The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 1097 - Live From the League Meeting’s Tuesday With Ryan Poles, Kevin O'Connell, Raheem Morris, Brandon Beane, Kalen Jackson, Darren Rizzi, Adam Schefter, Mark Kaboly, Ian Rapoport, and Jordan Shultz

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

On this episode of The Pat McAfee Show we are live from the NFL League meetings in Orlando. To meet up with some of the NFL’s brightest coaches, GMs, and Owners. We have to lead off the show with the biggest news of the day coming out of the NBA as Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors has been caught up in a gambling scandal that involves his own player prop bets. Getting back to the NFL Pat Brings on the Bears General Manager Ryan Poles to talk about his plan with the upcoming number 1 pick in the draft, the possibility of Caleb Williams and his impression of latest Steelers Quarterback Justin Fields. Pat keeping the conversation in the NFC North, Pat brings on Head Coach of the Minnesota Vikings  Kevin O'Connell talking about the process of moving on from a former franchise QB in Kirk Cousins, and the possibilities of moving up in the draft this year. To end the hour Raheem Morris the new Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons stops by the progrum to discuss his coaching journey the last few years and his take on the new NFL kickoff rule. Kicking off the second hour Brandon Beane comes onto the show to break down the process of changing an NFL rule and gets into his own process of improving his team. Partial owner of the Indianapolis Colts and daughter of Jim Irsay, Kalen Jackson comes onto the progrum to talk about her path into ownership and how her father has been doing lately. The special teams coordinator for the New Orleans Saints Darren Rizzi stops by the show to give a breakdown of the new kickoff rule for the 2024 season and what it could mean for the game. Adam Schefter comes on to help wrap up all the things he has been hearing over the last few days of the league meetings. Pat brings on Mark Kaboly to some and talk about the changes for the Pittsburgh Steelers going into this next season. To end out the show Pat brings on NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and then later Jordan Shultz to just wrap up all things going on with the owners meetings and the rest of the NFL news. Make sure you subscribe to YouTube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show. Or watch on ESPN (12-2 EDT), ESPN’s Youtube (12-3 EDT), or ESPN+. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. See you tomorrow. Cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people and welcome to the annual league meetings in Orlando, Florida. On this Tuesday, March 26, 2024, this sports program starts now. Sports are happening. A lot of conversations happening about a lot of sports like West Virginia getting screwed by the refs last night in the women's NCAA tournament where they saw zero free throws down the stretch and iowa got 15 of them nonetheless caitlin clark puts up 32 points in the iowa hawkeyes continue their journey to a hopeful national championship while the west virginia mountaineers women's team got screwed well i don't know that's happening in march madness obviously there's other chatter about that baseball has

something popping off what is it oh shohei otani spoke with a new interpreter said I ain't been on baseball I ain't been on anything I was bamboozled pretty much what he said I don't think anybody else's microphones are on and if there is there's a massive echo and we are in a conference room in a hotel that is the home of the annual league meeting it is wonderful down here in Florida the weather is amazing we got off the plane this morning about 2 45 after a fantastic Monday Night Raw and felt a little bit of humidity. We felt the 57 degree weather and we thought to ourselves, wow, we're in the right spot. Let me tell you how I know we're in the right spot. Just got done talking to Jim and John Harbaugh right outside here. I was basically a Harbaugh for about five, 10 minutes. Jim Harbaugh was showcasing

to me why he doesn't like the hip drop tackle. Okay. He was actually wrapping his massive arms around me and then saying, this is what we're trying to get out. This is what we're trying to get out. And I'm like, okay. And obviously John Harbaugh, the head coach of the Ravens, he had heard about our response to the Derrick Henry thing.

He said, yeah, nobody really knew what we were going to say. I was like, perfect fit. He's like, we thought so too. Yeah, we thought so too. But that's what the league meetings are. You walk around, there's billionaires literally strutting around with their security teams. There's bomb dogs walking through the hallways. There's about 40 gallons of coffee right down here if you want it.

And today on our program, we'll have GM of the Chicago Bears, number one pick holder, Ryan Poles joining us in about eight minutes. Kevin O'Connell, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. He will be joining us in about eight minutes. Kevin O'Connell, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, he will be joining us in about 25 minutes. Raheem Morris, new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, will be joining us in about 43 minutes. In about an hour from now, Brandon Bean, general manager of the Buffalo Beals, will be joining us.

Then Kalen Jackson, the next owner of the Indianapolis Colts, will be joining us. Then Coach Darren Rizzi of the New Orleans Saints, the man who was spearheading the movement for the NFL hybrid kickoff rule that passed today with a little bit of an amendment because the NFL Competition Committee and Rich McKay said, excuse me, let's put our own sauce on this. That's right.

Moving to the kick touchback from the 35 to the 30. It has passed. The kickoff will look different. It will look like the XFL's kickoff, which Sham Schwartstein, the rules creator for the XFL, is not happy. He said, I'm the one basically created this. I'm not getting any credit for it. Well, it's in the NFL now.

It has certainly been something that the XFL displayed in the games. I think special teams coaches that kind of put this thing together for the NFL side, Coach Dan Rizzi and the boys, what they thought was this is a kickoff drill that we created, that we have done in practices for years and years. Nonetheless, the XFL iteration of the kickoff is seemingly going to be what the kickoff of the NFL is for the future. This is a big deal.

This is going to save a play. There's more strategy. There's touchdowns. There's electrifying plays. There's big things coming out of these annual league meetings, including challenges and narrative changes and agendas and rules passings and great conversations and interviews. And most importantly, it does feel like a nice little spring break for everybody. It does. People out by the pool. Yeah. Hanging. I saw some billionaire come in here with more sunscreen on their nose than I've ever seen in a movie. Smart man. It's a beautiful time. It's a beautiful place. I'm not here alone.

Obviously, the boys are here. You guys look great in this conference room. The Talks Table is here. At Boss Connor and at Ty Schmidt. Con man, look at you at the owner's meetings. Yeah, pretty unbelievable. You know, after yesterday, I didn't think I'd be doing anything, you know, in front of a microphone for the rest of my life.

So it's nice to be here at the owner's meeting. Well, there's certainly some guy in Ohio who just rips everybody else's footage and has made a full career off of it that would like to see that happen. Absolutely. That point aside, I did forget that there would just be the Harbaughs walking around. I was actually in the restroom earlier with

Ty and Gump and Hawker. I laid out a perfect squeegee. I mean, a hole-in-one. The stuff you write movies about. And while I'm walking out, I'm singing a song. Boys, just did it. Perfect squeege. Boom. John Harbaugh taking a piss. I'm so sorry, Mr. Harbaugh.

Coach, I did not know you were in here, Coach. I apologize for that. I hope everything's going well. But no, it's awesome. And the weather, like you said, going from Chicago, what that was. Aggressive takeoff. Not going to be able to get out of here. Short runway, we're heavy. It is windy.

Raining. Yeah, that's what the pilot told us immediately upon getting onto the plane. It always feels like that's the new thing. Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. Get on the plane. Hey, this thing's going to suck two hours. Yeah, sorry.

It's great to hear. Bill, though, got us down here in beautiful weather. Yeah, he's a weapon. He's got a little handlebar mustache. Oh, yeah. Thankful that he did. One half of the hammer. God! Cowboys, Tone Diggs. Now digs now tone digs you host a uh sports

gambling show okay it's called hammer done as it echoes through this conference room gambling is now fully in the conversation of professional sports not just because the business side of it and the amount of money that's going to come to everybody that covers sports and the leagues themselves we got a basketball player that's being accused of kind of, you know. Fixing games almost. Jontae Porter, not even games, but like prop bets. Yeah. Toronto Raptors center Jontae Porter is out of the lineup in a subject of an NBA investigation

into irregularities on prop betting involving him. Sources tell David Purdom and Wendy and the Woj bomb. They break it down here where basically one game he had an over-under like half a three, four and a half rebounds, one and a half assists. He got sick. He was sick. Three minutes into the game, he's out. So obviously,

none of the overs hit. And then the DraftKings comes out and says, hey, the biggest winner last night was the people that bet on the unders for this guy we've never heard of playing for the Toronto Raptors. Then it happened again where they said he re-aggravated an injury in his eye or something like that, and he wasn't able to play. And then DraftKings reannounces to the whole world, like, hey, the biggest bet last night, the biggest winner, was under on this guy. You had no idea existed. So now the NBA and gamblers who probably lost these bets were like, excuse me, something's going on.

Now they're looking into it. And this comes on the heels, obviously, of the Shohei Otani interpreter situation that's cooking in baseball. This is going to continue to be a topic of conversation as it continues to grow. But we have to remember, and I see a lot of people on the Internet saying this, and I'm a gambler. And we have benefited from sports gambling companies as a business. That is not, we are not lying. Like, I will be very transparent about that and very lucky for not only what FanDuel did, investing in our company and being our exclusive sports book,

and then now with ESPN launching ESPN Bed, and obviously they've got a lot of things to figure out, but they're going to continue to go and all this. It's like there has to be a very clear line that like when you're in the game you cannot because we're all doing this bingo and that sounds hypocritical i get it and people will probably attack me for even saying it but like when you're playing you cannot jeopardize the integrity of the sport that you are playing because then it ruins everything for everybody and people are making excuses for these players like well how are they how are they not supposed

to get involved they They turn on TV. FanDuel, DraftKings, everything on there. It's like, well, if people start gambling on games, that ruins gambling. It ruins the sport and ruins gambling and ruins everything. It's like there's a clear distinction tone that I think we have to maintain and keep. But as we go through this transition process of sports gambling becoming so easily accessible for people, I think we're right in the middle of this transition period. I think it's going to continue, which is not good for anybody.

Yeah, and this is the league's worst nightmare is players gambling on their own sport, which is what is apparently or allegedly happening in the NBA with this player. And saying he was throwing games, I think, is a stretch because when you average like five minutes a game and three points a game, I think it's hard to throw a game. But for your own props, that's a thing. But they were doing it allegedly so stupidly. Player props, you can't normally bet more than $1,000 on.

But they had VIPs betting $10,000, $20,000 on a no-name player in the NBA. Red flag immediately to the sportsbooks that are looking at that. We talked about this last night as the story was breaking. I watch that show Locked Up Abroad. Yes, yes, yes. It's always about drug smugglers.

Yep. They get away with it like eight, nine times. And then they're always like, it was my last time I was going to do it. It was my 10th time. It's like pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. You always be too greedy. You're going to get caught. This one seems to be alarmingly dumb, loud,

and potentially questioning the entire integrity of basketball whenever they have already had a Donahue situation. So they're going to have to figure that out. A man who's the all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers. One of the biggest voices against the hip drop tackle. Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Hawks. A.J., is it nice to be back in the sun? I know you took a vacation in the Caribbean last week.

Now you're back in Orlando. What a little charmed life you're living right now. Yeah, very, very lucky. I agree. But did Harbaugh, did he entice you at all to come to the other side when it comes to the hip drop tackle? I think what they were, I think. Made me think about it, honestly.

Seeing him demonstrate on you and then here. I know you loved it. I'm like, you know what? He might have a little bit of a point there. The way the coaches, and I think the reason why they voted, they were probably showing clips and talked about like, do we think this was on purpose? Could you say intent?

Is it one of the things where we could use intent? Yeah. Like, hey, no, this guy forcibly yanked him backwards and fell on his knee and ankle. I don't know if Jim Harbaugh was the only one or the Harbaughs were the only ones, but it feels like there was a sense of a lot of conversation about the videos and the plays that they watched

where this was almost becoming like the new horse collar. Like guys were using this potentially as the new way to get on people. And like, yeah, nobody wants to hurt anybody, but what about in the fourth quarter when you're really tired, you know, and you've been banging with a guy? This guy's really big and he's running sideways. And I'm like, the only way to truly get him down is to, like you said, like you riding that bull or taking that bull to the ground.

So it's like whenever they start laying out like why they passed it, which we never even thought of, it's like, okay, that makes sense. But we're putting a lot of pressure on these refs to be the ones judging the intent of it all. And I think what we're worried about is, is this going to become flag football? Whoa. Okay, we're not in this big-ass hotel because of flag football. We're in this big-ass hotel for league meetings

because craniums like this one used to run through other people's bodies. We just can't lose that. But I think what I'm hearing from very football people, football people, that are like, hey, there's just a little bit of, we're getting to a point where some people are abusing techniques at this point. And we're just trying to cut back on it as we move forward not trying to eliminate tackling we're just trying to save ankles we're trying to save knees and we're trying to keep the best players in the game now speaking of that we got to move forward because we're here and there's a very

special person here he's been standing in the corner you can feel his energy oh you can feel him when he walks in aura you think yourself wait a minute does that guy have the number one pick in the nfl draft this upcoming season? For this draft season, is he the topic of conversation with everybody? Because what the hell is he going to do? Well, it seems like the entire world has already made its decision for him. Ladies and gentlemen, the general manager of the Chicago Bears, Big Popo!

Yeah! I appreciate you so much. Big pole pole Hey it's on carpet So it might not wheel as easy Yeah I was struggling You saw me struggling with it A lot of sleep I was in Chicago last night I was in a great city last night It was a beautiful place

Let's make sure we put that up Because you're tall Are you the tallest GM? Might be Are you the most athletic GM? No Absolutely not Who is you think? Have you looked around? I haven't looked around Hey Congratulations Polish GM? Might be. Are you the most athletic GM? No, absolutely not. Who is, do you think?

Have you looked around? I haven't looked around. Hey, congratulations. Thank you. What you have done up there, seemingly, and I think we got to. Is this on? Yeah. Yeah, it's on.

First one. So you're the guinea pig. Yeah. Hey, you're the first pick of the draft. First pick of the draft. First one in here. We appreciate you joining us. League meetings every single year.

What happens here? You're learning about what the NFL wants to do next season. There's deals getting done. Are you talking to people? Is there stuff? Like, what is the league meeting as a whole every single year for you as a GM now? There's probably deals getting done, but most of it's sitting in these meetings, health and wellness of the players, new rules being introduced to everybody,

hearing those debates go back and forth. So the hip drop tackle, we were very anti, just like every player was. And then literally Jim Harbaugh almost tackled me out in the hallway and was like, this is kind of what we want to get rid of. Is that kind of everybody's mindset going in? Like we don't want to change football, but then you start hearing what the intent of the rule is and then everybody's like, okay, yeah, we can get on board with that.

Is that normally how things happen? Yeah, that's how it goes down because most of us, we just don't want the game to be interrupted, slowed down. You don't want those gray area plays to start affecting the game. But a lot of times there's someone that pitches it the right way in terms of, all right, if we can just be – if the clear and obvious can be taken out,

we shouldn't see those really tough calls that you hit a 15-yard penalty and it messes up the whole game. So. So we'll attack the refs, not you guys. So whenever they potentially get the intention wrong and they throw a flag on something that ruins an entire game, we'll be the ones that will attack them instead of you. But these refs getting better than ever. Better than ever. We appreciate stripes. I'm sure there's meetings about that.

All right, let's talk about your current situation. You guys are drafting Caleb Williams. Number one overall. We'll see. Congratulations. Congratulations. You did it. Congratulations. Congratulations. You did it. Okay, so that is an interesting thing because every report that comes out about you guys and Caleb or Caleb's pro day or you guys dapping up at the pro day

or having dinner at the pro day and meeting him with his teammates and everything, everybody's like, okay, Chicago Bears fans are like, our guy is our guy. As this process has gone on with your research into Caleb, what have you learned about him that you've loved? And what do you think people maybe had a misconception of him or maybe you had a misconception of him going into the entire process? Yeah, what makes it interesting is he's probably the biggest NIL football player to come through the process.

Ever. Ever. And so you have to kind of break that down, because usually that's not the case. And you want to know, does he have humility? Can he self assess and say, I'll take ownership of what he needs to continue to work on and improve. And he's checked all of those boxes so far. So I've been encouraged with the time that we spent with him,

the things that we've learned in terms of does he fit our culture and can he be a guy that helps take the Chicago Bears to the next level. Do you hate the fact that it's like such a matter of fact that he's going? Because I was with the Colts when Andrew Luck was coming out. Andrew Luck took a visit to Washington because they had the number two pick or whatever. And in the building, whenever he was taking his visit to the Colts and said he had to go to Washington next, we're all like,

yup, worth it. Completely worth it. Does it suck that you potentially have next to no leverage with the number one pick because everybody seemingly knows exactly what you're doing? Or is it great because there's a guy that everybody assumes to be the number one overall pick? I think it's year to year. But when you have

pretty good clarity, it really doesn't make a difference. How do you not get swayed by sometimes, not this year, just in general when you're drafting players, not being, I guess, whatever the public may think. Sometimes there's a lot that the public thinks. Bullshit. You need to take this guy. You need him. How do you sometimes go and actually study

and realize, yeah, is it tough to go against that sometimes where the public thinks, hey, this is what you need to do? You don't pick, Caleb. And you're thinking the long game. Hey, just wait two or three years, and you guys will understand what I'm doing. It happens every year, and I think that's the hardest part of being a general manager or a leader in any space is you're doing the homework.

You're getting the correct information. You have a group of really good scouts that are giving that to you. If that goes against the narrative, you've got to stand up against that. And you're getting killed like in the instant, but you know, hey, I'm playing the long game. This is going to work out eventually. How many picks as a whole do you guys have? Right now we have four.

Okay, when's the next one after number one? Nine. Oh, yes, you were in a good spot. Yeah, great spot. That's a lot of research, so you've got to do a lot of shit here. Yeah. Has this been a very busy, active, obviously this is your most active time, but what is it? Pro days are the best? The meetings are the best? The visits? a lot of shit here. Yeah. Has this been a very busy, active, obviously this is your most active time,

but what is it? Pro days are the best? The meetings are the best? The visits? What is the best? Visits, time spent with the guys. You guys have been in a locker room before. When you spend time with someone,

you look them in the eye, you go out to dinner, you want to make sure that fits in with the locker room. So that's going to be really, really important. You go to dinner with Caleb and his teammates. Yep. It's what we learned as of last 24 hours. Yeah. They cheers each other, good toast.

Yeah. Good food, somebody pick up a tab. It was great food, I picked up the tab. Wow. Wow. That's good GM right there. Way to go. That's a good GM.

Do you want a guy to offer to pick up the tab? No. No, he doesn't have to offer. He doesn't have to offer. The highest NIL guy of all time. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Tone's got guy of all time. Yeah, that's true. Tone's got a question for you.

Yeah, I wanted to ask you about Justin Fields because I saw you talk, and I believe you said it was one of the hardest things that you've ever had to do as a GM. I believe there was a poster in your house of Justin Fields. You said, now, were you aware when you took the GM role that it was going to be that hard? Is it just because, you know, Justin is the guy that he is? And also, I'm a Steelers fan, so what are we getting with Justin Fields? Yeah, you're getting a great kid. Works his butt off. Dynamic.

We've all seen that in terms of how he moves. The person's outstanding. You won't be wrong there at all. In terms of hard decisions, absolutely. His jersey is up, you know, in our house. My son was Justin Fields for Halloween. I was Taka-Tay. Great costume.

This is a whale. So those conversations are tough. So I get from the fan base why that's a difficult thing. But, again, it's my job to really look at the short term and the long term and set our organization up for success. How about that Panthers trade? Yeah. Pretty good one.

Worked out really well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you hear, like, you know, because obviously, and we're lucky to talk to a few GMs around the league, but, like, when RG3 comes out you heard it yeah okay what are your like don't you think like your particular bears feels different than maybe the previous bears like that's how we feel outside looking at it's like hey this is a brand new building almost does it feel like that in there and obviously you weren't there beforehand but does it feel like you and ibra flusas culture

is because at the end of the last season right it feels like, okay, the culture is kind of settling in, team settling in. You guys feel that, obviously? Yeah, it pisses me off a little bit, to be honest with you, because we were hired to break a cycle. The same thing when I was in Kansas City. Coach Reed, all of us were brought there to break a cycle, and we did. And no one talks about those days anymore. It's all about what they are right now so i really believe we're about to break this cycle and get this this city in a really good situation and win a lot of games um so the past is the past like i don't worry about that at all

it's about where we're going okay well a lot of people had a similar reaction to you owner at the owners meetings of the green bay packers your tie is a question for your poll yeah unfortunately you know because just talking to you right now, you're a great guy, and I really like what you've done this offseason. I hope you guys lose so many games for the rest of your game. That's just personal. But you talk about Caleb fitting the culture of the team. Coming in, obviously, you move some of those foundational pieces,

and then this year you trade for sweat at the trade deadline, give him a massive extension. How do you know or, like, how long does it take when it's like, okay, we finally do have the guys that I'm looking for in here that fit the culture and kind of what Coach Floos is trying to do with the team? Yeah, the team starts to run itself. The locker room runs itself. You don't have to get up there and talk about standards.

You don't have to talk about how we're going to do things. The guys start doing that on their own. and I really think once you start to head in that right direction you can kind of back off a little bit a little bit and you're gonna practice at the same tempo deal with conflict and issues at a totally different level so you can start to feel that already for the rookie quarterback thing which is our kind of take you invested in running back mm-hmm Keenan Allen got more weapons alongside DJ. You did a little bit of work on the offensive line.

And the defense, that feels like a perfect setup for a rookie quarterback. I mean, isn't that what we're looking for? Absolutely. And that's on purpose, obviously. On purpose, yep. What do you do? You have a dry erase board. You're like, all right, how do we not screw this guy up?

That is a real thing because there's a lot of rookie quarterbacks that come in and it does not work out. No, it's a unique situation. And when you look at history's a lot of rookie quarterbacks that come in and it does not work out. No, it's a unique situation. And when you look at history, a lot of those guys come in and they've got to fight for the first couple years just to get to the other side. Survive on those. Survive, survive. So this is a great setup.

The trade worked out well where we have weapons, we have a defense. So, hey, on those bad days, we're going to need some turnovers to bring it back. Yep, when you're a little bit off, you can hand the ball off and you can start to dictate how the defense is going to play it. And then from there, we'll just grow and get better. Connor's got a question for you. Yeah, Ty mentioned the trade deadline last year. Now trade deadline moving back a week.

Is that something for you that it's like, thank God, because if we have a guy go down early and another team falls off, they might be more willing to, you know, give us an important piece that could help us go all the way? Or what is your thoughts around the trade deadline moving back and how it helps you guys and all the GMs really in the end? Yeah, it helps you an additional week. We never changed it once we went to 17 games. So it kind of feels the same.

And you guys are trying to get to 18 games, right? I heard you are. Sure. No, I get it. I get it. It's a lot of football. It you guys are trying to get to 18 games, right? I heard you are. Sure. No, I get it. I get it. It's a lot of football. It's a lot. Gotta love it.

It's a lot of football. But, yeah, I think that it's a good move. They also want to protect not getting too far down the road where now people are just starting to dump players, you know, trying to get draft capital. So I think it's a good move. It should work out well. Are you and Coach Iberflues in the gym every morning?

He's strapped right now. Oh, my God. Isn't he? He's getting right, yeah. He's on a program, I think. He's got a big head. The linebackers are starting to come back out. He looks real.

When you're trying to piece the culture together, though, and I think they asked about that, you're trying to look for a specific person, be it a Chicago Bear now going forward. we have an identity obviously and you think you are finding that or have that at this point yep tough violent fast explosive guys that are passionate about football love ball right love ball got a little so we heard that about Caleb whenever we were at the combine we were walking around me and Mad Mel and we were chit-chatting with everybody because going into it not you us outside who know him, we heard his team talk a lot.

Like, hey, Caleb's team saying this. And is that even Caleb's team or is that just somebody that might be in the sphere but doesn't actually know what they're talking about? So we thought immediately like, okay, maybe, buddy, the NFL existed before you. The NFL exists after you. He wants a percentage of the team. He's not going here. He's not doing this. This is all from the team.

None from Caleb or from the team. So your immediate thought is like, oh, this guy's prima don of the team. He's not going here. He's not doing this. This is all from the team. None from Caleb or from the team. So your immediate thought is like, oh, this guy's pretty Madonna diva. Yeah. Especially at the quarterback position. But then you've got the GQ. You've got the NIL. You've got everything that's going on. That kind of all feeds into it.

Then we go to the combine, and everybody's like, everybody we talk to, equipment managers, athletic trainers, teammates, coaches, everybody loves him, and he's obsessed with ball. I don't think that gets talked about at all, or wasn't talked about at all. No, but that's what you've got to be careful with, what you read and what you hear. How do you find out if somebody loves ball? Do you talk to all those people? Yeah, I mean, we've

talked to probably 30, 40 people for a lot of these prospects just to get a real feel for is that passion there? Are they tough? Are they going to go through hard things? Are they resilient? Because really, with this setup of college football, it's harder to even take criticism. It's harder to give criticism because if I get too much, then I'm out.

Guys are getting soft, you're saying. Guys are getting soft. Maybe a little bit. We think that. Yeah, for sure. We think that. That's why, like, building a team would be impossible. Yeah.

And I want to see guys that have gone through hard. You know, they've had struggles. For Caleb specifically, like, this year was not exactly the way that he wanted. He had to go. For Caleb specifically, this year was not exactly the way that he wanted. He had to go through some hard times, and he probably learned a lot about himself and how to overcome those things. Because in the league, that's going to happen.

Yeah. And you've got to get through it. Yeah. And there's a game coming. Yep. And then another one. And then 18, if you guys could have your way. Tony's got a question for you.

You talked about it now with hard times. How many questions do you ask around NIL? Because Saban came out, and he talked about his end of season meetings with his players. And they just come in, and they want to know if they're starting and how much money they're getting. Do you ask the coaches and people like that if the player has come in,

if he's transferred a bunch of times, if they care, obviously, about the ball. But do they only care about the money? Do they care only about the playing time and the transferring and stuff like that? Yeah, I think it's a really good touch point to see how they're going to handle it. There's some situations where I

think it helps us right? Because before that you're going to get a bag of money and then how are you going to respond after but we've already made the decision now we can see some of these guys have had it before. How do they manage their situation? How's their structure?

Who are the people around them? Are they staying dedicated to the sport that they're supposed to love? So you can get some good answers through this. So it's not all negative about it. They say it's hard to wake up and work when you're sleeping on satin sheets. We're already finding out, I guess,

with these college kids sleeping in penthouses and things around. College campus, nice walls. How was yours doing? Shit. It was your dorm? Shit. It was rough. They shut down my house. My house got tore down the year after I moved out. It should have been tore down.

I stayed in the same dorm as my dad did at Boston College. That's how old it was. Jeez. Air conditioning, no way. No way. No way. But now look at you, that watch. You see this watch?

Huge. It's in the States. It's been staring at me. Capital R. Did you see what The Rock did to Cody Rhodes last night? No. You don this watch? Huge. It's been a mile away. It's been staring at me. Capital R. Did you see what The Rock did to Cody Rhodes last night? No. You don't want to see it. Don't look at it, Bulls. You don't.

Don't look at it. But he's done. Ladies and gentlemen, a man who's been in the NFL since 2009. Long time. You're a young man, too. Yeah, young. How old are you? 38.

Jeez. GM of a team at 38? That's awesome. Yep. Ladies and gentlemen,? 38. Jeez. GM of a team at 38? That's awesome. Yep. Ladies and gentlemen, Ryan. Yeah! Absolutely. Thank you for stopping by.

Hey, good luck. You don't draft Caleb. Everybody's going to talk about it. Don't worry. Hey, you can draft anybody. Yeah, don't feel obligated to draft Caleb. Go Eagles. Thanks for doing deals with Omar, by the way.

Hey, take care, man. Keep killing it, dude. Sweet watch. Trade that pick. Brandon, thank you, buddy. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. That was a Bears PR guy.

Yeah. Brandon, good guy. Brandon watches the program. He does. As soon as he found out we were going, he hit us up. What a dog. Hey, you want to get Mr. Poles on? And right outside, Mr. Poles does know that you call him Big Pole Poles.

Cool, yeah. Doesn't everybody? That's a good thing. Good boxing. I'm talking about, you know, just the ability to, like racing, sit on top of the, you know. Exactly. In the side. Pole position.

Pole position. Pole sitter. He's as tall as a pole. No, don't do what you just did. Oh, I thought that's what they say for Indy. Yeah, it's for whenever you're on top poll position. Poll position, not poll sitter. 38 years old. Alright, so we just did it. They're

drafting Caleb. Yep. Hey, congratulations. That's journalism. Yeah. 30 to 40 people. I saw a I can't remember who it was from on Twitter today, but do they know what they're doing? Did the NFL tell them, hey, you're not allowed to say who it is until draft night because it ruins the first overall pick. Yeah, I mean, this is like the

first time I mean, every year we've had the number one over. Bryce Young last year was locked in. Pretty much. Even though there were some people that came out and said. Does that happen though? Do you think the league actually reaches out? Probably at this. Hey, remember Bears? We're not saying shit to anybody.

Don't put it in writing. Don't send me an email, but maybe if I run into him in person. Yeah, Caleb and other prospects. But it also has seemed like later they absolutely know who they're taking, and then the NFL does say, hey, listen, you're chewing up that 15 minutes. They do every year. Oh, yeah, that first one. Yeah.

Every time we do – draft spectacular this year is going to be huge. Huge. Huge. We're going to be live in Detroit. It's going to be the best one. Yeah. And we got whale. Yeah.

Didn't we? Oh, yeah. Talkie Tay, baby. Talkie Tay's dead. Moby Dick. Rest in peace. Ahab's going to be dead. Ahab's going to be dead as well.

Is he dead? Well. Captain Ahab. Maybe. Here down at this particular meeting, the NFL has shaped itself a little bit. But let's pivot away from this and let's talk about the Iowa Hawkeyes women's team getting cheated. No.

Cheating. Last night that was a hell of a game. It was. During Raw I wasn't able to watch it but I caught up on a flight afterwards. West Virginia women's team held it down against Kaitlyn Clark and then Iowa Hawkeyes team. She scores 32, has a big night flexing, talking, daggering, doing the whole thing.

I think a lot of people were saying, well, Caitlin Clark is pretty active whenever she's talking about the refs and talking to the refs. And now people are saying, well, it's paying off for Caitlin Clark. She's been working the refs for her entire career there. She's just a beast. Every series matters. Yeah. Every time she has the ball, I better not get touched. If I get fouled and you don't call it,

you're worse at your job than I am at mine, and I'm going to let you know. Well, this carry-in to the WNBA, and also, I know West Virginia's good. I know they're damn good. Of course. Mountaineer's gritty. They fight.

Slap the floor. Yeah, we're playing defense. Should have seen them. This is no easy night, Kaitlin Clark, even in your town, in your last game in your town. South Carolina won by 50. Again? No, well.

No, they beat UNC by 50. In their last game. Yeah. I'm worried about the Iowa Hawkeyes after watching them against West Virginia last night. I do think part of it, like, they got their game out of the way. They got their scare out of the way because I was trying to watch it as we were watching the Rock just eviscerate Cody Rhodes.

Oh, man. But I think you mentioned it, and a lot of Iowa fans were concerned about this. Like, the way West Virginia plays, tough, gritty, just all deep, slow the game down big time. Iowa's a big, like, run and gun. They lead the women in most points per possession this year, and they just eliminated the possessions. Me and

Connor were watching it late, too. For some reason, Iowa's offense decided to defer, go away from Kaitlin Clark. At least the Blue Jays know she's a Blue Jays. She does. Coach Bluger, she knows what she's doing.

But I think they did get their scare out of the way last night. But you're right. I mean, we mentioned it earlier. If you're going to play and beat South Carolina, you're going to need to shoot at least 85 threes, and you're going to need to shoot probably about 85% from the field. All right, let's pivot back to the NFL now that we're in a conference room at the annual league meetings here in Orlando.

Joining us now is a man who won a game with a quarterback that he had known for 72 hours Yep, a man who was calling plays into the ears of the quarterback saying the guy on the right side there You don't know his name go route slant left look left way left. He's running a comeback Alright, let's go do it. Ladies and gentlemen, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Kevin O'Connor. That's exactly how it sounded. Yeah, that's what we heard. I mean, we reenacted a lot of things, but we feel like we get some things right. We're in a room.

Coach, good to see you. Where have you been all week, man? We've been waiting to see you. How was that Monday Night Raw last night? Got other things going on. The Rock beat the hell out of Cody. You ever heard of him? You know the Rock? I have. Yes, I have.

You might be eye-to-eye with the Rock with how tall you are. Did you see the photo? The only time I ever saw him in person was Super Bowl when he's on the field right before kickoff. Looking bigger than most of our – In the maroon gear. The old kickoff, not the new kickoff. How do we feel?

How do we feel? How do we feel? You love it? You know what? I think it's – you know, I'm not as worried about the, you know, unforeseen kind of outcomes as I think we got a safe play that keeps the game – keeps the play in the game. Yeah, but you offensive guys are like, just give me a touchback. Just put it on the 25.

Let's rock. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand that. Did you see the picture from the combine when you were standing next to Mad Mel? You made him look like a four-foot tall person. It was bad. He's not here today, is he? No, no, no.

Mad Mel's not here. He's breaking down tape. Yeah, talking to GMs. He's around there. Okay, Coach, let's dive in a little bit here. Sam Darnold comes to the Minnesota Vikings. $10 million deal, I think, is what was being reported. I don't know what it actually is.

You don't have to correct that. But everybody's saying, okay, this is for a veteran guy who's been around to be the starter for a young quarterback that's going to come in inevitably. I don't know if you've said that publicly or if that's just us assuming that's the case. But this offseason, what has the mindset been for you guys? And how do you feel? Is this like a rejuvenating feeling, a refreshing feeling? Or are you about sick of having to deal with a new quarterback every other week?

No, I think for Sam, you know, he signed a one-year deal with us. I think, you know, we're in the process of, you know, really evaluating the quarterback position as a whole, both in the draft. Sam was a guy that jumped out to me personally, just having done him coming out of the draft, had him, you know, really evaluated him at different parts of his quarterback journey. You know, you always know when you're talking to a former, very lightly used term here, NFL quarterback. No, no, no. I heard you were a stud.

I heard you were a stud. When I say quarterback journey, because I think so many times in this league, people want to say we can or we can't so quickly. And we're all, even though wins and losses tend to fall pretty quickly on the quarterback and rightly so, it's the most important position in sports. But I think that journey, there's a lot of circumstances involved in it. And not diving too much into the past, but I would just say evaluating Sam off of really the end of 2022 in Carolina.

I think he goes four and two down the stretch. And then I got a lot of respect for Kyle. I think Brian Greasy did a great job coaching him in San Francisco because when I turn on the tape, limited snaps, but Sam's improvement and continued evolution to be what I think is going to be the best version of himself here in the not-too-distant future was on tape for me. I can't wait to get working with him, and I do think his best football, like many of us, they get the opportunity.

Some of us get thrown into the coaching profession. They say, you don't get the opportunity. Yeah, yeah, stop throwing balls. Go talk. But that's why I'm here, to hopefully Sam has a heck of an opportunity out in front of him. And I think I know this. At this point in Sam's career, I think

he's pretty excited to play with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Hawk, bring in Aaron Jones, you know, and ultimately. That was a nice little. Yeah, it was. Gotcha, bitch. He's a special dude. Yeah, I spent, you know. Hey, he can.

Yeah, he's very good. I offered to drive to Green Bay and help pack his stuff. So, you know, I was ready to do that. But, I mean, I just – I'm serious. I think it's – you know, I like to feel pretty good about what we do offensively and we're always getting better. But I'm excited for Sam. Excited to get rolling.

Last question for me before the boys have their questions. Yeah. This is real because of what I just did with the pastronaut. Do you feel like you can get anybody open? And do you feel like the quarterback position, I need somebody that can just spin it and put it to a place. Like the most important thing, I need a guy that can just put the ball to where it needs to go.

Because you've got Justin Jefferson. Everybody knows, best wide receiver in the league. Every conversation, he's in it. And he had 180 yards in the first half of a couple games. So it's like, is the defense not planning for Justin Jefferson somehow your offense has them open now Kirk Cousins obviously very cerebral very smart but with your offense what the numbers that were happening were just absurd do you feel like okay I can get anybody open even if the defense is like trying their best to stop a guy and the biggest part is I just need somebody that can spin the

rock like is that what you're looking for? I think accuracy, you know, is the number one trait that NFL quarterbacks need to have. Oh, so panics. Ooh. Okay. I think accuracy is the number one trait that's – I didn't say no.

Oh! Easy, K. Don't give anything up. Hey, you've got a lot of leverage right now. No, but that is a big deal, right? But I would just say we take a lot of pride in trying to build a system that either presents great opportunities or we're setting something up for in-game, maybe a week, maybe two weeks down the line that we just become hard to defend. And you can't mention Justin Jefferson without saying

he's the best receiver in our league. We know that. And, you know, with that becomes, yes, we're not going to allow people to take Justin completely away. But, you know, A.J. knows this. Sometimes defensive coaches go in the room and they say, hey, we are not going to let this guy wreck the game. And then he has 180 yards in the first half.

We're never going to go in and say, hey, just chalk it up. J.J., you're a decoy today. We're going to get him his touches. We're going to get him his ops. But what that means for Jordan Addison, TJ Hawkinson, Aaron Jones out of the backfield, our ability to marry the run and the pass, I just look at it as what I'm looking for is somebody that can efficiently run the offense. And in a lot of ways, this league has turned into a completion league, you know, spitting the ball, put it in play, completion on a completion. I tell our guys all the time, every completion has a negative effect on the defense for one reason or another.

And we happen to have some really good guys with the ball in the hand after the catch. So our job is just to, you know, kind of start the process. Never want to overcoach, never want to kind of put guys into a box and say, you've got to do this or this or this. But we're coaching techniques, fundamentals, reads, and we'd like to think more oftentimes than not, if you trust in that, things are going to work out. Yeah, you're pretty good.

AJ's got a question for you since you stole his favorite player from him. Yeah. I mean, Aaron Jones, unbelievable talent. Unfortunately, he'll be playing for you guys. He's going to have a great year. But accuracy as a quarterback, can you teach that? Can you develop that? I've heard coaches in the past say, like, if you're not accurate in college,

you're not going to be accurate in the NFL. Is that something you think you can develop? I think it's what you study because I think some accuracy issues, you know, when they're tied to footwork, your base, balance, body position, all the things. Is that what they say, like mirroring your feet to your arm? Yeah, exactly. You know, it's just like if you guys, like mirroring your feet to your arm? Yeah, exactly. You know, it's just like if you guys, you know, you go to take a, you go to shoot a free throw,

you know, they don't just talk about when the ball leaves your hand. It's about, you know, your base. It's about, you know, a jump shooter. It's about, there's some guys you could take their, you can take their feet away from, you can take their legs away from, they can make it from anywhere in the gym. Those guys exist in our league, you know, whether you're talking about the Mahomes or some of these guys. We're talking about this shit. The off-schedule stuff that I think is valuable. I think it is because there's going to come a time, you never know when it's going to be. It could be a got to have it down where they just got the perfect call

and they got us. And we still end up getting a first down because your ability to make a throw that, you know, you couldn't draw up on a chalkboard. That happens in our league and it happens in big time moments but I do think to answer your question you can fix some things from the ground up I do think we were all given the ability you know for that ball to leave our our fingertips a certain way and I'd like to think you know you can watch the tape evaluate some of those misses and say yay or nay. Were you an accurate thrower? You were. If I could have just been a little more accurate.

Oh, man. I knew where to throw it. Still be playing. I might still be playing. But would you guys be really willing to have me on? Yeah. Yeah. You spinning it? Yeah.

We'd love to have you, dude. Tone's got a question for you. Yeah, I do. I don't want to put you on a spot with anyone's name here, but let's say the Vikings package 11 and 23. Yeah, because you guys just did a weird first round thing. Oh, they're bundling for that. They just want to let you know what we know happened.

Do you prefer a quarterback who, let's say, just won the national championship, is really good on third downs, versus a quarterback that maybe just won the Heisman and is electric with his legs and his deep ball, or a quarterback who maybe, I don't know, turned down allegedly $5 million to go to a bigger school and stayed at... Don't say the name, though. Yeah, is there traits besides accuracy

when you're looking that you prefer over others? First and foremost, what you just described I think is a pretty exciting quarterback class. Okay, okay. That's a good answer. That's a good answer. If that does exist, I'm all in. I'm excited about that. And I think that's pretty true as far as when you talk about some of these guys.

But I think some of the other traits, to me, it's the athletic ability, the ability to make some plays with your feet. Our game has changed. It's a space game. People are all over the field. We're trying to spread defenses out and activate one-on-ones. You've got to account for the quarterback for many of these guys, and that can be a real factor when you're putting together plays.

How about how cool the jumpsuit is that he works out in? Like J.J. McCarthy had that all white. He did. So sick. With the smiley face. Yeah. I mean, pretty much everybody nowadays has way more swag than I ever did. All of us.

So I'm a fan of it all. Do you go to all these pro days? You didn't go to that one, did you? Yeah. We're sending Josh McCown, you know, Wes Phillips, ROC. Did he coach one of the other quarterbacks? In high school? Oh, yeah, he did.

Was he in Drake Mays? He might have. Okay. Oh. Wow. We're on to you. That's telling. You guys have done your work, man.

You guys have done your work. What the hell? Yeah, we talk for three hours every single day about something. Okay, so we're going to go. Find it. We're going to certainly find it. But, you know, I actually used to be one of those quarterback gurus before I got officially –

Coaching? Oh, yeah. Jordan Palmer? I know all the tricks. Who did you work with? I worked a little bit with Mariota coming out. Hey, so those produce are bullshit, we've heard. How can you go that far?

Because I think you can see a guy spin it, and they've had the opportunity to prepare. That's why I do like still going to the combine. I know it's becoming less and less of a – Let's not do that. Keep Indianapolis real, please. Yeah, come on. I would love that.

I love Indy. I absolutely love Indy. Got to see you there. It was phenomenal. Oh, you saw Gumpy, by the way. That's right. That's who I met. I learned who it was.

It was – That guy. There he is right there. They tried to say you didn't exist. That's not true. They tried to. didn't exist. That's not true. They tried to. They tried to. That's not true.

Heard you were a gentleman, too, which we appreciate. You know, you learn a lot about the prospects around Indianapolis because remember Malik Willis gave his jacket to a homeless bum downtown. That's right. Which the city didn't appreciate because you're, like, encouraging this person to stay downtown. But everybody on the Internet was like, he's a good guy. He's a good guy.

We're learning about the coaches, too, out and about. Yeah. Heard you were a gentleman. Good guy. Yeah, a scholar. And to the Eastern Illinois offensive lineman that I didn't even know that we knew, you were nice to them as well. Big hugs.

Looks like he can still play, man. You guys thinking about drafting him? He's got me. He's got me. Ty's got a question for you. Speaking of this specific draft class, it seems like you're one of those guys who you think you can get the best out of whoever you're going to be coaching.

Is it difficult? And again, this is just speculation. We don't know if you're going to take a quarterback. Nah, you definitely are though. But that's why you're going to bundle is to go up and get a quarterback. How hard is it though when you're looking at these different guys not to kind of fall in love with each one of them and be

like, oh, there's stuff there that I'd be really excited to coach and like is it difficult kind of like taking that hat off and being like okay well this guy would clearly be the best for what my vision is with the offense. I think it's important that if you end up falling in love with multiple quarterbacks in a draft that's only that's an that's an even better thing especially when you you know you did something like we did to acquire pick 23, really for the flexibility of what we think is a really good draft. Everybody's making a big point about the quarterback position. I think that's real. Two picks.

And this is a really deep draft. All right, thank you for that. Little deep draft. Journalism. I should say very deep draft. I mean, there could be a scenario where the first defensive player, A.J., as you know, normally that guy's coming off the board in the top five, top four picks.

That might happen eight, nine, ten, maybe 11. That's a transition of the game, though, don't you think, as well? But it's still an impactful player that you've got an opportunity to select that maybe in other drafts without kind of a quarterback class like this and receivers, for that matter, you're looking at another team drafting that guy before you ever have a chance. So I think the ability to improve our team with those two picks,

no matter how it ends up happening, if it's a package or a bundle, like we like to call it, to go get one guy that we say changes our organization for the future, or are we in a position where we're adding a couple players to our team that have chances to be long-term impact starters for us?

You should get a deal with State Farm. Progressive? Bundle. No, State Farm. MVB, isn't that the bundle? Yeah, bundle it up. That's Patrick Mahomes? Oh, yeah.

MVB? Four words, but it's one word. Yeah, because he bundled the words. They need to get you guys a deal. That needs to happen. Let's see how April plays out. You guys are bundling. We heard.

Last question here. Connor's got a question for you. Yeah, just on the thing about guys, they call Justin Jefferson JJ, so probably locker room's not big enough for two JJs. Oh, yeah. Get them out. Just having to throw that around. You clearly haven't been to our locker room there in Eagan, man.

We got a lot of space for JJs. I think it's number one. Oh! Good journalism. Accuracy. Purple jerseys. space for J.J. I think it's number one. Oh! Good journalism. Accuracy. Purple jerseys. Walked me right into that one. It's okay. How is your relationship with Quacey? I assume the first conversation, hey, quarterback that you love,

we're not keeping him. We can't. We have to pay the greatest wide receiver that the NFL's seen, and we got a couple other guys that we have to pay. How is that relationship back and forth, and what is the combined vision of you two going forward for hopefully the next 20 years? Yeah, our relationship's fantastic because it's something we have been working on from day one.

There's been a lot of things I've learned from him over these last two years. There's a lot of times that we watch tape together and you know I can he might view a play completely different of a prospect at a position and we watch him together and then all of a sudden you know I might say hey do you see this part of it or that part of it and and he opens up his lens to a whole new you know kind of way of looking at that player and that happens time and time again and vice versa I think the big picture for us is just we're constantly trying to make sure we're making smart decisions as much as you can for the present, but we also have a responsibility

to build, continue building on something we're really proud of in Minnesota, and hopefully that can be a long-term, you know, answer at the quarterback position. We're all excited for that, but at the same time, like I said, I think this draft, you know, for a lot of different reasons, I think it's a really deep draft, offensively, defensively. And I think there's going to be a lot of opportunities to improve our team in addition to making sure we're taking care of our guys like Justin, who, you know, we want to build around.

And we think he's a foundational best player at his position. We want to build around him for a long time because I know there's nothing better than calling plays for that guy. How old are you? I am 39 this May. 39 this May. May what? May 25th.

Okay, I'm May 2nd. My daughter's May 4th. Couple bulls in the building. That's right. Hey, good watch. Good luck the rest of the way and thank you for stopping by. You're the man. Yeah, this is awesome.

Thank you, guys. Head coach of the Vikings, Kevin O'Connor. Yeah. Very thankful for you. 39, 38 pulls. Yeah. Young guys. NFL's getting young.

Young guys. Don't ruin the game, KOC. You were changing the kickoff already. Yeah, you don't want tackling. KOC's getting booed over here. Yeah, yeah. Oh, he's getting a... Oh, no.

Yes. Booing his ass out ofed. Oh, no. Yes. Booing his ass out of town. Couple Rams guys. Ladies and gentlemen, head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Player favorite. Yep. Fan favorite. Yeah.

Coach favorite. Ladies and gentlemen, Raheem Morris. Yeah. Hell yeah. Hey, Pat, I'm not going to sit down, man. I'm going to stand up like you. Come on, coach. You're not going to intimidate me this whole time with the guns out.

Hey, I have been alphaing, guys. Hey, Jake. What's going on, man? What's up, guys? How you doing? Tone, Ty, Connor, we're lucky to have you. Hey, when you got named head coach of the Falcons, I don't think your name was necessarily circulating as the next head coach,

but then as soon as you get announced, every player that's ever played for you is like, yup, love this guy. Even the Falcons were like, thank God he's back showing videos of you dancing from old practices at the Falcons. Are you just ultimate energy guy? Like, how would you describe yourself

for maybe people that don't know the Raheem Morris coaching style? I don't know. People love you, dude. Hey, people love you. I'm just me, you know, Pat, and like, it looks like you, no different, like who you are and what you are and what you do uh you bring constant energy every day and it's

one of those things it's just like i try to match the energy in the room bring a little bit add some things to it um and it's really a lot of fun to be able to go back to atlanta to the people that you've been around i know exactly you are i'm gonna take this corny tag off yeah you did look you did look at me they were saying it was, you know, David Bassett usually handles that, but he kind of messed up. I looked at the television. Come on. Bassett.

Hey, figure it out, Bassett. I called Bassett out all the time. You got a suit back there. Let's figure it out. It was candy. Bassman. Just big-time energy. You know what I mean, Pat?

Like, it's a lot of fun going back into a room that got the juice and they know exactly who you are. You know, I didn't have to go through the stuff of learning who the owner is. I know exactly who Mr. Blank is, and he knows exactly who I am. So to be able to put dance videos, things of that nature is pretty cool. Okay, so let's talk about the big move. A lot of money, new quarterback, Kirk Cochains is in town. How do we feel about it?

Why was he the guy, you think, for not only you getting your head coaching and start back there, but why is he the guy for Atlanta? A lot of different reasons. You know, familiar systems. We just talked to Kevin. And you know how much Rebecca has for Kevin. How much do you guys know? Do you guys know each other?

We only won a Super Bowl together. That's all. Oh! That's why he's got that watch. Yeah, yeah. So we – a lot of familiar system, a lot of the core beliefs, common beliefs, a lot of commonalities with that. I knew Kurt from when he was a rookie when I was in D.C. with those guys

and Sean coached him. So going way back to Kyle Shanahan. You were a part of that? Going way back to Kyle Shanahan, and I was there with that. So, I mean, he's talking about a deep history where I've always been the nosy secondary coach that went into that room and talked to those guys and was able to sit down when RG3 was running the show. Kurt was the backup in the background studying, studying, studying.

He got his op, and then we all know what happened after that. But I've been around this guy for a very long time, had a real familiarity with his ability to do what he can do, and I just thought it was an outstanding match for us. And, you know, we uncovered a lot of stones. We checked all the boxes. We went through a couple people because if you're as old as I am, you get a chance. I'm not 39 like you guys, but

if you get as old as I am, you get a chance to coach with people. I'm 36. Yeah, but my face, you're looking at it. I see it. I need to lose. I've been through a lot. With the new kickoff rule passing, you're coming back. We like it or we hate it. We need guys that can tackle. What are you doing? What are you doing with that?

You got to realize it's going to be a little bit unknown for everybody okay right so first few weeks we're figuring it out yeah you don't have to figure out it's gonna be a fill-out process but you have to bring a few out to see what that thing what it looks like right nobody knows right the only clear model close model you got is the xfl and it's a little bit different it's a little bit tweaked man you had 32 special team coaches all get together and come up with the best ways to do things and We've got to believe those things when that happens. It's like, let's go find out what happens. We want to bring the play back.

There's no 4-2s in the XFL, though. There's no 4-2s. That was the big thing. With the XFL returns, and we have one that actually went back for a house. It was a reverse. A guy tossed the ball. You end up reverse. Here we go. This was actually a touchdown. I don't know how many of them there were in the XFL. Looks like a practice. It's a practice drill.

This is a practice kickoff drill that is now going to be the thing. But there's chances to be creative. There's reasoning for special teams players. Special teams coaches can still do their thing. I was out on it for a long time. But then whenever I was basically told, like, hey, we've got to figure something out, save the play, I'm in on it. I think it's going to be good. And I'm excited to see how you guys handle it.

You know, Pat, it's funny when you look at the play because we haven't seen it so long in the it. I think it's going to be good. I'm excited to see how you guys handle it. It's funny when you look at the play because we haven't seen it so long in the NFL. When you look at the stats and what's happening, you had 13 kickoffs in the Super Bowl and not one came out. You have all the stats that happened. They went from 80% in the 90s to 20%.

That's not what the rule was intent to do. It was for player safety to get it down, to cut it down a little bit. I'm all in to see what it looks like. It's a little scary for probably coaches because we're going to have to figure it out in the run a little bit. Oh, my God. Because a house call can happen. Oh, yeah. It's one line.

Everybody is at one line. You know, the people that fought it really was about, you know, you don't want the unknown to determine the game. And there's some truth to that. Yeah. But at the same time, there's been so many rules that's come about. And the game has gone such a major push to doing the right thing and getting things the right way.

I'm fired up about it. AJ's got a question for you, Coach. Obviously, you've been a head coach in the league before, Tampa Bay. Are you tired? Do you want to sit down? No, no. I'm a person, I'm an outwork pack all day standing up over here. You may go swimming, Indy. I've heard about that.

Allegedly. Hey, go swimming, Indy. I've heard about that. Allegedly. Hey, this is what it is. Hey, cops at their story. I don't know anything about cops. I'm just saying this. The bystanders, the friends, I am not snitching. There's a police report. That's their story.

They got theirs, whatever. Yeah, I guess going back to you as a head coach with Tampa Bay, now becoming head coach again, I guess what have you learned? How are you different as a coach? And second part of that, though, completely unrelated almost, what do you think of the hip drop tackle situation? Okay, let's go to the first question first. The differences are really clear and obvious.

Having the ability to do that for the first time, you have no idea what you're doing, right? You've got this youthful arrogance. I'm 32 years old. Hey, you're in charge of these guys, right? Go out there and get it. 32 years old. So young.

And what you do is you go out there and you try to do whatever you can to win, right? And one of those years we were good enough to win ten games and man, I made it, right? This is it. I'm him, right? Rahim, not Morris. Not so fast.

Okay. And you get a little bit of reality check. And then I think I've spent the last year since that's happened in 2000, I'm grateful for what the Glazers did for me, give me an opportunity so early, but I think I spent the last years really just learning and detailing my work and being around great coaches that I want to be around. I talked about Mike Shanahan,

having an opportunity to go there with him and see a two-time Super Bowl champion, Hall of Fame, potential coach that showed you the way and gave me the ops to be on offense and defense and all over the place, special teams. And then I was with jay gruden i got a chance to be around another offensive mind and to be around him from a head coaching standpoint and show his leadership and do some of the things that he was able to do and then bounce forward go with dan quinn who i had worked with when i was in college and he was able to do some of those things and and brought some of the toughness and some of the things out of me got the opportunity to take over for dan quinn

and become an interim head coach get a rep at that that, and then boom, you end up in L.A. and you're with Sean McVay. And now you're on that coaching tree. If you touch him, you get a head coaching job. So you do that. You win a championship. You go through a little bit of struggle. You fight back. You get a young football team where nobody's got any expectations for you

because I heard you guys downing me. No. No, no, no, no, no, no. All of a sudden. No, no. No, no, no. All of a sudden. No, no. No, all of a sudden. No, we've been saying, rock him. Rock him.

That was after. That's what we've been saying. That's what we've been saying this whole time. I'm just kidding, man. But you get a chance to get a young team, and you get back in the playoffs with those guys, and it's like, man, let's go to work, man. And then your opportunity pops up and happens to be in a place

that you're familiar with, like Atlanta. And it's like, man, let's go to work. Let's go win for this city. Let's go do what we got to do in the right way. Tom's got a question. I'm sorry. I'm taking over your show. No, no, no, no.

This is good. I just want to make sure you get everything in. Hey, you are awesome. I did not expect this at all. Nope. The fact that you know our show exists, really cool. Very cool. What are you talking about, man?

I was watching this thing where you guys were in the basement of your house. Look at that. Rahul! Day one. Rahul! Day one. Rahul! This is about that life. Where's the corner that played what you guys, that's not here? D-Bud.

Where is he? He's on spring break with his kids. He's been off three weeks. I don't know if you know Kelton, but he needs to be out here on a full-time basis on this show. He's the mouth of the South. We just had it out in the back. It is unbelievable. Have you seen it?

Let me tell you something. I have more fun in the back. Almost as much fun as you. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm just telling you. We just had it out in the back. It is unbelievable. Have you seen it? Let me tell you something. I had more fun in the back. I almost smushed my head with you. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa. I'm just telling you. We had a good break here. This is a good show.

Yeah. We hated this. Jeez. Jeez, Luis. Just throwing it out there. It's all right. I mean, we'll try to lift our game a little bit. Did you see what The Rock did to Cody Rhodes last night?

I did not. Oh. You don't want to know. Last question here. We've got about a minute for a hard out, Coach. Yeah. Do you feel bad? The internet and I've seen some rumors maybe from the rumor mill that you forced

Aaron Donald to retire because you left LA. He didn't want to play under anyone else. No, that is not the law. You robbed him of us. And Aaron, let's just have that moment for him. But hey, hell of a career. He is a stud of all studs. Let's just have that moment for him. But, hey, hell of a career. Absolutely. He is a stud of all studs.

You know, he's a man of his word. He talked to L.A. I thought the most impressive thing about it was, like, a lot of people had the sense that this was going to happen, and not one person uttered it. That was a part of our belief. And that is a sign of respect, as you know, from everyone. Because people can't wait now to be the breaking news, to be that guy. And it was a completely respect-driven thing for Aaron to let him do it the way he needed to

and wanted to because he deserved that. We appreciate the hell out of you. Head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Raheem Morris. Sports are happening in a beautiful fashion. Morris. Sports. Are happening in a beautiful fashion. Big thanks to Ryan Poles, Kevin O'Connell, and Rahim Morris for joining us in the first hour. General Manager of the Buffalo Bills, Brandon Bean, will be joining us momentarily, as will Kaylin Jackson, daughter of Jim Irsay, who will be taking over the Colts' ownership in very far future.

Correct. Very, very far future. We will also have Coach Darren Rizzi of the Saints Special Teams front, who pitched the kickoff to the NFL that has been passed this morning, 29-3 vote with the NFL hybrid kickoff, which is going to echo the XFL kickoff with a couple changes next year. Certainly going to be a difference maker. And then we'll have Adam Schefter wrap this entire thing up for the last hour

and potentially some surprises popping by. This has been amazing getting to see everybody, shake some hands. I'm not alone, obviously. The Talks at Table is here at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt. Boys, you look fantastic. Thank you. So do you. He mentioned at the first hour, like, do we say a lot of times, like,

oh, yeah, we definitely shouldn't be there. This one in particular though it really feels like the type of thing i should not be allowed to be at but this is pretty cool that we're here pretty cool to be here and uh you had nine whiskeys last night well you know it was one of those things where you get inside the the jet it's a late night already and and the monitors don't work. We're in a time capsule. And we're thinking going in, hey, this is going to be a 3-hour, 15-minute flight right away. It's two hours, okay, so cool it, relax. We're on that plane for at least three and a half hours,

and it was kind of one of those things where I was just like, well, I mean, I'm not just going to let these booze bottles go untouched. I mean, we got to do it. So we did it. For those that are wondering, got in about 3 a.m., fell asleep around 4. I think Ty and Zito made a McDonald's run at 345. Had to. That was smart. Ty definitely remembers eating that.

I do. Had to have it. Fell asleep, actually. I did. Fell asleep. Maybe the greatest McDonald's of all time, by the way. They're up at 345. I'm assuming not a lot of people are there with where we're staying.

We're sleeping. We got a house here. Orlando has Disney World, obviously. So the businesses that have kind of come spawned from Disney World are very fruitful. They make these mega mansions that are basically houses for families to bring other families. So they come to Disney, stay at the house. And we found out about this a few years back when I was doing NXT. Orlando is the right place to get an Airbnb.

We had a Harry Potter house last night that we walked into. Yeah, bingo. I stayed in the Gryffindor common room where Harry Potter slept for his entire tenure there. So yeah, I was pretty pumped about that. Foxy, you were sleeping in the softest, charming baby bear room, right? Yeah, Hufflepuff. On a little twin bed. I didn't even notice it until you told me this morning because I just went straight to bed last night.

It was so tiring. Hey, you're a professional, Foxy. Had to do it. One half of the hammer. Die. Cowboy's tone. Diggs is your tone. You look fantastic.

Thank you. Sports gambling in the conversation, but we don't need to hammer that home. We need to keep the integrity of the games the integrity of the games. Yeah, keep the integrity. Let's not be jeopardizing the future of everybody. Yeah, I know. And especially if you're on a two-way contract and only play a certain amount of minutes,

let's not jeopardize it for the rest of us. But I picked up on something. I believe you said it on the show yesterday. You've been with you for a long time. You've been with us for a long time. We're going to change our mind on somebody or cement our mind on somebody. I feel like it just happened at the end of the last hour.

Falcons are going on a deep run in the playoffs. Yeah, Raheem Morris really certainly came in here and won the boys over. Dog. He mentioned my arrest. Okay. That was alleged stories. Definitely publicly intoxicated. Sure.

Allegedly why and how and where I was before that. But he talked about us being in the basement. Raheem Morris has been riding with us for a long time. Yeah, a long time. We're happy he got the gig over Bill Belichick. Even told him that afterwards, the entire thing. The all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, A.J. Hawk is here. A.J., first time in league meetings for me.

I don't know if they invited you because you're a five overall pick to come talk to these people, but I didn't know what it was. This is a really nice gig for these guys. I mean, it's a fun setup. Jumping, going to the bathroom on a three-minute break, seeing one of the hardballs out there talking about this show. Yeah, the hardball's got to be doing something over here in this next volume over here. Some forum or something about who's got it better than us.

It's cool seeing him. It's cool seeing him in this laid-back atmosphere, don't you think, Conman? Oh, yeah, it's sick. Well, Talon was going to the bathroom next to John Hardball just a matter of moments ago. And he said, John, I'm a Steelers fan, Talon was going to the bathroom next to John Harbaugh just a matter of moments ago, and he said, John, I'm a Steelers fan, but I got respect for the Ravens. I always say Browns and Bengals are a bunch of bum organizations, but the Ravens I got respect for.

I know. Jesus, you just put this guy in a tough spot. He goes, well, thanks for that. And then he kind of walked out. I'm sure that'll be something he remembers. A man in a cowboy hat walked into the pister next to me and told me he has respect for me, but not for Cleveland and Cincinnati. That's a good thing. He'll go home with a smile

on his face because who's got it better than us? Nobody. And we can't echo that sentiment anymore. Joining us now, front of the program. One of the guys doing the decision making around the NFL. That's right.

Stick. Oh yeah. Big time. Stick on the golf course. Ladies and gentlemen, General Manager of the Buffalo Beals, Brandon Bean. Hey! Hey, I'll sit down. Where are you going to go? You'll sit? Yeah, I'll sit down if you want to sit down.

I kind of forced Raheem into standing. I feel bad. Not a good host. And my legs are getting tired. You see those ham hocks he's carrying around on his couch? Yeah. Good Lord. Implants, perhaps? How do you know?

You got the A6 walkers. Are we a runner, walker? Well, I like to run, but my knee doesn't always cooperate. So it's turning into walking. This age is catching up with me. How old are you? 47. Dude, young, though.

Poles was in here. He's 38 years old. Kevin O'Connell came in here. He's 39 years old. Rahim Morris got a head coaching job at 32. You're in your 40s. Feels like there's a very new, younger generation. Do you guys feel that whenever you're here and taking the photos and some people

not showing up for the general manager photos? Do you feel like there's a younger generation, a new crew kind of in here? There is. There is a much younger crowd. It's, you know, I think owners are, you know, I think McVay probably really got that going. I mean, you go back to the days when Al Davis hired John Madden

and some, you know, Art Schell and those guys young, but you didn't see it a lot. But the success McVay had and Kyle Shanahan and all these guys, I think really opened the owner's eyes up that you can be 30 and still be a smart, genius, whatever you want to call them. So what do you do? You guys said we're not doing the photos anymore?

No. I had another commitment. Your name was right there on the top of the list. Who's not here? Buffalo Beals, Brandon Bean, B, B, B, B, B. This guy's not showing up for it. Well, we did a GM toast last night, and we decided this should be the new photo. Everybody doing that.

Oh, I love that. Should get like an aerial photo of that. Everybody looking up. Everybody was holding it. What was it, whiskey? Were you drinking whiskey? Yeah, a little Tito's. Oh, vodka.

Who led the toast? Mickey Loomis Chewing on gum Did you tell him not to chew his gum? We made Mickey do it because nobody wanted to do it So we made him do it He's the oldest one He said something like, I know I hate half you guys

But here's to Whatever he said, but it was good, we had some laughs Obviously you guys got to work together Because trades are happening, calls are happening You were one of the first people that told us, like, oh, yeah, I'll poke around. If I'm hearing that there's potentially an opportunity to get a player who's disgruntled with their situation or team's disgruntled with the situation, right now everything's like lying season.

Like we just had Kevin O'Connell on here, and we just peppered him about them acquiring another first-round pick. Like you guys are bundling. You're moving up for a quarterback. How are you trying to sort through everything? And with where you guys are in the draft, what is kind of your mindset going in here? Yeah, I mean, we've got 11 picks, which is good. We've tried to.

Are we bundling? We're moving up? We're always listening. You nailed it. Because to me, you build your board. And if you see a guy you like, I mean, I get antsy. The local Buffalo media knows I've traded up way more than I've traded back. So I tell people to hold me

down sometimes. Don't let me do it. But like last year, Dalton Kincaid got close and we went after him. We obviously traded up way back when for Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmonds. So I think my phone rings a lot because people know who they're dealing with. Bean will deal.

AJ's got a question for you. How many people truly know what you might do this upcoming draft? I know obviously you have people that you're circled that you trust, but also, like, we know it's line season. Things are all out there. Like, do you make it known to, like, a big group of people of what you're doing? Or, like, do you have a couple trusted people you know? Yeah, very small.

I mean, you talk, you know, in the draft room I'll talk about scenarios. If we were to move up, let's talk about these two guys, these three guys. Who would you say, man, I would put my stamp on trading up for this guy? And then also we do scenarios. If we trade back, who do we think is going to be there? And is it going to be worth trading back? And so we'll have that conversation as a group. I usually will ask the room not not give my opinion too much,

unless I think someone's thought process just doesn't add up. But it's a tight – Dan, that person's getting out of the room. Idiot. It's a tight circle as far as what we would really be thinking if player X is on the board, we're doing it. Okay, because there's always – this insider's game. We're going to be talking to Schefter.

I'm assuming everybody's seen Schefter's Mosey and Rock. Oh, yeah. He literally just put Tepper on our show yesterday. Tepper hates us. If we know anything about Tepper, we know that he has heard what we have said, and he is actively trying to get us off the air. Yeah, not a fan. He's looking for a house.

Yesterday, he did like, oh, there you go. Okay, but Schefter's here. These inside information, these sources, are a big part of the NFL media business. And I feel like you're the first person that will tell us the truth about this. There's potentially people who could be in the know in your world that actually don't know, right? Oh, yeah. So, like, somebody could be – this is not your building. Let's say somebody else's building.

Yeah. So, like, somebody could be, I'm not going to, this is not your building. Let's say somebody else's building. Yeah. There's potentially a pretty high-end scout that would have a title that would potentially know what the hell is going to be happening at the draft. And they say to a source what's happening. But they could also not even know that they're not in the know at all, right? Because everything has to be kept close to the vest.

So that's why it's really hard right now to pick through because people who could potentially know might not know shit at this exact point, right? Yep. Okay. And people feed agents things too. Agents will call, where do you have my guy? Do you see him here? They'll ask all sorts of questions. They're trying to figure out for themselves, but also educate the player where they're going to go.

And sometimes I've found out from agents, like, they told you he was going that high. I'm like, no, he's not going that high. And they don't want to hurt their feelings. And they feel like, so they're on the clock, man, agents like like they told you he was going that high i'm like no he's not going that high and they don't want to hurt their feelings and and they feel like so they're on the clock man i thought team x was going to take my guy he told me he was going to well he told five other people he was going to take him there too so that happens a lot cowboys told me they were going to draft me they did not don't digs got a question for you yeah i'm not sure if you know this or not but you guys

are taking wide receiver in the first round is what I'm being told. And everyone. Hey, congratulations for doing that. Good class, Ford. Just the first round? Whoa. Got 11 picks. We got screwed on your compensatory pick.

Luckily for you, this is a deep wide receiver draft. So I want to ask you kind of about the way you go about drafting. When it's a deep, say, wide receiver or tackle draft that everyone's saying it is or whatever, are you more likely to go a different position if you don't love someone where you're picking at since there is so much death and maybe you could take a flyer on someone in the later rounds? Or do you just always have a guy or just go by your board? How does it work generally for you in that situation? Yeah, great question.

First off, we're taking a receiver every round. Hey, good question, Tony. But in all seriousness, using receiver, it is a deep class this year. So if you were on the clock, let's just say first round. What number pick are you? 28. Jeez, that sucks. And you've got two guys here.

This is a receiver column, and this is a column of a player or a position that you don't have a lot of depth, you're probably going to go ahead and say, I'll take that. I've got the same value. I'm not giving up value. This is how we stack the board. But now if it's here, then you go ahead and take the better player. And that's kind of how we – Is this a deep wide receiver tackle class?

It is, both of them, yeah. You love those positions. Everybody does. Yeah, no, they're yeah. You love those positions. Everybody does. Yeah, no, they're deep. This is as many tackles as I can remember. How about defenses? Defense, there are some more D tackles this year than there have. There's not the guys, you know, you don't see the Chris Jones level

and Dexter Lawrence, some of those guys that went really high. You don't see as many of those, but I would say through the day two picks, day three picks, I think there's pretty good depth. At 28, I assume you're trying to figure out what's happening in front of you or are you going to let it happen? You know, you do your best. You go through all the mocks. You're asking around the insiders.

You're trying to check and see who's hearing who's going after who. Is Mel Kiper the best one? Is that who you're asking the most? No, not the draft gurus um who do you like wait or who do you listen to oh a lot of them yeah i asked i see the one daniel jeremiah if you ask three or four of them which are the ones that are saying some of the same things they just ah so you're playing to get him as well yeah how much time are you balancing and playing the game, scouting, putting together a board? Like, how do you balance the time?

What's the most important for you right now? Well, it's really just stacking your board. You don't worry too much about that. That's really the day, two, three days leading up to the draft. Okay, so we haven't even dove into that yet. Yeah. Because nobody knows right now. Nobody knows.

Except for the Bears. Yeah, because you don't know what people are going to trade up. People are still going through some of their quarter – you know, these teams that want quarterbacks. Some of them are still going to have privates with them, bring them in for 30 visits, try to figure out where their smarts are, how they process, all the things that you would want to know, be around them more.

So, you know, you're talking about Minnesota. People think they're trading up. Maybe they are not. They're probably still trying to figure out which guys they like and do they think they can get to where they – He told us, just for your sake, because you're behind them, obviously, he said there's enough room in the locker room for two JJs. He did.

He kind of said maybe JJ McCarthy. But then he also said accuracy is what I'm looking for. And we're like, oh, Penix. And he kind of deer in the headlights. He didn't say no. Yeah, so we've been trying to get these people to give their answers before draft night. But I don't know. Let me know. Yeah, hey, run it back. It didn't say no. We've been trying to get these people to give their answers before draft night. What did they get? Let me know.

Hey, run it back. It's live on YouTube. Bears. Bears, we think they're taking Caleb. We do. You feel good about that? There's one. 27 more. We'll figure them out as we go. Will the NFL tell the Bears not to, not that you've ever been

in that pick, the number one overall, but have you heard around the rumor mill that the Bears or the NFL tell the Bears not to say that they're've ever been in that pick, the number one overall, but have you heard around the rumor mill that the Bears, or the NFL tell the Bears not to say that they're taking Caleb? Oh yeah, oh yeah, they want the suspense but I think this one's, it's like when the Colts took Andrew Luck, I mean He even took a trip to Washington though Everybody knew that. Literally

everybody knew that, and he I said this earlier, two polls he was in our building for a visit or whatever walking around. I was getting treatment for something, some knee surgery at the time. He comes in. There's numerous. I was like, hey, Andrew, good to see you.

Can't wait to be on your team. He's like, yeah, yeah, you know, talk. Where are you going to? He had to go to Washington for a visit. And I'm like, Andrew, you don't have to. He's like a good human, though. He's like, yeah, got to go meet him and do the whole song and dance. It feels like that with Caleb right now.

Were you with Carolina with Cam Newton? Yes. Was it like that then? Yeah. Was it the same? Well, there wasn't a lot of options. You know, when we took Cam, the other guy that we were looking at was Blaine Gabbert that year that people were trying to figure out. And, you know, Cam had that controversy at Florida, so we were doing a lot of digging on that. But I would say it was well-known, you know,

at least two to three weeks out that we were taking Cam within the circle. Blaine Gavins got three Super Bowls. Yes, he does. He's still in the league. He's three times Super Bowl champion. So we took the wrong guy. Ty's got a question for you. Obviously, we all know the NFL is a business,

and you're not going to be able to keep a lot of the same guys. This offseason, though, obviously, you know, you get rid of a decent amount of kind of like pillar players from your time in Buffalo, but it seems like fans didn't kill you for it. They kind of understood, hey, this is just kind of the way this goes. But how difficult is that process even when leading up to it? You know there's a strong reality that you're going to have to get rid of a lot of these

guys who have brought a lot of success to Buffalo. Yeah, you cut all our friends. This is our first time talking to you. This guy FaceTimed me and said, who's going to be on my show now? You just cut all my friends. All of our friends gone. Vaughn, though, took a pay cut, literally, to stay

on the team, which is a good move, but that's a tough day, I assume. Brutal. Brutal. I mean, you talk about a guy like Jordan Poirier. He, which is a good move. But that's a tough day, I assume. Brutal, brutal. I mean, you talk about a guy like Jordan Poirier. You know, he and Micah have been here. Micah's still a free agent. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, I'm saying Micah's still here. Yeah, but he's been here, though.

Yeah. So we know. You don't know anything. So anyway, you know, guys like that. Mitch Morse, who's one of your guys, too. You know, what he's meant to – you know, he's been here for all – all these guys have been here for the last four years that we've won divisions, some beyond that.

And that's hard because you don't want to do it. And it's not that they can't play. It's trying to – it's the business part of it. And you can't fit all these salaries in. And we're having to make a little bit of a youth movement, you know, on the back end of our defense this year as part of that. And we did need to get younger in some areas, and the business part of it makes you do it.

How do you feel about the new rules? Obviously nobody's talking about any of them but the new kickoff and the hip drop tackle. How do you feel about the new rules? So the kickoff, I think it's not perfect. Hold on. So Roger Goodell literally right now is saying, I think we're still going to have to tinker with it,

but I think it will be a big improvement and bring the play back to being a relevant play. I think we can do it so the injury rate will drop while keeping the play the play. He literally said that a matter of moments ago. Is that the messaging, kind of what it is? That was verbatim what I was going to say. Oh, so they told you to say that. Okay.

I read the quotes right here. No, in all seriousness, I do think it was – I mean, the Super Bowl, there were 13 kickoffs, zero return. So if you're a fan, you're paying, you're like, why are we doing this? Let's just spot the ball at the 25 and go. So I do think – you know, in 2010 they gave a stat that it was 80-20 returned, and now it's gone 20-80. And I don't think you want that.

I think you want it well above 50 returns. So I do like that rule. I do think it's going to need to be tweaked because you've got all those guys on the front line. Maybe you're able to – it's like a 7-2-2 setup. On the return side? On the return side setup. We had the special teams coaches in there.

Maybe in the future you get three guys back or four. I think there's going to be some tinkering and potentially even tinkering after a couple of games, seeing what happens in the preseason. Yeah, because everybody just blasted in the end zone. It's just a 30-yard drive start now. It's the same thing as last year. It just looks weird.

Yeah. Right? Yeah, it stepped to 25, so you're getting five more yards. It's supposed to be 35, then they ruined it. Yeah, they were. They reworked it. Yeah, they revised it. Well, they were trying They reworked it. Yeah, they revised it. Well, they were trying to get 8-0 on the competition committee.

I think it was like 6-2, and that flipped. Most of those rules pass when they get 8-0 on the competition committee, and that's what they were trying to get. So when you go into these meetings, because the 80-20 thing, I believe Paul said earlier, and Kevin O'Connell. So these league meetings, what is the schedule for you? You go in there, you're meeting with NFL ownership. Like what is the, hey, this is what we're focusing on this year.

What is the kind of standard day-to-day here? So you, like on Sunday afternoon, it's a head coach GM meeting where we're in there and we're going through some of the things that happened this year start out or things that are coming up we talked about the cap a little bit rules hey we like the cap right cap and big jump huge jump massive jump huge jump bigger than anyone could have expected don't ever expect that again they're like they're like your parents telling you don't you're not getting this much allotment again so don't don't that's big for you obviously it is it is from a planning standpoint. You'd like to know.

I feel like they always undersell it and over-deliver it, which makes everybody happy. Yeah, our pilots tell us we're going to have a terrible flight every time, and they're like, you see what I did? You didn't vomit. That's been our new life. That's what we've been living, Brandon. Life is good. But we do go through with the coaches.

And then yesterday is when we start the voting where it's executive session. You have three seats at a table, owner, GM, head coach, and that's where you start. And so, like, yesterday the kickoff rule didn't pass. They did a straw poll, realized it would fail, so they didn't actually officially vote on it until today to get it through. Okay, so you guys are raising your hand, yay, nay? Yep.

Whole thing. Yep. Old school. Roger Goodell's in the middle of the room? They're up front. There's a kind of, it's like the Politburo up there. Oh. They're in a dance almost.

Oh. Is he sitting on a throne, Roger? No. No, he's not. They bring his chair down? No, they have the competition committee. They have him and the competition committee up there and some of the league execs. They're sitting on standard chairs.

Everybody else is sitting on them. I didn't walk back there, so I couldn't. Roger Goodell's got that leather. Oh, yeah. He's got peanut M&M's down. Always. The straw poll yesterday wouldn't have passed. So, overnight, Rog comes and knocks on your doors and gives you one of those.

Remember that other rule you wanted to get passed? It won't pass unless we get working on this. A little politics. A little politics. Politics as usual. How do you feel about the team? You got Josh Allen, so you're always going to feel good, right? Yeah, I mean, listen, we're still obviously working through it, tweaking it.

We've spent most of our money that we created with the moves we talked about earlier. Oh, yeah, cutting all our friends. Thanks for rehashing that. It's not fun, but you did it. You did it. Every time you point one finger, what is there? It's three pointing back. You sound like my kids. They do

it as well. We're still tweaking it, but now the focus is pretty much squarely on the draft. I love the draft process. You're not dealing with what this costs, what that costs. He's going to that team. You get to line your board up and use – we got 11 picks. If we want to trade some of them and get down to nine, we can. If we want to trade back and get it to 13, 14, we can do that.

I love that. Do you know exactly how much these 11 picks, if you were to stay where you're at, cost? You know roughly, but everyone's got different charts. You got the Jimmy Johnson chart. You got your own – like we use analytics of what trades actually happen. Oh, that's the points thing? That's the points system. Yeah, and then you have your rookie pool as far as what.

Salary cap, yeah. Salary cap stuff, yeah. Okay, let's go to the points thing. Yeah. So Jimmy Johnson created this? Is that kind of what? Yeah, he did. So he has the standard chart.

I still think people base it off of how he did it. Now, contracts have changed. The values of picks may have changed some. So there's, you know, we use some analytic forms. I know some teams do that as well of how much you value, you know, the first pick in the draft versus the 28th pick in the draft to round four, the 28th pick in that round. Got it.

Connor's got a question for you. So with the draft, obviously pro days right now are huge, and the quarterbacks are the mainstay, the main event of those pro days, but you guys don't need them. So when you go to these pro days and you're looking at Lyman, you mentioned the secondary you guys need to get younger at, what are you looking for in those positions at pro days? And then how often do you love a guy so much that you won't even go to the pro day

because you don't want to reveal, like, hey, I love, insert name, Terrian Arnold, if you will. Like, how often does that happen? Yeah, it's a great point. I more do it on the position. Like, if it's – I try to make sure I'm not just going to these schools that have high-rated positions. Like, if we were looking for a corner, you know, if a team sees me, like Alabama, I was

at Alabama's Pro Day, but if they see me at all these top corner. Michigan. West Virginia. That's so funny. You know what I'm saying? That would probably leave a clue of what you're doing more than anything. I don't really worry if it's one player here or there. I don't think they would pick that up.

But if you found a GM and he's going to all the offensive tackle, you know, the top guys' workouts or corner, you probably know where they're leaning. Are you tracking that of the other GMs? Like, hey, it looks like Jerry – oh, okay. How about when somebody's, like, obviously omitted from one? Like, oh, they're doing that on purpose. Yeah, you don't know.

Everybody's got reasons. And sometimes, like this year, last week, the day Alabama went, Texas went, Ohio State went. Michigan. No, Michigan was two days later. But there was another one. USC. USC.

There it is. So there was four that day. And I'm like, can we plan a little bit better? Because I'd like to be at a couple of these. Yeah, the schools. Which one did you go to? Alabama. So then if you asked for it.

You got to figure out who we want to draft now. Why? Yeah, why'd you go there? Yeah, why'd you go there? Kool-Aid McKinstry, but Detroit. Oh, yeah. Ike Taylor was working them out, too, the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was a good workout.

That was a good workout. It was a good workout. What wide receiver's down there? Jermaine Burton. Yeah, Burton's there. That doesn't make any sense. Did you go to the Texas Pro Day? No, it was the same day.

Oh, so you were obviously showing that you didn't go. There we go, jail game. Now he has to schedule it. By the way, West Virginia does have a center. Don't take them. What are you talking about? You don't like Frazier? I do like Frazier.

Oh, he wants to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. Oh, I got it. I got you. I like that you knew exactly who he was talking about. Come on, man. Bill sucked. To be fair. Are you guys done now? Are you done here

at the league owner meeting? Yeah, we're good. I'm going to get a little pool time this afternoon and get on the bird tomorrow. We saw people. Everybody that's walking through here with the NFL? Because I thought I saw just some random old whites walking through here. Those are all family members of NFL people? It could be.

I think a lot of the NFL is checking out, so there's probably others checking out. We'd say job well done at the annual meetings, you guys would say that. I'd say that. You'd change the game completely. Hip drop tackle, out. Well, here's what I don't know what was said on the other ones, but

the way we're told is they just need something to find guys if you go tackle someone and it snaps his leg or something like that. I do think it's going to be very, very hard to truly call that live in game. Because some of the ones

they showed, I gotta be honest, I couldn't tell if it was a hip drop or not, and so to ask a guy to do that, I don't think it's going to be really called at this point. I think it's going to be more so on Monday or Tuesday, you know, player X gets this fine. And Jim Hart, I don't want to just out him because he was, I don't think he knew that this was going to happen, but he was like, got to get it out of the game, the hip drop tackle. And he started demonstrating it on me, like out there in the hallway. He started like, actually, he's a big dude.

He is a big dude. He's a big dude physically. You're still standing, so he must not have got you. Well, I got my cowboy boots on too, so we're eye to eye. But he did it. And the way, it's almost like they feel, you guys feel, as if they got rid of the horse collar, right, because that was the brutal snap.

Now there's people, not everybody in the league, who have used this technique almost as like a replacement for the horse tackle. So what they're trying to do is get rid of the purpose intent of like bending guys backwards seemingly. It's like kind of how it was broken down. And there's belief, again, I don't know this, but it was said in one of the meetings that they believe there are a couple of teams that maybe they're not coaching it, but they're not – Yeah, that was said by Pellicero yesterday.

We were like, what? Who's doing that? But I don't – I have no idea. They didn't say who it is. It was just – it was mentioned by one of the league members that they thought – That was alarming, though, whenever that was said, right? Yeah. I never heard that.

I know players aren't intentionally trying to hurt players. That's a whole other conversation. There could be. Maybe there's some guys. If a guy got you, maybe you're going after him. I don't think when you play, you're waking up every day going, I'm going to try to hurt someone. He was trying to knock people out.

Let me hip drop tackle this guy and hurt him. If you're going to hurt him, you're going after his head. Well, I can't do that anymore, though. I know. That's what I'm saying. But I think what Jim mentioned to me that I hadn't thought of is, like, guys are athletic enough with his impression. Like, they're using this instead of the –

We're just trying to get, like, people almost – The swivel thing. Spooked out of not doing it anymore. Like, hey, when you tackle somebody, tackle them, but don't be doing the full trying to blow out knees almost. Yeah, basically jumping on them and just dropping all your weight to where they're – Unweighting yourself. Yes.

Can't do that. That was a wild – when that was presented to you, when they unweight themselves, where you're like, what the – what rocket scientist came up with this entire thing? We're still going to have football, though. Yes, it'll be fine. Honestly, I think it's going to work just fine. I think it's more of a, hey, be mindful of this. Make sure your players know they can't unweight themselves this way

because they did show even some rugby plays. There are some of them you're like, man, that is rough. You don't want a guy to fracture an ankle or anything like that. It's nasty. But, again, I'm not a fan of seeing a bunch of flags on this either. It's hard enough to play defense with all the helmet rules and such. So we do have to make sure our league allows defenders to play defense. Last question for me.

16 feet we heard. Do you know what I'm talking about? Is that how much snow we got in Buffalo since I was gone? Well, we need to get more shovels. That's a whole other conversation. We're not getting into that. Oh, buffaloes? Well, bison. Sixteen feet.

Sixteen feet, we heard, is the size of the bison out front of the new stadium. Are we happy? We're happy about that? How big do we want? Well, we're just worried that people are going to be jumping up on top of this. We're just worried that definitely they're going to be doing ricochet shooting stars off the front of those bison through tables. Fire.

We're just trying to protect the fans is what we're trying to do. But are you excited about all the changes that are taking place up there? When that stadium's – I mean, it's going to be – you guys have to come up there and, like, do a show or something. I mean, it's going to be epic. It's already epic on game days out in the lots at our current state, but this new stadium is going to be, you ever go out there? I did one time our first year. Um, no, no, uh, we, Sean and I went out there. They put us on a golf cart and we met some people. It was cool because we were, this is like

four hours before kickoff and you're talking to people that are, they had RVs there all weekend, like a NASCAR deal. And they're like, they like they're like this is they save their money up for to do this 10 times a year not to go on a disney world vacation or whatever like this and just much respect that that's how they're spending their time and people would park their rvs and and you know next to each other we've been parking our rv next to him and her since 1995, you know, like whatever it is. And it's just – it's really impressive, the commitment and the passion. And, obviously, they've gone through 17 years of not, you know,

not going to the playoffs, and these people are still there, ready to go back in their team. Hey, go win one for them. Please, your words to God's ears, please. Well, let's make sure we do it all right, okay? Ladies and gentlemen, general manager of the Buffalo Beals, friend of the program, who cut all of our other friends. Yep.

Brandy. Yay! Appreciate you guys. Thanks, guys. Good to see you guys. He does got massive calves. You think he cut them because they were sitting with plant medicine? Yeah.

Is that why? Is it the ayahuasca? Yeah. Is that why you cut Jordan for it? You can go now. You're not his GM anymore. Go with him. You can talk about it.

You can get in the TV. Bob was there, too. Hey, thank you, man. I appreciate you. Jeez, his calves are gigantic. God, your calves. Do you walk when you golf? You walk the course?

You walk when you golf? I mean, not every place, but I do when I can. How about when you sandbagged us? What was that? Oh, yeah. By a stroke. I did not sandbag you. Okay, all right. You said it., yeah. By a stroke. I did not sandbag. Okay, all right.

You said it. Hey, you're the man. Thank you for making time. Golfer. Oh, yeah, big time. Swings. I mean, that was, what, the hardest course? And he shot like a 78?

Yeah, 76. Thought he played bad, too. Yeah, left a couple out there. His calves are literally the size of. Oh, yeah, he's good off the tee. You can eat those things for Easter this week. Annual league meetings, also referred to as owner's meetings. Yep.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a member of ownership here. Here we go. All of a sudden, the intensity of the room has been heightened because there is royalty here. Ladies and gentlemen, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay's youngest daughter, ladies and gentlemen, Kaylin Jackson. Yay! Good to see you. Good to see you as well. Hi, guys.

Hi. Kaylin, hell yeah. Thank you for allowing us at your meetings. The carpeting, yeah. I know. AJ, you want to help here? I don't want to break anything. I'm so short. No, it's okay. We got a weird setup, too.

Okay. There. Hey, congrats on another successful annual league meeting from what we've been told. Yeah. Everything went good this week? Everything went great. Okay. How many years is this now for you going to these?

So it was right after college. I graduated in 2010. So that's when I started to go. I was coming to these meetings, though, since I was a baby. Okay, so let's talk about that. That's obviously a lot of pressure, too, for you. Like, obviously, there's everybody on earth that's like, I wish my parents owned an NFL team. But for you, it's like you're going to be handed the keys at some point of an NFL franchise that's going to be worth billions and billions of dollars in a sport that is famous.

And it's like you're trying, and I think Carly is as well, trying to learn everything you can about the business currently. Is that an accurate assessment of everything? Yes. I mean, I think a common question is always, you know, did your dad say, like, this is what you have to do? And that was never the case. He wanted us to do whatever made us happy. And I mean, I think he hoped it, you know, he hoped that this would continue being 100% family run, which is rare these days. And I think I didn't really know for sure. I mean, I knew that was what I was interested in, but I think I watched him and listened to him,

and he said you should go and make sure it is what you want to do. And so I did go to Indiana University. Go Hoosiers. Go Hoosiers. A women's team. I know. Sweet 16. I'm so excited.

West Virginia got cheated last night. No, they didn't. You saw it. You saw it. No comment. But so I went there for sport marketing and management and I almost went to grad school and it was really, truly because I wanted to make sure that I think people knew that I took this seriously. Once I discovered it is what I wanted to do for sure. And it's where my passion lied.

I think being a woman in a male dominated field is field is one thing but also we didn't scratch our way to get here I mean that's something that we have known since we were young and we take that very seriously we were handed this opportunity and I think with that comes a lot of responsibility and I think we've always taken that very very seriously and and that's why I wanted to go to more school to kind of prove myself in a way. But I also think then I really thought hard about it and talked to my dad, of course, about it and realizing that getting actual experience in the field was what I needed to do most. How's dad?

Good. He's doing better. He's not here, obviously, because he's still recovering. But everyone's been just so kind and gracious and checking on him, asking about him. I heard it was not good, right? Is that accurate? Your dad's a tough dude. He is a tough dude. And I think, of course, I'm not going to specifics about his medical condition. He can answer those questions for himself.

But it's going to be a long road for him. But he's getting better every day. That a baby, Jim. That a baby, Jim. That a baby, Jim. Kaylin's doing great down here. We heard she voted for all the right stuff, got into it. And you talked about not having to scratch and feeling guilt about that. I was at an event the other night.

You and your sister just came up and were like, yeah, we'll give $500,000 to the Children's Hospital with Peyton Manning. And then the Ursa YMCA downtown, yeah, we'll give $10 million for this. Children's Hospital with Peyton Manning. And then the Ursa YMCA downtown. Yeah, we'll give $10 million for this. Yeah, kicking the stigma to try to help people with mental. Yeah, we'll give millions of dollars to that. So I think you're doing all the right things that people, you know, because you're always going to have people that hate you. Like, that's just the way things are going to go. And I think I've even talked to you about this because of the world that we got dropped into.

You've been in it your whole life. But the way you guys have handled it and the things that you do for the community is you couldn't do anything more. You need to know that. As a Colts fan, we're very appreciative of you. Oh, that's really nice. Hey, no problem. AJ's got a question for you, Caleb.

You said you've been coming to these meetings since you were a little kid. How has not only these meetings changed, but also like the NFL from your eyes from then until now? So, so much. I mean, while you're talking, so actually this Thursday marks our 40th year anniversary of leaving in the middle of the night on the mayflower heard about it you might have heard about it um but when you look back even to the beginning of

when our family became owners in 72 even that i, I mean, just I'll paint the story for you. So my grandpa, you know, he, it was an understanding between him and Carol Rosenblum that who owned the Colts at the time, Baltimore Colts. And it was understanding that my grandpa would buy Los Angeles Rams and they would just trade. And so that all happened within one day. And it was a one page document that we still have.

It looks like a memo that's on a typewriter that they both signed saying, we have agreed to trade. And that was it. Can you imagine that happening today? It's so far out of anyone's even imagination today, and for good reason. But I think it just shows you how far. And that wasn't even that long ago. So I think when you realize how much has changed

and how much the league has grown since then, it's super exciting. And I think I look even in the key takeaways from these meetings here. I mean, the amount of international conversation that's going on, obviously we're super excited because our global marketing and Jeremy and Asha got announced this week.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know got announced this year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know Bjorn's excited. Yeah. And so I think just the way the landscape has changed is, I mean, you could talk about it for weeks on end, but I think one of the things that still rings true, and I always say what makes the League so great, is they take things very seriously and they don't jump to quick responses.

I mean, they do. Very slow. But there's a reason. There's a reason behind that. And I think it's really, really smart. They take, you know, of course, health and safety probably moves quicker because it is a more serious element

that needs to be addressed right away. But I think when it comes to where to invest, who to be partners with, they do move slowly. But I think it's for good reason. I think it's really to where to invest, who to be partners with, they do move slowly. But I think it's for good reason. I think it's really paid off over the years. Did Adam Silver send a video about you guys just stealing Christmas? Oh, yeah.

Oh, we didn't see it. No. I went straight from meetings to here. Oh, you guys got two back. Double header on Christmas Wednesday. Sorry, Adam Silver. Sorry, NBA. It's ours now. I know.

The NFL talking. You shouldn't let Christmas fall on a Sunday. No. Adam Silver, you should have, it's ours now. I know. The NFL talking. You shouldn't let Christmas fall on a Sunday. No. Adam Silver, you should have stopped that. Bad move. I didn't see it got announced yet. So, yeah, I mean, it's exciting. It is very exciting.

Very exciting. Somebody leaked it. Yeah. I guess the week before is going to be on Saturday, so it's the same amount of time for a Thursday night game, and then the team will obviously have it afterwards, which goes back to the safety thing, which is a never-ending

dog chasing its tail pretty much. About like, well, the grass turf. I was hoping you'd bring that up. Let's talk about it. Okay, so Dr. Sills. Still? Sills. Great guy. Friend of the program.

Dr. Sills. He's the chief medical officer, not chief marketing officer. He came on our show whenever everybody was pissed about the grass. And then he said, we're actually finding that there is a potential turf that is actually safer than any natural grass. And we're trying to collect data in that whole thing. Everybody's saying you guys just don't want to do it because it costs money. whole thing well i think the biggest everybody's saying you guys just don't want to do it because it costs money but no no well i i would say that what i think and they they talked about services um and health and safety at these meetings and i think what's super interesting is it's not just

about is it turf or grass that's which turf which grass and it's not just that it's even the consistency across the entire field so like on one end of the field it might be the consistency element is really key and i think the other thing that i think is important to note is that the league is investing but it's also in conjunction at the same time with the players association we're working on it together they are part of selecting those experts that are doing this analysis and some of the work and analysis are doing is innovative and it isn't being done in any other league that is you guys see bach diaris tweets though he's not happy yeah bach diaris tweets are not happy ty's got a question for

you caitlin yeah caitlin this isn't exactly a football question but seeing has you're eventually going to be the owner of the team i think this is just a fun little decision making exercise and there's only there's only one right answer here i've maybe been prepped a little bit that I'm hoping you have the right answer. Are you a bobcat or a deer girl? Have you heard about this? We asked Carson once. Anything for you, Caleb.

Props. This goes a long way. Boom. Boom. That's good news. I think nothing comes like a deer guys and I in fact wish I should have like sent a picture but we have a John Deere gator

that we take our girls around we live on like 30 acres and so we actually utilize it we love it and I'll say this as somebody that is similar age to you and have watched you through this entire that is similar age to you and have watched you through this entire thing. You have tried to remain a human as much as possible. And I want to let you know, very impressive. If I was in your situation, I would be a vastly different

thing. You have handled it all with like incredible grace. And I think what you have committed to doing is making the community better. And obviously it's's a it's a good display of what the future Is gonna look like for us and Indy. We're very thankful for you, Kaylin Well, that's really nice of you saying I'll keep trying to prove it like really truly because I mean, I think honestly That's a cash cow you guys it's up into the right. Is there a lot of me those meetings where it's just like We're doing very well um but i mean i think i think that that's most one of the most important things though that within the league and within you know just the horseshoe in general when you're doing well is not a time to just sit back and say well this is great um it's really you put the

john deere cap on and you start to think of ways you can be better and I think that that's why I'm proud of so many people in that room I mean what a when I walk in that room a lot of times it is um can be overwhelming with the amount of intelligent and different personalities in there and I think it's just a testament um to how many people want to be a part of this and how lucky we are I mean we always say there's only 32 of each you know position and um every day genuinely genuinely genuinely I do not take it for granted ever I mean, we always say there's only 32 of each position. And every day, genuinely, genuinely, genuinely, I do not take it for granted ever. I mean, every day could be the last. And I always tell you, try to live as authentically as possible and do that in all decision-making as well.

Carly on the field during the games. I was hoping you guys would bring this up. We need more of that. Yeah, please. We need her fits on game day. The best. She's a fashion god on the sideline.

She has fun. And she has the wristband, headset, notes, flame outfit. I mean, the whole thing. It's like very apparent

she's out there. But I think that goes back to the point of what I was, uh, I asked you about earlier. Like she's just trying to learn as much as possible. Well, and I think, so we,

we used to laugh like when we were, when we were starting, you know, cause we did, you know, we answered phones at the complex and we, you know, we did all the things,

internships and, um, anything that needed to be done, shopping boxes, whatever. Um, before we did anything that we're doing now. And I think for us, so much has changed in terms of women in this league.

But when we were younger, there was, yeah. Hell yeah, hell yeah, hell yeah. And it's really, it's a testament because it's been made a priority. And we take that very seriously, too, in the work that we're doing in terms of creating opportunity. But there were no female doctors. There were no female trainers. There was no, I mean, it wasn't as normal for us to be in the locker room.

And now our girls are in the locker room. You know, my nieces are in the locker room. And it's kind of become more of a normal thing. But we used to say we used to wish we could have been my dad and been like my dad and picked up jock straps and stuff. Because as weird as that sounds to people, because we wanted to be in it, you know, and it's, you can't, you, we couldn't. And so for her, I give her a lot of credit. She spends a lot of time. And as you'll notice her mic is up. It's not down.

She might have some ideas. As much as I know you'd love for me to tell that story, but she's not, I mean, she's really listening. She's listening to the different communications between position coaches, and she picks a position around each year to sit in and learn more about. And then she's writing down what plays are successful, like how many times it's run, blah, blah, blah. What if she's just like the analytics?

Yeah. I don't know if you've seen, like, first half, for instance. This one, we went backwards. Guess what's back? Backwards. We run it again. Backwards. Oh, look at that.

I'm just taking notes here. I don't know football. That's hilarious to think about. But it enables her to ask a lot of questions. And I think that's one of the things people always ask. It's like, what's the most important thing? There she is. Boom.

She did not like that play call. Whatever that was. Get it out. We're not doing this bullshit again. She's the best, as are you. We're very lucky to have you in the city. Very thankful for what the future holds. And shout out to you for stopping by.

Safe travels back to Indy. I do have one really fun news story that I have to tell you really quick before I go. Love it. If that's okay. Nothing but time. You're me. We're here. Well, because I have to tell you really quick before I go. Love it. If that's okay. Nothing but time. You're me. We're here. Well, because I can't believe you've never heard this story.

But so when Pat retired, he had a long, long, long meeting with my dad. And I think my dad thought maybe he could convince you to stay. And we're still sad you left, but we're so proud of you. Come on, come on, come on. Yeah. And so after the meeting, we were like, so how'd it go? You know, he's telling me, he's like, oh, well, I think he's made up his mind. He's going to move on.

He's like, and he's going to work for a company that makes bar stools? And we were like, wait, what? And then we started talking. We were like, oh, no, no, no. And it's funny because now, of course, he knows what Barstool's is. But at the time, he didn't. But the most endearing thing about it, Pat, and, like, I think you know this very well, and that's why you love him, is that he was so excited for you.

Even if he didn't get it, he was really, truly. And he is, I mean, goes to being asked to, you know, introduce Hall of Fame inductees. That stuff genuinely means more than anything in the world to him. He'll text me like articles of like old entertainers that'll pop up and be like, Hey, future of entertainment can take a trip back in time. Sometimes I'm like, who's texting Jim or say, okay, I appreciate you, Jim. Thank you, Jim. He's always been incredibly kind as is your whole family.

Very lucky for you. Ladies and gentlemen, Kaylin Jackson. Thanks for having me. I need to fall on your show. We need you not. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Good luck. Thank you. Hey, thank you. See you, boss. Bye. Great work. Keep up the good work. Hey, you too.

Great hat. Yeah, great hat hat Really good solid hat Pete Ward great work baby I did see your text thank you Thank you thank you thank you You're the man for that Sweets for you this year Wow

Thank you Pete Thank you Pete Pete Pete That was very nice of them Peter! Peter! Pete! Pete! Pete! That was very nice of them. I'm not getting into it. No, no.

That was very, very nice of them. That's it. As we wrap up this time on ESPN, it'd only be right if we bring in the man who seemingly, for the NFL Special Teams coaches, spearheaded a movement to save the kickoff, which inevitably ended with a 29-3 vote for an NFL hybrid kickoff, which is potentially going to save the play. Special teams coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, Jersey guy.

Ladies and gentlemen, Coach Darren Rizzi. Good to see you, dude. Good to see you. Hey, here's the deal. There's an owner sitting there, so let's not, you know what I mean? Let's stay out. Hey, here's the deal. There's an owner sitting there, so let's not, you know what I mean? Let's stand. No, no, no. I'm going to sit.

I'm going to sit. I'm going to sit. What's up, fellas? How are you doing? How are we doing? Everybody good? Yes. Awesome.

So, Coach, congratulations on the hybrid kickoff getting passed. Now, obviously a lot of work went into this, and the XFL guy, Sam Schwartstein, is not happy. He's not getting credit for it all. I know a lot of special teams coaches probably say, buddy, you took a kickoff practice drill and put it on the play. But nonetheless, we got to a point where the kickoff is seemingly being saved. The only change from the last time we talked, seemingly, is that a touchback just kicked in the end zone. Instead of being at the 35, which is pretty punitive, it's now moved to the 30.

I immediately responded with, guys are still just going to choose to kick it in the end zone give the ball at 30 but maybe not everybody what are your thoughts on what got passed and how do you feel about where the rule sits now versus where it might be a year from now first thing i gotta say is your graphic this show's graphic about the kickoff is the best graphic i've ever seen that graph i mean i can't tell you how many compliments people have gotten, or I've gotten, on your graphic. You put it together, you and Dirty.

That's awesome. First of all, I appreciate you guys having me on. I appreciate your support for special teams. We talked about that last time. Let's address that touchback thing real quick. There was a few head coaches that thought the 35-yard line was too punitive. If there was a situation in the

game, maybe you're up by a couple scores or there's a game where you're lacking injuries and you don't have your core guys, there was the ability to kick the ball in the end zone for a touchback. That was the thought process. Don't kill us because we can't potentially. This is a one-year. If we

go through the first year and maybe the start drive isn't what we thought, the return percentage isn't what we thought, this is a one year. So if we go through the first year and maybe the start drive isn't what we thought, the return percentage isn't what we thought, this is a starting point. We can always adjust that. And so that was a little bit of a concession. All good. Me, I think it probably knocks off about 20%, 25% of the returns. Okay, so we're going to get more returns, though.

We're still going to get more returns, you think? Still much better than what we're currently at. Hey, okay. We did good, right? So, I mean, if we had a 21% return rate last year, if this knocks off 20-25%, I still think we'll be 50-60%.

And, you know, we talked about this. There was 2,000 non-plays last year between the touchbacks. Yeah, between the touchbacks and the fair catches, there was 2,062 non-plays. If we can get 50%, we're going to bring another 1,000 plays back in. So it's still, to me, it's still a big win.

Good for the game. Good for the game. Good for special teamers. Good for special teams coordinators. Have you guys already started scheming? You already started scheming how you're going to abuse these rules? Well, there's always those guys that want to say, okay, how can I get my way around these rules?

You guys are special teams coaches. Yeah, literally. That's all special teams coordinators are trying to okay, how can I get my way around these rules? You guys are special teams coaches. Yeah, literally. That's all special teams coordinators are trying to do. How can I screw the other guy? Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, listen, I think that's going to be one of the really cool things about it is to see how everyone plays it. Having two returners back, the ability to have reverses and throwbacks.

I heard you say that one time. I saw the clip you guys showed earlier, the reverse for the touchdown. Here it comes. This is going to be my first. The 31 other coordinators, this is my first return. Nobody else has allowed to use this. As we wrap up here on ESPN and continue on YouTube and ESPN+, we can't thank you enough. We'll see you tomorrow.

We're off on ESPN. We're live on YouTube and ESPN+. Okay? So watch your mouth. Don't let any of those Jersey F words fall. Yeah, exactly. Never a Jersey guy. Never. No, never.

But there is a lot of creativity, I think. There's a lot of options in this thing. I agree. And that was one of our main focuses. And again, I'm going to give a big shout out to Big Sam because Sam got a lot of things right here with the XFL. I just think there was a lot of things. He might have been handcuffed,

but like the 10 guys flat across on one line in the return team, not a good idea. There's got to be different levels so you can have some creativity for scheme. We heard potentially tinkering to get three people back maybe. And there was still some conversation about it in the room this week, yesterday. And so just the thought process was, again, year one, let's have 7-2-2. If there's not a lot of injury data that those two guys that are off

are getting injured more than the others, then there's the ability to move guys back. Okay. And you might be like this all the time. I'm not around you day to day, although I have watched your come up in this entire thing. I didn't see you at Rhode Island. The playing days?

I didn't see you at Rhode Island, but, you know, Rutgers, Dolphins, down with the Saints. Feels like you've been very passionate about this. Yeah. And congrats on getting passed. But also, and I don't think this can get echoed enough. We were potentially going to lose the kickoff, right? If we didn't find something. And that is why I think all the special teams coordinators kind of came together and why you were so passionate about this. No question. I mean, you look at the play and I said this earlier today, this was a dying play and we feel like we've pumped life into it revive this play we're gonna bring this thing back I think there's a lot of you know things and factors about this

play that maybe the fans aren't thinking about you might see some of your favorite players back there as returners that maybe in the old model people were afraid to put out there you know I had the Dolphins reporter asked me today do you think they'll use Tyree kill and Jalen Waddell and Raheem Oster? Fourth quarter, why not? Like, why wouldn't you? You know? AB old school.

Yes. AB used to just be a night. I mean, you're kicking it through. You see those two. 30-yard line. Can they bring it out of the end zone? Yes. So every ball's got to be downed.

So if the ball's in the end zone, you can bring it out. So you actually might see, even though with the touchbacks at the 30, you might see a few more balls getting brought out of the end zone that maybe at the 35 that you didn't. So if a team is confident in their return and they think their opponent may be not as great in coverage, you might see a few more balls brought out of the end zone. How do you feel about your team?

Or has you guys got guys down there? Listen, the Saints have always done a great job. I'm not just saying that. No, no, I mean the Saints have always done a great job. I'm not just saying that. No, I mean, the Saints have always done a great job with roster construction. I thought there's always been core team. Yeah, there's been some teams that just paid at the very top and then said,

hey, punter and kicker, figure it out. I've seen a couple of those teams operate in the past. It is much different whenever a GM will invest some money in a backup linebacker, backup tight end, backup running back that can maybe run a little bit. That's a huge deal. Well, think about this. So, like, the last few years,

there's been guys, there's been games where if you're going to Denver, for example, and you know they're going to kick touchbacks and you're going to kick touchbacks, why do you need player 47, 48 to be special teamers? You didn't. You could get a third quarterback if you need to, or a running back, another weapon. And the offensive coach saying, we need this guy. Well, now, all of a sudden, those if you need to or a running back, another weapon. Well, you know, and the offensive coach said, we need this guy.

Well, now all of a sudden those guys are going to play 12, 13, 14 core players. We're saving jobs. Yeah, go. You're saving jobs. You're a core player, and that's why the PA likes it. The PA loves this because it's more plays for them. It's more plays, it's more stats. Returners more valuable, kicker, core players.

AJ has a question for you. How much thought have you put into, like, say, your kickoff cover team? Do you just put burners on there? They're going to run by those guys because you are so close? How do you mix and match the body type? And kickers can't go past the 50? The kicker can't go past the 50 until the ball is touched. Got it.

See, I saw Reed already say put me in. You need the kicker to be a tackle. Yeah, well, listen, if you watch all the XFL plays and the kicker's hitting the ball and if he hits a high high-end time ball, like your old days, he's freaking flying down. He's a free hitter. Yes.

We didn't want that. Why not? Why not? You can't kill us. Hold on a second. Because you guys got a small kicker. You got a small kicker. Because you got a groupie.

Not that he's not a dog groupie. It has nothing to do with you, Blake. It has nothing to do with you. Oh, okay. The entire NFL has got to get changed because Blake is not a tackler. You know he would. No, no, no. You know he would. It was actually a player health thing. It was a player safety thing. Oh, okay, the entire NFL has got to get changed because Blake is not a tackler. No, no, no. He would.

It was actually a player health thing. It was a player safety thing. Okay. And how about this? A couple of the owners actually asked in the meetings, hey, the kicker's not a guy that's used to making tackles. How often is this guy? He's going to be much more involved.

That question came up. And what did you say? Yes, he is going to be more involved. So were you worried the kicker was going to hurt people or people were going to hurt the kicker? Bingo. It's like if you see me fighting a bear. Both.

Both. And go back. I want to go back. This is funny. Are we having a good time here? We're having a great time. Am I a clown? Do I amuse you?

Do I make you laugh? Funny hell. So, I mean, come on, Jerry. I've got to get the good fellas. Kicker's tackling is good, though, for this particular thing. got to get the good fellas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Kicker's tackling is good, though, for this particular thing because they're the second line. Second level defense. Literally, because normally you've got guys like, all right, we'll go.

Ones will stick back, so at least you have different layers. Feels like, and I assume you'll still have guys drift in and be safeties or whatever, but it feels like it's easier to get through the main line. Come on in an alley. Feels like it, right? And to go back to AJ's point, you know,

I actually think it's going to be a little bit like hockey in terms of matching up to your opponent. So if I'm playing the Dallas Cowboys and playing Bones and he has all big guys and I'm game planning, my kick return guys might be a little bit different body types that week. If I'm playing a different team, I'm playing the Baltimore Ravens and they have all fast guys, because we don't have that running start and I'm not worried about guys getting blown up,

I'm going to kind of try to match up body types. I think you're going to see some pretty cool things with the matchup. Can you cross? Is there any rules on like can you change on the run? Twist. Once you run, can you twist and run all the moves? You can do whatever you want.

Okay. So once the ball hits and touches, you can run wherever you want. So I think there will be a little bit of twist, and that's how the XFL team's got guys through the line and maybe got some free hitters. There were some, and that's why it was important for us from the setup zone to have a second level to it.

So you can have a kind of a lead and trail player, if you will. Hey, Sam Schwartz, good job. Hi, baby, Sam. He did, once again, can't now, if he never did it, do we ever know? So shout out to Sam. I've agreed. But that has been a kickoff drill for a long time

right there, saving legs. That's the way kickoff is practiced. All the time. Since the beginning of time. So it is like we understand that it was put into the game with this particular time which is smart. It ends up being the right answer. I don't know if we can pause that right there. Pause. Go back to the top of the play where you had

all 10 guys across on the 30 yard line. And that's why we're going to have a couple guys off the line back there where we'd be the 26 yard line here but we're going to 30-yard line. And that's why we're going to have a couple guys off the line back there where it would be the 26-yard line here, but we're going to move it up five. And that's why that creates the second levels. And there's another returner back, so it allows you for more scheme. It's going to look more like a quote-unquote football play than maybe a schoolyard, you know, go kick it off and everybody will get the guy with the ball.

Roger Goodell hated this, loved this. Had to be sold on it? Full support. From the beginning? From the beginning. Okay. He actually, they had come to us last year. Did this love this he had to be sold on it full support from the beginning from the beginning, okay? He actually he actually they had come to us last year They came to bones myself and a few other coaches and wanted us to maybe look at some alternative last year and quite frankly We weren't ready and that's why the fair catch kind of came to be last year, but no one wanted that

You should have seen the cold catch on this the Colts did one And I was there and the suite that is now free. That's awesome news. Shout out. Shout out. Well, it's not free, but you get it. There's a lot of other stuff that happens. But, yeah, what's business, you know?

What is free? What is giving up? What is not? Yeah, that's a whole combo. Not for today. Celebration. Let's go. Celebration.

Celebration today. But there was a fair catch 15 yards in front of me. And I almost said I'm no longer a Colts fan. We are not doing this. We cannot script. Did you almost run out there? I was disgusted. I literally was disgusted because it's like we're fair catching at the 7-yard line.

You're telling me we can't put together a return that can get us to the 25 from the 7 if it's a bad kick? We're just kind of quitting on a play. So, I mean, I attacked Shane Steichen for 45 minutes at the combine about that. I'm like, hey, listen, you're awesome on offense. What you did this year was cool. I cannot be seeing fair catches on that. And he goes, why would we risk somebody getting hurt, a penalty? It was an option that kind of gave a safety blanket almost for every team.

And he started seeing everybody start fair catching the kickoffs. And I don't think the NFL wanted that to be the case at all either. The cool thing about this rule is it's actually the exact opposite. So think about it. Last year, if you were the return team and you wanted to shut the play down, you fair catch it. Now, if you're the kickoff team and you want to make them return it, you put them in the landing zone, they can't fair catch it.

They have to return it. The kickoff team does have the out. The kickoff team has the out of kicking the ball in the end zone. If your guy can. If he can. You know, If he can. Are these guys kicking balls further than they've ever kicked them before? 100%. Why?

What's happening? I questioned myself last night on the plane. I'm like, I don't know what I was doing wrong. I thought I had a pretty strong leg. I could never touch how far these guys are murdering footballs right now. Honestly, my opinion is as the game has evolved, I think a lot of these younger guys have started place-kicking earlier in their lives where... Focusing on it. Correct.

Where we were growing up, it was a soccer kid that became a... That's what it was. Where now I think you have guys that are transitioning into American football a lot sooner and so that's why I think they're just getting better. Just repetition. Bucker put one like six rows deeper. Yeah, easily. He passed it one too. As somebody mentioned

today, there was 13 touchbacks in the Super Bowl. Not only that, 12 of the 13 landed out of the end zone. They weren't even in play. And so it's become – Shout-out Moody. Yeah. Hey, shout-out Moody. Rookie.

I like that. A little rookie. A little rough start and then finish on a positive. Not easy to be a rookie kicker. No. Long, long, long, long, long. A lot of reps. A lot of reps.

Exciting to see Blake next year. Go ahead, Tom. Yeah, Coach. A lot of reps. A lot of reps. Exciting to see Blake next year. Go ahead, Tom. Yeah, Coach. I just had this scenario in my head. Bills, Patriots a couple years ago where it was 50-mile-an-hour wind gusts. Say there's a situation where it's like that and neither team, neither kicker has any chance to get to the landing zone, which in this scenario I believe comes out to the 40.

It's treated as if it's kicked out of bounds. Was that talked about? If there is a game like that, we're just starting at the 40 every drive? Until we move the kickoff up. That game was actually referenced when the coaches had the conversation, should we kick the ball from the 35 or the 30? And Cam, who was at the Patriots now with the Giants, he got on the Zoom call and said, Riz, we had that game in Buffalo

a couple years ago, and I'm not so sure if we were kicking from the 30. Now, 35, we've got a much better chance to get it in there. 30, so that was maybe one of the main reasons we started. We did not want one of those games late in the season where every drive started on the 40. Now, if there's a win going one way and then the other way, you can get it. Competitive advantage. Different. And you mentioned this to me, which I thought was a great point.

Thank you. People are talking about, well, you know better than most. The kick, the wind in your face is one thing. The wind at your back. Tough. It's going to be hard to land that. If you're trying to land it in the landing zone. I only threw gas.

I only had the fastball. Mariano Rivera, one pitch. When I got to the NFL, I only had the gas. I still have his hit chart from when we played Rutgers, West Virginia, his kickoff hit chart. He's actually lying. He had three kicks. He had the fastball, line drive to the right. He had the little looper, and then, West Virginia, his kickoff hit chart. Yeah. He's actually lying. He had three kicks. He had a fastball line drive to the right.

He had the little looper, and then he had the squib kick. Thank you. I hated all of them. Except for the deep ball. But, boy. But I did tell you he hit one of the best punts. I said that last time. I can't say it again.

Yeah, well, I don't even know if that was my best one. I'm sorry. I appreciate you, man. Well, for the moment, it was huge. Yeah. For me, I celebrated probably pretty hard that night. Probably too hard, if I had to guess. And that's why I look the way I look.

You look phenomenal. Are we in great shape working out right now? I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm definitely the most best dressed. Not on purpose. I had to wear the suit. Yeah, we get it.

Of course. Well, I look for the celebratory tank top in the gift shop. They didn't have it. Yeah, well, you'd be jocked up. How old are you? 53. 53? Yeah.

You do look phenomenal. I appreciate that. We had a GM in here, 38 years old. Right. We had a head coach who's 39 years old. We had another head coach, 40. Raheem, 47. Young.

A lot of young. Young, young, young people. Youth movement. Feels like it. Yeah. And, again, I think. Uh-oh, 47. Young. A lot of young. A lot of young, young, young people. Youth movement. Feels like it. Yeah. And, again, I think. Uh-oh, 53. Uh-oh, 53.

Old man. Oh, shit, Bruce. March them back. Keep that thing thin and tight up there. Trying. Congratulations on a good campaign. Saving a play, potentially. Yeah.

Making the NFL more electrifying. And we appreciate it because you're saving a lot of special teams jobs personally. Now, with that being said, Jameis Winston, most electrifying person you've ever been around on a day-to-day basis? We're seeing videos of him coming out of Cleveland. He's taking snaps, full suit. He's giving full speeches to the Cleveland Browns dog pound. I mean, listen, Jameis and I spoke,

and obviously had nothing to do with the offense, but I made sure I mean, listen, Jameis and I spoke, and obviously it had nothing to do with the offense, but I made sure I had a conversation with Jameis every day. Just for myself, it was like self-motivation. Every single game that I had with Jameis was at the Saints, he made sure every single person coming off the field for pregame, he shook every single person. I'm saying there was a video one time, but that was every game. And he always had a message of the week, you know, a message of the, you know, and he would have it, and every single – I'm saying there was a video one time, but that was every game. And he always had a message of the week, you know, a message of the –

and he would have – and every single guy, equipment, training staff, everybody, strength coaches, players, coach, every single guy. And he would be looking – and usually I was one of the last guys off, and he was always one of the – every single guy. So Jameis is awesome. Yeah. He's phenomenal. Not everyone thinks that.

Artie Smith probably has something. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, listen. Why'd you guys do that? Why'd you everyone thinks that. Artie Smith probably has something. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Hey, listen. Why'd you guys do that? Why'd you guys do that to Artie? You guys were supposed to just take a knee. Talk to Jameis. No. I heard you're the one that called it, actually. Yeah, I heard you call it. No, no, no. I was trying to tell Art

after the game. He was pissed, obviously. I was trying to tell him after the game, Art, we didn't plan that. He didn't want to hear it. I wouldn't want to hear it either. Art had a lot on his mind. He either. Art had a lot on his mind. He did. Art had a lot on his mind. We appreciate you. Congrats.

Go enjoy, hopefully, the benefits of everything and all the hard work you just put together. When you're doing this, I assume it's a lot of bullshit. You talk about the Zoom calls. Trying to get everybody on the same page with different schedules, especially in the NFL. The amount of logistical work that you had to do to put this entire thing together we're very appreciative of. Thank you for doing it and thank you for ending this surprise onside kick too because I'll probably go down as one of the greatest of all time.

Me, Janikowski, Mason Crosby You don't even want to mention your guy Morstead, huh? The biggest of all time. That's the only one he hit. I think the only one he hit was the biggest one of all time. I still love this because Griff Whalen is the guy recovering. You know Griff? I coach Griff in Miami. I love Griff. Yeah, Griff's the guy. He had a 75-yard running head start. It's the only reason of all time. I still love this because Griff Whalen is the guy recovering it. You know Griff? I coach Griff in Miami. I love Griff. Yeah, Griff's the guy.

He has a 75-yard running head start. It's the only reason he got there. Come on. Come on, Griff. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.

Griff was a 4'8 guy on his best day. I love him. Oh! Hey! Ow! Not like Colin Jones who walked Pac-Man last week.

Oh! All right, we appreciate it. I'm still pissed at Pac-Man for kicking those balls in the stands. I had to get him again. Hey, we've heard stories about Pac-Man to other teams. I think it was Mitch. Mitch Morse. Mitch Morse. Buffalo told a story about whenever he was a rookie for the Denver Broncos,

the entire offensive line was warming up before workout, like doing a stretch like, and Pac-Man came out all by himself. Eight offensive lines. Wasn't playing. Was not playing. He goes, bunch of bitches. Pac-Man. In the hoodie, probably

big old ribbons. Massive chalk. Shoes untied. That's the game. There's a lot of incredible personalities in the sport. There's a lot of incredible personalities in the sport. There's a lot of incredible stories in the sport. And the fact that we're keeping one of the main things of football in football is a big deal. We're very grateful. Sports are amazing.

They're fantastic. Here we're getting a chance to learn about how the NFL operates by the people that are operating the NFL. I'm not alone. No, no. The talk table's here at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt. Orlando's not bad. I like Orlando. It's a nice little place down here they got. We saw it at 3 a.m. this morning when we got off the plane. We saw it

on our way over to here. We've been in a conference room for about the last four or five hours or so. And the man next to AJ is senior insider We've been in a conference room for about the last four or five hours or so, but next AJ is senior insider for ESPN now We don't know what's real what's not real because I think he was the one leaking the information But the contract that ESPN paid him was because this guy knows everything going on everywhere

This guy's been working these holes with a bunch of friends catching up seeing, seeing what's going to happen, what's not going to happen, who's going where, what rules are going to get passed. Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Schefter. Hey, Schefter. Schefter, let's talk about these league meetings. You love it down here. This is awesome. Just walking through the hall,

you just see somebody that we have definitely covered for doing something. Yeah. This is awesome down here. How many years have you been? Some of them were born. The reasons that we have said, and then Tepper would have had a reason to explain his side of the story. I said to David, as I would say to you, I think he should do it.

You guys would really like him. He would like you. You get along famously. Match made in heaven. Boom. David, come on. There'd be F-bombs dropping everywhere. Okay.

There are. There are. All right, let's move to some news that you heard, maybe. You just broke this news via Twitter, but then you attacked us and said not really, though. Dallas Cowboys have been an interesting follow during the free agency period. Now going into the draft

season with the DAC news, not signing anybody. Then Jerry Jones allegedly alludes to they're going to have to win with less going forward, even though they're all in. Where are the Dallas Cowboys at right now? What does Dak Prescott's future look like? What's Mike McCarthy's future look like in the state of the Cowboys from what you're hearing here, boots on the ground? We spoke to

Mike yesterday, right, in the next room, and said to him, the Eagles have been very active in free agency. Giants have been very active in free agency. Commanders have been very active in free agency. Congratulations on resigning your long snapper, because that's basically what they've done in addition to draft. Just the way you said it.

Got it. We were having fun. And he believes that they've got guys coming off injured reserve that are going to make a difference. He believes that there are guys going into their second and third years that are poised to take big jumps. That's what they think. But the problem is that they've got to make more moves. They've got to pay C.D. Lamb. They've got to pay Micah Parsons.

They haven't done anything with Dak at all. And the time to do a deal with Dak was before free agency, and they didn't do that. So there was no cap savings. So if they wanted to go get some of these marquee free agents that were out, they're gone. They're off the street. So now they're in a get some of these marquee free agents that were out, they're gone. They're off the street. So now they're in a situation with Dak going into the last year of his deal.

He's got a $55 million cap number. If he leaves after this year, the dead cap money charge is $95 million that they're going to have to spread out. Jeez! Which would be a new NFL record. $95 million dead cap, and he leaves. And no trade clause, no tag clause. So when you're going into the last year of contract, he now becomes the 2024-25 version of Kirk Cousins.

And Dak, to me, is a really good quarterback. So if and when he becomes a free agent next year, Dallas may want him back, but there might be a quarterback needy team. Giants, Panthers, who knows? Like, we could go through the list right now. There'll be no shortage of suitors for Dak Prescott as a true unrestricted free agent on the open market. That's an ESPN dream, isn't it?

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You know what? I remember when his contract was coming up a few years ago? Oh, yeah. That's for you. Oh, man. Oh, yeah. You know what? I remember when his contract was coming up a few years ago. Oh, yeah. That may have led Get Up and SportsCenter and NFL Live every day for like months on end. Oh, yeah.

And then a deal didn't get done. And then, obviously, he gets hurt. Yeah. And then now we're back in it. And then a deal happens. No lead. It's a quarterback league. It's Dallas Cowboys.

If you combine the quarterback with the Cowboys. With free agency. Hundreds of millions of dollars. We might as well just call it like DSPN, like Dallas. Well, that's what some people do call it. They do call it DSPN. For a lot of things. You talked about the $95 million dead cap.

The $85 million dead cap we'd never seen before. Unprecedented. Sean Payton was asked at one of his breakfast things, drinking a coffee, hey, did you worry about the $85 million dead cap? No. And they just moved on. And the internet's like, wow, Sean Payton hated Russell Wilson. That was the immediate response from that answer.

That was unprecedented. But do you think because the salary cap's going up, we'll see how the Denver Broncos do? Is this a potential, like, going forward, we're going to see these types of things happen more often with the way deals are being structured? That's a lot of money. So much.

Well, I think Sean Payton legitimately believes that he's going to find a quarterback or develop a quarterback, whether Jarrett Stidham is the guy or they draft a quarterback high. He likes Jarrett Stidham. He's a dog. He's the king of Friday Night Lights in Texas high school football. He likes him. He likes him.

And he'll be an option. But when you do a contract like that that doesn't work out, you're going to have to take your medicine at some point in time. So they're saying, you know what, we're going to take it now, and we're going to do our best to get through it. He has to have a lot of trust from the ownership then, right? Absolutely. And by the way, he had the five-year contract at roughly $20 million.

So you're talking about $100 million. So if it doesn't work out, Sean Payton, fire me. Fine. Like, he's going to do it. Whatever. Yeah, sorry about it. Hold on. Do it.

They hired him because they know what he's capable of doing. Bingo. And if it doesn't work and they want to fire him, that's their choice. Then fire him. But they're going to give him the ample time to figure out the solution. He didn't trade for Russell Wilson. He didn't give Russell Wilson that contract. But he is responsible for digging the team out of that situation

and making sure that it's good going forward. AJ's got a question for you. So, I guess from our end, it feels like Caleb Williams is a lock to go number one. Is it a lock? Is. Yeah, I agree. He's going. Do you think there's any chance that doesn't happen? Anything drastic? Someone jumps up?

I don't see that. One, two, three all locked, you think? Yeah. I don't know that yet. we going to know before? Are we all locked, do you think? Yeah. Doesn't sound like it. I don't know that yet. Ooh. Ooh. No, no, no. Who can jump up there? Who can pack it?

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh two. That's my guess. Okay. Two Washington educated guests. Yeah. Well, no, not an educated guest.

Well, educated, of course, to a certain extent, but not as much as I would like it to be to where I can say, got it. Cause no one's telling the truth right now. I haven't delved into that the way I normally would to give you an answer to say,

I feel comfortable and confident saying Jaden Daniels is too. That would be my guess. Okay. Right? And three, I mean, there has been a lot of Drake May conversation. Here's the thing. These things. Shafty, Shafty.

Sounds like you know more than what you're leading on right now. No, no. I think that New England is going to listen. And if the right offer comes the way of the Patriots, I think that they could be enticed into trading out. Do I think they'll ultimately stay and make the pick at three? My guess would be yes. Fucking thank God.

Jesus Christ. That's Patriots. You want to understand. Well, you know what? He wants to be a quarterback. They're not going to be up there ever again. Never again. Hopefully.

If it's going to cost you that much agita, I'm going to definitely see if I can find out some more stuff that would give you more heart palpitation. Oh! You don't need to be a prick. I just want a quarterback so I can root for football again. Tone's got a question for you, Shafty. Yeah, around that, I saw there was either... I like

that AJ laughed at that. Shafty, big pops around the room. Yeah. The whole room. Big pops around the room. Yeah. The whole room. There's some wild stuff that happens in the ballrooms of Orlando, Florida. Swing.

Come on. Come on. Man. Yeah. Time to ask a question. Oh! Swing! Oh! Oh! Oh! Come on! Man! Yeah! Time to ask a question. Yeah, around that convo, Shepty, there was either a poll or a report of executives or whatever, you know, comes out this time of year that they actually think J.J. McCarthy is going to be the number two.

Is that all BS? Is he just this year's, you know, soup of the day that they decided, hey, we're going to talk about number two. Is that all BS? Is he just this year's soup of the day that they decided, hey, we're going to talk about this guy? What is that? The soup du jour? Yeah, there it is. The soup du jour. Yeah, if we were in France, I would have said soup du jour.

Is any of this J.J. McCarthy hype actually real? I don't think soup du jour. I don't think soup du jour. I don't think that's what they call it. I believe it's French. Okay, all right. All right, sorry about it. JJ McCarthy.

It's not Spanish, I can tell you that. Now we, we, we, we. It could be Japanese, I don't know. Whoa! I can't tell you anything about translations. Tony, I can only tell you about, you know, trials and what they do in specific ceremonies. Okay. JJ McCarthy. JJ McCarthy. You guys look like you had a lot of fun last night from the they do in specific ceremonies. J.J. McGuire.

J.J. McGuire. You guys look like you had a lot of fun last night from the time you landed to now. Buddy, you have no idea. No, I have an idea. No, we didn't. That's the issue. This is a slap-happy situation. Really?

Yeah. Okay. A couple laughs. You'd be able to smell it. Well, that one right there, definitely. Yeah, I had a couple. That guy ate airplane bottles of whiskey. Have you ever seen one of those?

Those little things? The nips, the shooters. Those are one shot is how they're like technically. Eight of them? That's two drinks for this guy. Favorite take. That's the problem. Yeah, and he had a great four hours of sleep.

McDonald's at 345. Yeah, looks great. I mean, he's fantastic. We're ready to go. You know why? Because we're getting a chance to talk to you. That's it. And you're a man from Michigan who obviously knows.

Which brings us back to J.J. McCarthy. That's the gig. Names on the back. I think I would say this. J.J. McCarthy, in the words of one head coach last night, said that he is the fastest rising guy in this draft right now. A head coach said that last night to me. And Jim Harbaugh this morning, it was funny because I was with Jim and John,

and John was saying, J.J. McCarthy, he was giving him the grief about all the things that Jim said about J.J. Yeah. And Jim said he is the best quarterback thrower in this draft. Like, it doesn't mean he's going to be the best player, but Jim is sky high on him. Number one, he really believes it. He really believes it. He loves

J.J. McCarthy. But number two, you know what? Jim Harbaugh's got the fifth pick. Yeah, we heard those. As long as he continues to espouse his views on J.J. McCarthy being this unbelievable prospect, if J.J. McCarthy goes into the top four, that means that the Chargers are sitting with the number one

non-quarterback player in the draft. So why would he not advertise his guy? Yeah, Jim plays a little. No, he believes it about J.J. No, I agree. I agree he does. And also, he made a lot of decisions at Michigan that he believes in J.J. Remember, Kate McNamara took the team to playoffs.

He was like, no, this guy's coming in playing. I agree that he believes in J.J. But Jim Harbaugh does a lot of like, yeah, just happy to be here. Who's got it better than us? Nobody. Okay. Here's the workout room. It's an all you can eat buffet. He's genius. Huh? Hey, Jim Harbaugh. He's, he's playing chess. We don't know it. You know what? That's legit. I think he he's on it and he has done a great job wherever he's been. I mean, go back to San Diego, go back to Stanford,

go back to the Niners, go back to Michigan, go back to wherever he's been. I mean, go back to San Diego, go back to Stanford, go back to the Niners, go back to Michigan, go back to wherever he's been. The place is always better and has had more success when he's there than when he's not. And so the Chargers get him right now, and they've struggled to find their footing. They've just been kind of this team that never really wins. Lose close games. Lose games you're not supposed to lose. Quarterback plays great. We all believe in a quarterback

but for some reason I haven't won yet. I believe in Jim Harbaugh. You know what? He actually gave me his business card today. Is it here? It's going to be in this pocket. You're going to love this. Is it a brick? He gave me his business card. Hold on. This is unbelievable.

Yeah. I hope I have it. Yeah, here it is. Okay. What does it say? It's got his number. Can I see that? Can I see that?

Rules to live by. Jim Harbaugh's rules. This is his business card that he gave me today. Okay. Yes. Zoom in on this, can we? Jim Harbaugh's Rules to Live By.

Wow. Okay, let's go through them. Yeah, might as well. I don't know how much time you have and we apologize for eating it up, but seek first the kingdom of God and all else will be added unto you. Okay, God bless. Love that. Attack each day. I think any God.

I think it's all encompassing. Although we do know which god he believes in. Attack each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. That's a Papa Harbaugh. Yes. I think that's a Papa Harbaugh. Who could possibly have it better than you? You.

Nobody. Learn the damn rules. Lord. Better today than yesterday. Better tomorrow than today. Heroes have no days off. Your fate is in your hands. Think, innovate, find solutions.

By your talent and effort, you will be known. Choose a great role model. Watch them. Emulate them. Then make them proud. Mort? I love Mort. Yeah.

I think that would go for it. So you're following some of these rules, even though you got one of them wrong already. The nobody thing. So you're following some of these rules, even though you got one of them wrong already. The nobody thing. A smile being pleasant is a small price to pay for the goodwill and affection of others. Bring good energy. I like that.

Don't be an energy vampire. Correct. Say something nice. Somebody bring a vampire. Discipline yourself daily to be physically fit for life. I got to get better at that. Sure. I got to be better at that. I'll get fat, lazy, the whole thing.

Very easy to do. That's right here on one of the rules of life. Until today. Great effort equals great results. True. I feel like that better at that. I'll get fat, lazy, the whole thing. Very easy to do. That's right here on one of the rules of life. Until today. Great effort equals great results. True. I feel like that's a life. Jack. Oh, that's Jack as well.

Stop trying to win all your fights in the first round. Oh. Never been in the Oculus. That's a good way to phrase patience. That's a good way to phrase patience there. What we do in life echoes in eternity. Maximus, obviously. That goes back to number one.

They're watching. You happy with it? Yeah. Keep going. Well, it's going to echo in eternity. Think about it. Everything you do. Long time.

Seek long and trusting friendships by being happy and helpful for the other guy's success. Yeah. That's right. I love that. Don't be jealous. Who's that? Who's that? Is that Jim? Who's that? Roger Goodell.

Keep reading the rules. Can we tell that person that I just saw that they can come down to Armada Armada 2. The best customer is a satisfied one. The only job you start at the top is digging a hole. That's a good one. Treat others as you would want to be treated.

Here's advice. ABCs for picking a school, academics, ball, college environment. Three keys to happiness in descending order. One, three, pick a job you love. Two, outwork your competition. Ooh. Outwork you competition. Oh, no.

Oh. The printer. Printer error. Or is it saying like you. Like you. Number one, marry wisely. Marry you. Number one, Mary Wisely. Mary Wisely. Number one. Oh, yes.

Three keys to happiness. Number one. That is. Hey, Coach Harbaugh's got it. Coach Harbaugh's got it. Contemplating a career move, do what is best for your family, you personally and professionally, a place where you'll be happy and productive and where you are wanted

and they like what you do and how you do it. Follow the direction. Keep doing you. It's working. Jim Harbaugh. God bless you and yours, Jim Harbaugh. By the way, so he carried these cards around, and he just took it out of his pocket. He's like, hey, I'd like to give you my business card.

This guy's 101. Yeah. We are so lucky he's back in the NFL. He's got his Michigan-Ann Arbor phone number. Yes. Is he going to update it to a charger? He has to, right? I would assume, yeah.

Get a new card. That card stocks expenses. Yeah, but the baby blue. I wanted to bring this home and show my kids. That's smart. That person just called you. I know who it was. I saw the name.

Yeah, unless you got fake names. Good. You got fake names? Hugh Jackman? President? President Biden? I think Tony Diggs would be intrigued by it. Obama?

It's not Mark Caboli. Oh, wow. He'll be joining us in about five minutes or so. Omar Khan. So what's going on right now? What's the moves going on right now in your work? Draft stuff? Well, I think—

Because Bean told us that he's reaching out to insiders to see what other people are thinking about doing. That's a big part of your job right now? Well, I think, to me, owner's meetings— Don't give too much away, Chef. You might lose some of your sources. I'm telling you, it's basically not a big part of your job right now? Well, I think to me, owner's meetings. Don't give too much away, Chef. You might lose some of your source. I'm telling you like this. Basically, not a big secret. Owner's meetings is always like a line of demarcation.

I think once you get past here, free agency has been over for about a week. But this is like all on to the draft. The draft is one month away. And everything goes to the draft after the owners meetings and everybody kind of sets all their sights to that and that's kind of where we're at. Not a big secret. So everybody's just calling trying to see what you got on the draft. What you're thinking about on the draft.

Those calls will start happening I think in the weeks leading up to the draft. Do you feel like you're a pretty important part to the NFL? I don't think of myself like that. But you do understand that you have a vital role? I don't think like that either. We do.

Yeah. Every conversation we have, and we're learning more and more, you and Rap Sheet and the Indians, very vital role to the success of the entire NFL. Legit. Now, there's some people that don't. I think we would succeed without. I don't think so.

All the... You guys are a massive piece of how all the shit goes. Offseason would suck. For us. That's for us personally. Even the current NFL, though, and the way it's covered and how much allotment it has on TV and everything. They need you guys.

Otherwise, they're... Yeah, we need you. Whenever you guys decide to fucking do nothing. The news is going to happen whether we're there or not. No, but some news is. The way it gets circulated, though. Like tampering period, you would have to wait for the teams to put out the official whatever transactions on Wednesday or Thursday when it happens versus Monday. Here's the thing. ESPN, when it's on, it's always going to want to talk NFL. Yeah.

So if I'm not there, they're going to keep talking. Yeah, but I'm just saying NFL people. Being told us, being told us like, hey, I'm reaching out to insiders to hear what they're hearing. I'm looking at drafts, these mock drafts, because if like four people are saying the same thing, that means they're talking to people. It's all very important, I think, to how it all goes.

You should take yourself more seriously. Yeah, and they'd still talk NFL, but what you say carries weight. Yeah, it's a big deal. We appreciate the help. My wife doesn't think so. Well, I mean, that's a big deal. We appreciate the help. My wife doesn't think so. Well, I mean, that's because you're journaling every single night. What was number one on that? Happiness?

Yeah, happiness. Merry wisely. Yep. Amen, brother. Amen. All right, Chef, we appreciate it. Anything else that we haven't asked about that we should? No, next year come to the owners' meetings on Monday, like I said.

Monday is when you want to be here. How are we doing? Monday. Was I said Monday is when you want to be Was there a party last night that we missed yeah, okay. Yeah, it was a it's it it's a reception and Everybody here. Yeah all owners all GM's all coaches all wives Girlfriends and media and media everybody's like it's wow it was a live live performances, but there's music Oh, it was fret Michaels no no no no it was not not like that They put your phone in a yonder bag or you know everybody's just kind of mingling I would we get invited there were some funny cars would we be invited to it? Yeah, okay? Good absolutely what are we doing? What are we drinking when people drink Tito's or open bar? What did you open?

What are we drinking? I heard Tito's earlier. Open bar. Open? Open bar. Easy. Alcoholic booze bank. Jeez Louise. What were you drinking last night?

Water. Sparkling water. Do you drink? My wife has never seen me drunk once. Okay. So do you drink? Not often. Really?

You smoke weed? Nope. Really? I worked in Denver. So what do you do? You just. But I was in Denver before it was legalized. By the way. Good for you. That's awesome. I was in Denver. So what do you do? You just... But I was in Denver before it was legalized. By the way.

Good for you. That's awesome. I was in Denver before it was legalized. I am... I mean, my family makes fun of me. I am the straightest of straight guys that there is. That's awesome. That's the life I live.

What's wrong with that? Do you take sleeping pills at all? Like Advil PM? Nope. I get into bed, and I'm out in 60 seconds. What? That's awesome. You lucky son of a bitch.

You're a dumpy back there? A dumpy who sleeps two hours a night. I don't stay asleep, but I'll pass out for a couple hours, and then wake up at 2 in the morning, and then 4 in the morning, and then 5. Coffee or caffeine? A little bit. I drink a cup of coffee a day, maybe two. Okay, so caffeine you do.

Is there anything you let yourself lose, like that you get loose and like, okay, I'm just going to... I'm going to do ayahuasca. I'm going to go. I'm going to, you know, take a beer off the path. Yeah, like whenever you have a... I need to... A break. A break.

Just a getaway real quick. Vacation. Eat 50 donuts. Yeah. Something like that. Burgers? Yeah, like... What do you non-robot do?

Great question. Because you feel like your life is so... I feel like in an unhealthy way that my brain has been rewired to not be able to enjoy things that I used to enjoy, like reading books, like going

to the movies. Your attention span is completely compromised. Well, we appreciate your sacrifice of being here. We do. That's right. For the insider stuff. Every job has little things that come along with it. It's not physical labor to where your bones are achy

when you get home at the end of the day. This is what the job is. I'm happy, though, that you haven't just turned to just boozing all night every night. You're smart. In misery. When you get to that, let us know. Probably should.

No. No, no, no. No, not yet. Definitely don't. We need you, at least until next year, because we're going to be here Monday. Yeah, exactly. If you're going to start boozing, we'd like it to be that Monday night when we're here. Yeah, next year.

If that is possible. We appreciate you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you, Chet D. Thank you, buddy. We appreciate the hell out of you, man. Chet D., you were way too kind to us this year. Yeah.

Legit. You spent a lot of time with us. My pleasure. On a moment's notice, too. Yeah, buddy. We appreciate the hell out of you, man. Chef, you were way too kind to us this year. Yeah. Legit. You spent a lot of time with us. My pleasure. On a moment's notice, too. Yeah, quick. For a person that is just like so routine-oriented and schedule-based. I get back right away. Yeah, you do.

When Mike texts, bang. Come on. We appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Chef. I'm Chef. Hey, you're the best, dude. Thank you, guys. Thanks hanging dog sweet shoes too I saw caboli doing a cannonball in the pool earlier yeah I don't know if you've seen me great Air Force nice big splash you see him do a can opener opener. I was rude when I said I was going to go.

He's not that. No. I mean, you kind of forced him into wearing lifts today. Not like rap. Listen, I wear Air Forces, too. They make you two, three inches tall. Fantastic, yeah. I'm in these cowboy boots, too.

I mean, I wear hokas every day. You're telling me. I got some good news for everybody. What's that? Ladies and gentlemen, a man who covers the Pittsburgh Steelers, a man who writes for The Athletic, a man who's had a hoagie in his cargo shorts pocket for no less than 12 hours and eaten that thing down whole, two bites.

Yep, easy. On a regular basis. He's torn both of his Achilles. Yeah, recently. He's ragdolled Matt his Achilles. Yeah, recently. He's ragdolled Matt Schneidman. Yeah. Multiple times.

Both verbally and physically, we're learning, in the pool here. Yeah, he's dunking him right here. At the annual league meetings. Can you imagine? Chicken fights. Chicken fights. It worked. It was Kaboli in Shefty, actually, versus Rap Sheet and Schneidman. Gave him a swirly.

Did the whole thing. We didn't like it. No. We didn't think that. Can you... He's drying off. He was just in the pool. He was dunking Sal Capaccio. Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Caboli. Yes! Yes!

Yeah, come on. What's that chair for? I'll make fun of my leg. I'm not doing it. I'm not seeing you, man. Stop laughing, Gump. It's a tough chair. That chair is not stable. I'll hold this end.

Yeah, we'll help you. You're going to push it. Come on, Kamo. It's a good chair. Ready, one, be tough. It's not stable. I'll hold this end. Yeah, we'll help you. We'll push you. Come on, Kamoi. It's a good chair. Ready, one, two, three, jump. Got an ACL. There you go. Good work.

Good work. Good work. Good work, boys. Hey, that's teamwork. That's football teamwork right there. Now, that's not going to make good TV. We're not on TV. Don't worry. Oh, thank God. We're only on the internet right now. We're on YouTube. We're not on TV. Don't worry.

Oh, thank God. We're only on YouTube. We're only on the internet right now. Wow. You guys actually lifting me up would have been great TV. Well, it would be good. It's good internet, yeah. Good internet.

That's right. Mark Caboli right there on your chest. The M.A. Mark. Certified. Hold that up. This guy's certified. The, that'd be Mark. Certified.

Hold that up. This guy's certified. In that seat, there's been ownership, GMs, head coaches, insiders, but there's never been anything like the power of Kaboli. Yeah. So we appreciate you taking time here as we wrap up. Mike Tomlin, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, large topic of conversation here at these league meetings.

What have you learned both from the breakfast media sessions and maybe the boozing at night about how everybody feels about where the Pittsburgh Steelers are, Mark? Whew. I know Mike Tomlin loves Russell Wilson. Loves him. Loves him. Loves him like you're looking at your little baby kid at home. Oh, really?

He absolutely loves him. I mean, you hear things about potentially Justin Fields is going to beat him out, and that's just not going to happen. Russell Wilson is brought in here for a reason, and the reason is to start the season off. He's going to have to fail catastrophically in season for them to make any move, and that's what I got.

You've been covering the Steelers for how long? Oh, two maybe. So I might have covered you in high school. I'm not quite sure. Oh, yeah? Probably not. Yeah, oh, two? You ever played McKeesport? Oh, I know McKeesport. Had family in McKeesport. Little bit went to McKeesport. Tough squad. Yeah, gritty school.

Robo's down there. Oh, Robo, I loved him. Yeah, West Virginia legend, Robo, obviously. I think he's coaching now. So, you've been covering Steelers a long time. This is different. You've been talking about it on your X. I've seen you go, you know, this is vastly different than what it's been. I think that's Tone. So you've been covering Steelers a long time. This is different. You've been talking about it on your ex. I've seen you go, you know, this is vastly different than what it's been. I think that's Tone Diggs' reaction, too. Does it feel as if the city is, like, rejuvenated from it all?

They're skeptical. Skeptical? Whoa. Is that you or Pittsburgh? It's Pittsburgh. They're skeptical. They like the direction it's going in because they have not seen anything like this, as you mentioned, ever.

I mean, to bring in free agents of this caliber, to total overhaul in a quarterback room. Fired an offense coordinator last year. Offensive in-season. Yeah. You've got to give a lot of credit to Omar Khan to be able to do this, but you've also got to give a lot of credit to Art Rooney, too. He allows this to happen.

I mean, if Art Rooney did not want this to happen, it would not be happening. So he has to sign off on it on the top here. I mean, the Patrick Queens, you would never see anything like that. I mean, $16, $18 million, whatever money it was, to become a star for now and the future, you just wouldn't see that. They wouldn't spend the money. They didn't have the money to spend.

And now they do. Now they're spending a total of $6 million on their quarterbacks, and they're putting it into place other places, and they've still got a lot of money they can spend, and I don't think they're quite done yet. Omar told Colbert, your time is up, my time is now. Yeah, he did. Do-do-do-do!

Do-do-do-do! That's what he said. Yep. It's a new day. Yes, it is. Tom Diggs has a question for you, Mark. Yeah, about, like, does it feel like, are they talking about in the city that Omar just kind of did disagree

with all of Colbert's moves in the last few years? Because I don't think any of his draft picks are left besides, obviously, TJ and Cam and maybe one other. Like, is there talk around that around the facility or around the building, around the city or anything like that? Around sandwich shops. And Permanente's. Yeah.

Oh, Rudy's. You see what Permanente's did, right? They gave a $25 gift certificate to people that turned into Kenny Pickett jerseys. And they also. That was ruthless, man, ruthless. No, it was nice to the city. I also saw they gave the NIL deal to First Don.

Yeah, they did. That's our personal file. First Don. They're scratching me where I itch, as they always have. Yeah, you know, it's just a different look with Colbert and Cohen. I mean, I don't think Kevin – I mean, Kevin is a Hall of Fame potential general manager here. And it's not like he did this on his own either, these draft picks. I mean, there's people in place. The scouting department.

I mean, Mike Tomlin has a huge deal with that as well as drafting people. But Omar is just something we haven't seen approach it this way in forever and ever in the history of the Steelers organization. That's why people within the city, within the organization, even the players, you hear them talk about how excited they are about the season because they're putting pieces in place. They're just not waiting for things to happen. What happened?

What? You're looking for the – No, no, no. I see you've got three cargo pockets there. I was going to bring the sandwich. Still have it? Wall-in sandwich. What the hell happened here?

You know what? Sometimes this old right Achilles acts up on me. Okay. So you throw a little bit of compression sock in. You put a little bit of ankle brace on, and you deal with the pain. I see you got the hocus. Oh, I love the hocus. The best, man.

The best and the best. Hocus. Yeah. I got to go on the payment plan with him, but that's fine. That's because you're going to let him mayonnaise. Go ahead, AJ. Boy, I don't know. Have you gotten to speak to Russell Wilson yet or ask him a question?

Yes, yes. He talked last Friday. Okay, let's say after the first game. What do you want to know from Russell Wilson? Does he still have it? What will you be asking him throughout the year? I'm looking forward to seeing every post game or at the locker, at his locker after practice.

I want to hear and see Kaboli asking Russell questions. What are you going to say to him? Maybe that's going to be a local show, Kaboli and Russ. Yeah. Russell Kaboli. Yeah. See, I think I'm using this correctly, but his fit the other day. Oh, man.

Nailed that, Kaboli. Worth more than my life, maybe, potentially. Maybe definitely more than my house and my car. No, you got a new house. You got a great kitchen. Your kitchen's unbelievable. Like I said, it'll be paid off in 1980. Not in 1980. When I am, I am 80.

Do the math, Cobalt. Yeah, it's not going to work out here. I might have to get some, you know. So you know Russ? Russ knows you, though? Probably not. Russ knows you. Russ, put it this way.

If he doesn't know me, he'll pretend like he knows you. The guy is the most positive person you will ever see in your life. Now, it's hard. He's going to get introduced in that first interception. He's not going to throw any picks. But, yeah, he's extremely polished. And I don't know. I mean, I don't know him well enough to say how legit it is or not.

But if those guys buy in to what he's selling, this team's going to be good. I mean, because he really, really knows how to lead. You can see it by his words, his actions, this team's going to be good. I mean, because he really, really knows how to lead. You can see it by his words, his actions, and how he goes about his business just within the first couple of weeks here. And Tomlin said that he thinks Russ and Justin are perfect for our system, obviously. Already phenomenal offense coordinators,

so much so they've got a head coaching gig. Now, it didn't work out in Atlanta. I think he's pumped to be in Pittsburgh. Oh, yeah. Now he's got Russell Wilson and Justin Fields as quarterbacks for $6 million. Yeah, we throw in Kyle Allen they got yesterday as a number three. I'm sure he doesn't break in the bank, so it's not a ton of money. But you think about it, Russell is still a $40 million quarterback, and Justin Fields is on the brink of potentially a 50-year option,

getting him 20, 25. So it's not like they're bums. They're just – they are still really going to be well-paid. Well, you're in the NFL. Nobody's bums. Yeah. Okay, that's the problem with you journalists and reporters. They're not bums.

They're good deal. Okay, I know. I didn't say he was bums. Not bums. Well, they're getting paid in the open market. They'd be getting paid, what, $60, $80, $90 million combined, and Steelers are going bargain-based. Oh, Mark, on the corner!

Hey, I heard Kenny Pickett said, I'm out of here. Yeah, he said he didn't want it no more. Whoa. He didn't want it no more. Let me tell you something about Pittsburgh here. I was a huge Kenny fan. I mean, I thought Kenny's – I thought they should have kept Kenny around, but I understand he wanted out.

But to have a city turn on you so quickly. Oh, buddy. Oh, my goodness. He was a godness. Chocolate and beers and Luke Combs just last offseason in Pittsburgh. And now it's like you – Down the strip they got Kenny Pickett jerseys hanging all over the place. $25 for a Permanente's gift card.

So looking from outside in with the people that we follow along with who are a hilarious Inzer bunch, okay, hilarious group, can't always take them as actual replicas. You know what I mean? For what's going on the rest of the season. It did feel like the entire city of Pittsburgh was like, God, I don't want to compete. Oh, get this glove-wearing bum out. Get like the entire city of Pittsburgh was like, God, I want to compete. Get this glove-wearing

ball-mighty. Get the fuck out of town. That happened everywhere? Everywhere except the people that had H2P in their bio-handle. I'm probably getting hammered right now about saying this. There'll still be a Pittsburgh legend.

One ACC champion. But he will. I think he will always be remembered as that guy that quit. Oh, come on. Especially if you keep saying it. That's short-sighted. I'm just telling you as a lifelong Pittsburgh fan, I mean, or Pittsburgh resident,

that when you hear Kenny Pickett 10, 15 years ago, yeah, that's that guy that quit. Oh, God. Especially if you try to push the narrative. When you hear Kenny Pickett 10, 15 years ago, they'd be like, yeah, that's that guy that quit. Oh, God. Especially if you try to push the narrative. That's got to win the ACC championship at the University of Pittsburgh. It's 100% going to happen. Because nobody cares about Pitt.

Oh, he said that. Not me. I shouldn't say that. Like 10,000 fans that show up at Heinz Field care. A lot of people dress like sheets at those games. Don't check your mentions later. Well, that's every day of our life, Kaboli. And I couldn't even imagine yours right now with how good you look on this.

My phone is buzzing a lot, so I'm a little worried. Well, put it down near the Achilles. Maybe that'll help the recovery. There we go. Ty's got a question for you, Mark. Yeah, Mark, I'm curious. Last time we talked to you from the league meetings, you had that big stinking pimento loaf in the toilet already. Wouldn't flush. Had some issues

with the Best Western. They had to relocate you to the ambassador suite, if I do not recall. Just curious, though. There was nothing in the commode. Are you sure? The toilet seat, I sat

on it, and it just went who whoom, it slid out. And I'm like, what's going on here? So we're talking cheeks in the water? No, no, just a big slide. It was never fixed. So where'd you stay? You ended up half cheek in? Yeah.

Just dumped on the side of the toilet. The screws just came flying off that thing in the back? It just slid. I did not do it. It was already happening. Okay. Well, it sounds like your ass kind of did it. Because you know how it is, right?

As soon as you have a long trip, first thing you do is check out the facilities. Sure. Right, you know. Right. Sit down. I'm about to drop a nuke in this thing. So we talked about it on the show. And wouldn't you know, like two hours later, I get an email from the CEO of that company saying,

hey, would you like to move your hotel up the road here? And I was like, I felt so bad at the time. Did you do it? Nah, because I was leaving in the morning. I want to shit one last time on the porcelain. Kaboli doesn't quit that easy. Oh, jeez. But going off that, I was curious, like what does your week look like?

I mean, we kind of were just joking around. Like, were you out in the pool like Duncan Schneidman and Sal Capaccio and the likes of those guys? Or, like, what is your day-to-day when you're not, you know, covering what's going on here at the league meetings? I would mess with Schneidman a little bit. Apparently, he was getting a lot of grief thinking we really had beef together. Who cares?

Yeah, I don't care either. Give him a swirl. He always has that one sleeve up. You know how that works. Yeah, I had him muted. Why did I have him muted? Did I hate him at one point? I don't think so.

I liked him, I feel like, the entire time. Actually, funny enough, I had him muted. It was because there was one primetime Packers game, and he was live tweeting it. So I was on Twitter reading what was going to happen before the play. Because he was good on our show. Right. And I thought we always spoke highly of him. He was spoiling it on Twitter. He was spoiling it on Twitter reading what was going to happen before the playoff. Because he was good on our show. Right. And I thought we always spoke highly of him.

He was spoiling it on Twitter. He was spoiling it on Twitter. I remember that specifically for why I muted him. The live tweeting really makes me mad because, you know, bro, I'm watching it too. I know it's first and eighth. Yeah, but that's a big part of Twitter. I know it's second and ten.

You know, I know you need ten yards for a first down. You don't have to tell me every single play. I can watch it. Who's your favorite commentators when you're watching these games? I see. Once again, you're making Pittsburgh people hate me, but I like Chris Collinsworth. Okay.

But everybody in Pittsburgh hates him. No. Not just Pittsburgh. Wow. He's been doing a lot of games. I think he's very good. He's been doing a lot of games. So, like, anytime you call a lot of games,

you've probably called people's worst moments. Because, you know, he wants to see the Pittsburgh Blues. He played for the Bengals and all that stuff. And they always spell his name wrong on Twitter. It's C-H-R-I-S. And they always put Collingsworth. I always think it's very – That's what people in Pittsburgh do?

Yeah, Pittsburgh. Isn't it C-R-I-S? That's what he's talking about. That's what he's saying. The Pittsburghers. Hey, why don't you clean your ears out? I can barely hear anything these about. Hey, watch your clear ears out. I can barely hear anything these days. Me too. I'm just looking for Ty to do my

impression again. What did he say to Deschneidman? Never last a day in Pittsburgh. Kabo, you do start talking slow sometimes. Well, I'm trying to enunciate because everybody says I don't enunciate very well. I think you do.

Yeah. We understand what you're saying. Yeah. Who says that? Everybody. Clowns. Besides you, who's the most trusted source for Steelers information in the city? Mark Madden.

I love Madden, though. Who doesn't? I mean, he's such a troll. I love it. He gets people riled up. He does it on purpose. He's been doing it for 30 years. Yeah, he's such a troll. I love it. He's going to love that. He gets people riled up. He does it on purpose. He's been doing it for 30 years.

Yeah, he's great. Former WCW. It's one of the few things. It's one of the things I get asked a lot. How is that Mark Madden? Is that really true? Yes, it is. What's that?

Just being a, you know what? Whoa. I tell them this. I tell them this. The fuck? That's what they want to hear. They don't want to hear me. He's super genius.

What's his tested IQ? One. One. Sixty-six. One. Sixty-six. Sixty-six. Sixty-six.

Sixty-six. Sixty-six. One. Sixty-six. Sixty-six. One. Mario Lemieux. You think it's Mario?

This is such an inside Pittsburgh conversation. Everybody's tuned up. No, we've got like 60,000 people watching, I guess, on YouTube, and they just heard an inside Pittsburgh. What just happened right there? Yeah, people want to hear me say Madden's a jerk, so I just give them what they want. Okay.

Well, I love Madden. I'm so mad and we love here. Of course, this lazy slob. If they want me to say, boy, no, he's just really a nice guy, they're not going to believe me, so I give them what they want. I'll tell you what. We've got a chance to go see. I've known Mark Madden since high school.

He coached Nicky Skates' world ball hockey champion team. Yeah, that's right. Old medalist. And I've known him for a long – he knows basically every human in our orbit. He's been doing what he's been doing since I'm like 12, 10 years old, seemingly. And he's still doing it. He's one of the only local radio people that have survived forever.

Like there's not a lot of them that have survived. Mark Madden will be doing local radio in Pittsburgh forever. And he's a weapon. I think his mom, rest in peace, was like a debate coach. She was like a debate professor or a debate teacher or something like that. So literally since he's a kid, he's been taught the, like, I can beat you. And he knows it. And he just is every day doing one of these, just waiting.

And as soon as you get, yup, I'm smarter than you. Yeah, that's what I thought. He watched WrestleMania 30 at my house and my dog was licking him in the ear the whole time. So I thought that was funny. What'd you yeet for the other night? You yeeted? I saw you tweet.

You know, that's just an inside joke. Me and Doran Dickerson and Adam Crowley on... That's more Pittsburgh. Yeah, more thing. Does Madden like Crowley? Yeah, I think so He used to be his producer I believe

At one point I try to keep up With who he hates back there And who he doesn't hate No Yeah Anybody Steelers related Is anyone who likes

The Steelers Anybody Anybody Any like blogger A do-lock? I think he likes do-lock I mean How can't you like Jerry?

Jerry? You're more You're talking about like the Phil Pony Express. Yeah, because he goes to the guys to be team. I don't know. I don't get involved in that. That's their gimmick.

That's their program. They're running over there. You're a big wrestling fan? Oh, yeah. I went to WrestleMania 15 in Philly back in 1999. Not the best show ever, but How do you feel about you? I went to WrestleMania 15 in Philly back in the 99. Not the best show ever, but I just do remember. Oh, the hell, Kiboli.

I just remember Austin and Rock fought in the championship. It was the old Butterbean brawl for all. Do you remember that? Oh, yeah. I remember Butterbean. Butterbean looked great back then. Did you see what Rock did to Cody Rhodes last night? No, I did not.

What the hell? I was at the media party. looked great back then. Did you see what The Rock did to Cody Rhodes last night? No, I did not. I was at the media party. You should have seen what Dwayne Johnson did to Cody Rhodes last night. Crazy. He threw him off his own bus. Cut him open. Cut him a blot all over the place. Look at your hero, Chicago. Look at you.

Look what you've done. They got a Cardeo weight belt. Put his blood on it. Mama Rhodes. Look at you. Mama Rhodes. Look what you've done. They ain't got a cardio weight belt. Put his blood on it. Real blood. I thought they weren't allowed to show blood anymore. What did he say? Who? I thought you weren't allowed to blade anymore.

What did he say? There's no blade? There's no blade. No, he threw him into the tour bus. Yeah, bashed his head off the door. Okay, okay. We're going back to old school here. I like it.

You should have heard what he said. I like it. Wait till you hear the audio. I'm going to You should have heard what he said. I like it. Wait till you hear the audio. I don't have to. He said the word. Fuck. Wow. Did they beep it out?

I heard it. Nope. In the arena. It was hot. Here he is. Here he is. Look at you. Smack him in the mouth.

Yeah. Look at your boy, Mama Rhodes. Look at him now. Oh, no. Look at him now. Oh, no. Look at your hero. Do you remember when The Rock banged Mick Foley over the head with the chair

like 197 times? Did you remember when The Rock hit Ken Shamrock in the head with the chair one time and it is still echoing through that arena that it

was? Yeah. Yeah. Watching The Rock be all the way back is awesome. Oh, yeah. I had a

Amisachi shirt on last night. Yeah, fantastic. You know, just to pay tribute to the bloodline. I did not know The Rock was going to be in the house. Who could have known? ZD Baby had that shirt. He was like, because, you know, Roman Reigns, you know, you're a tribal chief. Oh, yeah.

You acknowledge your tribal chief? Oh, yeah. I don't know him that well, but I'm more of a Paul Heyman guy. Okay. How do you do it, dude? There we I'm more of a Paul Heyman guy. How do you do it, dude? There you go. Paul Heyman guy. Respect to the wise man.

Our tribal chief and Hall of Fame Heyman flew through a blizzard to get to our show in Iowa on Friday. So I was at the point where I'm not biased anymore. No. Okay. This guy almost died getting to our show to talk to us. I am going to kind of pledge my allegiance to the bloodline. But I didn't make that decision. Bingo.

Boom. Amen, brother. Bingo. But I love Cody Rhodes. I love Seth freaking Rollins. I like CM Punk. Jay. I like Drew McIntyre.

I love Yeet Jey Uso. But just what they did for our program, I was there. And Zito goes, I got you. Look what I just got. It was a Versace shirt. I'm like, there it is. I'm wearing that. So Zito looks better in it than I do.

But wrestling, WWE is cooking right now. I mean, it is. Hot bat. Cooking right now. Friday night should be absurd. Maybe you get in the ring in Philadelphia. You know what? I used to be part of a promotion back in Manessen, Pennsylvania,

back in the early 90s with my main man powerhouse shoes, and I was the commissioner. I got drilled over the head with a chair by Devil Budokan and Shirley Doe. Wow, Shirley Doe. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. You were Donner and Manessen? What was the name of the promotion?

Do you remember? CWF. Championship Wrestling Federation. Yes. Oh, yeah, Donner and Manesson? What was the name of the promotion? Do you remember? CWF. Championship Wrestling Federation. Yes. Oh, yeah. Donner and Manesson. I got drilled, man. I got a new appreciation for a chair shot.

Yeah. Hey, you can get another one of those in Philadelphia. Biggest WrestleMania of all time. Budokan. Sounds like it. Evil Budokan. Shirley Doe. Shirley Doe is just a maniac.

Was it WrestleMania 40? Yeah. XL. Who won Super Bowl XL? Detroit, Michigan, eh? Bussey's way out. Who fumbled in the AFC Championship game? I have a story.

That wasn't the AFC Championship game, was it? It was the Divisional game. Divisional, and then we played the Broncos. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I was at that game, and I was in the bowels of RCA Dome, so I didn't get to see it live. I was very upset. You shouldn't was in the bowels of RCA Dome, so I didn't get to see it live. I was very upset. You didn't.

You shouldn't. It was terrible. Too fucked up. You know, because we were there a couple months earlier for the Monday night game, and it was impossible to get to the press box downstairs. So I left early after Troy made the interception. Little did I know that Troy didn't make the interception. So I watched it all on TV at the bowels of the RCA.

It was the worst moment of my life. What? The worst moment of your life? How about when you tore both your Achilles? That was probably up there. When you got the runaround? Yeah. Steelers are giving you a runaround?

They always give me the runaround. What's that all about? Although, you know, I've got to give Mike Tomlin credit because when the Achilles were torn, he would hold up the press conference until I waddled off the hill into the press room. That's very kind of him. Although, although, he passed me up on the golf cart and said, hurry up. Give me a ride.

That's what I'm saying. Coach T's always coaching. Jump on the back. Hurry up. It looks like 1870. What are you doing? Cabal, you're something special. Do you think Tomlin holds it against us the way we covered the Matt

Candless situation last year? What the fuck was that response, Cabal? He doesn't hold anything against anybody. I mean, at least he won't tell us. But, nah, he's not going to hold anything against anybody. I mean, at least he won't tell us. But, nah, he's not going to hold anything against anybody. Do you remember they were chanting fire in Utah? Yeah. Everywhere.

Penguins fans. Penguin games. Yeah, in the Capitol. Remember, just like January 6th, that's that guy's birthday. That's right. His birthday is January 6th. Really? Yep.

Were you there, Mark? That's a couple weeks before. What were you doing there? January 6th, what year? I don't know. You know. 2021? What Were you there, Mark? That's a couple weeks before. What were you doing there? January 6th. What year? I don't know. 2021. You know. 2021.

You know what year, Caboli. That's where he tore Brothers Achilles. Yeah, sprinting up those stairs. Scaling the wall. The first Achilles. Quite an offense. Yep. Trying to get that Lincoln test.

The first Achilles was SoFi Stadium, and they put me on a gurney. Was it right there? They literally put me through SoFi Stadium. A gurney? I was so embarrassed. Hold on. Did they drive you past the team? It was right across from the Steelers locker room.

And this is how – this is where my mind was at this time. I'm thinking, if I cover my face, nobody will see me. As they're pushing me through the ceiling. How many people are like, Mark, you all right? Mark, Tomlin sees you. Hurry up. Yeah. That's awesome.

Yeah, so I had to go to the ambulance to the emergency room. Did you sue SoFi? I saw it last year. Sue, sue, sue. Oh, sue. I thought you said saw. You could have sued him. Oh, sue. I thought you said saw. You could have sued him. Hey, Troyer Achilles.

Still can. All I did was take a step through the one part of the stadium. That was liability, though, with the head, that part of the stadium. Yeah, exactly. A little divot there. Yep. Maybe the owner of SoFi Stadium should get me some Rudy subs. I'll take some Rudy subs.

There you go. What type of sandwich? Let's say right after this, you know, maybe we're going to have a little meal. Dream meal. It doesn't have to be a sandwich. Just dream meal right now. We're sitting down. Holy shit, it's a Tuesday.

Just got done with the league meetings. Anything is available. Great week. Anything is available, Mark. What are we going with? Meal. Well. Haven't eaten in a couple days.

Well, come on now. All right. Since the morning. Be real. Haven't eaten since breakfast. Be real. Be real. Since last night.

Since dinner the night before. Yeah, maybe the night before. Dinner the night before. Dinner the night before. You're late. You don't get breakfast alone. No, you're on death row in your last meal. Boom.

Yeah, yeah. There you go. Death row meal. There you go. See, I'm not going steak, although I love the steak, But I'm just going to have to get myself a good pizza. Okay. From where in Pittsburgh? Dallas Sallows?

Nah. Pizza Hut? Fury's? Fury's is up there. Fury's is way up there. You know what? My flight was delayed so many times coming here that I stopped at Beto's Pizza. You're not a Beto's guy.

No, because they don't cook the cheese. I come to the conclusion that's like a twice a year type of delicacy. Sure, sure. So I'm a good Beto's guy. No, because they don't cook the cheese. I come to the conclusion that's like a twice a year type of delicacy. Sure, sure. So I'm a good Beto's guy. Big Vinny's down in Forest Hills. Oh, I love Forest Hills. I don't think I've ever been to Vinny's. That's on me.

What? Yeah, that's on me. You've never been to Vinny's? Yeah, I've never been. I ate down south pizza. That's what I ate. It was literally every single. Give me a good pizza.

I think it's the same Vinny's that was above 286. Oh, super greasy. Yeah. Up around the bender. Yeah. Oh, I have had Vinny's right. It was literally every single... Give me a good pizza. I think it's the same Vinny's that was above $2.86. Oh, super greasy. Yeah. Up around the bender. Oh, I have had Vinny's pizza. Yes, that's a good pie. That'll make you dumb. Give me a good sausage pie.

Sausage, extra cheese. Oh, there you go. You can't have enough cheese. That's why I don't believe in pizza from Italy. Italy. Italy. Italy. Hey, Caboli, you said it.

Pizza from Italy sucks. They don't even Caboli, you said it. Pizza from Italy sucks. They don't even have chicken parm over there. Fucking ass Caboli. You're Polish? No, no. I'm a half Italian, actually. Okay. Oh, okay.

Of course. He's from Pittsburgh, obviously. Half Italian. Okay, so we got sausage. I need some extra cheese and some sausage. All right, so we got a sausage. Spicy sausage, maybe. Okay, spicy sausage, extra cheese.

Do we get any apps? No apps? Just pizza? I'm not much of an apps guy. I'm too cheap to buy $10 apps. No, this is death row. Everything's death row. Fresh mozzarella?

It's on the government. Fresh mozzarella. Chili's is starting this new thing, actually. What is it? Mozzarella rectangles? This is it. So you're eating a sausage pizza and death row. What are you drinking?

You drinking Pepsi? What do you want? Coke? You know, I got my own drink, like an Arnold Palmer type of thing. Yeah, what is it? But it's not alcohol. It's just like half Werner's ginger ale and half unsweetened iced tea. Ooh.

Sounds pretty good. Everybody looks at me like Werner's ginger ale. They're like, what are you, 80? Yeah, that's where you lost me. Close. All ginger ale. Werner's is a Michigan ginger ale. But it's, what are you, 80? That's where you lost me. All ginger ale tastes good. It tastes like syrup. It sucks. You're putting Turner's?

Werner's and unsweetened iced tea together in the diet Werner's ginger ale sweetens up the unsweetened iced tea, and it's quite refreshing. Okay, so we got that right here. We got the sausage pizza with extra cheese. That's it. What about dessert?

Dessert, yeah. After you finish the pizza. Before you die. Last thing that you're going to eat. Are you dipping a pizza in ranch? It depends. If the crust is big and thick like the vinegar, you have to do that. If not, people will look at you crazy. I'm a big ranch guy, but I wouldn't do that.

I'm trying to think here. Dessert. Chocolate. Lava cake? Nah. Domino's? Have you ever had Domino's lava cakes? Nah.

What about cheesecake? Oh, Mark. Cheesecake? Nah. Burger King Hershey's Sunday pie? I'd probably just take an old-fashioned piece of birthday cake. Maybe on this way it would be like the death cake or something. Which cake though?

What style of cake? Vanilla? Confetti? Dealer's choice? Confetti's not very underrated. Oreo blizzard. Ice cream cake? You know what? Anything Reese's peanut butter cup Reese's pieces blizzard is tremendous. So I would just go white cake,

white icing. I'm from Pittsburgh. cake, white icing. You know, fine. Pretty racist. I'm from Pittsburgh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pizza and cake. He said it. All right.

We have a pizza. We have some ranch. There is a Vinny's. Is that the Vinny's? Yeah, that's a Vinny's pizza. Somebody is definitely on their game in the back. That's a Vinny's. See the crust?

That's what you use for the ranch. Oh, wow. That looks like a DiGiorno. What? That looks like bad pizza. Mark, we appreciate you. Keep keeping us smart on the Steelers. We appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, from the athletic market, Mark. Mark, we'll help you out.

I'm good. I'm good. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. Looks like he's on house arrest, kind't, don't, don't. Whew. Looks like he's on house arrest kind of because it's on that one side. Yeah. All right, fellas. See you, Cabals.

All right, Mark. Safe travels back to the park. Look at that. This guy's fighting through pain. Jeez. Bionic leg. Careful. Those can't be comfortable.

What? Not as comfy as those hokas. Yeah, they are. I'm wearing hokas with snakeskin around. Yeah. Whoa. That's genius. Pretty good.

Pretty good. How good is that? Pretty good. All right. Thank you, Mark. We'll see you. Love you, Mark. See you, Mark.

Safe travels, man. They doing chicken fights, you think? All right, Mark. Please, I already appreciate you, Mark. We'll see you. Love you, Mark. See you, Mark. Safe travels, Mark. They doing chicken fights, you think? All right, Mark. Please, he already – Appreciate you, Mark. It's sore. Rag doll. We appreciate you, Mark.

Love you, Mark. Love you, Mark. God, that's a nice piece of home right there. Yeah, it is. It's nice. What's so funny, AJ? Why are you pointing and laughing at a guy? The whole time.

I just – I respect his confidence. As you should. I really do. How could you not? What are you talking about? He's awesome. King of the castle, baby. Speaking of confidence, ladies and gentlemen, a man has walked in, taken his jacket off, kicked his little tiny shoes off. Size 5s.

Got uncomfortable. Ladies and gentlemen, are you allowed on? Oh! Got uncomfortable. Ladies and gentlemen, are you allowed on? Yeah. Whoa. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, E-Rap-A-Porn. Yeah.

Rap-She. Rap-She. Rap-She. Whoa. Look at those shoelaces. Whoa. Those fancy shoes, the AQ. Those are the AQ.

Those wrestling shoes? Yeah. What's going on? Hi, Ian. What's up, Rap-She? How you doing? Hey, guys. the AQs. Those wrestling shoes? Yeah. What's going on? Hi, Ian. What's up, Brad? How you doing? Hey, guys. Wow, this guy.

Why are you in a bad mood? Not too happy. I'm in a great mood. Not too happy to be here. Long week. Long week. That's why. No, that was actually interesting.

Yeah. He. I don't know. Yeah, I think that's potential. There you go. Yeah. We got to lower this a little. Yeah, yeah.

We understand. He's 6'2". We get it. I mean, we sing now, but yeah. I just, his food takes are ridiculous. Dude. Yeah, I don't like this. That was bad.

What? That was bad. That was bad. Hold on. That was very rude, dude. Can I raise my seat up a little bit? You can do whatever the hell you need. Here, here.

Want this one? It might raise. It might not. I don't know. These chairs, yeah. So when I used to do, when I covered Alabama, they would have a reporter come on and be like the guest host for his call-in show, his radio show. And it was always kind of a cool thing, but very stressful because you'd sit there, you'd

have to make small talk. He'd go sign autographs, talk to fans, whatever. But you'd always be all the way down here, and he'd always be all the way up there. So we've had a couple people on the program before with the old set, which used to have a stage where my desk was, and then people were sitting down, and we didn't design it. Oh, yeah, here we go. That's not going to stay, though, probably.

You're going to get on it. This is my regular size. It's fine. Go ahead. You're doing great. Much better, thanks. Go ahead. Sweet Apple Watch

It's not on purpose Rahim Morris Actually said, I'm not going to let you just stand And tower over top of me this whole time And I was like, I don't want to think about that, I'm just trying to stay awake I'm trying to stay awake here He was awesome We talked to Ryan Poles, he was awesome

Kevin O'Connell, he was I mean, everybody we've talked to has been fantastic. Does everybody get along? Is that like these meetings, everybody just gets along and it's cool? And do you learn anything here that you're allowed to report on, or is it just kind of like seeds for the future? A lot of seeds for the future. Although, like, this is actually the best time because everyone's in a good mood.

Legit. That's what it is. Right? Like, everyone's free agency. I am shrinking, by the way. I mean, in real good mood. Legit. That's what it is. Everyone's free agency. I am shrinking, by the way. I mean, in real life, but also in the chair. Yeah, I'm sure that's what it is. If I go to

the December meetings, half the place is like, oh, God, a reporter. Look at me. I'm literally shrinking as I'm talking. Are you? I really am. Son of a bitch. It's going down, down, rap sheet. This is so terrible. You don't look small at all, though, if you look.

Now, I know this is your show. Am I allowed to stand up? Absolutely. Absolutely. So I can also stay awake. No, I'm still short. I mean, it's worse. Literally the same. You had an excuse with the chair before. Also stay awake. Now we're the – no, I'm still short. I mean, it's worse. Right even.

Literally the same. Yeah. You've got an excuse with the chair before. Now it's like it is what it is. Now you don't. Lower third telling everybody. I took a picture with DeAndre Hopkins, because he was here for the flag football stuff,

and all the response was like, wow, he's much taller than I realized. I'm like, yeah, that's me. Well, DeHoff's a big son of a bitch. I mean, he's not like nine feet tall. Why are we up? No, come on. That's not cool. We're all staying. It's the last hour.

I'm trying to wake up a little. It's the last hour. This is what it's like. Late nights, early mornings. By this time, everyone's kind of like, ugh. Slap happy? See, we're not miserable. We're slap happy.

We got no sleep. We're on a plane last night. Did you see what The Rock did to Cody Rhodes last night? Dude, I'm going to WrestleMania. I need to start reading up on this. Yeah, are you going to get your tickets? I isn't already did you already get tickets? I've been told the tickets will be coming but I have not received them in my inbox Oh, yeah assistant People working for me. Oh, okay Metaphorically also including palac's getting your tickets for you?

Palisaro is not. He's at the pool right now waiting for me to come in. Oh, okay. That's why you were chicken fight round two. Alright, what's the news we should know about? What's the news we should know about coming out here? Talk about the collecting news. So the Dak Prescott contract situation has always sort of been lingering.

And I kind of thought in my head that maybe they're going to let him play it out, like they're going to let McCarthy play it out. Talk to enough people here, you kind of do enough background work. And by the end of this, I was able to report that basically where they are is the Cowboys and Dak have an understanding that no offer is, or no contract extension is imminent. That basically he is set to play it out and play out the final year of his contract like McCarthy which kind of paves the way for him to be a free agent next year which is sort of high stakes and fascinating and like it seemed to point in this

direction because when they didn't get a deal done by free agency you knew like all right that would have been the time but that's one of the things I learned here and I think it kind of sets up for like a one of the most interesting Cowboy seasons we I think it kind of sets up for one of the most interesting Cowboys seasons we've seen in a while. Hell yeah. A lot of dead cap we've heard. If they are to move on, $95 million allegedly. I don't know the actual number, but I'm sure it's a lot.

Because they kind of kicked it down the road. Yeah, they kicked the can down the road. But, you know, there's ways you can pay it out kind of over the years. Now, I mean, obviously they would. Best case is he leads him to a Super Bowl. They do an extension after the year at some point. He gets an astronomical sum and everyone's happy. If it doesn't go like that, then it gets really, really interesting.

Oh, the Dallas Cowboys are always really interesting. Especially with what we're learning about inside the building. You know, they watch people in the weight room as if they're zoo animals. That's right. Tours. Is that true? Well, that's what we were told, and then it was taken as the entire building's a zoo,

and then we almost burned a bridge with a tight end for the Houston Texans. Exactly. Oh, this was the Schultz, oh yeah. I didn't think his comments were bad. I mean, that's- Taken out of context, which some people do on the internet, making a career out of taking things out of context.

A lot of that. Yeah. Rest in piss, too, if anything. Yeah. You know what I mean, like those people. Dude, it's A lot of that. Yeah. Rest in piss, too, if anything. You know what I mean? Like, those people. It's worse than ever. There's people making full careers out of it.

But whenever you take that, and then it just gets kind of bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, that just becomes the story of what was said. And it was like, he certainly said it was a zoo, but we were talking about the weight room at the exact time, not the entire building. But their entire culture did get called into question a lot during that entire thing. Jerry Jones, he's still very active. We saw the

notes he was taking the other day. Still very, very active in the entire thing. How often is that conversation still had? Because I know publicly it's like, Jerry Jones, as long as he's around, they're never going to win because of things like that. That's not how it is behind the scenes at these owners meetings. Look at those notes.

Great nails. Got a manicure. Very well manicured. Very well manicured. There's definitely a joke in there somewhere. What? I do appreciate the doodling. I'm a big doodler. I do bubble letters.

It's kind of my doodle. I get you. I build houses do you yeah but like just like you know just a good one whenever you're on the show and you go to full screen on our show you're doing building drawn houses yeah just what is this 3d squares you have 3d cubes yeah stars in there we actually owe you a lot of credit because when you're on we find ourselves doing it the most. I knew I was good for something.

I wasn't sure why. He's potentially trying to make me draw an entire book. This guy's not saying shit. This guy's not giving us any answers. I will say this in all seriousness. If you came out with a doodle book, I would put it on my bookshelf. I wouldn't read it or whatever. Would you be able to see it on NFL Plus?

You sure would. Who else would? Whoa! The Insiders? Yep, sure would. Oh, my gosh. Sure would. But Jerry Jones is still a mover and shaker here.

So he is still very involved, but he hasn't, like, I mean, he is the boss. Don't get me wrong. He is the boss. But day-to-day football decisions, it is Stephen Jones and it's Will McClay. And that's been like that for years and so like i know the cowboys this is like for some reason frustrating me because i feel like people don't have a good understanding of like how it actually is the cowboys franchise has had the stereotype or whatever of being like wild big spending crazy contracts like

they draft well they sign their own guys like this this offseason like they're gonna offseason, like, they're going to try to get a CD extension. They may try to get a Micah Parsons extension. Like, they're going to try to spend on their own guys. There's nothing wild or crazy about that. But it's not Jerry kind of just doing whatever. But I will say this. Like, what Dalton Schultz said about the culture, like, people being around, just the amount of people who have access and are around.

That is all true. So to be a member of the Cowboys, you have to be okay. Or like to be head coach of the Cowboys. Jason Garrett was always very good at this. You have to be okay with. Meeting greets happen and potentially. A lot of meeting greets. Way to an office.

A lot of meeting greets. So you've got to be a Cowboy. Yes. But also they're dealing with distractions nobody else is dealing with. No. You know, so that could be considered a distraction. but also could be considered an asset, I guess. Also, more publicity. If you are on the Cowboys, you become more famous than at any other point.

Agreed. You're going to be on national television because of the amount of say that we thought Jerry Jones had. But it may be Jerry Jones is just the one that's eating all the bullets for his kid who's doing all these things. Yeah, it feels like that's part of the case. Conman's got a question for you. Yeah, Shefty. Excuse me. Oh, no. I am so sorry. I am so sorry.

You know what? I didn't see that coming. That's okay. I don't hold it against you. I have nothing against him. Don't hold it against you. Sorry about that. Is that a compliment to him? It's a compliment. I apologize. I mean, he's done a very... If we called Shefty Rappaport, he'd say thank you

very much. He's been doing it 35 years. How many years have you been doing it? Not as many. Okay. Alright. Not insulted by that. That's for you. It was a compliment. Sure. No ill intent. I apologize. Not even joking.

I actually, because it does happen, and it's happened for years, and it's sort of like, whatever. It is what it is. That was so cool what you just did. That was so cool what you just did. It was like something. Whatever. That was true. I got these cool shoes on.

Can you kick one of those shoes up here? Do you want me to take it off? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Take it off. No, just put your leg up. Well, if you could. Could you get your leg up? Look of those shoes up here. Let's see. Do you want me to take it off? Well, if you could could you get your leg up look at these shoes They we went to Venice and they had an artist draw it on it in your early California the big bit but the real actual Venice Italy Italy those waterproof. Nope. Sure. But the real, actual Venice. Italy? Italy. Are those waterproof?

Nope. Sure not. Those are really nice. Venice has a lot of water. So when you're walking around, people go poop on there. You got poop on there? You got a little bit of poop on there. Thanks for putting it on our desk.

That's fine. That's also bad luck. It's fine. Nothing happened. It's fine. You look really cool. Is that a big part of the job? It's just natural for me. Last night I heard it was a big booze bag event.

You hit home runs last night. There was definitely some booze. Oh, yeah? What were you drinking last night? What? I was drinking light beer. What? Just for sustainability.

For a little bit. In a glass? In a can? Glass. Oh, yeah? No. Ice cold. Need it.

You know what they do? Only bottle. Only bottle. And you know what they do? Put napkin? Glass. Oh, yeah? No, pack. Ice cold, need it. You know what they do? Frozen. Bottle, only bottle. And then what they do is they... Put napkin around it so it's fancy? I will say no napkin. Thank you. No fruit, no napkin.

Yes, glass bottle. You're not drinking glass. No. The bottle. It's very nice out of a glass if you've ever done it. It's the same. And no. Are you a napkin guy?

Don't tell me you're a napkin guy. I'm not a napkin guy. I don't want my hand to get wet. No, if someone offers me a glass though, I will absolutely take it. Frosty? Yeah, frosty mug. Absolutely. So they didn't have those at the NFL party last night? I decline. No frosty mugs. Okay, so you had your beer bottles

and then you take a shot every once in a while with some No. No shots. No shots. No shots. No mixed drinks? No mixed drinks. What was the event that caused you to never be able to drink hard booze again? Yeah, something happened. What did you do? I do drink hard booze sometimes, but at work events, sometimes hard booze.

I don't know if you guys know this, but you can drink more than maybe you want sometimes. And there's a reaction that's not exactly the professional thing you want to show. For some people, it is a hilarious reaction. You know, some people are allergic to hard booze, and what happens is they just become the most hysterical human on earth. For instance, for our drunk friend over here, Ty, that is

the one of the... Certainly not allergic to it. Yeah, well... Oh, no. Ty has a couple drinks. It becomes... More of a P.E.D. Yeah, well. I don't know. Ty has a couple drinks. It becomes. Or a PED. It is a PED. Anyways, you had a question for Sheffield?

Yeah, anyways, my question. So right now, McCarthy's the hot name. I mean, you've got the top three guys, Daniels, Williams. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then McCarthy's kind of. Yeah, he's skyrocketing. It kind of feels like that, yeah. Because of that, and maybe this is because of what happened last year,

I am viewing McCarthy as like Will Levis in the fact that everyone's talking about him. And last year, Levis was that guy that everyone talked about. I believe he went and became the favorite to be the number four overall pick to the Colts at one point. Because of that, are teams more interested in Bo Nix and Michael Penix, and they're not talking about it? Or are there concerns with Bo Nix and Michael Penix because of the McCarthy skyrocket? First of all, I would say I don't know where they're going to go, but the sense I get is Penix probably before Nix.

Generally, the way it works in the quarterback world besides Levis. Journalism. Show the camera. Sorry about it. You did have a text open. I saw it. I missed a call of something I'm waiting on.

Oh, shit. Oh! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! Call!

Call! Call! Call! Call! Call! You put on to meet the mics. Yeah, you got to stand right there. Hold on. He's going to sign for the meet. You see Schultz over there? A little latte. What?

Schultz does not have this one. Schultz did have Ridley. He did. Yes, he did. And the Sneed contract. Nice job, Schultz. Everybody, Schultz! Schultz, no lie.

You've been killing it. We've got to hold on. He's breaking news right now. Maybe. Uh-oh. No belt. Oh've been killing it. Hold on, he's breaking news right now. Maybe. Uh-oh. No belt. Oh, this guy sucks. No news yet.

Yikes. Are you kidding me? No news yet. Is it because they caught someone else when you didn't pick up? No. What division? I'm not going to tell you. What conference?

I'm not going to tell you. It was AFC North. Oh, okay, nice. Boom. You shouldn't have shown me your phone. What if I told you I knew the news? Oh! You probably do.

I think I do. What the fuck are you here for? Actually, a great question. I wandered in here. I thought this was the coffee room. We're thankful you stopped by, Rat. This is good to see you. You're going to the pool right now?

I might get a Peloton and then pool. Okay, we're going to have to do something. Is there like a diner in this hotel? This is like, no, I'm not going to make a joke about diners. Sorry. Go ahead. What were you going to say about diners? What were you going to say about diners?

Don't do what you're about to do. Support diners. However. No, no, however. I mean, it's ridiculous. The menu's like nine pages long, and how could every food be fresh if there's so many pages?

Oh, so you hate Cheesecake Factory? You issue a Cheesecake Factory, you're saying? That menu is ridiculous. Johnny Rockets? Johnny Rockets. Whoa. What was that about? What's your death row meal? Yep. We just heard Kaboli's. It was a sausage pizza from Binnie's with ranch dressing.

I would say. Confetti cake. It was. He said. That's more offensive. Underrated. Confetti cake is underrated. That was good pizza.

No. That is good pizza. By the way, dessert would be carrot cake, not confetti. Carrot cake is not bad. Right before you die, you might as well just kill yourself before the carrot cake. If I'm going, I'm going. It's fine. Carrot cake's good.

Carrot cake is not your death row dessert. That's the best dessert there is. Look at this guy. Best. It's close. Yeah, carrot cake's great. You're not even having Pez? Just eating a bunch of Pez?

I could have Pez, actually. Sprinkled on the carrot cake? Maybe dressed up as a cheeseburger? What's the meal? Pizza? I think gumbo or etouffee. Cajun. What a bad pick.

Etouffee? I'm going to support the kid. Wait, that's your meal? Gumbo would probably be it. They put the diarrhea around you after they electrocute you. Oh, no, no. That could be a messy cleanup. What's etouffee?

What is that? It's another Cajun delicacy. It's what they ate at the Ides of March. Love that. Crawfish. The twist sucked the head? What are you drinking? Could be anything.

All of it? Last drink you're ever going to have. Last drink ever. I would say, oh, man, probably some old Weller something yeah we have a touffee no that's lovely look at that that is pretty lovely I'd like white rice that's like an appetizer right that's no you it's an appetizer I mean that was a small portion I would need a bigger portion look of course you would yeah hey tailored suit that's why we don't have the belt on? Oh, no. Well, belt makes me look short, so I got to.

Oh, it's the belt. It's the belt. Okay, got it. Allegedly. Thanks for clearing that up. Allegedly. Any news coming soon? You said you're working on something.

Obviously, something has to be coming. What is it? Free agency? Draft move? Yeah, it's a free agent. Ooh, there is one. Who's that? Who's that?

Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that?

Odell Beckham. Oh, he's, there's a lot of being talked about him. A lot. His genetics. What's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Odell Beckham. Oh, he's, there's a lot of being talked about him. A lot. His genetics. What's going on with Diddy? His friends. Whoa. I don't know, but I got a couple texts this morning where I'm like, I need to look into

the Diddy situation. I need more information. No, you don't. No, you don't. No, I, do I not? No, you don't. I don't think so. Stick to football.

You can. Stick to football. Feels can. Stick to football. Feels like there's a potential. How could it be that bad? This house cards feels like what a lot of people are saying on the internet. How could it be that bad? Yeah, just because the amount of potential connections and stuff that could come from this. The feds get involved is wild.

That was all kind of unfolding while Raw was taking place. I looked at it on my phone, and I think it's like some McCockner celebrity account. Feds raiding Diddy's house. It's like, that's a real deal. In L.A. and Miami. Taking people out in cuffs. Guys sitting on the ground in cuffs out of the house. And then, obviously,

people are talking about how many trash cans he had in one particular house. And his neighbors coming out of the driveway. How many is too many trash cans? He had nine trash cans, four recycling bins. He should just have a dumpster. Yeah, dumpster's the best move, I think, because I don't like living by their rules.

I've got to have it out by Monday morning. Well, what if I'm not ready Monday morning? Exactly. So dumpster's a good move if you can. Denton allegedly, his plane was trying to get it. I mean, there's a lot going on with that. So if you could get to the bottom of it, that would be great. But Odell Beckham Jr. is a good conversation piece about the free agency and also safety.

Yeah. What's his name? Justin Simmons. He's a big one too. There's a couple of big name free agents. Sort of get to the point now where it's like you get a little closer to the draft and either teams will want to, there you go,

teams will want to like fill holes and so they don't have to reach in the draft. So like usually deals don't get done now. Usually they get done closer to the draft when there's sort of a point where they have to get done. But that's a pretty decent list right there. Yeah, it's not your board, but it's our board. It's a good board. Yeah, it's a good board.

A lot of good players on there. I assume Kyle Van Nooyen, know the Ravens want to bring him back. He's a friend of the show, right? Okay, Kyle Van Nooyen, potentially going back to the Ravens. I think he reported that in a Q&A on the internet last night while waiting for a plane. Michael Thomas. Michael Thomas might take a minute. No interest.

He called a reporter a garden tool on Twitter. A hoe. A hoe. Yeah, the garden tool. No. No, it wasn't a garden tool. Different kind of hoe. No, he said H-O-E.

That's the garden tool. Okay, so this is what you reporters are doing? No, I'm just saying. tool. Different kind of hoe. No, he said H-O-E. That's the garden tool. Okay, so this is what you reporters are doing? No, I'm just saying. That's how you guys spread it. The other one is pretty offensive. What was the other one? How do you spell it? Like Santa Claus says?

Well, wouldn't a garden tool, the hoe, be the worst one to be described as? Wouldn't you want to be like a shovel or something anyways? You kind of did take a garden tool, Sean. Yeah, no, that's fair. I would agree with you. I mean, yeah. Shovel would be the plural. Shovel would be the winner. Shovel would be what you want to be.

A hatchet or an axe. Yeah. So if we're just talking about it being a garden tool, if that's how you guys are going to angle it, like, still not a good garden tool to be. Way down. Definitely agree with that. Shears would be the one. But like, for him, dynamic. They are. Like Brutus beefcake shears?

Those aren't bad. Those are a lot of work. I used to want those when I was a kid. These ones are a real weapon. Bingo. Pruning shears. Yep, pruning. Pruning shears.

Because you just go. Use it to cut chicken, too. Give me a spade. Yes. Big kitchen scissors guy. Me, too. It is a game changer. Changed my life.

It is the best thing of all time. Yes. People need to stop using knives. Amen. Start using scissors. Knives are for stab It is the best thing of all time. Yes. People need to stop using knives. Amen. Start using scissors. Knives are for stabbing. Scissors are for chipping. We've been saying that for a long time, yeah.

Is there going to be any of that in Ditton? Knives are for stabbing. That's the best meat to smoke. So why doesn't that get... Uh-oh. Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?

Is it Don? No, that was Pellicero. I mean, you never know. That was Pellicero asking us. Hurry up, you're my raise. He's asking if we should change our dinner reservation for tonight because we're off-site and he wants to be on-site. Oh, so a diner on-site.

Thought you were peeing a collado. They don't have to drive. You know, can you tell Tom Pellicero that everything that comes out of the NFL doesn't mean it's like the greatest thing of all time? Do you feel like the new kickoff, you're good or not good? I inevitably got sold on it because I was told that we have to.

Or they're going to take the kickoff. That's probably right. Yeah, which is I think all special teams people's feelings. Like, all right, we got to be on board because if not, it's going to be gone. I think them changing from 35 to 30 was a bad decision. We're just going to get touchbacks still. You don't think that'll make a difference?

I don't think so. Darren Rizzi said he thinks 25-50% more returns, which is another 800-900 plays, which is A-OK. That's awesome. There's definitely improvements, I think, coming, but the tinkering of it for a year, I think it'll be good.

I kind of liked how they literally empowered the special teams coaches to be like, all right, figure this out. And that's, I mean, and they picked, like, two of them. They were all pissed off about the fair catch thing. And Rod's like, all right, figure it out then. And then, you know, they go to work. And I appreciate that as well.

I like that. Who is that? Oh, he didn't put it down. He needs to be called back. We'll see you. Let's get some food after this. All right. Because our plane is taking off a few hours. Oh, is that the Delta

or US Airways? Alaska this time. Alaska. Bill. JetBlue? Bill Airways. Bill Air. He's got a Fu Manchu mustache. Started on his own.

Built his plane. Maybe. Talking about building other planes. It's going to be a rocky flight. What does that mean? Every flight. Yeah. I have not been on a plane in the last three months where I haven't been told, hey, going to be some shit.

Maybe a little turbulence. Yeah, but then there isn't. And it's like, I immediately go, hey, thank you. They're the only ones that know the information. That's actually a great move. Bingo. Great move. Guys, unless I pull off something crazy, it's going to be like this.

Yeah, and I have no clue. I'm just like, yeah, thank you for getting us here. No problem. I'm a great pilot. Every flight is pretty much good. Yes. But going into it, it's like, hey, we're going to be about an hour into this, and it's going to feel like we're going to fall out of the sky.

Aggressive takeoff. We're taking this nose right to the moon whenever we get out of here because of the way the wind is. And then all of a sudden it's like the smoothest takeoff. So I immediately go, hey, that's a good takeoff. Are you guys, so they land and everyone claps or you kind of like, you land and you're like, you did your job. Every time I say

great landing every single time. Even if it's not, which there have been some where it feels like they're trying to put the plane through the ground instead of landing on the trying to put the plane through the ground. Instead of landing on the ground. But the wind is wind. That's fair. And it's better than walking.

It's much better than whenever they're using a fucking horse and buggy back in the day. Train? Train seems like that could be pretty relaxing. But boy, when they started robbing those trains, that had to be very scary. You're just like a sitting duck. Unless you're the robber, in which case you get all the money. Well, it depends on how fast your horse is, if I do recall. You've got to have a smart, fast horse to be able to rob

a train back in the day. One that can be cool under pressure, too, because you've got to get off that horse. That horse can't move when it's hearing gunshots. No, that thing's got to keep running. Yeah, it's got to run with the train. It's like an Operation Stop train. No, because I'm,

you know, shouldn't do it. So you're riding next to him. I can tell you. I don't know this horse. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. I don't know this horse. Oh, jeez.

But you're riding, I think, alongside train. Oh, my God. And you jump off into train. Yeah, right. Horse has to run.

And you give it to everybody. Yep. Horse, yeah, has to. Keep going. And you jump back on. If he. Horse, yeah, has to. Keep going. And then you jump back on. If he goes down, am I catching him or what's the move? Are you catching me? You're 115 pounds.

Jump. Jump. Jump. Jump. He's caving your head in. He can get you. Ratsy, catch him. Ratsy, catch him.

Oh, my God. Get ready, Rats. Oh, my God. Rats, hey, hey, hey. You know I would not catch him. I would take it. I would wear it. There you go. Your brains would be painting the wall. I'd be the tape. I'd be the it. I would take it. I would wear it. There you go.

Your brains would be painting the wall. I'd be the tape. I'd be the tape. I'd be the special announcer. I'd flat bump you. You'd have a nice smooth fall. Nice smooth fall. I'd move.

I'd probably do a little swan pawing right onto you. My back would hit you right in the jaw. And we would just go down on the ground together. And we'd call it a day like we're about to do right now you're the man rep thank you for everything oh yes i don't feel bad just walk off just leave it up that's all i got watch my horse please thank you Watch my horse, please. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ian McQuarrie. That was really good, Rap. All right. Last person before we leave. This is why we came. This is it. This is what you play for. Yeah.

Ladies and gentlemen, from Bleach Report, the Schultz Report. He's on it. He's got itz Report. He's on it. He's got it. Always. He's on it. Some call him Little Latte because his relation to

the Starbucks company, which Starbucks is very successful. Yeah, love it. Starbucks, like I think either,

because I think Subway had it for a while and I think Starbucks passed them for most in the world. Yep.

Yeah. So worth a lot. Worth a lot. You're paying nine bucks for a regular-ass coffee. Small coffee, right. But people are doing it because it's cool. This guy directly benefited from that with his family. Correct.

And instead of just kicking his feet up and sucking down $14 lattes while trying to build a Starbucks brand, he decided to become a fucking insider. Yeah. Which means you're on your phone all day, every day. You're missing everything. But you're also down at the annual league meetings. Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor. Jordan Schultz. Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz!

Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz!

Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Schultz! Jordan Sch Dirtle, Schultz. Hey. Oh, he's jogging, he's jogging. Big hugs, big hugs. We hug here. We hug here. We did not know Schultz was here. Thank God.

Thought we were potentially heading out of here, but we see Schultz, we got to talk to Schultz. Yeah, you got Schultz. Yeah. Schultz, I'm going to be honest, I thought we were out of here, but then I see you over there. I ruined your. You did not ruin it.

This is actually a good piece of juice here to get out of here In fact, this could be the first time where you're gonna be on camera where we're gonna potentially be similar to the same I'm not ahead. Oh because we do the camera thing. Yeah Love the camera thing. What are you doing? You're done here working, huh? Okay. Yeah, but I did parlayed into a Kid spring break Universal Studios. So we got a little ride yesterday, which was great. I was able to do both. So you get like a day pass here at the annual league meeting?

I did a day at the meeting, half day with the Universal. What are you doing? You're shaking hands right now? Because we see you on Fox, right? You're on Fox? Yeah, I'll be on Coward the next four days, first four days of next week, Monday through Thursday. Okay, here we go.

Here we go. Same exact time as us. We appreciate you doing that. Yeah. No, this is a real pleasure because I wanted to come into Indy. So this is a special honor. I'm a stand-up. What am I doing?

There you go, Schultz. All you decide to do is to rap sheet because rap sheet would look like a tiny little phone. But we know you're a basketball player. So we know you got a little size on you, a little athleticism. Very little athleticism. You come down here, though, you shake hands, kiss babies. That's what you're trying to do. Because we saw Schefter 35 years in.

We see Rappaport 20 years in, whatever it is. Two years. Then you're on two years. So now this is three different levels of trying to work the angles. Yeah, I look at it less like angles and more relationships like with you guys. Friendships. Yeah, because you never want anything to be transactional. You want it to be genuine so that most of the conversations are not about the actual football. But yeah. I got some top 30 visits from Alec I. Corley. Who? The Western Kentucky kid. Oh, okay. Yeah.

I did not know that's how you... Absolutely. We've got quite a few. Steelers, Cowboys, Browns, Ravens, Panthers, Bucks, Seattle, Niners. Now we've got to see. This guy's going first round? I think he's right on that fringe between first and second, but everyone's calling him the Debo 2.0 He put on about 15 pounds of muscle. He looks like a beast. Okay, so here's the thing. Nobody's covering the second round right now Which is why I'm not yet. We are

Breaking we just had some breaking right there. What's so funny gumps? This is good information Yeah, yeah, leave Nazi. I got some other ones I think I think Arizona if you're looking for a sleeper team to move back, I think Arizona at four is going to move back. I think it's a really good thing. That could be where a man said Vikings. They're not married to four. I think Monty realizes that they have quite a few holes. They don't need a quarterback, obviously.

They can move back and address some other positions. Okay, Schultz. What about Seattle? Is Seattle going to take Pennix? A lot of people are thinking that they're going to take QB of the future. Not only that, but you have Ryan Grubb, who was his OC at Washington the last two years, who's now the OC at Seattle. I think Seattle's – I would say these three or four teams to watch out for

Pennix would be Seattle, Atlanta. Potentially a sleeper would be the Rams. Oh. Let me tell you about Pennix. What about Minnesota? Minnesota is another one. They're in that mix as well. Oh, Sleeper.

Las Vegas. Las Vegas, potentially, obviously, Minshew's a stopgap, I think, respectfully. Respectfully. And then, obviously, they have Vane O'Connell, who is a backup, respectfully. So I would say that with Pennix, though, he measured 6'2 and change, also measured 6'9 wingspan. Whoa! And measured the biggest hand size of any non-lineman at the combine. How big? I think it was 10 and a quarter. That's huge. Massive. Now that's not the prerequisite for success, but we've seen a lot of guys not have the big hands. Big gloves. Absolute monster hand-wise. And then you go back to what Kalen DeBoer told me.

He's that coach who you know well. Yes. Talked to him yesterday. Said he's one of the single best leaders he's ever seen in his life, regardless of sport. Well, he got that Washington team to the national championship. Yeah. Two years.

I mean, he turned it around. He can do it in Alabama. I think he's doing great. He told me yesterday that they're finally settling in. But there's a lot of pressure. You go from Washington to Bama, that's tough. Yeah, the team leaves. Different standard. After saving, but I think he'll do well.

Andrew, your team's allowed to just get poached for like 14 days or something. Proctor, though. Proctor's coming back. He saw the other side. He didn't like it. I'll tell you, too, that for what it's worth with Pennix, I don't want to give you too much. I know you guys got to go. I don't want to... Give us all you got.

Fucking all you can eat right now. John Beck, who is also coaching Daniels, has coached Stroud, I believe. Bryce Young told me that Pennix reminds him a lot of Stafford with the arm slots and arm angles. Okay. And said that very few quarterbacks can play in that type of weather. And he pointed to me the Oregon State game, which was horrible weather in Corvallis. Rain, rain, rain.

Rain. And the guy was pissing at the table. Yeah, yeah. And Pennix held up. And he said that's why teams are going to love him, because he can play in any environment, not just a dome guy. And then McCarthy, you said he's been rising a lot. The reason he's rising is really twofold.

One is obviously the winning. He was 8-0 at IMG, won a national title, won two state titles in high school before IMG, won a national title, won two state titles in high school before IMG, and then obviously he's the third winningest quarterback in college football history. His hockey background, the toughness, a couple teams have told me they love that.

Hockey is awesome. This is a hockey player? Big time junior hockey player. Big time. What are you talking about? 14, 15, 16, before he just went straight football. He was a big time hockey player. Oh-time. What are you talking about? We're talking like 14, 15, 16 before he just went straight football. He was a big-time hockey player. Oh, that's why the boys love him. That changes a lot.

I did not know that we got. McCarthy is a monster, man. We got sticky mitts. That changes everything. I did not know we had dangles. So we heard a story from Source. Yeah. Says that when he was a freshman and they had like a package for him

and he'd come into the huddle or whatever, you know, he's replacing Cade McNamara. Cade McNamara obviously would take them to a playoff, and Cade McNamara was respected, obviously. He's a freshman kid, obviously comes in national champion, IMG, highly hyped, and he's getting forced into a couple different spots there when they have their quarterback. Senior offensive lineman who is described

as a human who hates everybody. There are offensive linemen that are like that. Kind of like a Will Hernandez, just does not like other people. In a good way. Different Hernandez offensive lineman. In a good way. There's a lot of offensive linemen.

There's a lot of offensive linemen that are just naturally miserable people and naturally just hate any change or anything. could potentially, especially senior to a freshman. And I guess, like, whenever this particular senior offensive lineman saw the way J.J. carried himself in the huddle, in the locker room, and with Cade McNamara, with the whole situation going on, they're like, yeah, this is the one, I believe is what it was.

And that, like, I don't want to say changed the perspective. That was a true freshman. Yeah, I don't want to say it changed the perspective of a lot of people in the building, but a lot of people in the building, but a lot of people in the building were like, okay, even the people that don't like people like this guy when there's easy ways for it not to happen. So I think J.J. is skyrocketing.

But what does that ever mean during draft season? Could be one. Could be a forget. I actually asked him about – I was talking to J.J. and I said – this was before the combine. I said, I bet you – Text him, FaceTime? Just on the phone. Oh, so you guys call each other. Yeah, I was – I want you. Text them, FaceTime? We were just on the phone.

Oh, so you guys call each other. Yeah, I want to get a sense of guys' personalities. And I said to him, what are you going to say when teams ask you about the 32 straight runs against Penn State? Teams might say, well, they didn't trust you. And he said, well, we got two of the best running backs in the country. We got a monster offensive line. And all I do, all I'm about is winning. And that's what I was just saying going back to his high school.

All the guy does is win. I love J.J. McCarthy. You mentioned Levis. That's a similar comp in terms of the size, the athleticism. I think McCarthy, though, his success is just literally unmatched. I think he's going to definitely have an opportunity to go into the top five, top ten. We talked about that 32 straight runs against Penn State. The first game, Jim Harbaugh and Troy Moore found out before the game. Right. That he was head coach.

J.J. didn't bitch about it at all, about handing the ball off, you know, at all. Didn't worry about the Heisman conversation at all. Just kept his – it's because he's a hockey player. Yeah. Exactly. I had no idea he was an American hockey player. What does that do for you guys when you hear that, though?

It's a quarterback. It changes everything. Yeah, as a Patriots fan, I'm good with McCarthy. Tough dude. Yeah. I mean, he beat the shit out of Ohio State, too.

Remember that throwback in the Rose Bowl that he caught? Oh, yeah. He turns and gets killed. Just that play alone. Okay. Hockey player.

Yeah. Big-time amateur hockey player. Also, speaking of quarterbacks, go back to amateur. Yeah, I was going to say. Juniors. They call it juniors. I'm going to start. Also, speaking of quarterbacks, go back to amateur. Yeah, I was going to say. Juniors. They call it juniors. No, amateur.

Amateur. I like it. I asked Odunze and Polk about Pennix. Okay. And I said, what does he do better than anyone? And they said, this dude's ball placement and back shoulder. Accuracy. World class.

So talk about accuracy, yeah. We were talking to KSC earlier about accuracy being a big thing, and I said, oh, so you like panics. Oh, I think Minnesota's firmly in that. Firmly. Atlanta, Minnesota, talked about the Rams as a sleeper. Anybody, anything else coming out of league meetings here that we need to hit? Talk about Arizona.

I could walk you through what happened with Ridley and maybe kind of how that came to Tennessee. Somebody's girlfriend? Well, his girlfriend wanted to stay in the South. Jacksonville thought they had him. And New England also was under the impression, as you know, that he's going back to Jacksonville. And Jacksonville actually had an unbelievable offer at the end of the day. But Tennessee was able to sell him on, come here, you flanked by a Hall of Famer,

and Dehop, who you just talked about. And this is going to be phenomenal for your career. You can play X, Y, and Z for us. And then they really do believe in Levis. They think he's the real deal. And Tennessee, no state income taxes. Of course. And I heard that Patriots were willing to make up for the state income tax.

New England's offer was generous. Jacksonville's offer was generous. Tennessee was able to, there you go, be in the South. Did you talk to Robert Kraft about the documentary? No, I didn't do that. You should have. You should bring it up. I should?

Someone asked him, yeah. Yeah, you should bring it up. What do you guys think of the quarterbacks, though? Other than the top three, I'm curious. Knicks, Pennix, McCarthy. Sold on, JJ. Yeah, he's a hockey player. I mean, literally, you just changed probably the entire draft order in our minds.

Because he's a hockey player. It does feel like a lot of past fans want Daniels, or is that not? I mean, to be completely honest, they just don't want to fucking suck anymore. So, I don't know. You asked about the quarterbacks. I don't know fucking shit about any of just don't want to fucking suck anymore. So I don't know. You asked about the quarterbacks. I don't know fucking shit about any of them. They need to figure it out. Whoever is doing it needs to figure it out,

and they need to pick the right fucking guy. All right. Well, Schultz, we appreciate you. Great seeing you. Thank you, Schultz. Oh, we got Clowney, too. Where is he going? Well, he had an awesome visit with the Jets.

Both sides, I think, want that to happen. That's my sense. You heard Joe Douglas say I got to spend an hour with him. I think there's a real opportunity for him there. They lost Bryce Huff. That was a killer for them to Philadelphia. I think

Clowney not only would be a great fit, but it's my understanding that the Jets are highly motivated was how it was described to sign him. There's still a couple other teams. What kind of money does he get? One year? I think he'd be highly incentivized. He's 31 years old.

Still good money, though. And he'd come off. He had nine and a half sacks last year, which tied his career high. So a guy that usually signs late I think could actually sign much earlier. Chad's D-line, too. Yeah, and then we have the Sneed. You want to get into that? Yeah, sure.

What's going on with Sneed? Well, I think with Sneed. He was a Colt? I don't know how much... Well, Destin said he was. Stop blaming just Destin. Captain Colt. There was a lot of Colts fans

that were excited who cover the Colts every single day that we might have Sneed. He would have tucked their tail. Obviously, they're brought by Kenny Moore, but Julian Black wins a free aid. They need secondary help. Sneed would have been a great fit. Obviously, they're brought by Kenny Moore, but Julian Blackwood's a free, and they need secondary help. And Snead would have been a great fit. But he's also really expensive. And so what happened with that was, I think Kansas City was comfortable.

Okay. We got to go? No, no. Okay. No, no. Kansas City, come on. Your voice raised. Oh, my bad.

You got all the energy. I love all the energy. You got excited. Yeah. What's the story? I had a 21-hour screen time day a couple days ago. Everybody's talking about Shefty at 17 hours. You're like, wait a minute.

Now, to be fair, two hours at least were the white noise app, to be fair. To be fair. So that's fate. So you're pumping up the numbers. You're pumping up the numbers. I'm inflating like an agent with the deal. Yeah, but you're telling us two hours. Yeah, so that's probably five.

No, no. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yolting. So that's probably five. No, no. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jolte. Jolte. Jolte. Little latte. Let's go.

Okay, little latte. Yeah. Gopio macchiato. Little espresso. No, so long story short, Kansas City was more than – they were totally fine with him playing on the tag next year, getting a comp three. And somebody asked me today, well, why would they make the move if they wanted a two and they

only got a three back the reason is because they wouldn't have got a pick until 26 so they get a pick now in 25 and now they can extend maybe a Joe Tooney, Creed Humphrey they still have Trey Smith coming they have Nick Bolton coming so you know they and obviously they pay Chris Jones but but Snead had a great connection with Rand Carthon both both Florida guys, GM of the Titans, and they really connected, I think. And I think Ran also really connected with, actually I should say Snead's a Louisiana guy, but Southern guy.

And then Ran really connected with Calvin Ridley, who is a Florida guy. They got on the phone and really were able to find some synergy. And I think that was a big part of it as well. So I love Ridley. I think that was the perfect fit. And I think Tennessee did a hell of a job in the office. They got Cushenberry. They got Cheeto. They got Pollard.

So I think that's going to be a real nice team. Callahan is dead. Callahan looks like Welker. No. Really? In photos. That's Welker? Oh. Really? In photos. Oh, I've seen it.

Photos he does. Do we have any, like, I feel like you guys always want to ask me, like, Starbucks stuff. Yeah, what's going on? No, no, you're always like, hey, look. I've gotten into coffee. Do you have to move your head to the counter anymore? Yeah, you guys, remember that was a big thing. You guys had all your workers were like, we're not doing this. No, not working.

Cutting hands off. Oh, they're coming in. Oh, they're protesting you. Well. I mean, it was garbage. Yeah. You son of, they're coming in. Oh, they're protesting you. Well, I mean, it was garbage. Yeah. You son of a bitch. You don't know what they're protesting for.

I don't know what they're protesting for. Actually, the nickname Lil Latte has grown on me. And I'll tell you this. This speaks to your guys' show and the reach you have.

Uh-oh. A GM today, about an hour and a half ago, I said, you know, I might be going on with Pat today. And he goes, oh, Lil Latte.

Yes, who was it? Remains to me now. I'll tell you know, I might be going on with Pat today. And he goes, oh, a little latte. Yes, who was it? Remains to me now. I'll tell you all. I'll tell you all. Okay. It would be nice to know who knows. But he's a big fan of the show. And I said, you know what?

A little latte. That's it. I heard you dropped it there earlier. You were speaking with a person. So we're moving it. We're moving a little latte? No, I like a little latte. That's what I'm saying.

We're moving it. We're moving it. I like it. I think it works. Well, they used to call me the Frappuccino in high school. That was like the opposing fans would say Frappuccino when I go to the free throw line. Frappuccino. So you're Italian.

You know how many Eno chants are in Pittsburgh? Or when we traded Gary Payton. Gary Payton. That was tough. That was a tough one for me. Yeah. I can see that. What?

What were they calling him? How does that? When we traded Gary Payton from the Sonics. The Gloves. Dad owned the Sonics. Dad owned the Sonics. Yeah. A lot of people say it's his fault that the Sonics aren't starting.

Oh, so you're the reason Seattle is that bad? I'm the reason. No, I think even my dad 15 years later would say that he made a lot of mistakes, for sure. Okay, good. That's humility. You like that. As we all have. To whom much is given, much is required.

And obviously, you've got to continue to learn in that whole thing. Is your dad still at Starbucks? He left, but he's actually currently in Asia and Japan and China debuting the oleato drink, the olive oil drink. So he's still involved, but he's not technically... Are you allowed to call it that? Are you allowed to say that? How do you spell that? It basically means olive oil in Italian.

Whose drink? Olive oil infused coffee. It's good for your skin. How many years did it make? Is that like a 10-year process? It was about a 3-year process. They acquired an olive oil farm in Sicily called Partana and then took that olive oil. How many years did it make? Is that like a 10-year process? It was about a three-year process. They acquired an olive oil farm in Sicily called Partana and then took that olive oil and put it in the Starbucks drink, which takes about a year to develop, make sure it tastes right.

Because at first it was awful. I mean, the Nick Kroll skit about olive oil, it is good. Very good for your skin, your hair. So he's 70 now, and I think at the end of the day, he still has to have that juice. He's still up at 4.30 in the morning, reading his three papers, sending me texts at 7.30 my time. Good morning every morning, like clockwork. That's awesome.

Self-made? Yeah, from the projects, Brooklyn, New York. Really? One shop, right? Canarsie. Started with one shop? Again, time. I want to be respectful of your guys' time.

Are you interested? We asked you the question. Okay, so grew up in Canarsie in Brooklyn. You guys are going to love this. So it's nothing but time, by the way, if you're going to tell an incredible American story here. He had a full, I should start that over because it's important. He had a full football scholarship to play quarterback at Northern Michigan University.

That's how he got out of Brooklyn. Summertime at Northern Michigan University. That's how he got out of Brooklyn. Summertime in Northern Michigan. The U-Piece. Marquette. It's Marquette, Michigan. Okay. So way up, way up.

He gets there, and who is he backing up? None other? None other? Than Steve Mariucci. That's it. Mooch. Mooch. Mooch. And who's the point guard?

All-American on the basketball team? Tom Izzo. Wow. My dad goes way back 40-plus years Mooch! Mooch! And who's the point guard? All-American on the basketball team? Tom Izzo. Tom Izzo. Wow! My dad goes way back 40 plus years with Izzo and Mooch. Nice. And he all, they actually won, they didn't, they actually won a Division II national championship, but my dad quit the team.

Wow! Because he knew that Mooch was, he said, I got there and I... Quitter! Yeah, quitter. But ultimately, the long story, or I should say the long story short is, he's on a trip working for another company in Milan. He's walking around every day. He's seeing the espresso cafes. And he says, okay, the same people are in this cafe every day. They're staying for 30 minutes an hour and they're conversing this that's

the third place home work third place and then he tries the coffee and this is 1980 and he says okay this is unlike anything i've ever had because at that point america really just had drip or i should say instant folgers still have drip yeah the best part of waking up Is Folgers in your cup So I used to augment that song And just say Is S-Bucks in your cup For your dad S-Bucks

We're hearing a story here So he says the cafe Seems like the third of the month So yeah This is it And then he says We gotta get that And we gotta figure out

These beans And then He finds Starbucks This is what people don't realize He founded it But he didn't start it They already to figure out these beans. And then he finds Starbucks. This is what people don't realize. He founded it, but he didn't start it. They had one store.

He's working as a barista. He needs to raise about a million and a half dollars. He has three months to do it. And at the final hour, he's out of time, and he's about a half a million short. Was turned down by over 240 banks. And he gets a group together of local Seattle investors. Kenny G's uncle.

Saxophone guy? So Kenny and Howard go way back. Bill Gates Sr. The father? 6'7", mountain of a man. Bill Gates Sr.? 6'7".

Mountain of a man. We're not senior? 6'7". Bill Gates is down? Mountain of a Man. Yeah. 6'7". We're not even getting into Bill Gates' guys. And then they get together. He sells it. And half of them, three or four of them, say we love it. The other half say we love the concept, but we don't need the kid.

He's 26, I think, at the time. So Bill Gates Sr., Kenny G's uncle, a couple other guys say you can't steal this kid's dream and they galvanize it. They give him the money so that's Peter Baldwin on the right I believe who started Pete's afterward.

Two others and then that's the original store which almost Which one's your dad's? He's not in that photo. No he's not in that photo. Oh no this one they were trying to take it from the kid. But that's the original store, which almost... Which one's your dad's? He's not in that photo. No, he's not in that photo. Oh, no, this one they were trying to take it from the kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's the original store, which is almost unchanged, Pike Place Market. And then ultimately, obviously, one cool thing, a little tidbit that nobody knows, that I've never told on camera. When they go to Vancouver, their first time out of state, out of country, he has to smuggle basically illegal goods, coffee beans, over the border.

Keisterdom? To Vancouver, in the back. And he says every single time, once a month, they bring the beans to the Starbucks in Vancouver, and he would say, can I swear? I can swear. One of these fucking canine dogs is going to come in. But fortunately for me and the family, nobody

in the world, depending on how you look at it, nobody ever did. Some people are like, fuck that guy. That's your life though. He changed the way we hang out then. Because now the coffee shop is like, hey, I'm going to go get some work done. Wi-Fi needs to be there.

I think regardless of... There he is. Wow. coffee shop is like, hey, I'm going to go get some work done. Wi-Fi needs to be there. Before Starbucks. I think regardless of... There he is. Wow. That's probably... John Barrenthal. That's a movie star. They have different coffee farms all over the world. A lot of them are exclusive to Starbucks. All over South America, obviously.

Africa, Ethiopia, Costa Rica. He would find these places and be like, and then they would try to empower the local communities to make it sustainable. But that photo, he's probably 27, 28 in that photo. Chelsea, we have some breaking news in the NFL. Cordero Patterson has signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Obviously, he became a weapon. Not that he wasn't beforehand with Arthur Smith down in Atlanta.

We all got a chance to watch Cordell Patterson play every position, get the ball basically on every play there for an entire year. He was an all-pro returner. He was. Coming out of Tennessee, obviously a superstar. Then with Minnesota, he was a stud. In Atlanta, he found an identity. Now he's going to Pittsburgh.

Tom Diggs, how do we feel about Arthur Smith bringing Cordell Patterson in? I've had a few hours to digest this. A little birdie when I told me this a couple hours ago. I feel really, really good about this. I mean, he is the Swiss Army knife that Arthur Smith needs to execute the offense. And if that's going to happen. Also, he's a veteran leader that that room has been missing for quite a long time. Oh, you're talking about the wide receiver.

Jalen Warren. Well, also, he's kind of running his weapon. Yeah. Jalen Warren. Joker position. He's not kind of running his weapon. Yeah. Jalen Warren. Joker position. He's not taking carries from us. Starting Joker. Yeah.

I just remember Chris Cooley. That was my favorite. He was a beast. The original H-back? The original H-back. What? Picture of his meet? The original H-back, Chris Cooley.

I was trying to think what it was. With the playbook, right? He was maybe sitting on it. Cooley was cool. He was ahead of his time. Yeah, we saw Cooley down in Atlanta. He was a cool guy. He was awesome.

He was a very cool guy. All right. I got a lot of love for you guys. He was ahead of his time. Yeah, we saw Cooley down in Atlanta. He was a cool guy. He was awesome. He was a very cool guy. All right. I got a lot of love for you guys. I appreciate you having me on. Thank you for telling

your dad's story. That was like motivating. Motivating as hell. Really cool. Hell yeah, dude. Love you guys, man. Schultz, we appreciate the hell out of you, buddy.

Say bye. Schultz, we only talk shit by the way because we love you. Yeah, exactly. If we didn't like you, we couldn't do it. See you, buddy. See you, buddy.

We'll see you in Indy. Love that. Love that. Fucking love it. Man. Say. See you see an indie of that about Fucking love it man 407 how do you scale that almost a good one sort of five trillion boy is my tank? Yeah, all right show today Appreciate you show to you. Have a good one buddy. We'll see you in a little bit. I've travels You're seeing a little bit. There's 45,000 people still watching on YouTube. Why?

That was a good story. It was. It was a good day. Very cool. It was a good day. You all right? All right, we're done. Yeah.

All right, Jolte. See you, buddy. What was that all about? What are you? You. This guy. Right in the middle of that thing. Yeah, who?

You. I just want to let you know, do not throw anything this way, because I got nothing. Wait, what did he do? I mean, he- John wrote on the back of that piece of paper, me and Schultz are sitting right next to each other. Showed it to him and then did a little rub it on your face. And then left it up. I turned that upside down.

I'm literally talking. I'm talking to Schultz in tones holding that thing up in the background. What does that mean? Waving it like a flag. He's like, do not fucking say my name here. Don't even think it. I got nothing. I'm out. I missed it.

I'm out. I'm out. If you were to say, I'll be honest with you, I've got nothing. There's no reason we should have been here all day. I mean, he was our third insider. We've got all the inside info. You know what I mean? Just ask, hey, what's your favorite death row meal, if you don't have a question. Hey, that's becoming our new thing, it seems like today.

Kind of. We didn't get short of doing Kaboli. Well, Kaboli, we had to get to a meal. We had to get to a meal with Kaboli It came up naturally with Kaboli Alright let's get out of here boys How you doing back there Foxy? You okay?

You want to sleep immediately on that little baby bear thing? Yeah no I feel great Okay Sweet How about Matt Brown? Bruce Brown He was just in the living room when we showed up at the Airbnb Popped straight up Sweet. How about Matt Brown? Bruce Brown. Bruce Brown. He was just in the living room when we showed up at the Airbnb.

Pops right up. Hey, boys. He'd been asleep for, what, two or three hours. At least. Spry. Spry. Mike Foss is so jacked. Oh, my God.

Foss was looking good. Better shape every week. Ooh, his triceps. Gumpy normally sleeps an hour and a half a night. Got extra sleep, boss. What are you doing, Gum? We were in the trenches last night. We were. Last night was a long one.

Your mic sucks. Big Kelton, hey, a fan favorite. Hi, baby. He drained a shot in Iowa, too. Clean jumper. Big shout out to everybody from ESPN that set this thing up down here. A lot of people. A lot of people. A lot of people.

A lot of people. Very good people. Yeah, we love them. Record-breaking. A record-breaking amount of credentials. That would never happen again. Nope. Yeah, did not know about that.

But we are very thankful for everybody that puts forth the effort to make sure this thing can go in the manner that it can. This is just a basic-ass, empty-ass conference room. Obviously, with the display, the lights, the cameras, the ability to connect. And the first show that's ever been, you know, just fully live from the league meetings. This is a cool thing. We're very thankful for everybody.

Excited to come back. Yeah, excited to come back. Two days. Well, we'll see. We'll see. I think two. I saw, you know who I saw? Feels like two.

There's a lot of GMs and coaches that we not get to talk to. I saw Brian McCarthy, who's an NFL PR guy. He's the one that is, you know, he's. He's the mover and shaker. In the weeds. He's up there, yeah. He's heard me say Roger Goodell is scared to come on the program because he handles PR for Roger Goodell.

He's a what? I don't think he's scared of nothing. But from what I've been told. But Brian came over to say hello. That was very kind of him. Thank you to the NFL for That was very kind of him. Thank you to the NFL for allowing us in here, obviously. And congrats on saving some plays in football.

Yeah. You know? Yeah. Connor, final thoughts from league meeting? I was pumped to talk to all the coaches, GMs, owners as well with Kalen. We came here for Schultz and we fucking got him. Ty, you feel the same way? Yeah, I think so.

Slash Caboli. And, you know, I mean, it hits the nail on the head that his death row meal would just be a run-of-the-mill sausage pizza with plain white cake. That's it. That's Caboli. That's Caboli football, baby. Exactly. How about him coming with a full Ankle brace

Under his hokas Compression sleeve as well Kaboli really maybe stole the day What are your thoughts on the day that was here We've always known that KOC is awesome We've known that Bean is awesome because we've had him on before But Raheem Morris coming on Raheem

Raheem yes because he is Raheem. Raheem, yes, because he is him. For me, he stole my heart today. He said I won 10 games. I'm him. Yeah. I am him. 32 years old, he was out as a head coach. That's how well-liked he is by everybody.

His energy was awesome. Incredible. Incredible. Falcons are going to be very good. I feel like they have to be. Yes. Got Kirk O. Offense is sweet. How about him saying I feel like they have to be. Yes. Got Kirk O. Offense is sweet.

How about him saying, I haven't known Kirk since Washington. I was a 9-0. People forget that. We have been connected through this entire thing. AJ, your big takeaway from league meetings, you did a great job there. I mean, Kaboli, everything about him, yeah, I'm a fan. And I will be until the day I die. But, yeah, we have this young, new movement in the NFL with GMs, coaches,

and I think it's cool. It's mixed in with the old school football guys too. So I think we're in a weird, cool generation of the NFL that we're lucky to be here to watch. I think so, and we're potentially considered part of that entire thing. Kaylin being here is cool. Yeah, she was incredible. I heard talking about how her and her sister understand that. Like we get that. Yeah, that was very, very cool. I assume there's some real guilt. here is cool. Yeah, she was incredible. I heard talking about how her and her sister understand that.

Like, we get that. We are. Yeah, that was very, very cool. I assume there's some real guilt. Yeah, exactly. But then also, what are we going to do about it? Yeah, what? Sorry about it.

She mentioned she wanted to go back to school, or she wants to go back to school because she feels like she needs to earn that. It's like, that is a very cool way to look at it because I doubt everybody looks at it that way. It was a fun day. Fun day. Brandon Bean's Cavs. Yeah.

He's the man. Abnormally big. Big Cavs. Dinner plates. Scratch golfer? Yeah. On the hardest courses. How, though?

Do he and Orlovsky play? Orlovsky cheated. That's right. What happened to his scorecard? Of course. He did his math. He flubbed his math. It just so happened to be one stroke over.

And then Bean was like two under. So it was like he gave us the wrong number. Wrong index. Which is why we can't call him a sandbagger forever now. But he did make $250,000 I think for some charity because he said it was 78.

we're like you're not gonna shoot a 78 dude on a pga course open championship course yeah he shot a 76 i think he did he did he went to a good place though heard the bison are going to be good yeah they are we'll see we'll see for sure did we you didn't hear that you said the top of them are still 16 feet we don't know for sure you. You asked 16 feet, and he said, what, of snow? So we can't walk. So it proves our point. We cannot walk underneath it without hitting our head on the dong. How tall are you?

Well, a rap can. That's what we learned. We did learn that. Yeah. That's just a thing. Yeah. Well, he could walk under this desk without hitting his head on the dong. How cool would that be to be him just to waddle right underneath whatever?

Awesome. You know, like everybody's worried about the dinner table. He can just right underneath. It's a tunnel to me. Oh, you drop something under the couch? Two seconds. I'll be right back. He's abnormally small.

I was thinking like hamster tunnels. Yeah? Yeah, probably. That's a benefit. That's another thing we learned today. Exactly. Poles. Shoes are done.

Poles is a big son of a bitch and feels like he's very smart. Young. Yeah, young. Looked cool. Cerebral assassin, they say. Very cerebral. I mean, he told us he's drafting Caleb, so give it away. Should have known he had picked nine as well.

That's not good journalism. Yeah, that's the one. Better not mess that one up. Probably trading back. What's your problem? Why are you bringing negativity in? No, if you're a Bears fan, you're thinking, I'm good with one. We've got to hit a home run with nine.

Otherwise, who knows? Jim Harbaugh? Awesome. John Harbaugh? Yeah, awesome. Business card? Awesome. Today's been a good day.

All right, let's get out of here. Good work, team. Really good stuff. Thank you been a good day. All right. Let's get out of here. Good work, team. Really good stuff. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice that might change their life. That's for real. We're in this thing together. Let's never forget it.

Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye.