win for us. It got us in the postseason. And, you know, it, it's not about like what you think it is. Go bang your head on the wall. It's about being smarter than the other team. And we were. That play, the way you described it, though, does make me want to grab the ball on the five-yard line and run 95-yard-old.

Well, you know what running backs do. You know what they do when you get backed up. Everybody thinks Tony Dorset. Well, I guess now Derek Henry. 99 yards man I can't break it can I tie the record right that's whatever every time I was backed up I was like just I just want to go 90 plus let me go 90 plus it must have been this must have been what it was like in that moment in real housewives of New Jersey at the end of the game when you snared that line drive you're you know it's funny dad you're joking about this play I'm not I

I knew it was coming to me. I just knew it was. So I spent most of the game playing like short second or short center, like right behind second. So you could make all the infill plays. If you had to drift into the outfield, I could make some of those plays. But by the end of the game, like people are like lazy. They don't really care. I'm like, dude, is anybody playing third base?

Like where is everybody? You got guys littered around the outfield. They just shoot the shit. They don't care. I'm like, dude, this is this the last inning? Is somebody playing out here? So I ended up playing shortstop because it was a right-handed hitter who, and it's slow-pitched softball.

So you know he's getting around on the ball and you know it's coming this way. And it's one of those one of those guys you can tell has swung a bat a little bit. So I know he's going to pull it. So I'm cheating just a little bit. And then he rips it. And it's a little bit behind me. But I was like, I know I can get this thing. So I just take off and just lay out for it.

Like legit layout, but it wasn't like a fake layout. You know, sometimes you see these guys a fake layout like, oh, I had to dive to get that one. But they really just like dove and shorten their arm length. Like I really had to lay out to lay out to get this one. And it came out of my hand and everybody jumped on me. It was awesome. And but I kind of could see it. I could like predict it.

I was so upset in that episode that you didn't play the whole game because one of my favorite things. And I've got a theory of this going back for years because when I started at ESP in the magazine, in the late 90s, there was a guy, he might remember him. You guys wouldn't have played against each other, but his name was Alan Grant. And he played at Stanford. He was a kick returner in safety at Stanford.

And then he played in the NFL for like five years. He played for Washington, I think he played for Cincinnati. So he ended up working at the magazine for a little while. And every Wednesday, we'd shut down the magazine in the middle of the day and we'd rent out court to Basketball City over at Chelsea. Pierce in Manhattan. And there were a lot of people that played sports working with the magazine. Alan was there for a little while, Neil Reed, who, you know, played at Indiana. The player who got choked by Bobby Knight. There were guys who played college basketball D1,

college basketball D2, D3. And then there were guys like who played high school. And just the difference between guys who played high school basketball in D3 was like extraordinary, right? And then the guys from D3 to Alan Grant, who sometimes he didn't even want to play because he was so much better than anyone else at a sport that wasn't even his sport. Yeah. It's always fun for me to see guys who are really superior athletes like you play in a game with sort of mere mortals. And like everyone is just so astonished because the way you move is just going to be so much better than everybody else. Is it fun for you? It is fun because I love.

I love athleticism, right? I just, and it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, just great athletes. Even if I'm not a fan of that team, if I, if I, if I see athleticism, I, I, I, I embrace it. Like, for instance, Starling Marte for the Mets, like, he just looks the part in a uniform. Like, he's got these massive, like, tri, like, deltoids and, like, his shoulders just, like, his back, shoulders back, and he just, he looks fit and lean and they just move different, though. It's like the Mike Vick thing.

They just, the way they move, it's just different. You've never seen anyone move the way they move for some reason. Simon, that's exactly right. Like you can see as soon as someone takes off or does something athletic, you're like, wow, that's, that's a cut above right there. Like, God blessed him with an extra gene that most people didn't get. And so I love athleticism. And it's funny, when I get in a competitive situation, my athleticism just takes over.

You know, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Well, it must be nice to have that. You know, something the rest of us don't. Before we let you go. Speak for yourself, Chad. I won two state titles for lacrosse. There it is. That's true.

There it is. By the way, by the way, I should say that every time I go for a checkup, the doctor or nurse, whoever is doing sort of checking the vitals will check my pulse. And my pulse rate is usually in like high 40s, low 50s, sometimes as low 40s. Yeah. Do you run? I'm not, but I mean, I do a lot of the Peloton. I do a lot of rowing.

I take good care of myself. I'm very good shape. Do say so myself. And every single time, every single time, they will say to me, are you an athlete? And I will look at them and I go, yes. Yes, I am. I'm an athlete. Of course, when I turned 40, I had to stop playing anything that required physical pounding

because I kept breaking things. Oh, geez. You know, there you go. Like, I couldn't play softball because I would pull a hamstring in two seconds. I mentioned at the top of the show that we are in partnership because of your relationship with Knight to G-Gen. And we have a partnership with Knight to D-Gen. I think it's a really cool project.

It's a cool NFT that is focused on people who want to be in the gambling community. People like Jack Settlement, who's a great influencer now, who started his career at action network, Cynthia Freeland. Explain sort of what you're doing with those folks and why people want to get involved. Yeah, I'm an advisor and I became one because the CEO and co-franchine, founder of my company, Thusio, which was acquired by Triller a few months ago, decided to start this with this engaged group of young entrepreneurs in the Web3 space. And I'm a computer gig. I was an MIS major at UVA. And so the emerging Web3 environment, the NFTs and the crypto world

that started to take over our country, even though right now it's kind of a little trepidious. It's still exciting because the opportunities are there. And I think mirroring sports and those that like to place a wager here and there is where the world is going. We're seeing it with the explosion of sports betting companies around the country, the advertising that we see on my network and other sports networks out there. It's tied together. And so I think Knights of Dijin and the Action Network is a perfect combination because the NFT world knows us, but those in the sports wagering world, they don't know this. They don't understand how engaging having a knight or being a night holder is in that world.

Because there's so many poker nights. We even own a fan-controlled football team, which we had our first season. It's the second season of fan-controlled football. We had our first season this year. Just missed out on the playoffs. Like literally a game missed out on the playoffs, a play. I missed out on the playoffs. We own a soccer team with a we're all going to make it.

Another NFT project over in England. And we do a lot of fun engaging things through our Discord, channels through our fantasy football games and events that we have, a lot of in real life events as well, IRL events. And so we enjoy it. We have a lot of discussion. There's a lot of big planning that goes on. And I think we add a value, a utility outside of just owning the NFT, the Knight NFT, which is very cool. So we're excited and thrilled to be partnering with action right now because it's going to expand our reach. And in some ways, give us a little bit more legitimacy in the gambling space,

which is what we're all about. Listen, if you need action for legitimacy in the gambling space, but I do like, look, everyone who owns a Knight NFT is getting an Action Pro subscription, you mentioned some IRL events, some in real life events. I think those are fantastic. And the people that you're in business with, I love Jack. settlement. He's been on the podcast. No doubt. He's great. He's a friend of ours. We're super enthusiastic about what's happening with

NIT to DGN. It's cool. I know there's a lot of conversations around NFTs right now. They're not going anywhere. You sort of have to define what is valuable to you and decide which community you want to be a part of. And for us, this is one that we decided we wanted to get deeply involved with. Well, we appreciate you. And I would tell people, it's not just art. It's about the utility. That's the most important thing. gets lost in some of these NFD projects, some of which fail, but it's because it's just about art. Ours is not just about the art.

It's about the community that we're building. And we're glad that actions are part of our community and we're a part of yours now. Tiki, thanks for coming back on the podcast. Those are such fantastic stories. I am going to go give everyone on our team a huge pep talk right now, authenticity. And then I'm going to back it up on my keyboard later today. I love it.

I love it. I'm going to be the Russell Wilson of Action Network today. That's awesome. Tiki Barber, Tiki and Tierney, WFAN. Thanks for coming on the podcast for Simon Hunter, for Matt Mitchell. I am Shad Milman. This has been the favorites from the Volume Podcast Network. Download us from Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, rate, review,

subscribe, leave us a five-star review, say whatever you want. Feedback is a gift. Until next time, love you. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite, unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.