The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1001 - MNF Recap, John Buccigross, Harrison Smith, Aaron Rodgers, Shams Charania, Darius Butler LIVE In The ThunderDome, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

On today’s show, Pat, Darius Butler, AJ Hawk, and the boys chat about last night’s Monday Night Football game between the 49ers and Vikings, the Vikings getting a massive win and if they should be considered playoff contenders now, Brock Purdy looking human two weeks in a row, the Michigan cheating scandal, and everything else happening around the sports world as we wrap up week 7 of the season. Joining the progrum to chat about tonight’s 16 NHL games and the “Frozen Frenzy,” RedZone type coverage is ESPN Hockey aficionado, John Buccigross (13:35-17:09). Next, 2x All-Pro, 6x Pro Bowler, Safety for the Minnesota Vikings, The Hitman, Harrison Smith joins the show to chat about the massive MNF victory, how everyone has been playing loose and having fun the last two weeks, adjusting his strike zone throughout his career, trying to find advantages when the defense is disadvantaged in almost every way possible, how he feels in Brian Flores defense now several weeks in, and more (31:22-52:58). Later, 4x MVP, Super Bowl Champion/MVP, one of the greatest throwers of the football in history, Quarterback of the New York Jets, Aaron Rodgers joins the show to chat about his biggest takeaways from the weekend, the issues with referees league wide, why certain quarterbacks go through the ebbs and flows that others don’t, why some teams excel coming off bye weeks, and much more (1:01:12-1:58:44). Lastly, NBA Insider for The Athletic and Stadium, Shams Charania joins the show to preview tonight’s NBA tip off action, and some of the big storylines we should be paying attention to as the season gets under way (2:08:40-2:40:10). 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 our Humble Abode, the Thunderdome. On this Aaron Rodgers Tuesday, October 24th, 2023, this sports program starts now. Football! Happened last night and more surprises have been in store this NFL Week 7 than we have seen all year. Week 7 of the NFL slate continued as an incredibly unpredictable one as the Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers last night where Kirk Cousins was dealing

and Brock Purdy was giving away the ball. He has looked like a human for the last two games. Is this what Brock Purdy is going to be for the rest of the year or is he just in a slump that he's going to find his way out of? There will be a lot of chatter about that today. We'll also have John Pucci-Gross of ESPN NHL coverage because tonight all 32 NHL teams will be playing,

and it will all be broadcasted in an NFL Red Zone-style broadcast called the Frozen Frenzy. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know about the name. I appreciate Frozen Frenzy. It yeah! Yeah, I don't know about the name. I appreciate Frozen Frenzy. It's good alliteration. I think Ice Zone would have done the job and everybody would have got it.

But nonetheless, an incredibly novel concept coming to hockey tonight. Bucci Gross will be hosting it. We can't wait for this. This should be electrifying. We'll also be joined by a man who was a part of a defense that made Brock Purdy and the boys

look like humans last night. The hitman, Harrison Smith, will be joining us. Fresh off a big-time dub over the San Francisco 49ers. Half-force fumbles, six tackles, and a pass breakup. Now, he didn't have two picks like Bonham, but we'll certainly ask about why that potentially happened. Can't wait to get a little check-in from the Minnesota Vikings, especially after a massive win last night.

Aaron Rodgers will join us at 105. He'll be breaking down all the latest vaccinations. And that's it. Yeah, exactly. We won't talk about anything else. Obviously, that is all we talk about the entire time, even though that's maybe the only thing that people would seem to cover in one particular part of the world.

And then they say that's all we talk about. Interesting stuff. But Aaron Rodgers will be coming on. Big game for the Jets. They got the Giants. Whoa. This is New York, New Jersey supremacy conversation happening this weekend. And for Aaron, what has he seen out of the Jets team that makes him believe

that they'll still be around whenever he can potentially get back in record timing with a torn Achilles? And then how about Brock Purdy, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert? All these guys kind of going through a little bit of one of these. What would Aaron Rodgers say to them? And has he ever done that? What is his take? He was on the Manning cast last night. Fantastic. Love the Manning cast. It's hard to watch the

game while you're watching the Manning cast. Almost impossible. Yeah, so you kind of have to watch the game twice. One with the Mannings and then one back just without them. Last night's game was a great one. Cannot wait to chat about it all day today and then look ahead and also chit-chat with Sean Shirani in the third hour. You know our NBA guy in the NBA season tips off this evening.

Good luck. You're going against all 32 NHL teams in the frozen frenzy. Uh-oh. The NHL seems to take a stand here on this glorious Tuesday. We will try to make your lives all much dumber. The talk's at the table. It's here at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt. See the shark on the chest.

Is that because P.J. Fleck always preaches the Necton mentality? Yeah, he does. You know, because a shark is Necton. Necton's always hungry, always looking for your next meal, always going forward. Is that why you wore the shark? Because they beat the hell out of the Iowa Hawkeyes this past weekend. No, I would never do that to Ty.

And to be completely honest, I do stand on Ty's side of the fence. I do believe the snake oil salesman is still coaching in Minnesota. Just won the bronze pig first time. You say snake oil. I say results. I mean, do we need to go back into what we talked about yesterday? There should be an asterisk by that. It was a food gaze.

It was not a real win. But that's neither here nor there. I don't know why Connor wore the shark T-shirt. Why'd you wear the shark T-shirt? I just figured it's a nice one. This is where it all started. This is like the first graphic tee. You're getting choked up a little bit almost.

While I was talking about it, it just took me back to being just a little sweet boy. Just looking for shirts with animals on them and how far we've come. Now I'm just a big dumb boy looking for sharks on t-shirts. Yeah, but you're a good boy. You're a sweet boy. You are a sweet boy. You are a sweet boy. I appreciate that very much. One half of the Hammer, Don. Cowboys, Tone Diggs. Hammer, Don. It's a gambling show

that comes out of this particular office every single day where Tone and the other half of the Hammer, Don. Cowboys, Bubba Gumpino go through everything. Interesting gambling stats on week seven here. The public was what, one in eight or something like that? Yeah, the top eight bet games were oh and eight.

And then over 70%, one and eight with the Seahawks there. Yeah, the public was old yeller this weekend. And the gambling, the books, they were that rabid wolf. And then we had to be taken out back and shot behind the shed. That was what the public happened with this weekend. It was tough.

Nice. Well said. So, old yeller is that dog movie. I've not seen it because any animal, any movie that involves a dog what about a thousand percent chance heartbreak at the end. For sure. And I like dogs. I'd rather laugh than

go through it all. But you just you said that sad movie that is inevitable. we all kind of saw coming to with the sports books how they were losing right sports books were losing at a rapid rate last year the sports books won more than they had ever won even whenever sports gambling wasn't legal and it was just happening on the streets and in the bottom of restaurants and bars and everything like that or even into whatever they were losing or winning as much as they were last year last year they won every weekend outright it was tough that's why the scripted conversation got so loud

because the public was losing money more than it had in the past this year the start of the season public got back we were beating the shit out of sports books and then all of a sudden week seven comes around sports books go oh not so fast my, as if they're Lee Corso. And that continued last night. I just saw from John Ewing's Twitter, who was just up there, weeks one through five, 62% against the spread was the public. Weeks six and seven, 44% against the spread was the public. Yeah, it's only going to be lower. Yeah, we need to know that. Hey, we need to know that right now. So whenever you're thinking about just taking a hack At every single game, maybe dial it back a little bit

Only do your top couple that you like Because they're going to get you They're starting to expose us They're starting to think how we're starting to think And they got AI on their side at a much more rapid level than us So we got to remember that as we gomble Speaking of gumbling This man puts out picks every single week

I have no idea how he's doing I assume it's fantastic because he's got a big brain. Nine-year NFL vet, host of the Man to Man podcast and everything DB. Darius J. Butler is here. D-Bud, we got a packed show today. I'm excited about that. But let's dive into this game from last night. Brock Purdy, okay, he's played 16 games.

He has seven interceptions over those 16 games. Four of them come in the first 14. Three come in the last two games. Obviously, two last night in the last five minutes of a game. That's crucial time. Can't happen. Brock Purdy has looked more normal than he has ever looked in the NFL. Even though he's the last pick in the NFL draft,

I think he played himself into an expectation level where it's like, this dude's making all the right decisions and making all the right throws. He did have moments last night where he was throwing darts Jennings caught a couple IU caught a couple George Kittle caught a couple he looked off safeties he had great football but whenever it came time for the Niners to do what they have done over this entire run with Brock Purdy the ball went the other way not only last night but also against the Browns yeah are we finding normalcy here out of Brock Purdy, or what do you think it is? You know, he had a couple, I wouldn't even say bad games,

just some bad plays, and he just started his career so damn near perfect, it seems. So it's a little slump. I think he'll be all right, though. But played two good defenses. Obviously, the Browns, you know, they've been historically good until they ran into the buzzsaw that is Minshew Mania. And then last night, you know, the Minnesota Vikings, their defense is kind of, I guess, coming into their own

based on their performance last night. Obviously, Sam Friend misses some pieces, but everybody's missing pieces at this point in the season. But, I mean, from beginning to end, I felt like that Vikings defense was on point. Big play, giving up with C-Mac, got caught in that blitz, and then there was some other ones. But Brian Flores has his guys flying around. Hitman, he'll be on later.

He was making plays. His counterpart back there, Bynum, was making some huge plays. Sealed the game. So I think Brock will be alright. He had his team in position to win that game last week until Moody, wide right. I think he'll be alright. And Moody missed another one, but hit a big one too for that

towards the end. And also, had another chance to win it here. They were still in it. Didn't throw that pick at the end. Still have a chance to very much win that game. So it's not like the Niners were ever out of it, even though they weren't playing perfect. On the flip side, Vikings. Hey, let's go. Vikings offensive line hold the San Francisco 49ers defense to zero

sacks and 44 dropbacks against Kirk Cousins. What? That makes no sense. Daniil Hunter's out there hunting on the other side of this thing. Their defense is flying. The Vikings, all of a sudden, last year, they were 11-0 in games that were decided by like seven points or less or something. They started the season 0-3, 0-4. It was getting bad.

You thought the football gods had turned on them. TJ Hawkinson had a big one. Now, he was a little injured. It was going to take him a while to get off the field. And Coach KOC tells him to get down and everybody says, they're faking injuries. I don't know why they would at that particular time. But that team seemed to have

their most full game. And Kirk Cousins throws for 300 on prime time again. And everybody brings up his stats about prime time and how he performs and everything like that. How about him going right back to Addison three times after that first interception that took place on the third play of the game? How about what he was able to connect with out of the backfield? How about him going right back to Addison like three times after that first interception that took place on the third play of the game? How about what he was able to connect with out of the backfield?

How about Kirk Cousins stepping in there and being a guy? And Addison proving himself without Justin Jefferson as well. And if you talk to Kirk, he came on our show, I think. And he said, everybody tells me about how bad we are in primetime. And Kirk kind of said, I think I threw for like 300 yards, had three touchdowns, no interception. But I get it. Yeah, I understand that that is a quarterback stat, the wins and losses. Incredible effort there by Jordan Addison there,

the rookie who had to make big plays because Justin Jefferson was out. But are we turning on his Vikings team? I know we've said in the NFC North that it's the Lions, the Lions, the Lions. There's still a lot of season left. And if the Vikings are able to play against the Niners like that, let's assume they're able to do that against everybody in the NFL. Yeah, who knows if they're going to catch the Lions, the Lions. There's still a lot of season left. And if the Vikings are able to play against the Niners like that, let's assume they're able to do that against everybody in the NFL. Yeah, who knows if they're going to catch the Lions, but after last night, it does feel like, okay, this team could

go on a little bit of a run in the middle here. You know, with the Niners, obviously it's tough. Purdy doesn't look like who he is, but Michael Lombardi has mentioned this in the past. Teams that go all the way, they start hot and then in the middle they have a lull, and then they finish hot. And it feels like we're entering that middle lull for some of these teams.

But if I'm a Vikings fan, what you see out of Jordan Addison and thinking that Justin Jefferson isn't even on the field while he's doing this, you've got to be through the roof. Madison, that was the best he's looked all year too. Did we know Justin Jefferson was not going to be playing last night? We did know. How long is he out? I think this is his second week. At least four weeks.

So at least two more weeks I would assume. Him on the sideline with that grill is awesome. Shades. I need to know though, like there was chatter about Kirk getting traded. Because they were just going to punt this season off. Now, I can't imagine the Vikings without Kirk Cousins going forward.

And it's such a week-to-week league. I assume Vikings fans are starting to think that as well. I can't imagine the Vikings without Kirk Cousins going forward, and it's such a week-to-week league. I assume Vikings fans are starting to think that as well. I don't know. I would think so. After last night, too, you mentioned the interception on the opening drive, which they've turned the ball over on their first possession so many times this year, and you just think, okay, the Niners are about to dog-walk them, and then they stand back up, punch them in the mouth,

and force a turnover when the Niners are in the red zone like I think it was the first time this year that they've actually shown some resiliency early and then they did I mean Kirk has already said like hey I'm staying here like I'm not waving my no trade clause I don't want to have to worry about you know finding a new school for my kids and a new new house just be a rental somewhere else. He wants to stay there, and he is good. He does what he can. If their defense can play like they did last night, we still don't really know that much about the NFC, I feel like.

They're so top-heavy, but that four through seven playoff seeds, if the Vikings can put together a couple good weeks here, they got Green Bay, who right now looks terrible next week. They can put a couple wins together in a row. There's no reason they can't be in a position to make the playoffs at the end of the season. Very good. And the Niners got the Bengals,

so that's not necessarily the right team to have at this particular stage of what the Niners are going through. And you do talk about the top of that. You got the Eagles, the Lions, and then the Niners up there. Home field advantage is a big deal. These Niners need to play that game. I said this on first take. Home field advantage in the playoffs, big deal. San Francisco or

Philadelphia, that's two very different environments for the most important game of the year. Last year, San Fran had to go to Philly. We all saw what kind of took place, even though they got unlucky. Especially at that time of year, going to Philly, who knows what the weather will be, what you have to deal with coming from Cali. If Fran had to go to Philly. And we all saw what kind of took place, even though they got unlucky. Especially at that time of year, you know, going to Philly, who knows what the weather would be, what you have to deal with coming from Cali if you have to go through Philly.

But another thing about this Vikings team, last night that offensive line, you know, we know who the Niners are on defense. But that offensive line, it was like the, you know, KOC could do anything you wanted. It was running the ball well. The screen game was intact. Obviously, Kirk Cousins was standing in the pocket, dialing up downfield.

If that offensive line can continue to play like that, they can definitely stack a few. Vikings are 3-4. You lose a couple more, you still got double-digit wins. Still in the playoffs. The right time to get hot is when? Later, not now. Are they starting that trip as we speak?

Their next six are Green Bay, Atlanta, New Orleans, Denver, Chicago, and Vegas. Here we go. I wouldn't and Vegas. Here we go. Here we go. Not a bad time for the Vikings to get going. All those other teams are thinking the exact same thing, obviously. We'll talk to the hitman Harrison Smith in about 16 minutes or so. Joining us now is a man who's hosting a show tonight that I think

might be my favorite thing to ever be created. You see the NFL Red Zone every single Sunday with Scott Hanson where he doesn't pee for seven hours of commercial free football. Tonight, Frozen Frenzy is the name, and John Bucciagross will be hosting a show that will be highlighting all 32 NHL teams playing this evening. It should be electrifying. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, Bucciagross. Yeah, Bucci!

Hell yeah. Hell yeah. What are you eating, man? Coffee number one of 42, Pat. That's right. Chocolate frosted donut. That's what I'm saying. Shout out Plumbarrow.

Hey, you're damn right. Shout out to Plumbarrow and shout out to you for joining us. Once again, you look properly jocked on this beautiful Tuesday. You look very good. Still in, obviously, the rigorous workout routines and the tats look sharp as well. It's my McAfee uniform. As long as you have me, this is my uniform. Hey, I'm happy.

I had to stop at Walmart and buy a six-pack, $18. That's a pretty good deal, six packs for $18. Yeah, that's what Walmart would do for you. Driving to ESPN, didn't have one, got the call to come on McAfee, late shift change. I said, all right, I got to find a Walmart. Don't. Hey, Matt, respect for that move.

I appreciate it. And shout out to Walmart always being there for you. Always. Always being there for you if you need it, you know. Hell yeah. Let's talk about tonight, Bucci. This is a big deal, dude. This is a big deal. this is a big deal all 32

nhl teams are playing it's the first night of the nba as well but the nhl just decided hey we're going to make an electrifying evening and you're going to be broadcasting all of them pretty much in an nfl red zone style this seems like a genius decision by the nhl what do you know about how tonight's going to go and how should we expect it to operate? Yeah, all 16 games on ESPN+. ESPN also has their own triple header with Levy and Messier and Piquet in between periods. So yeah, you know, the NHL worked with us. We asked for these staggered times every 15 minutes, the first 12 games. They've never had all 16 games played on a weekday. This is the first time we've had it on a weekday. It's happened once before on a weekend. So, yeah, we'll give it a shot.

The people have asked for staggered times. They're getting staggered times. And so me and Weeksy will jump around and try to figure this out. It's a little different. There's no red zone in hockey. We can't jump around every time a team gets into the offensive zone. So we've got to figure this out. Maybe a lot of power plays.

If Conor Bedard goes on a power play or Ovechkin will get there. So it's kind of a new thing. So give us some rope. Have you guys done any rehearsals or anything on any other evenings? There's nothing really similar, I guess. Yeah, I've told people you rehearse for this by watching hockey just about every night for 25 years. That's how I've rehearsed for tonight.

You can't fake it, man. You can't, you know, you live the sport, you watch the sport, you talk the sport. Me and Weeksy, Kevin Weeks, who will be next to me, we're both hockey nerds who live the sport and love the sport. Okay, so let's talk about the numbers. NHL is up on ESPN from what I've been told.

Let's go. Let's keep growing the game, Bucci. I think tonight helps with that. Yes, testosterone and ratings both up, Pat. Well, clearly in that car, and we're hoping forever in this Thunderdome. Bucci, have an incredible evening. Frozen friends. What time does it start tonight?

7 o'clock ESPN Plus, ESPN 2, the rest of the night. Please watch. All right, ladies and gentlemen, Bucci. Counting on you. Hey, Deuce, we got it. Ladies and gentlemen, John Booch. You got it. Hey, Boochie.

Boochie. Well, go and talk to those Indiana dudes. Where's Walmart? Yeah. Let me go find. Awesome. See, that's a beater I do believe he had on. A little bit different than a T-top.

Although you can get a great deal on those beaters at Walmart, these tank tops are seven, eight bucks a pop. Okay? Whoa. You're not getting six. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. This is high society here, Bucci. I am pumped for this this evening, though. Who are the Pens beating? Oh, Dallas tonight.

Yeah. We're beating the hell out of Texas hockey. Connor Bedard, if he goes to a... Yeah. We need to cut the Bruins in Blackhawks tonight, yes. We're going to see a lot of that. I hope Bedard brought his boxing gloves because we are going to be pestering that little son of a bitch all night.

You think Beecher, the little cheap shot artist, is going to be hammering Bedard tonight? Yeah, we're sending Johnny Beach straight towards Conor Bedard tonight, and it's not going to look good. It's not going to end good. You don't think Bedard's not used to that? You don't think Bedard's not used to that? You don't think Bedard's not used to people trying to take him out? Uh-uh, not against an original six hockey team, my friend. This is very, very new. Yeah, Chicago.

Okay, does Bedard play against the Blackhawks ever? No. Every day. Yeah, in practice. You think they're hitting in practice? Not like the Bruins hit in practice. I'll tell you that much. Yeah, original six teams, too. There's some

of them that have been so bad for so long, it's hard to even respect that title. Yeah, the Toronto Maple Leafs, you're right. They've been in the playoffs. That's not who we were talking about. Yeah, you know who we're talking about. You're not talking about the Detroit Red Wings who lead the league in goals this year so far. You're not talking about that team.

I know that. Okay. Well, we've four games into this thing. Of course you Detroit Red Wings are celebrating that. Average six goals at home so far. I'm so excited. That's how many goals we score. The brand new Lions are number two in the NFC right now for

home field advantage. And the Detroit Red Wings are averaging the most goals per game in the NHL. Oh yeah. Man, congrats to Detroit. Honestly. Yeah. Give it time. If it wasn't for that one place. What's that?

Michigan for ruining everything going on. Yeah, because they're cheating. Are you talking about Michigan State? No. Michigan State, that school does Hitler stuff. This is much different. This is strictly talking about the Michigan University football team. Just to clarify what he was saying there, for those that didn't know this,

Michigan State did have Adolf Hitler on their jumbotron this past weekend before hosting the Michigan Wolverines, which is also in the state of Michigan, which is now being accused of cheating, obviously, and stealing signs, which has had everybody have a take on it. Every competitive human you've heard speak about it, just like with SignGate with the New England Patriots,

has come out and said, yeah, people have been trying to steal signs in every single facet of every single sport since the beginning of time. Now Pete Dammel's saying, you know, they've kind of zeroed in on Connor Stallins. Connor Stallins, ex-captain in the Marine Corps, I do believe.

That's right. He has been hired by Michigan over the years, and they seized his computer, allegedly. Uh-oh. He has been the one that has been linked to being the guy that has set up the sign-stealing operation, if you're reading all the narratives and tea leaves, coming from Pete Thamel.

Now he's saying, this guy's bought tickets for more than 30 games at 11 Big Ten schools over the past three years. Also, video evidence of sideline taping is expected to be sent to the NCAA this week, caught by stadium surveillance around the Big Ten. Now there's a counter-argument to this that Conor, former captain in the Marine Corps, also was buying tickets for maybe military events around Big Ten schools, trying to represent Michigan in that particular way, which might be the case. But what they're alluding to is that this guy was the chief operating officer of the signed stealing operation. And I'm fascinated to see what video evidence gets turned in.

Because what if this surveillance is like every other surveillance video we see? Grainy, you know, pretty, and it's just this guy with his phone up like this. And then all Michigan people are going to say, the guy can't take a picture to commemorate the moment in which he is watching his favorite Big Ten team play. I feel like this is just going to get so muddy with he said, she said, that's not real, excuse, what is the case, that we're never really going to get to the bottom of it.

And all the while, we're going to potentially ruin a run by a team that is very good right now, which is this Michigan Wolverines team. They are very, very, very good right now. And all anybody's going to say, just like what happened with the Patriots, deflate gate, spy gate, boom, boom, boom. All anybody's going to say for the rest of the season is, well, of course. I mean, I said it. Whenever I was on the grab bag, everything that comes from this Michigan sideline

and Michigan team is going to be equated to the sign-stealing situation. That's just how it's going to be. With that being said, I do not think, I mean, I might be wrong. You're not wrong. I like to read humans. You know, I like to think, like,

how would humans that were doing this act? Now, you can't always get into the mind of people, especially Michigan people. I would never be accepted there. I'm not 100% sure if they are stealing signs in this massive operating style that they would put it on a piece of land and then just be waving it in the face

of pretty much the other team and the cameras. That might be their own signals that they give out, but I'm not 100% sure that this is the other team's signals in which they put on a piece of paper just so they can get a reminder whenever they're there on a sideline. And then they're just going to be so loose with that. Maybe. I don't want to be a Michigan apologist.

Okay, I don't. But until they show us video or evidence of them actually utilizing a camera, zooming in, clearly taking these signals home, using any type of AI or computer or anything to tell them what the people are doing. I think nobody in the competition world is going to take it that seriously. For instance, here's Matt Rule talking about the entire situation. He would obviously love to have Michigan get kicked the hell out and get punished and Jim Harbaugh leave here's him chit-chatting about the whole entire thing yeah sign stealing happens every game

um there's nothing wrong with there's nothing wrong with teams over there looking over trying to steal our signs there's nothing wrong with us trying to look at their signs that's why you should have mics in the helmets right like all these coaches that vote against it every year because they don't want to teach their quarterback. In the NFL, each quarterback goes out there with three play calls because if I see the free safety's foot like that, it might be one high. I'm going to check to this play. But you get to college and you're watching a game on a Tuesday night and they got the signal and they're just calling a play.

That's what makes college football to me. That's why they score maybe more points, but it's also why the kids are less prepared. That's why there should be, 100% should be, we can get rid of all the stupid signs on the sidelines. We can get pictures of, you know, rock stars and all that stuff. We could just play football the way it was meant to be. You go to a high school game, there's technology on the sideline. You go to an NFL game, there's technology on the sideline. You go to the college, there's nothing. When you played Michigan, did you have any suspicions that there is more than the usual amount of knowledge on their side?

I am. No one from the Big Ten or NCAA has asked me anything yet, so I'm not going to probably comment on anything like that. I would never want to cachet at somebody else going through a hard time. I don't know anything. I like him taking a high road there. But what if when the NCAA asks you, you go, yeah, that's why we didn't beat them. You tell me. I don't know what you want from me, but it is everybody that has ever had a prominent role in actual sports,

like at a college level or professional level. No offense to the people that played high school. I understand how much you love the game and how awesome you were and everything like that. But to get to the next level, the competitive juices that you have to have, the competitive stamina that you have to have, are just at a different level.

It's going to make you work a little bit harder. It's going to make you be dedicated. I understand there's lazy people that become professional athletes. They normally don't last long, but the people that are at that competitive stamina level that is very high are normally the people that go on to have success. They are also the people who are trying to get any advantage that they could possibly get on every single play. So if there's a coach over here on the sideline and he says this one word and that one word means something every single play. So if there's a coach over here on the sideline and he says this one word and that one word means something every single time, I am actively stealing that person's sign

and I am keeping it. That has been a part of every sport. Soccer, they do it. Baseball, they do it. Football, they do it. So until we see, and I think Coach Rule would agree, until we see some sort of going above and beyond the moral clause of it all, think it's gonna be hard

for me to take serious but there are people that are really pissed about it d but there are people that are really pissed about yeah like you said that's key going above and beyond and that would be you know somebody recording going every game recording multiple sidelines getting the signs but outside of that like you said you're trying to turn every stone over you're trying to find every edge we used to go to different you know cities to play games and hey don't throw any of your shit in the garbage can here anything like take it all with you like it was it was it's that level of paranoia because you know you're trying to find every edge and you know you have a program like Michigan straight in Nebraska like these guys are getting paid tens of millions of dollars to win championships

to win big games and to do, usually you need every edge. But we are saying, if he did record it and utilize any other technology, like, of course you're going to be able to dissect people's signs whenever you're staring at them for 10 hours and you've got a matchup from your video to what the plays are. And it's like, oh, here's a trend we are starting to gather. I think everybody's like, that's too far. Like, I think that's what everybody's like, that's too far,

which is why I think the Big Ten is saying that it's even anything because that's the big takeaway is that the Big Ten's acknowledging it. The NCAA is acknowledging it. Pete Thamel is like very adamant that this is going to be a huge ordeal. Maybe even Jim Harbaugh leaves Michigan because of it all, which would be because who's next? That'd be wild. How long do they go through it?

What they've built. I mean, that's a whole – for the second biggest brand in the Big Ten. It's just right now it feels like it's a lot of noise, and it's tough for me to really get up in arms about it. What was Harbaugh the self-imposed suspension? That was for a hamburger. Cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers.

Did he put cheese on it? We don't. That's why. Good question. Like he bought put cheese on it? We don't. That's why. Like he bought a recruit or something? A recruiter burger. Now granted, I assume there was more to it than just the hamburger. But what was alleged is very legal now in this NIL world when it wasn't at the time. So they said, you know what?

You're right. We'll do this. We're playing the University of Bumble shits, and I will suspend myself for it. But the NCAA, Pete Tamla says, they have not imposed a penalty on that. That was self-imposed. So now you've got potential spying and potential hamburger gate

with the NCAA kind of handling it. It's like, I must be missing something. My assumption is that they have to have some sort of smoking gun because otherwise, like you said, why would they have been so public about it? It would have been a lot easier to kind of build this case without making it so public now where Michigan can almost get their ducks in a row to prepare for it. So I assume they have to have either footage or they already have this stuff

kind of ready and waiting to go after them. Otherwise, you know, like, they almost kind of cook themselves before they actually went after them. I hope so because if not, this is, you know, Ohio State gets beat twice and now they're going after a veteran, which, you know, I don't like at all. You're talking about Captain Stallings? Yeah. Captain Stallings?

Yeah. Captain Connor Stallings. It's not easy to find a job post. You know what I mean? Not at all. Also, you and I were talking about this. If they are stealing signs, I expect Captain to be a lot smarter about it, not use his own name and his own bank account and everything like that

to buy tickets to these other games. That's what I'm saying. Like, I read people. Like, that's what I try to do. Use a fake name. Exactly. Like, and also, like, his computer, there's no way. He got a heads up that they were going to, you know what I mean?

Like, hey, there's something in the wall. They're talking about our signs. I assume that computer, let's say it does have something on it, that thing's on fire quicker than a New England Patriots. Oh, yeah. That thing is gone before it. So, if they even get a computer, like in my eyes, if this guy's captain and he's the one trying to do this and he's been hired by Michigan,

which is not like, uh, you know, Michigan's supposed to be, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know. It feels like there's a lot of loose ends happening for something that should be pretty buttoned up by the humans that are involved, but they continue to report on it. So I assume there has to be something. Surveillance footage, though, has never let us down in the past. No. No, never. So, never.

It's always like, what, 640p or whatever the hell it is. I mean, you can't see anything on it. I do want to be on record and say, though, I do think that those were the actual signs stolen on the sidelines. You do? They were just waving them around?

You think they were just like, hey, we got them? You think they weren't scared at all? Hey, that's the one the side. You do? They were just waving them around? You think they were just like, hey, we got them. You think they weren't scared at all? Hey, that's the one. Boom. You see? There was another photo in that tweet. There was another photo in that tweet where I think if we were to go to Ben Scott Stevens'

original tweet with this one, there's another photo where there's a bald white going like this. Oh, come on. Of course they hand the sheet to the black guys. I think he potentially, see in my eyes, where there's a bald white going like this, like staring. Of course they hand the sheet to the black guys. I think he potentially, see in my eyes, he was the one giving out signals for his own team. I think that was reminders for his own team. You know what, you changed my mind. I think there's a chance right now.

I think there's a chance right now that we're stealing Michigan signs right now. Like we are currently getting Michigan signs right now from that entire thing. Oh, this comes from Buckeye, Huddle. Go back to that other photo. Low-level staffers usually next to the D.C. on the sidelines. The other way.

Bam, that one. Zoom in. White bald. Who's that guy? He's intently staring. That's Stanford Steve? That does give you a little bit of a, what's that guy so interested in? Huge head, big brain.

I wouldn't be surprised if this guy has a couple signals on some people in there. And it feels like, Michigan, the timing of it. If this goes back to last year, is that probably what they're looking at? Yeah, they said he bought tickets to both sidelines for the Georgia versus Ohio State game. Yeah, that's got to be what they're really pissed about, if it's anything, because they can't be mad about Michigan beating Rutgers by 65 points. We will continue to keep our ear to the ground on the Michigan situation,

but I believe it's going to get thrown in our face a lot because Michigan is Michigan, and they might go on to win it all this year. And this is just going to be dangling over their heads. I don't think that's fair, but if they were using videos, we don't think that's fair either. Excited to see as it rolls on. Joining us now is a man who's a friend of the program. Wildly handsome. Yeah. But don't get rolls on. Joining us now is a man who's a friend of the program. Wildly handsome.

Yeah. But don't get it twisted. He will thump you. Call him the hit man. Last night looked so cool. I don't know if you saw his accessories all blacked out, flying around. Big time win over the San Francisco 49ers in which he had a forced fumble, six tackles, a pass breakup, and the defense picked

off Brock Purdy two times. Guy's only been picked seven times. Ladies and gentlemen, the hitman, Harrison Smith. Thanks for having me back. Hey, real sex appeal today. Wet hair, this is awesome. Straight out of the shower here. I came straight from the massage, so yeah.

Oh, that's oil in there. That's not even, that's oil in there. I'm grimy right now. I'm very grimy. Hey, we appreciate you making time for us on this glorious, victorious Tuesday for you guys. Let's dive right in. Congrats. Hey, let's go.

Life's better when you're winning games. I get that. I know life's a lot better, especially against the Niners. I want to talk about the boom box coming out, okay? Because the Browns did it against the Niners a couple weeks ago. The Browns get a win. You guys come out with it last night, okay, against this Niners team. This is kind of the Niners a couple weeks ago the Browns get a win you guys come out with it last night okay against this Niners team this is kind of the Niners thing have you guys done

this in the past is this a normal Vikings operation yeah we we've done that before we did that last year um honestly I'm always like I'm always pretty late coming out so I didn't even I didn't even notice to be honest but yeah it's just more fun like guys were having fun yesterday from the moment we got there and that's um you just tend to play better when you're loose and you're mixing it up and like we were playing all different genres of music I don't know if you heard Kirk Kirk is into it he's pretty into Creed right now hell yeah um so we had that bump in pre-game before the tunnel uh so yeah it's just we're just trying to keep it loose. I heard there was somebody that said that you actually told somebody that no need for the pregame prayers

because Creed is actually doing our prayers right now. Is that inaccurate? Yeah. Yeah, that was. I get like you could tell the guys were feeling it. I don't I don't think most people even know who Creed is at this point as far as the young guys. Oh, no. But you get the O-line going and Kirk and a few other guys,

it's very popular right now. Well, you're doing the Lord's work, honestly, introducing a next generation to Creed, and we hope Creed survives for the eternity. So shout out to the Vikings doing that. And it's become a song almost, a part of this turn for you guys in this season. When you talk about everybody being loose, you know, this Niners team has been very dominant for a very long time.

The defense obviously hits. The offense is just like methodical and a physical football team. Why do you think you guys are so confident going into the game? Obviously, every team is going to be confident. But what is it about your team right now that last night's expected as opposed to a big deal? Yeah, we kind of the first few games, we just couldn't put it all together. Is it about your team right now that last night's expected as opposed to a big deal? Yeah, we kind of the first few games, we just we couldn't put it all together when the defense needed to make a play.

We weren't making it when the offense needed to. They weren't like it wasn't matching up, but we all we all know what's there. And sometimes when you play like like the Niners are really, really good. They're well coached. They have great players. And they do what they do really well. They're very physical on both sides of the ball. And I think we just kind of took that as a challenge. Like we can show to ourselves more than anybody else that we can be who we think we are. And it was just a good opportunity for us. Well, in prime time, you guys certainly did that.

I don't know if you hear the discussions about you guys, but now all of a sudden, it's not like, hey, we need to trade everybody away. It's like, wait a minute here. Sitting at three and four early in the season, everything's still in front of you guys, right? I assume that's KOC's message? Yeah, that's what's, you know, I mean, that's what's so fun about the league. It is so volatile week to week. You're either the best or you're the worst from the outside looking in. There's so many ups and downs. I've learned even when you're really good, it's never easy. You make one play here or there. You have to enjoy. You have to really enjoy the moments.

enjoy. You have to really enjoy the moments. I think that's what we found yesterday and that's when we play well. When we're all enjoying what we're doing. Man, well the reason why you enjoy it is because you're confident in your work. The reason why you're confident in your work is because the amount of work that you put in beforehand.

How has practice been? What have you learned from this team? You know Justin Jefferson last night and obviously Addison goes bananas. TJ Hawkinson does his thing has there been real growth behind the scenes with your team coming together this year absolutely and that's I don't always see what goes on with the offense um but I think when you you give Kirk you get a run game going you give him some time to do things in the pocket the O-line was fantastic last night.

He's going to find his guys, and he's going to make all the throws. So it's fun to watch when you're sitting over there on defense and you know that you need to match it. And that's kind of how we started out. It didn't start out exactly how we wanted, but we hung in there and just kept fighting, and that's just how you win games in the league. So I think Aaron talked about it on the Manning cast last night, and we've chatted about it numerous times. Like, you're notorious for being a guy that can disguise coverages

and end up being where you need to be whenever the ball moves. I think Palomalu was another guy that has been brought up. Ed Reed. Hey, he's a bad guy, too. He's an incredible football player. He ruined my dreams in front of my family. Nobody ever talks about that. But you're a guy that can disguise really well.

Do you think, like, did you get a good read on Brock Purdy last night? Because Brock Purdy now, and you don't know this, obviously you're just paying attention to your team, but 16 games he's been a starter, okay, 16 of them. He has seven picks in all of them. Four of them came in the first 14 games. Three in the last two games. So last night, you guys had two picks in the final five minutes. Huge. Bynum

got both of them. Shout out. Let's get his lady. Let's get his lady here. Let's get her here. There has to be some congressman in Minnesota over there. Or congresswoman over there in Minnesota.

This guy's getting two picks on Brock Purdy. Come on. Monday Night Football for the Vikings. We can't get his wife into the United States of America? Come on. She's only going to be here a few months anyways. He goes back to the Philippines after the season. We're just asking for a couple months.

90 days. 120 days. I think these two picks deserve that. Yeah. That's no problem. That's how you use the platform for good things. You know what I mean? What if we get Bond?

We love love. Love, love, love. We love love around here. Was there something, though, like to when you're disguising a young quarterback like Purdy? Obviously, he's been very good. But is there a little bit more gamesmanship from you whenever you know you could potentially get somebody?

I try to think there is. I don't know if there always is or there isn't based on how they've prepared and what they're told to look at and whatnot. I've kind of noticed more so the veteran quarterbacks. There's literally eye contact before the play, normally to backside safeties and whatnot. And so that is kind of a fun personal game. But the Niners are really good at what they do,

so they're going to do what they do. And you just, as far as knowing that going into the game, there was some plays I wish I would have disguised differently or played differently, but there were some other ones that were good. You kind of figure it out as the game goes on and feel it. No Trent Williams. Obviously a tone setter for them. I think

that was probably good news for the entire defense. Whenever you guys read, he was out? Yeah. I mean, you hate to play teams without their guys, but that guy is a guy. When he's not on the field, you feel a little safer.

When he gets his paws on you, you're pretty much done for the play, especially a guy of my stature. When I played him in the past, it's almost like, once he gets you, maybe just shut it down for that play and save your energy. I'm going to get off. No, you're not no you're not no you are yeah i understand that and we hope he gets healthy

trent we hope trent we love watching but how about shanahan putting his ass in motion okay not only is he he's going in motion against people i mean it's like weapon yeah yeah yeah i wouldn't be surprised if they got him involved in some sort of throwback pass game lateral at some point. Because I'm pretty sure he can run like four or five. Geez. No Debo as well? I mean, listen, every team is without people. But last night, it felt like you guys smothered that offense.

And it hasn't been seen much, especially in the Brock Purdy era. Speaking of your defense, go ahead, Debo. Yeah, you just talked about the Niners doing what they do. You guys have kind of put that identity on tape, too too as a defense doing what you do blitzing more than anybody i know i would hate that as a corner but uh it seems like you guys the defense definitely coming into your own what's it been like in this flores defense as the season has kind of matured it's um it's been i don't know if i said this last time i was on it's been a learning experience for me and i've obviously been around the block and we're doing some stuff i've never even heard

of um and it's it's a lot of fun and even though like as a corner you think like man we're blitzing all the time yeah the way that we do it you don't always feel that way uh so it keeps it to where like it's not too much throughout the game and i think flo has done a good job of feeling out us as players and what we respond to and like if we're gonna play stuff aggressively or not can we call this or that based on how guys are are like personally playing yeah so it's been a it's been a good learning experience and evolving kind of collective thing going on and it's going to keep it's going to keep evolving each week that's what's fun about it like we can do different stuff every week um just the way that our personnel is built and and and the way flow calls stuff

so you guys are nowhere near your peak huh that's what it sounds like um i mean we're just yeah we're just we're like an amoeba we just try to just be what we need to be uh it's it's a lot of fun yeah we're we're wiggly yeah yeah i like wirey i like that hey how about what duck duck goose the worm last night limbo was happening last night. Feels like your team has a good time as an amoeba, though. You know what I mean? Yeah, so we didn't have any celebration plans. I was late for that one.

Oh, no. Oh, no. It's hard to get to everyone. Save your energy. No, but once we appointed Najee, one of our rookies, as the celebration coordinator, we started getting the turnovers. It's just like it's one of those things. The more you anticipate, the more you talk about it, it starts happening.

That's manifesting. That worm used to be the thing back in the day. And then old Cuz there, 40, can only do it backwards. Had a couple of those friends as well. He took off the different direction. There's a celebration coordinator now for the Minnesota Vikings. Yes. I don't know if I'm supposed to say that or not, but yes.

You just beat the Niners, bud. You can say whatever the hell. You can say whatever the hell you want. Tone has a question for you. Yeah, Harrison, what part of the game plan or was it planned and did you purposely hit Kittle in the crotch to affect him for the rest of the game man that's my guy too right after and like that's really the only place I can hit him now exactly or you'll get suspended for four games yeah and I'm trying to I'm trying to keep

my head out of it um yeah like right when I got up he was like man you hit me right here I was like I'm I'm honestly sorry about that but like I, you hit me right here. I was like, I'm honestly sorry about that. But like, I was like, I'm sorry, but I have to. Like, I have to. There's no other option. So let's talk about Kareem Jackson getting suspended. Do you feel, because you're the hitman, like, your nickname's sick. Like, that is a sweet nickname.

And I think since you, you said you've been around the block. How many years are you in the league now? This is 12. Okay. So back whenever you got into the league, when you were just a young baby face, not with a bunch of oil over your hair, fresh out of the saw, you know, no kids in the back, right?

Heard that. It was, hey, Rydell to the jaw. Like, hey, that is how we are hitting. That is a strategy. That is a technique. That's what's getting promoted by the NFL. You've had to evolve now, and congrats on being able to do that. There's some guys, though, that lay the hammer still.

And like Kareem Jackson just got suspended for four games. His hit against Thomas, I think certainly something in the end zone where he basically torpedoes himself at Thomas' jaw like an old-school hit. This one, like that guy's falling, going down, certainly a hard hit. But like suspended four games, that's a lot of money. That's a lot of everything for a guy whenever you're talking about a 17-game season. How conscientious of all that are you while in the middle of playing,

and how do you kind of set it to the side knowing what the modern NFL is? It's built into my mindset now. As you mentioned, when I was young, I was reckless. I got a $24,000 fine in the third preseason game my rookie year. I hit over the middle. Did not lower it because it was egregious, to be honest. Then I got fined a few other times, kicked out of a couple games. Why?

I didn't want to change because that's what football was to me. The first Super Bowl I remember was Steve Atwater taken out he took out a receiver on the on the Packers and like his own corner and himself and it was like so it was like it was awesome back then and now it's like there's no place for it so you have to like you have to build that in and already try to lower your target take your head out of it and the reality is that safety if you're playing aggressively and hard there's going to be some plays that are unfortunate and they happen and as long as i'm trying to play within the rules and if they do happen that in my opinion playing safety in today is is just it's gonna happen but if you can if you can

try to avoid it beforehand and train yourself and practice like you're not gonna hit guys but you're thinking like lower lower head up out of it you just gotta do the best you can because it's bang bang i think intent should be kind of taken into account you know what i mean like i think we can tell your guys's intent now you're all maniacs all you that you know play that position and hit that like cream that people call him a dirty player now obviously that's going to happen whenever you're hitting people and you get suspended for four games four hits let's also applaud the fact that that dude is just you know willing to just send it he's just he's so fun to watch he's so fun to watch he's flying around.

He might be the only safety older than me at this point. So he grew up like I grew up. We were headhunting back in the day. That's what it was. And it's hard to change your concept of what football is. But you just have to. That's what the game is now. Game's the game's growing i appreciate it i respect it but whenever you expect everybody to do everything perfect at 20 some miles an hour whenever people are falling and moving

i think that's unrealistic expectation but i appreciate that you're like yeah i try but you're gonna get fined that's just pretty much like, hey, if we negotiate the deal, it's at this much. We need to take into account probably about $100,000 worth of fines with the way I play. That's basically what I told Nick Mullins this week. We were talking about that. That's basically what I told him. I was like, before the season, I already think like I'm probably going to be a little lighter at the end of the season. Not on purpose,

but if it's the cost of doing business, I'm going to try my best, but we'll see what happens. But we have to let it be known, you're not trying to hurt anybody. That is the big thing. No, no, no. No, no, no. When receivers are blocking me and a pile's coming up, I'm always like, hey, look out, look out, look out.

I'm not trying to... No, that's not what it is anymore. It's just there has to be some advantage for defense at some point and physicality. No, it's not happening. You're never getting it. I know, but I can't give it fully up. Yeah, yeah, well, you need to. Yeah, those days are gone.

You're getting no advantage at all, pal. Disadvantage is coming right down the pipe. And guess what's around the bend? More disadvantages. Boom. And then also going to get rid of the kickoff. Fair catch to start Monday Night Football. Gross.

Did you see that? Have you guys fair? You guys were the ones who did it. They did. Harrison, can't happen. You hear me? They said he has a green light, too. Wow.

Green light whenever. I have a thing because guys in the league don't even don't even know those rules yet sometimes and uh so when we saw that we were like wait wait what is that like you can you can forget you in the field yeah yeah look at you he's laughing roger this is what it is you can't do this let's move along we don't need to have this whole conversation sidetracked he has an off day he's taking time with us but you need to relay the message back to that building that we need not see this. The Titans did it. Indianapolis Colts did it.

The Vikings did it. Fighting a losing fight, bud. You guys don't even know. They take this away. What's next? You're talking about disadvantages for the defense. They take that away. What's next? It just never stops. Hungry, hungry hippo. With football. We can't have it. Take a stand all right

that's for me not for you ty is a question for you harrison harrison in terms of tone setting how important is it to have a play like you had last night with mccaffrey after kirk throws the interception and you force that fumble in the red zone obviously he still had a pretty good night scores two touchdowns but the way he's been playing so far this year where he's kind of just had his way with teams and run all over them. How important is it to kind of hit him like that early, force a fumble, and kind of just let him know, hey, it's not going to be easy sledding all night? Yeah, that's big, and that's something that we've focused on

because it's not always going to be perfect. The offense had a turnover early, and instead of being like, oh, no, pointing fingers, whatever, it's just, all right, let's just go. Let's go make something happen over there. So that's a big part of the game, and that's something that's changed too is constantly punching at the ball. That wasn't something that I grew up learning. So I've kind of learned that over the years,

watching Peanut Tillman and everybody after him, like Fred Warner. I think their defense was punching all night. We were punching all night. It's kind of an art form in itself that you've got to get used to as you're running. And that's something that's very fun to watch around the league each week. Like Darius Leonard or Shaq Leonard, he's one of the best at it. So you can learn from other guys.

You've taken boxing classes to kind of get more precise because you punch an elbow, could be broken fist. You punch a helmet, could be broken knuckle. Do you do any practice on your punching? I do. I have a heavy bag in my garage. I'm not trying to act like I'm Mr. Boxer or whatever, but I've done a little bit of training in the past.

It's not about the haymaker shots. It's more like the jabs that seem to be more effective. Sometimes kind of the hammer from behind, stuff like that works well. But the quick little right on the balls are nice. You need to get Zbikowski in there working with you. You know what I mean? Man, I know. He could give some serious tips.

Hey, he was awesome. I got a chance to be teammates with him for like two years. He was awesome. Absolute legend. And sold out Madison Square Garden in college. Knocked the guy out. What a stud. Absolute stud. Last question here for you, man. We appreciate you from Conner. Yeah, Harrison.

Short week, obviously, with Monday Night Football and your division opponent in the Packers coming up. What's the preparation like this week? Obviously, probably pretty nice to look over and see a number 10 and not a number 12 playing quarterback like there was in the past. But is it easier for these type of games just because you're so familiar with the Packers, or what's the week look like for you?

Today's an off day, so we'll get the start of the game plan tomorrow. But I would say I have some familiarity with the scheme and, and you know, those things just playing in Lambeau, the whole, the whole vibe there. It's, it's always an awesome atmosphere.

So just kind of knowing like what to expect as far as kind of the human aspects of it. And then, yeah, there's some, you know, there's familiarity, but there's always wrinkles and we'll see what see what flow has dialed up for us.

Hey, you guys have been rolling. It's been fun to watch. Primetime Kirk Cousins gets a big-time dub. There's no longer conversations about everybody on your team being traded away. That's good news. We got positive stuff rolling, and you just had a massage, and now you got to rest your day off. We appreciate the hell out of you, man.

Likewise. Thank you very much. Hey, let's stop cheap appreciate the hell out of you, Hitman. Likewise. Thank you very much. Hey, let's stop cheap-shotting people, huh? Safeties? Yeah. Let's try to keep it within the rules. Where is it? Here? I think it's... No, you've got to lower that. Because your head's going to slide up.

If you hit here, you're going to slide. You've got to be almost waistline. It's kind of a... So what you did to George Kittle was on purpose. Yeah, that's what I thought. Ladies and gentlemen, you hit him right where you wanted. Yep. Not so.

Find him, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry, George. I'm sorry. Yeah, that's not what I heard. Harrison Smith. That's right. Hey, thanks, buddy. That's awesome.

Hey, you're actually, because your helmet was slide. Yep. You are aiming for the dick. Yeah, I have to. Dong shots. How about that? You know what I mean? I mean, that was that video of George Kittle

then immediately going, right in my... Like, that is right out of a movie, you know? And then Harrison on the ground saying, I'm sorry, buddy. What do you want from me? It's the only place I can go. I'm so sorry. And look at the old buddies laughing at it in his face.

Yeah. Football's the greatest, dude. It is. It is the absolute greatest. How about him saying like the veteran quarterbacks making eye contact with him before the snap? Like, all right, where do you want to do your little stop and dance?

Because what he does is not normal, right? He is at a different level of disguise and he has the freedom to be able to do that. I'd be pumped to hear how B-Flow thought of that at the beginning and where they're at now and how much more they can grow with that. Yeah, coaches love players because he's basically another coach on the field he can come back to that sideline and give so much information to the coach and that'll help him uh dial it up

and i love what he said about kind of flow you know being in tune with how his different individual players are playing especially in a system like that where they're blitzing like 60 percent of the time which is um which is nuts but But Harrison has always been on a different level. And you definitely know like the Aaron Rodgers of the world, they'll take that peek at you. You know kind of as a safety when you got them too because sometimes they kind of take that last snapshot. Actually, Bynum on his last pick,

he kind of gave Purdy some fake shoulders to this way and then came back and picked it off. Oh, good day. Not his first pick, I'm sorry. So, yeah, it's always some gamesmanship back there. It's fascinating because Brock Purdy's expectations are so high because of how he's played and then granted he's already getting talked about how like anybody could do what he's doing that's how good he was doing so whenever he has a couple of those moments where he either gets fooled or he misses somebody it's like a surprise oh and that's a compliment to brock pretty i know

it doesn't sound like it the way people are probably talking about him right now. Oh, he's ordinary. He's looking normal. It's like, well, the reason why they're saying that is because of how damn good you did look for a long time and how surprised all of us that have been around the NFL have been with how good he's been. The decision-making, the accuracy, the moxie, the in-the-face of trouble, just bending it around people. Like, everything he's done has been great. The Minnesota Vikings defense made him look a certain way last night although he still had massive throws without

debo without trent williams christian mccaffrey still had two touchdowns which goes to 16 straight games where he scored and it's like it was a good game last night for both teams i came out of there on the other side of it going that's a tough loss for the niners because later whenever we're talking home field advantage that's gonna be a real one that they are gonna say we didn't play our best game should have could have got a win just like they did against the browns and on the flip side it's like wait a minute the football gods kind of blessing the vikings again because at the beginning of the season the football gods kind of uh shunned them out of the football existence and everything that could go against them did last night it went the other way and it felt like the vikings finally

are kind of in that b-flow system and comfortable. Like, if anything, it's now where they're kind of hitting their stride because they had to figure out what the whole entire defense was going to be like with B-flow because it's his first year. But with all of that happening, the Niners obviously still going to be okay. But if you're the Vikings, you definitely

think you can go on a run and go to the finals. Why not? Yeah, absolutely. Why not? Defense is only going to get better. Kirk Cousins is continuing to get better. Justin Jefferson will be back in a couple weeks. Madison had that big run on first play of the game. Best game he's had. Here we go.

Minnesota Vikings are back, Jack. Here we go. Addison kind of had his coming out party last night. He can be the guy who can kind of right the ship while Jefferson is out. Hawkinson is still a beast. Vikings might go on a little tear here. I did appreciate Joe Buck being like, Kevin O'Connell cheating in a week seven Monday night football game?

Yeah, of course. We caught him. We told him to go down. It's like they're saying that so that, like, hey, don't feel like you've got to rush it. Like, we've got nothing but time. We've got nothing but time for you right now. You can put your team in a bad situation if you're trying to hobble out there get down

let's figure this out and also tj in a situation you have no idea like hey you're obviously in pain right now like just just sit down just sit down is a man who's a college football national champion a super bowl champion whoa the all-time leading tackler for the green bay packers a man who's a college football national champion, a Super Bowl champion, the all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, a man who's the president of Ohio currently, and also broke down how and why Tommy Eichenberg and that Ohio State defense would stop the Penn State offense to absolute perfection.

Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Hawk. Nobody's talking about that, A.J. We like to do follow-ups on things around here. Yeah. We like to do follow-ups on things around here. Yeah, we like to do follow-ups, especially when our predictions are correct. So yeah, I appreciate that. Boom! Call that sports media. Whenever we're right, we need to at least let people know about

it. You nailed it on game day. AJ was with a stick, with a pointer. Let's go, AJ! At or behind the line of scrimmage. Yeah, you're right. At or behind the line of scrimmage. It's all it takes. And that's why that defense was able to shut the Penn State offense down, you know, for the most part.

Not completely, but for the most part. He didn't really score. What happened there? Did something fly in your mouth? Got something on my lip. What is this? It's your jaw. Is it?

It's part of a cigar. You're in Ohio, dude. Oh, you're too old. Part of a cigar, I think. Maybe a piece of the rubber jaw exercise thing. Yeah, maybe. Oh, no. Chewed through. Maybe a piece of the rubber Jawsercise thing. Yeah, maybe you chewed through it. Those are intact still. Those are still doing great. Shout out Foss, too. I know Foss is using one. Yeah, Foss

was quoted in Washington Post today. Way to go, Foss. Thanks for putting your name on it, Foss, as opposed to all his other cards. We appreciate you, pal. Let's talk about the game last night, shall we? Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers. This is two weeks in a row now where the Niners, two games in a row,

where the Niners haven't looked like the Niners that we have become customed to watch. And also, Browns come out with a boom box. Vikings come out with a boom box. That's before the game. You know, that's not after the game. That's before the game. I said on first take earlier, it feels as if the fear that people have had playing against the Niners is kind of gone.

It's kind of disappeared a little bit over these last couple weeks. What do you think the Niners look like in the future, and what did you learn about the Vikings last night? I mean, I definitely feel like the Vikings, a lot of people had kind of written them off like they had no chance. They're going to sell everybody at the deadline and try to figure things out for next year. It seems like the narrative has changed a lot because of what the vikings were able to do against the niners i understand trump williams was not playing but they forced

brock purdy and made him feel uncomfortable made him throw a few picks what three turnovers for san francisco so yeah whenever you do that it's tough to win and with that being said san francisco still had a chance to win that game yeah and just like they did they did in Cleveland. They played terrible in Cleveland. Brock Purdy had the ball slipping out, had his first pick in a while this season, I think, in that game. And towards the end, if Moody makes that kick, which is a tough kick, especially in Cleveland, they get a win and they slip by. Last night,

they were driving. Still could have came down, won that game. All you need is one more play. And it's like, that is how talented that team is. Hembo sent me some stats on the roster construction of the San Francisco 49ers. They have the highest paid average per year at edge with Bosa. They have the highest paid average per year running back with McCaffrey.

They have the number three highest pay per year at tight end with Kittle and number three highest paid per year for Warner. Number three offensive line with Trent, even though he's out. Number 60 tackle with Hargrave. Number seven highest paid with Samuel. I mean, it's like they haven't had a top 60 draft pick in two years. They are incredibly top heavy and all in. So whenever we see these types of things, I think it makes us all go, wait a minute.

Is this team going to be able to win a Super Bowl like they're hoping to do? Obviously, those are good expectations to have as opposed to what the Colts' expectations are, what the Patriots' expectations are, what the Packers' are. So these are Cadillac problems, as Kelsey Plum describes it. But did you see something last night from the Niners that makes you think maybe they're not going to win a Super Bowl this year even though they're built to maybe do that? No, they would still be in that four or five teams right now

that we would expect to go on a run or potentially go on a run and win the Super Bowl. Defensively, they had to turn over early, but they lead the league, I believe, in interceptions and they were top of the league in turnover margin as well. So that's a great recipe for success for any team. So the Vikings were able to sustain drives, but this week showed you it's not a big margin of error when it comes to NFL teams. I don't care what your record is.

Every Sunday, you got to go out there and put your best shit on tape. Everybody's getting paid to play ball. Some people are getting paid to talk about ball. That is us and the man joining us right now. Ladies and gentlemen, he is a four-time NFL MVP, a Super Bowl champion, the founder of the second largest book club in the history of book clubs. Ladies and gentlemen, I think. We don't know if that's accurate.

Who's first? Oprah. Who's number one? Oprah. Oprah's at it pretty sure. And then the Bible. So maybe third. That's all she was working on.

The Bible isn't a book club. I guess. Maybe. It's a book club. I don't know. A lot of different versions. All the hotels. People read about it and they talk about it, what they read about it.

And there's sub clubs of the big book club. Church itself would kind of be the book club. So maybe the third largest. Well, there's a lot of churches. Yeah, second excluding religion. Let's exclude religion. Exclude religion. Excluding religion.

Church and state here. Okay, second large. Well, cults. Yeah, what about cults? Well, what do you call a cult i guess we're the leader women and children here brother between religion is politics okay i mean we'd all be drunk appreciate you d but anyways

massive book club founder yeah big club ladies and gentlemen aaron rogers we don't know where we rank we don't know where we just try to figure it out massive book club founder. Big club. Ladies and gentlemen, Aaron Rodgers. We don't know where we rank. We just try to figure it out. It's not easy, Eric. It's not easy to figure out. You know? There's a few good ones. I think it's almost time to start the third season of it.

Whoa! You know the first one's going to be we're going to start off with a bang. Yeah, I could imagine. I feel like there is, there's been some choices in the book club that have certainly been a part of some narratives or storylines that are happening in real time in a lot of lives. So I'm excited to hear what the first one is. Also excited to have you back on this week. How do we feel? Have we made any progress since the last time we chatted on the Achilles? Are you getting back for the game this weekend?

Where are we as we sit on this October 24th with you, Aaron? Yeah, it's been a tough week of rehab. It's been kind of smaller games. I think when you get to a certain point, you're not maybe having the jumps that I did early on where you're out of a cat and you're out of a boot and then you're in a shoe and you're up in the percentage in the Alter-G. It's been more of a grind in the last week or so, but a lot of good things we're trending towards.

It's just a matter of trying to get down to 100% walking as far as it looking normal. And then after that, then there's progressions. I think that'll maybe start to take a bigger jump. But once I can get to walking normal in a shoe, which is close, really close, then make a jump. And yeah, I invited Eli last night to do a little, play a little catch with me maybe on Sunday. So, plan on being back for our game as the road team

at MetLife. But, yeah, excited. I miss the guys. So, excited to see the guys. Yeah, so, obviously, you were great on the Manning cast last night. Sounded good, too. You know what I mean? There's a lot of things that are going to be said about the sound, the way you sounded.

I thought it sounded great. Spot on. Had a little T-Pain reverb on it a little. Ow, wow, wow, when you were breaking it down. Then it went all the way the different direction, you know, had a little bass in your voice. And then he came down in there in between. Thought you did fantastic on there. We're pumped to watch. Yeah. You know, they were in my ear going, you sound like a robot. And I said, does that mean I'm monotone and boring or what are you talking about? It's another go get some headphones. I got I'll go get, I'll go get my headphones that I've taken some crap for,

my old school ones, you know, no EMF. So I had to go get the headphones, and I think things cleared up a little bit. But I enjoy being on with those guys. Those guys, it's high-level stuff. I mean, they're funny and, you know, great dad jokes. But when it comes to football knowledge, both those guys really know what they're talking about. And the stuff that they pick up on is the stuff that I see when I'm watching the game.

So it's fun to be on with them and talk about this. Something crazy stuff happens. Addison gets picked off on a ball he maybe could have caught on the first throw of the game. Then he rips the ball out of Ward's hands at the end of the first half. I mean, that was a pretty cool moment. Yeah, and I think that was one of the things, and we enjoy the hell out of the Manning cast as well. They got some augmented reality.

I mean, he's got some real technologically advanced stuff over there that they got. And he had his kid, Moseley, and his friends lining up and doing the whole thing. And obviously the conversations with the guests are good. But, like, the story about Kirk Cousins going back to Addison, whenever Addison, like the way Peyton broke that down is like, Addison can't let Ward pick that ball off.

Like there is no way that can happen. And Kirk Cousins goes right back to him. Like, hey, got to build his confidence. That means a lot coming from like you guys. And is that the type of stuff that you're talking about that they pick up on that maybe other media people wouldn't and that you relate to? Well, it's that, and then it's, you know, and they got the information from Kirk, obviously,

but just that little thing about, hey, Bosa's out of the game. Now there's these other 10 plays we like. And it's not all passes. It's not all like down to foot passes, but it might be a certain run. You know, if Bosa's, you know, you got to figure out, do you want to run at him and double team the whole time, or do you want to run away from him and run at him and double team the whole time but you don't want to run away from them and worry about him and been wreaking havoc on the backside but there might be some

plays we're like oh hey boss is out that means we feel better about a keeper back to his side we feel better about a seven-step part action taking a shot down the field because he's just a game wrecker and I think this is cool things like that it's cool for the average fan it's cool for Bosa to go back and feel like, oh, you know, I'm kind of a stud here. Like, they really do this shit? And it's like, yeah, they do. I mean, literally, when a guy is that big of a game rocker

like him and Aaron Donald and Miles Garrett, who's had an incredible game this weekend, there's a few guys in the league, and I'm omitting, I'm just talking about those three guys, but there's other guys that are obviously really important. You guys just had a guy on in Harrison Smith who was one of those type of guys where before every play, you've got to kind of figure out where 22's at because he's such a great disguiser.

He does so much before the snap every play. You kind of need to be aware. There's checks that we used to have based on his pre-snap alignment. And then there's, like I said last time in the game, there's some things you try and get a beat on their pressure brackets back in, you know, 15 through, or, you know, what was the first year in the league? I think his first year was 12, 12 through whatever, you know, Mike Zimmer was there.

You'd come up with these things like, I know what's going to happen. You know, as long as if Barr is here and he's here and Kendrick is over there and, you know, captain's on the edge, we know this pressure's coming every time and it never – they would do their own self scout. So – but those three guys I mentioned, those three guys on the front, every game you play in one of them, you know, okay, if this guy comes off the field, then there's ten other plays

that we can only run with Myles Garrett off the field or with Aaron Donald off the field or with Nick Bosa off the field. And to those guys' credits, there's not many plays where they're off the field. Those are on the field. They're absolute game-wreckers. That's what I was about to say about Miles Garrett. I don't remember a single play where I was watching because we got to be there and watch what he did to the Colts,

and it was like, first of all, what is that? How? How is that allowed to be built that way? You know what I mean? How is he 270, faster, stronger, jumps higher, and seemingly football IQ through the roof? But, like, that Bosa thing that they were talking about, as soon as Peyton brought it up, Bosa went to the sideline,

and he started, like, all right, here's the time, here's the time. I didn't know that it was as simple as that at the NFL level. So, like, I think that type of detail you appreciate because it's like, hey, yeah, we all do that. But as fans, it's like, yeah, that makes sense. Like, yeah, if this guy's off the field,'s take advantage of let's go back to your rehab though let's stay away from that you're walking now are we using crutches at all are you walking now what you you got a bad like a limp what's going on i'm not walking without a limp yet but but uh

i was joking with uh with my rehab folks and with Doc. When I was flying back for the game on the 15th, I had assumed that I'd left my crutches in the car. And by the time I got to the airport, there were no crutches in the car. And I felt like that was kind of a sign, like, okay, you're done with the crutches. So I haven't been on crutches since that day. But I don't quite have the strength in my calf to be able to walk without a limp yet. And again, you know, based on normal timetables, you know, I have to have some perspective here because I'm not on a normal protocol. However, I'm competitive and I want to be walking without a limp. And so there's some frustration when you're

not quite all the way there yet so did you get crutches stolen out of your car and that was the sign that you shouldn't use crutches anymore is that how this I put them in my house in in uh kind of not on purpose but kind of hidden in the living room behind the door. And when I left the house, I'm able to walk, you know, with a slight limp. But I assumed from the day before from rehab, I'd maybe just left them in the car. And instead, they were kind of behind the door. So we left, went to the airport, taking stuff off the car, and I was like, oh, there's no crutches here. So I was like, okay, that's kind of apropos.

That means I'm done with crutches, so. Thank the universe, huh? Universe is letting you know, hey, we've moved past the crutches. Remember what you did? You hit them from yourself. Let's go ahead, and it's working out. I love everything about that.

I don't know how, like, I can't wait to hear the internet doctors break down what just happened right there. I cannot wait to about that. I don't know how, like, I can't wait to hear the internet doctors break down what just happened right there. I cannot wait to hear that. AJ, go ahead, pal. What does it feel like, honestly, like your Achilles? You say you feel like your calf doesn't have the strength yet to walk without a limp. Does your Achilles, is it like shooting pain?

Does it just feel weak? And is it like anything you've ever felt before? I mean, I've had some injuries, some frustrated injuries. Obviously, I did an ACL and had some knee recoveries. I had a Jones fracture. Then upper body, obviously, I had the collarbones, one with surgery, one without. This is a tough rehab for sure

because there's just so many little muscles that you kind of got to re-wake up. And it's not just the calf muscles and the tibia muscle muscles and the foot muscles. Just everything kind of needs to work as a unit. So you're kind of trying to teach the fibers to fire at the appropriate time. And you got to be careful walking too much uh with a limp because you're going to start adjusting to certain things and that's why we do so much work on the ultra g

walking at a lower body percentage to try and retrain yourself to have the proper gait what is that to be able to get everything firing at the same at the same time and to not have you know because i'm if i get to a walking point where i can walk kind of normal but it has this weird kind of limp and maybe the timing is off it's gonna take time to recover from that so we're trying to get to a perfect gate at a lower percentage and then and then get everything firing eventually at a hundred percent and we're getting close it's just there's the muscles kind of around the Achilles or obviously straining to to to balance for the Achilles are obviously straining to balance for the Achilles, which isn't obviously 100% at this point.

So there's some strain on them. But, you know, the surgery that I got, I feel great about what Doc did, the protection that my Achilles has, and the ability to push the rehab. Again, you know, I've said this, and I think it's been slightly misquoted so i'll be as enunciate as well as i can no the goal is not to stretch the achilles the goal is to stress the achilles and the more you can stress the achilles and uh you're gonna allow that thing to heal up the proper way to turn on the muscles around the achilles, in the calf especially, and be able to get back to doing some more normal things. I'm mind blown that you just forgot your crutches and said, you know what?

Yeah, I'm not using them anymore. Done. That is awesome. I want to let you know. Well, look, listen, I wasn't going to anyway. I wasn't going to walk on the field with crutches again. I did that October 1st. October 15th was about throwing and walking on the field with crutches again. I did that October 1st. October 15th was about throwing and walking on the field without crutches.

So I wasn't going to do that, but it would have helped me get along, you know, maybe in the long hallway of the facility there at one Jets drive. But I managed. Hey, let's go. Let's keep moving. Let's keep moving. Jets coming off. How are you doing?

Hey, how are you doing? Keep it moving. Jets coming off a bye. Obviously, all this rehab and everything to get back earlier than any human in the history of an Achilles injury and the universe saying, yeah, we're moving on to the next stage of this whole thing, is for you to return this season. That's whatever the people are hoping for.

I believe that is, in your deep soul, what you're hoping for as well, even though we're not putting timing on anything. For that to happen, Jets have to still be in contention, we would assume, with a sound mind. That is how you would do it. How do you feel like the team is going to respond after the bye week, and what do you think the team is going to look like against this Giants team? Well, the Giants are coming off a win against the Commanders.

Their defense has been playing, I think, a little bit better the last few weeks. They definitely got to feel good about that. I know Tyrod. I've known him for a long time. You know, I think he's a phenomenal guy, and I think he's played really well over the years when he's gotten opportunities. They lost a tough one against Buffalo with some controversy, obviously, in the game, which there's always controversy in games, which we can bring up once Ty asks me his question. But I think they've been playing a little bit better on defense. There's always controversy in games, which we can bring up once Ty asks me this question.

But I think they've been playing a little bit better on defense. And, you know, they had some issues with some sacks, you know, early on in the season and some turnovers. And like us, we've been playing better because we've been better up front. We've run the ball well. Jack's been taking care of the football. We haven't had, I don't think, maybe just one turnover in the last couple weeks, which has helped us. So, bi-week was good for us to get some guys healthy.

We've had a couple guys banged up, especially in the secondary, with E.J. Reed and Sauce dealing with some issues. And Echols obviously had a, and Hardy are dealing with some lower body stuff that hopefully they'll be back from. So we were without our top four corners on, on paper and came up with a big win. So getting healthy was actually good for us to have an early bye week and we'll see, you know, we'll see where we're at this week.

I think a lot of guys are going to be back, which will be great. Obviously, it's a big game. We're the road team, kind of in our own stadium, which is kind of strange. Thankfully, we have our own locker room, I believe, that we still use. I think there's three locker rooms there. There's ours, there's the Giants, and there's our away team. But, yeah, it'll be fun to get back in there. I know it'll be painted blue, but there'll be a lot of green in the stands.

Well, whenever you and Eli are playing catch before the game, that's going to be a clash of the two sides. Oh, yeah. You know, because he is Giants royalty. You are now Jets royalty. Should I zing a couple at them? Let's make sure we win that game of catch. You know what I mean?

I didn't know that playing catch was like a competition. And then I played catch with Odell Beckham Jr. at the Pro Bowl warm-ups. He won. You know what I mean? He won the game of catch with me. I mean, the things he was doing was absurd. I'm like, I had no idea that this was a – you need to beat him, okay, in this game of catch, Aaron.

Okay, I will. Set the tone. You know what I mean? We need to set the tone for the night with that game of catch with Eli Manning. I'll throw a couple zingers at him. And also maybe one of these. You know what I mean? We need to set the tone for the night with that game of catch with Eli Manning. I'll throw a couple zingers at him. And also maybe one of these. Like a snag. A couple one-handers.

Yeah. Yeah, something to think about. So I got to show him up. That's what you're saying. I really got to show him up. Yeah, Eli will love that too. Eli won't be throwing it going, what the is this guy doing? I thought we were just having a little fun.

It'll be a blast. DeeBone has a question for you, Aaron. It's been a lot of talk in the football world about sign stealing lately, and obviously you're one of those quarterbacks notorious for using a bunch of signs with your receivers, you know, as well as Peyton and a lot of the other great quarterbacks. Interested if you have any stories of any elaborate schemes against your signs, and is there a certain level of paranoia with that when it comes to our quarterbacks and teams when it comes to signs and things like that?

Yeah, DB, great question. I was in the old system, in the old NFL before there was a headset, a microphone in the defensive headset. So stealing signals is always a part of what was going on. And there were, you know, certain guys over the years who had that as a responsibility. I know in college, I mean, I just know actually reading the stories this week,

I didn't realize that you weren't allowed to do like advanced scouting and sending guys to another place to scout on them. I find that very interesting, different. But, you know, whatever. That's the NCAA's rules. The NFL has been going on forever and there's always sign stealing that's gone on. It's part of competitive advantage, I think. I think that there is

one thing to think about. Number one, you have to get the signal right. You have to see a signal. In college, it seems like there's four or five guys signaling. Now, maybe they know based on a shirt color. One guy's wearing a yellow shirt. One guy's got a red shirt. One guy's got a green shirt.

They can figure out who's the one actually doing the real signaling. I would assume that the team would want to be careful and have multiple guys signaling. It could be the live guy or it could not be. But, listen, you've got to know what the signal is first. Then you've got to relay it. Then you've got to go make the play. So there's a lot that goes on.

It's not just like blanket, like, oh, my God, they got the signal. What a great advantage it is. It's like, well, you've still got to go out and execute. I might look at a secondary guy, and he gets a signal that I know for a fact means cover four. And then we got to still go out. And even if I check to a cover four beater and out in the post to two receivers side, I got to drop back. We got to block him up. Then I got to get that safety cover four guy.

He needs to do what I need him to do. You need to jump that out route. And then I need to throw the post. My post guy has got to win on the outside. Then I've got to throw a perfect ball, and he's got to make the catch. If anybody has anything different, if I get sacked, pressured, safety doesn't jump him, who gives a shit if you know what the signal is? So I think it's a little more intricate than just like, oh, my gosh,

what a scandal. Now, in college football with the rules, and I read the article yesterday about how many different games that this person was going to, and they were sitting one side and the other side. It seems like there was some sort of elaborate scheme that was going on. But you still got to execute it. It's like when the New England filled the walkthrough of what Carolina or the Rams, one of those years, right, in the Super Bowl? Yep.

What does that actually do? You know what some of the plays are? Watch cheating. It's cheating, Aaron. I'm not saying it's not. There's some questionable ethic things about it for sure. But you still got to go out and execute and be able to react in the moment. Oh, my God.

They're in this formation, which means they're going to run this and be able to react in the moment. Oh my God, they're in this formation, which means they're going to run this and echo it to everybody on the team. And then they're, you know, and then hope that they're going to do any sort of adjustments to that specific play. So there's a lot that goes in. There's a lot. It's not just so cut and dry, like cheater. They know every play. That's why they stopped them. It's like, well, there's a little bit more to it than just that.

We're all very confused and they're assuming that there's going to be some video that is going to be released to the public. And they're saying like, because your point ethically and morally, I think that has been, that's why the New England thing was such a big deal. Because like everybody's trying to steal signs. But if they were recording and then breaking down, digesting, having it. And then you got Ernie Sims there as well, who's supposed to be this super genius. It feels like everybody just got mad to the level in which they went. It feels like that's the same conversation with Michigan. I don't know.

It just feels like that's probably what it's going to be. But that's not been proven at all. There was a situation about 17 years ago where there was somebody filming signals on the sideline of a game, and AJ was there for this one. And I remember thinking, okay okay and this is like old you know this has got a camcorder on the shoulder right what are you going to do with that so you're filming a defensive signal you're not using it for that game you're putting in some sort of vault that if that coordinator goes somewhere else

and again you still have to go through the whole process. Oh, I know what the signal is. Now I relay it to my guys. And then now they got to go, you know, execute against what the signal is without changing signals. A lot can happen. There's an advantage. There's some ethical things about it possibly, but I don't think it's such a crazy advantage as maybe it's being portrayed.

Yeah, but the headline says they're cheating, so let's make sure we remember. They're cheating out there. Got a good team this year too, Aaron. I mean, they've got a good team this year. Go ahead, AJ. Why don't they just put speakers in the helmets? I know Matt Rule had a great answer about this, but Aaron, what's the reason that college is lagging behind?

We wouldn't have to have all of that hoopla going on in the sidelines if we just had one speaker on defense, one speaker on offense. That's a great question, and I was watching the show earlier. I saw what Matt Rule said, and I agree completely. There was, you know, between 2005 and 2008, there was a committee that would talk every single year about putting the microphone in the helmet. And I'm not going to name names on coaches,

but there was one long-tenured head coach who was also an offensive guy who would give a dissertation about why it's way too big of a competitive advantage to have a microphone in the defensive side. And he was able to beat it back until my first year starting, which was 2008, when they said, you know what, the hell with that. Like, let's just avoid all this sign stealing that's going on. Let's even things up. Let's put a microphone on the defensive headset.

So I don't see why they don't do it. College football is basically professional football. Most of the guys are getting paid. Freight and sea is way better down there. And I think let's just do away with any of these silly issues at the NCAAs you know which is very questionable uh their own type of uh no ethics that they have let's just even it out oh and uh and give them uh give them a microphone and the defensive helmet and while we're changing things AJ didn't you say just like the baseball players take all the steroids, too?

Yeah. You know, like back in the day whenever they were doing their thing. No, but – It was a fun era. Fun era to watch. It was. Incredibly unhealthy, but, boy, they were hitting bombs back then. But I don't think any of us fully understand why there isn't a headset in the –

especially with the money that's available now. I guess back in the day maybe some programs wouldn't have been able to afford it, but now it feels like any budget, any school athletic budget could afford it and kind of move forward. There's a video now circulating that is adding to the degree in which Michigan knew these plays. So here's CJ, obviously look to the side. Look at that back area.

They're looking for who's giving the signal. And look at everybody. Hey, the whole sideline is sending in a message to the Michigan D-line. It's like as soon as he looks to the side, okay, now we got everybody. What is it? What is it, guy with the white guy with the beard? Let's look there. There's a lot of guys looking over there.

What they're doing there, the pointing to the sky means pass right there, right? Yeah. They're all pointing, running pass. That's awesome. Those guys are pointing to the sky. That means it's pass. And I don't know what the other people are doing.

But I do love that the entire team's on board. It's not just one person on a sideline. We don't have the headsets like the NFL does. So we need everybody in on this. So if you're not on the field, let's remember, we're looking to small white with beard and we're all giving a sign to everybody

out there. What is it? Pass. Pass. If you don't have your hands up on film, you're running, actually. That's all Russell Wilson wanted, man. That's all he was asked for right there. Hey, that's a good coach. That's a good coach right there.

That's a good execution. That's all I see right there. Hysterical. Ty has a question for you, Aaron. Aaron, obviously you guys are coming off a bye this week, and it gets talked about a lot about how certain coaches or teams are really good coming off the bye i think with mike mccarthy you guys are always very good in green bay but what is the difference between like a team who is good coming off a bye and a team who has a long time to prepare coming off a bye and then just looks like absolute shit the following week like the packers this past week

jace first of all what i always appreciate about mike was you came in monday and then you got out shit the following week, like the Packers this past week. First of all, what I always appreciated about Mike was you came in Monday and then you got out. You had the entire week off. I think that's really, really important. That's what I was telling our guys. Thankfully, we won against Philly

and Woody changed his tune and allowed the guys to get out on Monday. I feel like it's important to get the guys out of the building. Get them out. Get them refreshed. Let them reset. Let them get away from it. That's first and foremost.

Second is be careful how much self-scout you want to do. I think some coaches from time to time would take that week, and the coaches usually have to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, maybe Thursday, and then they're off. And there is a lot of work that goes on. Sometimes I think the self-scout can get a little bit much. Because what some coaches don't understand is you want tendencies. So as much as you self-scout, look at what you're doing. And it doesn't mean you've got to change it.

What works is usually going to work for the entire season. But when you have tendencies, that's when your offense becomes dangerous because then you can have adjustments off the tendencies. Line up the exact same way. You've lined up 25 times in 21 personnel, and you've run this play 12 times. Line up the exact same way. You did those 12 or 25 times and 21 personnel and run something off of that because or also find a way to run that play with a different motion or a different

adjustment or even you're in 12 personnel but you're lined up as if you're in 21 personnel you need to have staples you need to have tendencies that's where the big plays come from sometimes it's over self-scout makes you go away from some of the things that got you to that point that were successful, and then you realize later in the season, oh, that stuff we did really good before the bye week, maybe we should get back to some of that shit because that's when we were moving the ball pretty well.

Early bye week, though, for you guys out there at the Jets. Obviously, nobody really loves it. You said it came at a perfect time. Can you do as much change, or is that why a later bye is much better? I don't know. I think it just depends on where you're at a lot of times. I think for us, this year was important because of our defensive injury stuff. But sometimes you like it later.

I always like to kind of just in the middle. We had a chance to kind of get the first half of the season going and get the second half of the season. Week nine was always the best. Play games, take a break, play more. But there's certain times where you maybe wish you had a bye. Like last year, I wish we maybe had a bye after that London trip because we just kind of were gassed and came back

and lost four more after the bye. Obviously, hindsight is 2010, better than 2020. So it's one feet But you never know We were always good after the bye Because Mike kept it simple And he gave us the whole week off I think there's a lot to that

You've given a couple relaxed speeches Without knowing you're doing it to Green Bay Packers fans I don't know if you heard the tone In which Ty just asked his question But boy, it's getting it to Green Bay Packers fans. I don't know if you heard the tone in which Ty just asked his question, but boy, it's getting loud in Green Bay right now. I know you're in Malibu with the Achilles and the Dolphins, and I know you've got your eyes on the Jets back home. That's home for you right now.

It's loud in Green Bay. It is loud over there. I don't know if you've seen that. Let me just address two things that I want to address. Number one is look at how much the narrative can change from week to week. Look at the narrative that was there about Zach Wilson, about our team, and then we went two games. Now Greeny's saying we could win the division.

Nobody was saying that shit a few weeks ago. A lot of things changed. Look at Minnesota. KOC's going to be out. They're going to trade everybody. Kirk's getting traded. They're shutting downerson because they're cashed in the season and they went two games now they're half game out of a playoff spot now it's like hey they could you know get back in this thing in no time and jordan addison's going to be the bridge until uh jefferson

comes back and their defense is playing incredible and it's just narrative can change so quickly in this league it's overreaction month mondays every single week but it's overreaction for the entire week and then you and then look at what's going on new england i mean mac jones is and and bill's going to be out and max the problem and then mac goes out and balls out here i think it's 25 or 31 quite incredible let him on a last second drive. I was like, Mack was never the problem. You have to be able to laugh at some of this shit because it's so ridiculous.

The overreactions and the blanket statements are crazy. The second thing I want to say is because I got accused, I think, of making fun of Iowa last week when I was talking about that big field goal victory they had against Wisconsin. And I wasn't. That was just a classic, you know, Big Ten, hard-nosed football game.

But I want to say this. That was the most ridiculous call that I saw all last week. Thank you. All time. That was some ridiculous call. That was, I'm not going to say all time because there have been some bad ones. I've been a part of a couple of them. One in 2012.

Fail Murray. Fail Murray. But that was... And then classic... I mean, this is so ridiculous. Nothing about this says fair catch. Absolutely nothing about this. The ball is on the ground. He's pointing at it for his gunners to get out

of the way. And then all they were looking at was, did he step out, correct, with a review yes and then they're going to go back and and wave this thing off absolutely ridiculous call classic of them to double down and say yep totally a fair catch nothing about that had fair catch energy absolutely nothing feel terrible for the kid gutted for him for i For Iowa fans, it's awful. I don't know where they're at now in the standings. Ty, you were talking about Big Ten West

championship game. I don't know if that knocks them out of it, but that was a ridiculous call. It was ridiculous. I think if they win out, they'll still have a chance to go to the Big Ten championship, but it's going to be tough to bounce back from that. So yesterday, I did a whole thing about people getting bamboozled.

The Colts, too. I don't know if you saw what happened to the Colts, but right there with Iowa. I mean, right there with Iowa, back-to-back plays. Now, Miles Garrett deserved to win that game. So did Gardner Minshew, the second. I just would like that to be known. But we did a whole thing about them getting bamboozled,

and they said I didn't even get it right. They called an invalid fair catch, but nobody threw a flag or blew a whistle so that just came to the ref's mind after a review of something else and said oh yeah but i did think at one point it was an invalid fair catch it was like well nobody else thought that the people that were playing the play they didn't think that the field itself it didn't think that because there was no flag laying on it and literally nothing stopped. So one person thought it was an invalid fair catch, even though nobody else did. In saying Peter or poison and getting people away from the ball, standard operating

procedure in a punt return world, especially in college when the ball bounces a lot because everybody on the line of scrimmage can leave before the ball is kicked, which is different than in the NFL where only two people are allowed to leave. So there's a lot of this happening in college football. So that dude, yeah, go ahead. And I would add to it and say, is there anybody on the sidelines there? Because he caught the ball on Minnesota's sideline. Is there anybody on the sideline pointing as if it's like, oh, he called for a fair catch?

Nobody's pointing. Nobody's going crazy. I didn't see the game. I just saw kind of that last, that last that highlight low light for iowa fans but that but that sequence there was was uh you know were there coaches in the minnesota side who were you know making fair catch gestures if he's like no nobody thought about it for a second there's one person in the entire place you know or the or the replay official who was like hey let me consult page 72 here uh item a says if you know it's like no nobody nobody thought that had anything to do with the fair

catch because it didn't and and it's bad enough what they're doing these kids i think for the targeting stuff which i still think is absolutely ridiculous that they can kick a guy out of out of the game for targeting the punishment doesn't fit the crime to me at all. And I heard Harrison talking about it earlier and how he's lowering his strikes on the stuff. And they're fined. Hey, listen, it's pro football now in the AAA. Maybe a fine system, possibly.

But kicking a kid out of the game I think is so ridiculous because it's such a bang-bang play. You mentioned it. These kids are going super fast. because it's such a bang-bang play. You mentioned it. These kids are going super fast. There's in the moment, you know, ducking, angle change, moves.

And I think you need to start bringing in intent. There's intent with certain players where it looks like they're head-hunting. And there's intent where a guy's just trying to face-up tackle, and the guy catches the ball and braces for impact and ducks his head and a guy who's going for a midsection shot or a belly shot or even a dick shot like you said that head goes down two and a half feet now you're hitting the guy in the head not on purpose and now you're out of the game or if it's second half you're out of the game and out of the first half of the next game i don't think i don't think a punishment fits i agree i think intent needs to be taken into

consideration but then who's judging the intent? Are those humans? Are they robots like people are? Big Al. Big Al's doing it, I think. Big Al? Big Al. Alberto Riveron is not the guy we need judging intent.

Neither Walt Anderson either. We need Gene Steratore. That's what we need. You know Scott Hanson doesn't pee for seven hours. We need Gene Steratore to only work every football game. Not only on CBS where he's at. We're talking Fox, ESPN. We just need Gene Steratore in a box just ready at all times to review,

reverse, and hopefully affirm any of the calls. Don't even have the refs on the field make the calls. Just have Gene Steratore in a little box pop up on a corner. That was a hold. Clearly, the guy grabbed his shirt. Obviously, there's a little gamesmanship there. That preceded a 10-yard penalty replay first down. Then, boom, pop him right into South Carolina.

That was a cheap shot, obviously. That's what we need, Aaron. That's what we need. I agree. I think we need Gene, $25 million. Let's pull some money from all the networks and all the different sports leagues. Let's get him a great setup with like 80 different

monitors. We'll have somebody a la Foxy who can handle a lot of different shots going on and games and get him involved in every single play because that's the problem that I've said. You know, all the great refs, and a lot of them retired recently,

Gene being one of them, you know, they're not working for the league. You know, or if you did say LA, they're working for the TV deals because that's where the money's at. And so you've got a lot of great ones. Terry McCauley is one of them who is, you know, always a great referee. He's working on TV now. Obviously, Gene, you know, is one of my all-time favorites. But there's a great referee usually for all these networks

who was a great white cap who's not working for the league, but he's working for TV. And Gene, though, Gene's the best. Hey, on that note, Tone has a question for you. Yeah, Aaron, the refs were a huge talking point this week. Do you think full-time refs would help fix that problem? You talked about 2012. I thought that would

lead to full-time refs, and it obviously hasn't, but do you think that would help? I could be wrong on this, and I don't want to spread any more misinformation, but I believe that there are some refs that are full-time. Again, you can fact-check me on that one. But I do think that it would probably help to have all of them full-time.

I think an increase in pay probably as well. It's a really important part of our game. We're a billion-billion-dollar industry. And I think those men and women deserve to be paid appropriately where they can make this their full-time gig. There was thoughts about if we make it full-time, are they watching too much film? Does that bring in bias?

I just think that that's not something to worry about. I think they need to be held accountable for how they're refereeing. And there's obviously incentives to referee the bigger games in the playoffs and obviously championship games and Super Bowls based on your performance. But I think it's incentive enough to be as objective as possible. But I think that those men and women need to be played, paid appropriately, and they got a tough job to do to make calls in real time. And they're as scrutinized as the quarterbacks and kickers are, as they have one job to do,

and that's to interpret the rule book in zero time possible. I think it's good that we have kind of the extra official in the box to help them out with certain calls. Yes. Avoid some of these unnecessary challenges. But I think, you know, full-time, yes. More pay, definitely yes. full-time, yes. More pay, definitely yes. And technology usage, yes.

Let's embrace it, you know, but make that an actual role. Have that person actually train. Find somebody who can see things in real time and quickly communicate. Like the Kenny Pickett being short on that thing. Like I know 2.12 left. The Rams have no timeouts left. Under two minutes, it would go to an automatic review.

It's like the whole world can see that Kenny Pickens is short right there. Can we not just have somebody say, hey, yeah, we got it wrong. It was actually short. Let's move on. I don't know if you talked about this yesterday, but the problem is at the top of the screen there. I don't know if that's – Pickens?

Is that Pickens? Yeah. But he temporarily blocks the referee. The side just there cannot tell because if you slow-mo it back, and I watched this yesterday when I was watching the show, if you slow-mo it back, right when he is down is basically when Pickens is blocking the view of the referee. So when he comes in, all he sees is he assumes, I think,

that Kenny had gotten to a certain line based on the fact that maybe now he got pushed back a little bit. His forward progress is going to be at or around the first down marker. He didn't see him going down to a knee. The referee on the other side can come in on his own. But again, if you're looking right at the bottom of the screen here where the four is, he doesn't have a view of Kenny to the far side either. So again, this is a tough situation. Rams have called their timeouts to get the four is. He doesn't have a view of Kenny to the far side either. So, again, this is a tough situation.

Rams have called their timeouts to get the ball back. Obviously, he's short here. Gives the Rams a chance to come back down seven and tie the game, which, again, it doesn't mean that Rams win the game or even tie the game. But this is a game-changing play. Georgia is a great run block. They didn't have a chance to change. Just easily correctable, though, too.

You know what I mean? And that ref can even say, couldn't see because my view was blocked. We went to the booth. He's short. See you later. We'll go the other way. Just like easy to fix it.

And also, Matt Canada is big brain football. Smart. Hey, I don't know how the torch push is going to go for us. So let's go ahead and get some bodies in front of the eyes of those refs. He did some things. And then when the whistle blows, go ahead and get some bodies in front of the eyes of those refs. He did some things. And then when a whistle blows, go ahead and keep shimmying forward because it will do the whole thing.

Not a bad plan. Not a bad idea. I think we're all at a stage, though, where we need to get the refs fixed. You know, and... I don't think... And Pat, I don't think the refs mind, you know,

like having an extra set eye. I don't think that they're going, ah, damn it. You know, the eye in the sky, you know, made my call wrong. I think they like the health. They're trying to do their best in the sky you know made my call wrong i think that they like the health they're trying to do their best in the moment everything happens so freaking quickly right i don't think they mind having that extra little help i mean the side judge isn't thinking

like oh man you know like he's bummed that he didn't have a view of it he's do he's doing his best there to be able to have somebody review that he's not gonna be like oh i totally screwed that up and i feel terribly like no thank you for helping me do my job because i didn't have a good view of it and then sometimes you know you make two back-to-back calls on a guy that basically win a game for the cleveland browns and then you know maybe somebody in the sky goes yeah we're checking this guy's entire family to see if there's any money on anything for sure with what just happened and we're only saying that because he's not a full-time teacher or not a full-time ref.

I just saw one of the guys cruise. They have all their side jobs in there. There's a middle school teacher that notoriously underpaid, right? Oh, yeah. Like teachers notoriously underpaid in this world where there is sports gambling happening at billions of dollars.

Like that is what's happening. It's like, why even leave the door open for that to potentially be a case or a conversation? Middle school teacher right there, field judge. It's like, yo, that is, right? I mean, I appreciate what he's able to accomplish, and thank you for serving the community and the middle schoolers and everything like that.

But it's like, let's make sure there isn't any wandering eyes, you know, in this world that we're in right now uh brad friedman sports part director that that's what zeke did i think coming out of college yeah he's probably cruise director at one point too just like zeke was but it's like this shouldn't be a rough this shouldn't be a case you know this should not be there's another teacher in there it's like we don't we assume everybody has good intentions but also let's leave this conspiracy fodder aside if it's possible going into this next generation.

You know what I'm saying, Aaron? Yeah, and I'm going to go away from the conspiracy fodder here, and I'm just going to give a little shine to Mr. Land Clark, because have you seen that guy's biceps? Is that Land? He's jock. Land is jock? Massive.

Big Land. Huge. Jock. Hey, you're not seeing a lot of white caps fat anymore. Land is jock? Massive. Big Land. Huge. Jock. Hey, you're not seeing a lot of white caps fat anymore. You know, Ed Hockley. He's the new Hockley, man. Ed used to be, you know, wearing those mediums and jocks. First time.

Now, his son, his son, Sean, has been doing a lot of biceps, but I think Land is kind of setting the standard right now. So, big shout out to Land Clark for having the biggest biceps, but I think Land is kind of setting the standard right now. So a big shout out to Land Clark for having the biggest biceps of the Whitecaps in the league. To all the other Whitecaps out there, that's who you need to be shooting for. It's not just his biceps, it's his tris too.

He's got that shadow. He's more jacked than that. Way to go, Land. That's an old photo there too. That's not an up-to-date one. I would like to give a shout's an old photo there, too. That's not an up-to-date one. How would that give a shot? It's kind of 2023. I'd like to give a shot to Cleet Blakeman, too.

He is properly jock. Looks like he could still play right now if he had to. But whenever you're – we've talked about this on the show. The Whitecaps are representing all of football when they're talking to people. They're a solo shot on national TV in front of 60 million people. There's not a lot of people that have that audience speaking at it. We need those guys to all have moxie too. You know what I mean?

The guys who are scared to make their calls publicly, it's like, yo, everybody knows that they have no clue what they're talking about. That's just your natural reaction whenever you see that. So whenever there's a little bit of moxie and a little bit of confidence, that helps a lot too, I think. That's a big deal. I think that's why everybody loves Gene because Gene, you know, he would deliver it with that flair and that style.

And I don't give a shit. You're going to boo me? That's fine. This is the call. The call is the call is the call. But I think every player liked him because he would talk to you. You know, he would talk to you like no other person. He wasn't scared to talk to you.

He'd give you a little bit. I thought you guys were talking about this the other day with the uh with the hockey refs how cool was that like here's the first puck sid welcome back young guy congrats in your first game and then drop the puck how that's that's cool i like that and gene was like that gene could have a conversation with you he'd slap you on the ass and hey stop holding there hey you know hey the side judges said scoot up a little bit. We don't want to call it a night. Now just scoot up and do this. Hey, pick up.

I'd look over at Gene sometimes. He's like, that was a good hit. That was a good hit. Like, all right, Gene, if you say so, man. It wasn't rough in the past. I got you. Just because he would talk to you like a normal person, and I think we all really, really appreciated that.

And he brought his own flair and style to the game. And, you know, there's a couple guys who are kind of on that track now, I think, who are kind of bringing it a little bit, not just the biceps, but some of those old guys had their own style. We appreciate Jeff Triplett and Terry, like I said, and Beat Morelli. A lot of great ones over the years. Hey, where's Sterator from? He's a yinzer. Yeah, you're damn right.

You're damn right. Maybe not as yinzer as that white cat from, I don't know if that was high school or 13th Division something. This guy needs to be in the NFL soon. I don't know how he has it. Five-yard penalty, still first down. Defense, number six. 15-yard penalty, the result, first Defense, number six. 15-yard penalty.

The result, first down. All right. Face mask. Defense. That penalty will be assessed on the kickoff. The extra point is good. Okay. Still first down.

All right. 10-yard penalty from the previous spot. Obviously. Result of the play will be a first down. Okay. Replay first down. Well. 15 yards from the end of the run.

First down. Personal foul. Defense, number 58. 15 yards from the end of the run. First stop. Personal foul. Defense, number 58. 15 yards from the end of the run. Result, first stop. He had a lot of boxers there. I mean, I love this guy. Love him.

He'll be in the NFL soon. I don't know how a TV network hasn't picked him up already like Gene got plucked. If the NFL tries to squeeze the officials again and there's a lockout, there's a strike or whatever. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. The world needs that guy. I promise you, if there's a lockout. There's a strike or whatever. I want that guy. The world needs that guy. I promise you, if there's another Phil Mary,

Mr. Yenzer, he's making a right call. Ball was clearly incomplete. We're getting out of here. First off, I love everything about it. Last question here, Aaron, because con man has really brought it these last few days. I don't know if you know this this man is batting a thousand right now his hair looks better than ever and his shirts have been at the

top of the class even people on the internet have been saying we love boston con isn't that happening no that's never happened actually it probably won't definitely not that eight-year-old that called in the one time he's not the only one that eight-year-old that called in the one time. He's not the only one. That eight-year-old, Owen, has started something every live show. Every live show, there's at least 30 people that just quote that eight-year-old right to Conor's face. And Conor, at the beginning, you know, I think was getting a little offended. But now it's like your calling sign almost, it feels like. Yeah, still offended.

Yeah, still taking it to heart out in those chips. You know, I'm just trying to stack them up. Sure, it's just because of the eight-year-old, too. What are you trying to say? We got one minute. You know, Ashley, hold on. We got to do this thing. Eight- sure it's just because the eight-year-old too what are you trying to say we got one minute yo hold on we gotta we gotta do this thing eight-year-olds you know i've never really been around them but if that's what eight-year-olds are like i cannot wait for my daughter to become an eight-year-old mean cusses if you're just telling people to off oh yeah on camera oh yeah all day long that's what i'm talking about no filter at you it's a good good age. They got a solid vocab.

You know, it depends on what you let fly at home, but yeah. Yeah, because they're like parrots, right? They're picking up everything you're saying and they're running with it. Everything. Even the things you think they don't hear, they hear. It's like talk. Yeah. Same exact concept.

All right. Well, our show is ending on ESPN. We're obviously very thankful for you. There's a third season of a book club that should be happening pretty soon, Aaron, right? Yes. Yeah, what happened to Connor's question? We're skipping right to that, huh? They're cutting us off because they know, you never know what could come out. If we cut this guy off, we didn't have to make his voice like a robot, but we cut this guy off now. Can't say anything crazy, right? That's how the show

just ended. So you actually did get cut off while you were saying We can't cut this guy off Should be pretty perfect Now we're back on YouTube That's right Connor has a question for you I'm glad it worked out this way I don't think many people on TV

Want to hear your opinion about Israel and Palestine But I actually Just kidding There's a lot of quarterbacks Around the league that have played to a your opinion about Israel and Palestine, but I actually... Jesus, geez. No, just kidding, just kidding. Aaron, there's a lot of quarterbacks around the league that have played to a very high standard, so when they go out and play, everyone is expecting greatness. You know, Purdy last night, obviously Herbert,

who's going through a little lull against the Patriots, which you referenced, Josh Allen, but obviously Belichick. You know, there are a lot of different factors that go into it. But for these guys who are expected to perform at the highest level, why do you think some of them go through a lull? And I'm not saying they're the first three to ever

do that, but right now during this season, they are kind of those three guys that people on the internet, at least, fans, are freaking out about. You mentioned how Patriots fans were burying Mac Jones. Well, now their team's bills, and not as as much the Niners just yet, but they're burying their quarterback, too. A lot of teams would like to have.

Why do you think that happens for QBs, especially at that standard? And have you reached out to any of them? Because you've talked about your relationship with Josh Allen in particular. Yeah, Josh is a good friend of mine, and I don't feel like I need to reach out to him To like pop his confidence up like Josh is a very confident guy. It'd be fun Um, I think listen this might be surprising answer, but we're on YouTube now, so I can say fuck and it doesn't really matter Made it by the way Congrats. That's not gonna get talked about but Congrats. That was good for all of us I think Connor, I think it's a great question because i think there's such an overreaction

every single week that there's also an uh early or over reacting crowning maybe of some of these guys or on the flip side of burying these guys people want to crown or bury people very quickly. You can't go through any rough stretches until you've hit a certain level, right? You become like where Pat's at, where Pat can have an off game here or there and nobody's going to think this guy sucks. That's because he's Pat Mahomes. He doesn't suck. But sometimes, based on coordinators or plays the way plays sync up or or a bad decision here there you might not have your best game and that's part of it you kind of get to a level that there's very few of those guys at where they're kind of immune to the knee-jerk reaction stuff some of these guys though may have been crowned a little bit too quickly

let them let them play a little bit they They're not at the Pat Mahomes level. They're not at some of the level these guys, and really, if I think about across the league, there's not many other guys like Pat who have kind of earned that ability. Pat's won two Superboys, won two MVPs, where you're kind of immune, and you can go through a stretch, which he really doesn't,

but you can go through a stretch where you don't play good for a few weeks. Everybody else, I mean, you're kind of subject to the knee-jerk reactions. And that's just the way it goes until you've won in a VP or won a Super Bowl or kind of get past some of these things. So as a quarterback, as part of it, you've got to deal with the overreactions. But some of these guys may have been crowned a little bit too quickly. I'm not talking about Josh.

I think Josh is a phenomenal player. You know, you have a game where you don't play your best. But, I mean, hey, there we go. They're throttling. They're throttling. Now we're in the light. Hey, how about a trip back to the darkness there, huh? That was fun.

It was. I feel like that was kind of like that music when you had an awards show where it's kind of like getting you off the stage. It's like, all right, bro. Hey, wrap it up. Get out of here. No, it wasn't happening for me. I don't know what's going on over there. We just keep the lights on forever, but if you want to go...

I got a JK. How's he doing? He doing good? You guys both grinding out right now still, right? Yeah, we've been grinding. He's been a little quieter lately because I've been kind of pounding him, you know? Taking the ponton with the rehab. Oh, yeah. Taking the ponton. Yeah, yeah. AJ grinding. He's been a little quieter lately because I've been kind of pounding him, you know, taking the ponton with the rehab. Oh, yeah. Taking the ponton.

Yeah, you have. AJ, hasn't he? He's been going deep in the ponton. He said it. You saw it. He was explaining it. You use your fist and everything, man. I told him, we got a little bet.

You know, losers got to pay for a day in the city, you know, take me to Kennywood. Nice. And do some Yenzer things. Yes, I love everything. Have a couple Iron Cities. You're scratching me right where I hit you. You're going to go to the Potato Patch?

I mean, you do what you got to do down there at Kennywood, but I do like the fact that you told J.K. Dobbins, welcome to Poundtown, I'm the mayor. You know what I mean? Because you two have really been motivating each other through this entire process. I think when it's all said and done, you will reflect highly upon your time with J.K. Dobbins. Does that mean you're going to recruit him?

Is J.K. Dobbins already being recruited right now to be a future teammate of Aaron Rodgers? Well, that'd be tampering, so I obviously haven't been doing that. Oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah. Just have good times. He's on a rookie deal anyway. Just vibes, Gus.

Yeah, of course Who cares Yeah, we're vibing up We're vibing up We got solid vibes Hey, have you seen this Ravens team? Have you seen what Lamar's been doing? With J.K. Dobbins there

And I know, like, very unfortunate Hey, Lamar and D-Bot Brought it up before the show Like, have you seen what Lamar's doing? Have you seen any change Like from a quarterback brain A guy that's's considered, like, best thrower of football, maybe, yeah, best thrower of football ever? Have you seen anything from Lamar that's different than maybe years past in his throw game? Oh, I don't know. I mean, I've always been a fan of Lamar since he was in college.

I think every year you gain a little bit of experience, and for him, I think it's just more comfort in the pocket. he still does all the other crazy stuff he scares the out of you anytime this stuff happens right here right he breaks the pocket he's maybe the fastest guy in the field possibly every game and then he can he can throw it all over the place um you know i love this play and i saw it yesterday him just standing in the pocket you had tracy walker coming unblocked basically there. And he just throws a beautiful ball over the top there of the defender and hangs in there. That's a really nice play. But the guys want MVP.

Sometimes we forget about who Lamar Jackson is. He's a hell of a player. So happy for him, happy for Odell. And that was a big win for them. Detroit came in, you know, they've been rolling. So big win for them. Hey, we appreciate the hell out of you, brother. Have an incredible week of rehab.

We'll see you whenever you're beating Eli Manning in that game of catch, right? Hell yeah. Yeah, I'm going to throw some hard ones right at his belly button. Oh, so if you miss a little low just because it goes right to head to head. Yeah, I'm going to let him know. Yeah, let him know there's a new king in New York. Jet knife, baby. Hey, he's a good flip cup player, though.

I don't know if you guys are going to get into a flip cup game with Eli. Remember that video of him with Daniel Jones? Oh, yeah. Killing it. He was playing flip cup. Do you know Eli well? I know him a little bit. I don't know him that well.

But I enjoy being around him. I think he's hilarious. I think both men, and you know, Peyton, but they're both low-key really funny. Like, they might, you might watch the show and be like, oh, you know, get some bad jokes, different things. But in person, those dudes, real good time. Real good time. And I, you know, I've got, those are real good times. Real good times.

And I've got a chance to hang out with Eli a couple times now. You and Eli, I mean, his sense of humor. I was standing at this one golf course at a place, looking at something on the wall, and just the zinger that came at me from Eli while walking by, me looking at this historic human being who accomplished a lot was just like so savage, so quick and delivered just like so nonchalantly.

And then he just walked away. Didn't even get my reaction to it. Just left the room. I was like, Oh, Eli's a killer. That is. Yeah.

I don't think you get to see that, but that's why he wins a couple of super bowls. That's why in those moments he's able to have it. Let's talk about that. Do you think you have to have that? Uh, AJ brings he wins a couple Super Bowls. That's why in those moments he's able to have it. Let's talk about that. Do you think you have to have that? AJ brings it up a lot and I think to be a quarterback, you kind of have to have that super alpha mentality somewhere, right?

You mentioned it last week. I think that's a real deal in a trait that you have to have at the quarterback position. Do you agree with that or no? Yeah, you have to have that. You have to have a little moxie. You got to have a little sense of humor. You got to be okay pranking people and um there's a lot of different things i think work uh interesting to see personalities of all the guys across the league because everybody's different i'm a weird hippie who also you know loves his teammates and feels like i could lead

and and inspire just about anybody from any walk of life. You know, there's guys like, you know, Peyton and Eli who have the bloodlines, the lineage, the dad jokes, the ability to relate to anybody, big Franksters. And everybody's got a different personality. It's just how can you relate to your teammates? Can you be authentic? Can you avoid, you know, all the cliches from time to time? What are you willing to lay on the line for your teammates?

And how do you deal with adversity, too? I mean, look at, you know, especially in our league now with all the critiques all the time and the ups and downs and the whimsical feelings about certain guys that can change from time to time. You know, I think that it kind of highlights character. You know, you're willing to stand in the fire and stand up for what you believe in and deal with all the criticism where you're going to lay down

when things get a little intense. It's hard to find that guy. They've been looking. You know, a lot of teams have been looking for a long time. Tough to find it. You know, it's very tough to find it. And shout out to you for having it, even though you are just some old-ass hippie out there, you know,

does those drugs from the jungle. That's right. And worries about his own happiness. Why? And tells people his own personal decisions on stuff. You're able to lead, and it's a beautiful thing. And we're thankful that you come on the program, pal. Thank you, man.

I believe in medical freedom and informed consent, and I'm voting for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So have a great day, everybody. Ladies and gentlemen, Harry Rodgers. Thank you. Nice. I have a feeling that might be the first book of the book club. What was it going to be?

I think the author might be RFK Jr. Oh, RFK Jr. is an author. I didn't know that. Is it fiction or nonfiction? He's a doctor, right? Yeah, something of sorts. He's a lawyer, I believe, right? You can say that.

We knew you were voting for RFK Jr. Poyer just flipped the table in Buffalo somewhere. He's a lawyer, I believe, right? You can say that. I mean, could you imagine? We knew you were voting for RFK, Jim. Yeah. Poyer just flipped a table in Buffalo somewhere. Hell yeah, Aaron! Are you kidding me? Tell him, Aaron! Such gold! About time!

All right. So now we know who Aaron's voting for. Yes. We would have never guessed that. Never guessed that. AJ? Now, granted, I will say there's going to be people that are really mad that Aaron said who he was voting for on this particular program.

Especially when you see the title of his book. The 2021 one? No, the one in the three there. A Letter to Liberals from RFK. Jesus. Jesus. No, I think Aaron's talking about the 2021 book I would imagine

What about the 2023 one Vax unvax Let the science speak That is the one that Aaron read What about this one here I don't know what year it is Vaccine villains We know who you're picking

That comic looks sick Do you see that comic? I know he had cartoons. RFK Jr. is doing cartoons. Steal back your vote. 2008, that's a long time ago. RFK Jr. has been doing it. I wonder when Aaron and RFK Jr. met,

if that room was just the explosion of happiness when they ran into each other. And with that being said, you can vote for whoever the hell you want to vote. That's right. That's just who Aaron was voting for. And his vaccine decision, that was just Aaron's vaccine decision. I'm vaccinated.

Yep. I got vaccinated. I had 104 and a half degree fever, too, whenever I got COVID shortly after getting vaccinated. Now, I'm not saying that it was wrong. I'm just saying my decision was to do that. Aaron's decision was to not do that. Then when he got COVID, boy, oh, boy, did everybody find out about that. His toe fell off. And they still hate him for it.

Oh, yeah. And in proxy, you know, a lot of that going on, boy, we have gotten absolutely slaughtered by the people that truly believe that the vaccines were everything that we needed to survive. And hey, I agree. I believe you. But also, there's people like Aaron

that exist that don't agree with that. And one of them's an author who's running for president. And the other one was the MVP of the quarterback both years of the NFL in the NFL COVID era of the MVP. So we apologize if we piss people off, but also this is journalism. We're learning about the greatest football thrower of all time.

You're welcome. Consider it a documentary. Yeah. And if we piss you off, just shut the fuck up and keep it to yourself. Because people aren't doing that. I don't care. People are not doing that. No, they're not.

People are not. They are writing the most amount, actually. We hate this guy so bad. Let me write an article about it. Washington Post, I got tipped off that they are not necessarily going to be singing my praises in an article. And my first thought was, Washington Post is a big deal, right? That's a big, Washington Post is a huge deal. And they're like, it's not going to be good, we don't think.

With all the questions that we've got asked, we do not think it's going to be great. A lot of, and I'm like, well, Washington Post is a huge deal. And they're like, it's not going to be good, we don't think. With all the questions that we've got asked, we do not think it's going to be great. And I'm like, well, Washington Post is writing about it. Holy shit. Washington fucking Post. And then I check out their Twitter. I'm like, 20 million followers, I think they have. They're like a legit operation. Oh, yeah, one of the major ones.

It's like, holy shit, we have the Washington Post writing something? Not good, but still still that's a big deal then the athletic obviously has their thing i think greg doyle the indy star wrote today uh about us which i know greg well allegedly the vanity fair i think is that a magazine yeah i've been told that vanity fair might be writing something it's like jesus christ washington do a cover shoot for that i think he's doing like cool cover shoots that'd be cool you with like a bunch of syringes and stuff. Yeah.

Like, hey, pick your shot. Because, I mean, I don't know if that's the vision for the photo shoot. It might be. Me neither. I don't even know. I don't think I was asked to be photographed. I think it was like, hey, this is not a, I don't think they're trying to, I don't think they're putting a filter on me.

I didn't know Vanity Fair did unappealing pieces. To be honest, I had no idea. I remember Vinny Chase. I didn't know Vanity Fair did unappealing pieces. To be honest, I had no idea. Remember Vinny Chase? They actually did him dirty, but he ended up winning over the reporter in Mary. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. You never know. Whoever's writing this, you might be able to win them over,

and you guys might be buds. Yeah, I don't think so. I mean, it's wild. Every day I get a text from somebody like, heard there's something coming down the pipe from, insert name of thing that I've heard of before, but never had any interaction with. They're like, I don't think it's going to be good. I'm like, what the fuck did we do?

And then they start listing things off. It's like, oh, I can see how you would hate us. You know, you read a couple of these things. Like, oh, I could see that as well. So I'd like to let everybody know, we genuinely are attempting to bring happiness into people's lives. The fact that that isn't happening for you, I apologize. And I understand why you potentially hate me and ipso facto hate everybody, but we're just doing our thing. You

know, we're just going to keep rolling and we appreciate the hell out of you acknowledging our existence. And, uh, yeah, just keep it coming. It's been a lot of fun to learn a lot of terrible things about me, you know, and anonymous sources saying things negative about me that I've definitely made money for in the past. So there's a lot of goodness coming and stuff like that. It's awesome. But this is our life now, and we're lucky for it. This is not a way with me.

This is a holy shit. This is what we kind of expected, but I couldn't have guessed at the Washington fucking pub. Vanity Fair, allegedly. That's a big deal. That's a compliment, man. Hey, thank you for consuming the content.

Thank you. It should not be that big yet. We just started in a basement. You know what I mean? And then they're talking about all the numbers and stuff, and they compare us to fucking Stephen A.'s first take. It's like, that's the biggest sports show in the world don't compare us to everybody else compare us to the biggest ever we built this thing on youtube you know but this crew

right here and as soon as we drop onto a network which is where everybody else has been created like yeah but look at this it's like okay all right i respect you guys but we're very proud of what we've accomplished oh yeah i'm'm very thankful for Aaron coming on and telling his story. I'm very thankful that we get a chance to chat with the greats around the sports. I'm very thankful that with ESPN, we're getting access to more people and more things than ever before. Highlights, clips. NHL clips we get to play, baseball clips we get to play if we want. Off-season, we're going to be able to run all the sports that are taking place.

I mean, it's like we're very lucky, very thankful. But the fact that these big places are acknowledging our existence is a little wild. And maybe one day they'll have a positive one. I don't think that's coming anytime soon. I don't think that's coming anytime soon. Definitely not. But if someone is asked, don't be a wuss and do it anonymously. Just sack up and say what you feel and let's keep it moving.

We know exactly who it is. Yeah, for sure. But everyone should. Oh, do we? Definitely. Oh, yeah. One million percent. Can't wait to chat later, guys.

I have no clue. I only saw the screenshots that you guys put up. It's you, you piece of shit. Yeah, you know who it is. It was me. It was me, fellas. Knew it. What if they did say?

Somebody that's worked close. The alias A.J. Frank. Yeah. T.J. Frank from Ohio had this to say. No, it's, yeah, whatever. Hey, you think there's any chance that Aaron will be on any of those register to vote videos coming up? From the NFL?

Raise your vote. The Ducks yearly one. When is the election? Next year? Yeah, next year. Oh, buddy. Hey, register to vote. Make sure you register to vote.

But if you're not voting for who I want you to vote for, then don't register. Whoa, AJ. That is not how it goes. That's exactly how it goes on all sides. No, that is not. Speak out. Speak your truth.

Unless I disagree. Don't. You know, that happens both sides as well. That's what's fun about living in Indiana and Ohio. It doesn't matter. What's that? The states are going to be red no matter what. No, not Ohio.

Really? Not Ohio. Not here. Yeah, and Indianapolis is like very Democrat. Really? Very Democrat, yeah. Oh. Very.

I need to look around a little more. Yeah, you need to maybe change your algorithm. Yeah, I think I do. It seems like what you're seeing on your phone is potentially a little bit different. How about that? It doesn't matter. Ohio, like I think blue. Swing state, yeah.

Oh, yeah, big swing state. I didn't know it was blue at any point in history. Oh, yeah, Ohio, PA, Indiana, yeah. Yeah, I think. Oh, yeah, big swing state. I didn't know it was blue at any point in history. Oh, yeah, Ohio, PA, Indiana, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. The whole area. Indiana has been blue before? Indianapolis. Oh.

Like the entire city. Oh, yeah. Okay, yeah, sure. Like maybe the most blue out of any city, there's probably a couple others. Yeah, Boston. But super. And during COVID, that's when it all kind of got came to the whole thing yeah i i guess in the i'm thinking strictly election wise yeah i don't think

yes what the fuck's going on with the speaker thing what is that oh no they have no idea yeah yeah like that's such a big joke over there like these people get mad about like politics aren't bro get mad about politics you know what i mean like don't get mad at us about anything politics are such a joke i don't know enough about it obviously i haven't looked into it i need to at some point i probably will dabble but i'm right now trying to enjoy my life and like sports and everything so i kind of stay out of it but whenever shit makes its way into my algo it's like oh it's a real deal so we just have no speaker now what the fuck is that how's that even happen I thought there was just automatically one I thought that just happened I have no idea what's going on why isn't Aaron Rodgers the speaker of the house you know what I mean is that why is

that not sure he would get overwhelming support for that joining us now is a man who's been a friend of the program for a long time we knew this dude when he couldn't even grow a beard. Now he's got maybe the cleanest jawline with beard in the history of sports media. His hair is always perfect and his eyes are always on his phone as he's trying to dissect and learn everything he can about the association. Ladies and gentlemen, Sham Sharanya. Yeah, Shammy!

Pat, AJ, DJB, the boys, it's NBA time. I know Pat's hype. Pat, you look hype right now. You look like you're ready to go to a game tonight. Bro, yeah. Frozen frenzy's happening tonight. The NBA tip-off's happening tonight. You're going to need multiple TVs on this

Tuesday. You're going to need multiple TVs. What do I need to know about the NBA as it tips off here, Shams? I'll start with one particular subject, and then you can let me know any of the other prominent things. Giannis just signed a massive deal with Milwaukee. Congrats to both

of them getting that deal done. I know he said in a presser about the deal that he wanted to see if the team would go all in and make a winner. That will kind of affect his future. They bring in Damian Lillard. He's talking about Portland. Are they the favorites now? And tell me about that Giannis decision.

Yeah, listen, the league has so much parity, Pat. Like, literally, the last five NBA champions have been five separate teams. That's the first time that's ever happened in NBA history. I mean, in the last three, four years, all the NBA teams have made the playoffs except one team, Charlotte. So you know unfortunately for charlotte but i think what i mean to say is there's there's so much parody it's tough for me to say if milwaukee's the the the dead stop like they're the they're the team to be but i do think them boston you have to look at an eastern conference in the west there's a bevy of teams as well but i think when you look at yannis's

decision i think the moment they got Dame Lillard, that showed Giannis the loyalty that they had to him as far as he made some comments this summer. Like, I'm trying to win a championship. I love Milwaukee. I'm a loyal guy. But if we can't win it all this year, we can't win it all here in Milwaukee,

I could look to move. I could move. And that was a warning shot around the league. That was a warning shot to Milwaukee. And give credit to the GM, Pat, John Horst. He did this in 2020. Drew Holiday, they acquired Drew Holiday in 2020. They gave up a bunch of draft picks, a bunch of draft swaps. Giannis' extension was on the, he was on the brink of not taking extension and possibly leaving Milwaukee. They get Drew Holiday. He extends on a super max deal. They win a championship. Again, three years later, Giannis puts the

organization on notice. They go get Dame Lillard out of nowhere. And then he signs early on an extension. And we'll see. Maybe they win the championship. Maybe they don't. But I think what I'm told, Giannis literally woke up yesterday morning. He knew his deadline was last night. And he wanted peace of mind.

He didn't want this to be a distraction for the rest of the year. He knew if he didn't do this extension now, he was going to be asked about this throughout the season. This was going to be the number one storyline throughout this next year into the summer, and he decided to just do it. I think now him and Dame Lillard, I think they've had some heart-to-hearts. They've had a lot of conversations. They want to play together for the next three years.

180-some million. That'll make you a peace of mind. That'll make you a peace of mind. Good to the NBA, man. They pay. They pay over there. Go ahead, AJ. Shams, Clay Thompson was on the Manning cast last night. It just got me thinking, what's that window look like? Do the Golden State Warriors still

are they a legit contender to win it all? How long is this kind of window open for them out there? That window's open as long as Steph Curry is dribbling and shooting the ball like the way he is. I think he's kind of like LeBron-esque in that way. I think him and LeBron are going to be so special. I mean, Kevin Durant obviously is in that category as well. Guys that just are going to have this crazy longevity. I mean, the ability to play up until 40 years old.

I think Steph can do it for sure. And I think that's where their window is. He's not going to be a free agent again until 2026. He's going to be extension eligible in the next year or two as well. I mean, he could be him and Nikola Jokic could be two guys that could be in the $70 million per year range pretty soon with the way the cap is rising. So many hours.

Are escalating. So as long as Steph Curry is there and doing what he does, they're a contender. But Klay Thompson, he's entering the last year of his deal. They've had extension conversations as well to bring him back like they did Draymond Green over the summer. But I'm told the sides are far apart on an extension. They're offering a two-year extension, not at the salary I'm told that he wants.

He wants a longer deal, three, four years, more money. And so there's a gap there, a significant gap. And so I don't see an extension being reached yet. They're going to play it out. And Klay Thompson, he's a guy, he's a very confident guy. He's a guy that wants to get back on that elite level, and I think he's going to try to prove that. I expect a Klay Thompson with a chip on his shoulder this year.

I expect a Klay Thompson who might just have one of his better seasons over the last several. Seemed like a normal human last night on the Manning cast. Yeah. That was the most I've heard him talk, I think. Most I've paid attention to old Klay Thompson talk. Seemed like a good dude. You know what I mean?

I didn't know much about him. Seemed like a good guy. When he's on his boat, you know, either he's on his boat or he's on Manningcast. I mean, those are the two places you're going to see Clay Thompson at. He's a coxswain? What do you mean? He's out there on the water? He rides to practice.

Right. He rides his boat to practice, to games sometimes. Yeah, he's out there. What's that boat we're talking about? He's literally riding. I don't know if it's a yacht yacht. I mean, it's definitely a bigger boat. We're not talking small boat.

We're talking mid-sized boat. Like a cigarette boat like they were running down there in Miami? Kind of. You know? Kind of. Is that what we're talking about? What type of boat are we talking? A fishing boat?

I'm pretty sure it's a fishing boat because I'm sure he enjoys the fish. But when he's on that boat, he's one of those boats, the wind is in his hair. He's going pretty fast. This isn't a slow boat now, Pat. Yeah, of course. He's a daredevil.

You see him play basketball? He's running from side to side shooting those threes. He's a massive part of it. If he's going, they're going to go. Isn't that kind of how it goes with the Golden State Warriors? Yeah. 100%. He's a massive part of it. If he's going, right, they're going to go. Isn't that kind of how it goes with the Golden State Warriors? Yep.

100%. As Steph goes, as Klay goes, as Dre goes. That's how the Warriors go. Oh, bars, Shams. I love that. Darius has a question for you. Hey, Shams, excited for you. New season.

Hey, bomber is clean. Yeah. But something new to the NBA this year, obviously the in-season tournament. What's been the feel for the players around the league with this new thing coming to the league this year? Yeah, it's going to be an interesting one, DJB, but I appreciate the bomber love. You know, you're always dressed in shorts, so I always got to match your energy. I try. What's a J?

Are you DJB to everybody or Darius J. Butler? That's my handle on every Darius J Butler. Yeah, we understand that. Oh, yeah, DJ B. Have we been calling you the wrong name? No, no. DJ B. Where's the J?

That's just me and DB. That's a me and DB thing, man. Oh, we like that. We like that. Okay, we don't want to infringe. We just didn't want disrespect either. We don't want to infringe. We don't want disrespect. Mute our mics? Yeah, I think so. That's the actual move. Okay, we don't want to infringe. We just didn't want disrespect either. You know, we don't want to infringe. We don't want disrespect.

Mute our mics? Yeah, I think so. Sorry, Sean. Well, what I would say is I think it's a trial period. I think players are trying to see how this in-season tournament goes. But you know what? You know who this tournament will be great for? Listen, I don't know if LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant.

I'm not sure if those guys are waking up for the in-season tournament. I mean, all respect to the in-season tournament. I think those guys have won championships. They're trying to win a ring. But when you talk about guys like Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, Luka Dodgers, not the legacy superstar, but the superstar of today's day and age where this in-season tournament, it's a new thing. So if you could be that superstar that ends and age, where this in-season tournament, it's a new thing. If you could be that superstar that ends up winning two, three in-season tournaments in a row.

Back to back. Zion. Throw Zion in there. Ingram. A lot of guys, we can just... Trey Young. Trey Young's been to the conference finals. Imagine if he wins an in-season tournament championship. I think for that, for today's age superstar,

I do feel like... Yeah, the legacy builder. This guy had six in-season rings. That's huge. We shit on them more than anybody. No, it's a whole new thing.

No, it's not. This is ridiculous, Sean. Can they get pinky rings for the in-season one because it's a little smaller? Can we get pinky rings for the in-season tournament champions? I got six pinky rings. What are you talking about? Oh, my God. Also giving away 500K a player. The back-end roster, guys, that's real money.

Oh, well, there's a lot of bums getting paid $70, $80 million, so I don't know. I don't know, Sean. Today there was a big one I'd never heard of. Bingo, yeah. I'm not saying he's a bum, but I did not know who this human was. Yeah, if you start in the NBA, you're getting $150 million no matter what now. So the Greek freak who we all know and appreciate and sells out arenas everywhere got $180 million.

And then Cuz just signed, what's his name? Jaden McDaniels, I believe he got what 136 136 136 million okay okay hey way to go Jaden yeah I love that great player smacks the floor he start yep yes oh yeah two-way player you know a great two-way player what's that mean you have to be in basketball they sell people out what do you mean two-way player exactly when you got to make shit up about a guy who gets paid $130 million. Yeah. This guy's having a good day today and you just want to shit all over him?

Can we learn about why he's getting paid? The amount of money he's getting paid? That guy doesn't give a damn about a thing. Highway robbery against A-Rod. Come on. He doesn't care. At all. Let me give you the rundown.

Jaden McDaniels, one of the best defensive players in the league. Jesus Christ! He is coming. He shouted out Jaden McDaniels as one of the underrated, up-and-coming players, a guy that's given him the toughest time defensively. This is Paul George saying this, not me. I didn't say this. I think there's a lot of love around the league for Jaden McDaniels as a defender.

I think he's still got some ways to go offensively. But the Timberwolves, they believe in their guys. He's 23. He's still young. He's 23 to go. In your face. I think he's got a lot of upside on offense. Watch this.

But this is a guy. Oh! Oh! Oh! Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it.

Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it.

Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it.

Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it.

Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it.

Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it getting a James McDaniel introduction. Let it roll. Let's get some Pacers. I don't like this. It is good for James.

I don't like this. Come on. Come on. Oh. Look at this. Oh. Hell yeah. You guys breaking backboards.

That's why you get $136 million. Oh. Oh. When the Timberwolves talk deals with the Blazers about Dame Lillard, with San Antonio about DeJounte Murray last year, those two teams, they asked for Jaden McDaniels. They asked for draft picks. So this is a guy that is valued.

And I will say this, Minnesota, which is not New York, not Chicago, not LA, not a top market. Minnesota is going to be paying the luxury tax potentially over the next year or so. For the first time in 20 years, they've put themselves in a position with Rudy Gobert, Carl Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, now Jaden McDaniels. These are guys making hundreds, hundreds of millions of dollars. Rudy Gobert, $200 million on his deal.

Carl Anthony Towns, max contract. Anthony Edwards just signed a $200 million max contract. Now Jaden McDaniels, $136 million. So Minnesota is putting a lot of money on this team. Yeah, just signed a $200 million max contract. Now Jaden McGowan's $136 million. Minnesota is putting a lot of money on this team. Yeah, that's A-Rod's team. Shout out A-Rod. Shout out Mark Lurie. They're going all in investing in this team right now.

I do like that A-Rod's like, you remember when our Yankees teams were winning? You know why? We just bought everybody. That's what we need to do. That's what we're going to do. And they've done that in the NBA. I appreciate it. I don't know. I know Anthony Edwards. He's a great thespian. He's what we need to do. That's what we're going to do. And they've done that in the NBA. I appreciate it. I don't know. I know Anthony Edwards. He's a great thespian.

Yeah, great actor. He was in that Adam Sandler. He's a dog. Kermit Williams. He is a dog. I like the way you put a little bass in your voice talking there, too, because you're right. Anthony Edwards is an absolute dog. You can build a team around him. And in the U.S. training, right, this just got done, the USA stuff.

I saw videos of him talking shit to people in the scrimmages that were happening. I love that you built a team around that guy. Okay, A-Rock. Yeah, my apologies, too. I did not realize Jaden McDaniels averages 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Thank you. That's on me. That reeks of $130 million. Oh, he was beating

Mark Allen. What's your deal? You're such a hater. I'm not hating at all. I'm just saying I didn't realize he averages 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists. He's only 23. That's going to be 20, 20, and 20 in five years. Boom.

He's the third, fourth option in offense. Boom. Exactly. I mean, we got to pay that guy that much if he's the fourth option. You have to if you want to win. That's what A-Rod's doing. Tone has a question for you. He's talking about paying people.

Yeah, Shams. What the fuck, dude? I wanted to watch one big three this year, okay? And that was the Suns. And that was Kevin Durant, Bradley Bill, and Devin Booker. And two of them are hurt. Are we going to see this team together? What is happening?

Gee, Shams, come on. Yeah, so Kevin Durant's in. Devin Booker was questioned with a toe injury. He is in tonight. He will play tonight. The Suns said he is probable to go. Bradley Beal is still officially listed questionable. I'm told it's unlikely he plays tonight.

He did have a workout in this morning. He is feeling better. He's got a back issue. He tweaked his back over the last several days. And the Suns, they're trying to be safe with Bradley Beal. It's a back injury. Throwing him out there tonight. He just got back into practice yesterday.

Throwing him out there, kind of like the Warriors with Draymond Green. He's coming off an ankle injury. He just started back doing five-on-fives. The Warriors feel like he needs another several days, you know, over the next week or so, ramp up. Hopefully for Draymond Green to return over the next week, within this week. But, yeah, Bradley Beal right now, he is improving. So, you know, miracles could happen, maybe.

Never say never. But as of right now, he is more on the unlikely side to suit up. The Suns are preparing as if he will not be in the lineup tonight. Okay. So we will see Bradley Beal soon, though. If it's not tonight, it's going to be Thursday or Saturday. Thursday they play the Lakers. Saturday at home, the home opener.

You guys know about the gorilla out there in Phoenix. It could be, you know, if he doesn't play today or Thursday, look at Saturday at home against Utah. Yeah, maybe the gorilla plays. Nice. If anybody's injured. You know what I mean? They'd still be able to have that power trio

if you sub him. Hold on. I need to know the answer to this. And this is an interesting thing because we learned of this guy late last year. And we should have known.

I understand multiple-time MVP, but we're not like an NBA show. I learned of the greatness that is the Joker last year on the run through the playoffs that he had. We're talking no-look passes, setting picks, playing D,

like just one of the smoothest, most hilarious styles of basketball that I think I've ever seen. He is a guy that was able to kind of handle things, old joker. And when he came back this year for training camp as he goes court, oh, throwing oops. I mean, just throwing oops in the All-Star game in which everybody's trying. He looks like he's not even trying. Well, nobody just throwing oops in the All-Star game. He looks like he's not even trying. Well, nobody is.

It's the All-Star game. He comes back, and he's sitting on the sideline of practice, and he's watching a video of horses, and he's trying to figure out which one to buy, and he just seems so disinterested in basketball. He gives a press conference, whatever, when he walks in, and he's just moping in there. It's as if he does hate the sport of basketball.

And that is how he – is that the case? Is this just his personality? Is this every single year? And is he just back at 100% night one, even though he's paid no attention to basketball offseason all the time? Listen, you can't be that great. You can't be as gifted. You can't be as gifted. His rhythm is always on point.

His vision, the way he plays, the way he shoots. His shooting as well. His shooting has gotten better year after year. See these trick shots he makes. Listen, maybe he's just got this freak alien ability. But when I talk to people around Denver, I think there's a little bit of a sly laugh, sly smile like this is a guy in nicole yokic i think he's fun i think he does care about other things outside of basketball but this is a guy that that that loves the game clearly and i do think winning is very important to him and calvin booth he's their second year now full-time general

manager and i remember when he first took over his mantra to anyone to everyone publicly privately is like we need to exhaust this window with nicola yoki this guy is special he's one of one he's like tim duncan he's like steph curry he's one of these generational guys that hopefully we're we have him for the next you know 15 20 years because he doesn't want to play with anywhere else he doesn't care about anything else he doesn't care about media he doesn't care about any coverage he just wants to go out there and be a great leader. He has no opinion on his coaches. He has no opinion.

He just wants to win. He wants to hoop. He wants to spend his family time with his wife, his girl, with his daughter, with his kids. That's what he cares about. That's what he cares about. And I do think Nikola Jokic, this is a guy that's incredibly talented.

So you can't be that good without giving you know what. I completely concur with that because of how talented he is. But this is my first time really experiencing this. And then I think one of the greatest things was when he was told when the parade was happening. Like you finally, first time ever win a championship. And then he got there and he was hammered. He was absolutely hammered.

Which we love. We're happy about. But his. And then he got there and he was hammered. He was absolutely hammered. Which we love. We're happy about. But his immediate reaction when he was told that he had to stay an extra three days to do a parade. He's like, who tell horse? I got horse race. Who, what are we even doing? And then he's just gone. And then he comes back and it's like, I should expect him to play like the way he played in the playoffs all year.

He's must watch television all year. 100%. I mean, this is a guy, Pat, he can literally average like 30, 15, and 10 this season. Like that's how talented he is. I do think Jamal Murray is a guy, guys. Pay attention to Jamal Murray. He tore his ACL a couple years ago.

He missed the full season. But last year in the playoffs, he used the whole regular season to ramp up, get his game right, get refined. He takes his game to another level every playoff run. I think his splits are like 17 in the regular season points per game to like 25 in the playoffs. He's a star, and I think the Nuggets are preparing for him to have an all-NBA season, give him a Supermax next summer.

So, Nicole Jokic is great. Keep an eye on Jamal Murray as well. Jamal Murray looks super cool at the ESPYs. Yeah. Go ahead, AJ. Super cool. Shams, are there any sleeper teams out there that maybe some casual fans may be sleeping on? Oh, sleeping.

Snoozing. Yeah. Listen, I think in the Eastern Conference, just because in the West you can name a bunch of teams, right? Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, Warriors, Suns. I mean, that's five teams right there, right? But when you look out East, you really only think about the Celtics and you think about the Bucs. And then there's kind of a trickle-off.

Philly, I mean, with this James Harden situation, that's kind of thrown their whole season. What is that situation? What is that situation? He has not been around the team he has not been present at any team activities so not anywhere in sight for the last 10 days he's literally been away from the team and there's there's literally the team has no idea i don't think james harden knows kind of next steps right now he's tending to you know he sold the team he

has he's a personal issue that he's dealing with. So the team has excused him for now. But there's no idea. I don't think the Sixers know if and when he will be there. I think at this point, though, it appears unlikely he would play on Thursday. Now, does he show up? We'll see. But he hasn't done anything competitively around the team in 10 days. And, Pat, he joined the team for practice, I believe it was October 5th. You know, that first week of October, it was that Wednesday.

So about four weeks ago he joined that team. And he's done one five-on-five scrimmage with the team since joining the team. That doesn't sound like a guy that's playing anything. How'd he do? Shams, did he put him up was he just step back i heard i heard james harden dominated that practice i heard he had some nice passes to joel and bead i heard he made some catch and shoot threes he was i remember that practice it was like now forget it's off memory october 7th right after practice i got about about three, four messages. James Harden killed practice. Oh, my God.

Like, that was the reaction. And I think there was such a buildup around that organization, from the coaches to the players. Like, yo, if James Harden looks like this, we have a shot. And then he hasn't done much since. Well, he's ordered bottles and done some other stuff. It's certainly been a loud offseason for old James Harden. Connor has a question for you, Shams

Yeah, Shams, real quick You keep saying Jokic You're the only guy I have heard say Jokic's name Without saying Jokic Are we saying it wrong? And is it Jokic? I might be saying it wrong Oh no, Shams

We can't be the ones correcting you You work for the athletic Whoa! We can't be correcting you on you. That's not good. You work for the athletic. Whoa. We can't be correcting you on stuff. That ain't how this goes. Not in the athletic. Jokic.

Yeah, there it is. Like Donkic. Do we have it? Can we pull it up? Who do you trust? Which announcer should we pull up saying his name? Mike Breen says Jokic. Just throwing that out there.

Trust that. Boom. I'll always ride with Mike Breen. I'll his name? Mike Breen says Jokic. Just throwing that out there. Trust that. Boom. Bang. I'll always ride with Mike Breen. I'll always ride with Mike Breen. But, AJ, I think I was supposed to answer your question. Well. I would look at the Cavs.

I'm very curious of how that – see, you see how this comes to me late? I'm really curious how the Cavs season goes this year. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley. Hopefully, Evan Mobley takes the next step this year. I think he has defensive player of the year ability. So I think that's the sleeper team I got my eye on. And Atlanta. I think Atlanta will be a lot better this year with Quinn Snyder.

Are you getting the proper pronunciation? Yeah, we have it up on the screen. We're trying to connect it. It's Jokic. It's Jokic. Jokic. J. It's Jokic. It's Jokic. Jokic. Jokic. I look like Jokic.

Jokic. Jokic. Nikola Jokic. We can't be correcting you, though. That can't happen. That can't become a normal. And also, Pacers. The Pacers are the team you need to look out for.

Good sleeper. Yeah. You need to watch it. T.J. McConnell grew six inches. Yep. He did, actually. What's your intel on him? He's 6'10 now? Yeah, he's a Pittsburgh guy. He McConnell grew six inches. Yep, he did actually. What's your intel on him?

He's 6'10 now? Yeah, he's a Pittsburgh guy. He's 6'9? Yeah, 6'10. He's about to dominate every arena he walks into. People are forgetting about that. Yeah, he's the real Wemby now. Yeah, speaking of.

Hey, Connor has a question for you. Yeah, let's deal with this alien, Shams. I mean, there's a photo of him covering an assistant who is just a normal six-foot dude. And Wemby looks like a freak of nature because of how much bigger and how his dimensions are. Are they going to be incredible right away with Pop and Wemby running the show? Or what should our expectations be for Wemba and Yama this season? I think the expectations for Victor Wemba and Yama should be very high. Hopefully I got that one right.

Victor Wemba and Yama. Nailed it. Nailed it. Hey, baby. Hey, Sean, he's back. Redeem. Redeem myself. Redeem myself.

He's back. I think the one thing, when I talk to people around San Antonio, the thing with Victor Weminyama that's so impressive is his focus level, right? Like he's so young, a rookie. The fanfare he's gotten, the hype, the expectations, you would think some of that is getting to him. You would think that he might change his approach. But a guy like that, so focused, he only refined his body his game his mindset he gained seven to

ten pounds of muscle this offseason and so just think about that he's only going into year one i think i think he's only going to keep that's what i'm curious about victor eminem is how does his body how does he keep getting muscle because that he like we saw yannis when he first came in the league and how he looks now like yannis bulked up now he's he's a bully in the paint how does victor emin yama fare as his career goes on but i think his focus level is special i think he'll be special right off the bat but the spurs this is not a veteran laden team i i don't think this is a team that's playing for home court advantage or playing for a shoe in for the playoffs but listen if they mess around get to the play-in tournament,

like I don't see that being out of the realm just because of how great and special Victor Weminyama is. We go back to the NBA draft. Everybody was talking about Wemby, like even like LeBron, I think. And like a lot of NBA guys were like, yeah, Giannis was singing his praises very loud. Have you heard about this kid from France? Pretty much they're talking about.

They're like, he's a game changer, like completely different. We've been seeing some preseasonseason clips of him everything they're saying and everything he was doing against in Europe and everything like that he's been doing in the NBA is he is this going to be in the regular season how big of a difference is it from the pre-season shit that I'm watching versus what the regular season looks like because in these pre-season clips he's swatting yeah he's in the paint there at the three and he's jumping and swatting it somehow like palming it and then driving the shaking six people throw through somebody's legs off the backboard and dunking it's like is this guy in a fucking all-star game every single night

is this really what this is going to be like with this guy it's literally like you just create like the ideal player to dominate in a video game that's exactly and that's exactly what wemby is yeah it was a call but it's okay they they can wait who was it what was it i'll let you know after i if there's something i'll come on i'll i'll i'll let you guys know sean might be sean make a wait it's a bad idea. Bad business, but what do we know? Regular season basketball, of course, is different. And, you know, I had Lou Williams on my show yesterday, actually, on Run It Back. Shameless plug.

I'm sorry. No, great show. But he made the point. Welcome back. He made the point that, you know, in the regular season, someone is going to test him, right? Does a Pat Beverly test him? There's going to be a player. There's going to be a couple guys out there around the league, physical guys that are going to verbally, physically go at him.

And I think he's going to be prepared for that. The Spurs are going to be prepared for that. And so I am curious how once he's challenged physically mentally once there's some trash talk involved you're only going to get that in in the heat of competition the regular season i love that i love that the guys are watching him so what dude he's seven what ain't gonna be able to handle once i start chirping we're gonna break him down that's a hilarious like yeah we got him though and what if he is because the way he talks about like the universe yeah i'm here what if he is just like this super deep thinking anomaly i'm

excited to see it unfold because the highlights have lived up to the hype of what he was at the nba draft when none of us casuals had ever fucking heard i had no idea i'd never heard of him and then all of a sudden because i heard i'd heard of chet right because chet you know dressed like an asshole and was awesome. Like college, looks like an asshole. Yeah, but he's awesome, you know, do that whole thing. So I'd heard of him. This Wemby guy I'd not really heard of, and then they're like,

yeah, greatest of all time probably. And then now it's kind of happening. Can't wait to watch it. Is Zion playing? Zion is 100% ready to go, and we all, you know, I think the NBA world all wants him to be ready to play a full season and ready to go all season. But the Pelicans have a lot of injury issues, though, overall.

I mean, this team is going to be without Jose Alvarado, GTA, Grand Theft Alvarado. I don't know if you're familiar with him, Pat. 6'1", 6'2", guard, just absolute pest, hound. Sneaky. Steals the ball from behind. You know, he's got to, yeah, he just hides in the corner, just runs up and steals the ball from behind. He's out.

Najee Marshall is out. Trey Murphy is out to start the season. So they're down three rotation players. But Zion Williamson ready to go. One thing to keep an eye on, Pat, is how much he handles the ball, how much point forward he plays this season. Because before he got hurt last year and messes hammy up, remember that hammy injury came on a play that he was coming up, dribbling up the floor.

He started to play more point forward, even though they have CJ McCollum. So hopefully Zion can get back to that because I think he was playing his best basketball as a point forward. He came in. Look at that. My God. Everybody's talking about this guy's out of shape. This guy's out of shape.

Well, how can he do that then? How come we can't have him play all the time? Because it has been the fact that the Pelicans have kind of held him back, right? That's an accurate depiction? At different points, yes. And I think in the medical staff's mind, really a lot of people around that organization's mind, they wanted to make sure that his conditioning was on point,

don't want to throw him out there when his conditioning or his basketball shape isn't up to par. Again, this is under their medical assistance. Zion knows if he can play or not. Okay? Zion's been that way since he's 12 years old. Yeah. Okay, he knows what he can do and what he can't do.

I'm excited to watch. Let him play. And announce him last, too. Please. Come on, Donner. It's time. Come on, Zion. Let's go, Zion.

Need you. We're on Zion's side. That dude's been paid over $100 million in basketball contracts. We still have yet to really experience it. The guy from the T-Wolves actually deserves it more, to be honest. Well said, Tony. How many tickets

that guy from the T-Wolves ever sell? You talking about Luka Garza? No, we're talking about the guy that just got paid up there. They should have paid Luka Garza with that because that's all I could think about when Shams was talking about Wemba Miana and someone, you know, fucking talking shit and challenging him physically. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Pronunciation there. Whoa, whoa. I have a cold, Shams. All right? Shut up. Get off my ass. All right? Luka Garza would fucking eat Wemba Miana's lunch.

Period. Has Luka played in the NBA? Yeah exactly in the preseason The guy gets He actually had a good preseason He does every year and then they don't give him a fucking Opportunity because they paid that God damn Frenchman Way too much money who no one likes

Or respects all these guys Love Luka. And what's he going to do? He's going to have to fucking go back to Des Moines and play for the Des Moines Timberwolves. And he's going to light the G League on fire. And he's still never going to get a fucking opportunity. It's sickening. There he is.

Boom. Easy bucket. Give me that. Smiling, having fun. Good teammate. Team loves him. Has he played in the NBA though? Just the G League. He played for the Pistons. He's got dunked on like three

plays in a row. But he was sprinting up and down the court. He plays defense. Yeah, he's going to get flat backed every once in a while. That's fucking part of basketball. What a pass there. Two-way player. Oh, sorry.

Crossing people up. He breaks on. He's doing his thing. He's doing his thing. And he got under the bucket for the board. We fucking get a shot of him hitting the deep three here because he does that quite a bit as well. Look at that.

You need a pick and roll game. Pick two guys. Oh, you want to board. Oh, sorry. Eat some glass. Look at that. Back down. That's actually pretty good.

That's actually pretty good, Sean. Yeah, no shit, Sean. It's 42. It's BP, too. Luca Garza. All right, Shams, we appreciate your time, buddy. Good luck this NBA season. You're going to crush it, pal.

Thanks, fellas. Appreciate y'all. Thank you. Love you. Appreciate you. Love you, Sean. Hey, it NBA season. You're going to crush it, pal. Thanks, fellas. Appreciate y'all. Love you. Appreciate you. It's a long one, huh? This season long, you're on right now for the next six months? We're going to be on every day. Shows four days a week, but I'm five days, seven days a week.

There it is. Eight. We're ready. Eight days a week. Eight cups of coffee. Nine days a week. Maybe ten days a week. Ladies and. Maybe not. Eight cups of coffee. Nine days a week. What? Maybe ten days a week. What? Ladies and gentlemen, Shams Charani. Appreciate it.

Yeah. Shams. Shams. Shams. Shams. Shams. What you guys do to him is not right. What do you mean, you guys?

Ty, you got a little heated with old Shams Charani there. He's just a nice guy. Had to. Shams is a good boy. He is a good boy. Hey, we've seen him a long way. Oh, yeah? Legitimately. Oh, yeah. Had to. Shams is a good boy. He is a good boy. Hey, we've seen him a long way. Legitimately. Very beginning. He was the nicest.

He'd come on our show and we knew fucking nothing, really, about basketball obviously. No connections. And we're like, Shams, can you just tell us basketball? And he would. And then he started breaking news. It was after that COVID game. It was the first time he's been on. Yeah, the Utah. Because we were so flustered

because everybody remained calm. Okay, not a big deal, but game's been canceled. Get the hell out of here. Save your life. And he goes, ah! That was the first time that we learned of the COVID situation happening in the United States of America. And Rudy Gobert.

Yeah, fingers Gobert. Shortly afterwards, he goes, ooh. You scared? He was the first one. It was like, yep, world scared. They're going to shut it down, actually. It's not just that Utah game. Gave all of them COVID.

And then what I think, March Madness got delayed. Yep. Not canceled. Right. And then every other sport just kind of followed suit immediately. Boom, we're down, we're down, we're down, we're down. Except for Australian Football League. Yep.

Aussie Rules Football played for like three days after everything stopped. Congrats on championship, by the way. Yeah, Collingwood, Magpies, American won. Good work. Hey, Coxsilla, way to go, pal. Congrats, brother. I got up to watch the grand final, you know,

that happened there at the Sydney... Proving Grounds. Opera House. Yeah. Opera House. Yeah, Opera House. No. No. Stop mocking the Magpies, please. We flew the sales, pal.

You didn't. I'm a St. Kilda guy. You know that. Yeah, St. Kilda sucked this year. They were just terrible. They were terrible. They were a Richmond, you asshat. Yeah, you were on four teams, if you do recall.

You had no loyalty to anybody on that island, and that's why they'll never respect you over there. You know? I was almost off the Collingwood Magpies there for a bit, too, because there was some real salacious shit coming up. Yeah, a little bit. That team got real testy. Well, there's a lot of things that happen, I guess, in Aussie Rules Football.

It is football at the end of the day. The Collingwood Magpies have won. They have the only American that's ever won. His name's Mason Cox. Coxzilla. Congrats to Coxzilla. Way to go, Mace. For you Americans that have no idea what Aussie Rules Football is, we didn't know either. And then it was the only sport left playing. And we learned about it

quickly because we'd stay up until 3 a.m., 4 a.m. to watch these games because then we would have a sports show the next day and it was the only sport that was on. They would at least give us 30, 45 minutes of sports talk and a little competitive juices. It's a great sport. It's vastly different than rugby. It is a high-f competitive juices. It's a great sport. It's vastly different than rugby.

It is a high-flying sport. There's a lot of punting involved, which I love. It also makes a lot of sense why a lot of Australians have come over to American football and taken very quickly to punting footballs. But they got some heavy collisions and a lot of running and shaking. It's a good sport.

Loved it. And we have an American that's a champion over there. Those guys kill each other. Legit it's like old it's like a hockey mentality almost yeah like if i think there's fights they hit each other very hard not a lot of pads and then afterwards it's like let's go have a pint let's go get hammered yeah mason cox has a full australian accent now yeah he does i haven't talked to him in a couple years on the program but he was talking afterwards and they were chanting usa over there for him and he just started dropping like a full aussie accent it was like how could you not yeah great accent great sport great time congrats coxella congrats congrats to you too aj this has been a great aaron rogers tuesday you know what

i mean we talked hockey we talked basketball we talked hockey. We talked basketball. We talked football. We talked to Aaron. We talked a little presidency. What a show. Not bad. Yeah, Harrison Smith was great, too. I got to watch that. Guy's a stud, obviously.

The man. Why am I always forgetting about that? That's on me. That was a long time ago. That was so long. It was. Great conversation. It was.

He came fresh out of a massage. His hair was still oiled up. You see that? He got a nice head scalp massage. Looked great. Oh, yeah. Sounds pretty nice, huh? So nice. Especially when fresh out of a massage. His hair was still oiled up. You see that? He got a nice head scalp massage. Looked great. Oh, yeah. Sounds pretty nice, huh? So nice.

Especially when you're the hitman. You're throwing that helmet around. Yeah. That massage the head and the penises. Darius, you want to do a... You want to head to head, yeah. Yeah, well, he said that's what he was aiming for, didn't he? Why are you trying to sneak in things today with Steve and A and Unk?

You said, and then that option D, you got that good D, and you tried to throw in the D when they just had A, B, and C, and you tried to keep throwing in the D. I was talking about Team D because, I mean, if we're going to ipso facto this thing, he said, well, if you're Team A and you beat Team C and Team B lost to Team C, then ipso facto you beat Team B as well as beating Team C. And I just want to say, Team D's coming in there to kind of disrupt

everything you've got going on anyways, you know, just to further the point. That's what I was trying to do. What do you? I'm shocked that Molly or one of them didn't jump on that and continue the conversation. You're right. What if we do throw in Team D? And so, yeah, they moved on to the next section.

Well, then Team E, then I would have to roll with Team E. I don't know if you would have got to E. You probably wouldn't have got that far. That's... What was A, B, C, D, E would be the next one. You see? You're right. Correct. You're right. I stand corrected. I didn't know we're going backwards. Z-Y-X-W-V-U-T-S-R-Q-P-O-N-M-L-K-J-F. Oh, no.

When did you learn that? Well, in high school, I was told by the older people in our school That if the cops show up at a party They will ask you to recite the alphabet backwards And if you're able to do it they'll let you go If not you're getting underage So I'll tell you what when I was about 14, 13 years old I had that thing memorized

And that's the first time I've done it in a few years I'd be done I can't do that sober I don't even want to start to try to figure that out. It's a nice party trick, though. If there was a gun to my head, I wouldn't be able to do it sober. Well, I think you did. That's usually what gets people in the DUI.

They ask them to do it, and they say, I couldn't even do this sober. Oh, okay. DUI. There you go. They gave me full DUI tests for walking down the street one morning. Yeah. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm.

I failed all of them. I guess they were right. Bullshit. What are you going to do? You? Mm-hmm. I failed all of them. I guess they were right. Bullshit. What are you going to do? You know what I mean? I guess they were right. I guess they were right. Now, the story they made up was not, but I'll tell you, that was a real changing point in

my life. Darius, you want to change some lives today, D-Butt? Let's do it. D-Butt, what do you want to do? We've done the putting. It was not good. No, don't do the putting. It was not good.

No, I'd like to see him make it. Don't do the putting. Back to the putting. Come on. Come on, it's basketball season. He's not scared. He's not scared. Basketball starts today. How about something hockey?

We can make a hockey thing. Yeah. It's a few slap shots. Yeah, into the net. Yeah, any of it. Someone give him one-timers? Can Bill send some one-timers his way? Bill, put on goalie equipment.

Yeah. You know, there's a lot of things we can do. Bill. I'd be embarrassed. Basketball starts. What do you want to do, DB? Put. All right. lot of things we can do. Basketball starts. What do you want to do, DB? It's so dumb. Go for the left one, though. Don't go for that right one.

That breaks both ways. I like that idea. Now we're talking about a new game plan. Stand in the same spot, but putt diagonal. Longer putt. 10-footer. I like that. Because A squared plus B squared equals C squared. Same spot, but putt diagonal towards the left. A longer putt. 10-footer. All right. I like that. He's got it.

You know, because A squared plus B squared equals C squared. But let's not even talk about D coming in there. No. You know what I mean? B squared. Don't want that good D in there. How about that? A couple alphabet things going on here?

This is a deep show. Pythagorean theorem. Fuck on you, dude. What are you thinking here, D-Butt? Oh, let me get it right in the heart. No. Practice. That's not how it works. Practice. That's not how it works, pal.

I'm going to shout at this whole people. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We know you have. Okay, we know you've been out here trying to do your thing. We know you've been up there. We know you've been out there. We know Butler Birdies is thriving. You were actually on the other side of the ropes at a live event.

Yeah. This dude was actual golf media. Shaking hands with the shark. I saw that. You were talking to the shark and Brooks Koepka, is that right? Yeah. Shark was a dog. Brooks was cool as shit.

Got to meet a bunch of guys. Walked the first six holes with Phil and DJ. That's Phil with his calves. You bad with him? Phil's got huge calves. Were you telling him, like, hey, you're going to bring out your driver here in the rough, hit it around this sign, and keep it in the fairway. If you don't, you owe me $2 million. Nah.

My brother was giving him some, hey, pull out a three wood. Oh, a little motivator? Yeah, that's awesome. Phil Mickelson will play to the crowd. He will. From what I've been told. Is that big, Mitch? Nah, little brother Denzel.

Hey, Butler Birdie's getting a chance to affect a golf tournament. It's beautiful. Now you have a chance to affect 25 people's, people's lives wow if you could go three of seven three four of seven four three of seven you're going the other way hold on we're gonna make sure we get the rules clear here d but staying on the same hole that he went two of 16 you know 14 okay whatever the case i agree you learn from your mistakes you never waste a loss you never waste to learn okay capability gap is closing every single day if you can go four of seven here three of seven here yeah there you go We will give 30 people $500

Who retweet this post And say something nice Just a quick 15k That's all You want to get it any closer, D-Butt? Last week was a nine-foot putt This week is a seven-foot putt Will that help him?

We shall see No Has been to a live golf event Since the last time he putted Does have Butler birdies. He goes. Oh, nice. Wow.

Atta boy. One for one. Golf gods. Move a little closer, Butts. If he can go two of the next six. I respect the red tees from Butler. What if he makes seven out of seven? Then what?

He's going to make them all. Might be the red tees, but nonetheless it's one for one. If he goes 7 of 7, AJ! He didn't. He hit the ball that was already in the cup. That's what's going to happen whenever you're putting from so close. Is that far enough for you, Connor?

Absolutely, DJB. Staying on the hole. Butler Birdies, DJB, has to go two of his next five for 30 people to win $500. Oh, swing and a miss. Who farted his back swing? You know who did.

That was Tone Diggs with the mouth fart. No, that would be a con. That went in. It's a classic. It always works. I've never seen that one done before. Which one? Take the ball out? It hit the ball, man. If we had a replay, we would see. I've never seen that one done before. Which one? Take the ball out? Yeah. No, because it just rolled. It hit the ball, man.

If we had a replay, we would see. I think twice it happened. It rolled off that. Which I appreciate the move. He's made the first three pretty much. Basically. Good pitch. That's a good.

Oh. No chance of bouncing it out there. Confident stroke, though. Has to go two of the next three here. Seems like it's something that could happen with the way he's been putting today. You got this. Darius J. Butler. Man, that thing's just turning left.

Rim's off. That thing's turning left. All over the record still. Rim's off. A-butch. All right, D-butch got to go two for two here for 30 people to win $500. Has powered through a couple. Bummer. And he

doesn't even give himself a shot there at the end. I don't know why this was the chosen activity for another week, but I do appreciate the fact that he said, here's something that I'm not great at. I'm going to stare down once again. You could conquer this thing, D-Butt. Not today, though.

Not today. Boy, oh boy. That happens. Tough day. Basketball. Hey, sorry. Basketball. Golf's going to get us all someday. I saw DJ miss a few.

Exactly. There you go. Exactly. Don't lose your confidence. I think you should do that again next week and the week after. Yep. How many more weeks we got, Tim? Who's your favorite live team, D-Butt?

The High Flyers or – Zombies. Smash. Smash is cool. Smash GC. Four aces. Honestly, I like DJ. I like how he plays.

I like the speed and his pace. I like his personality. Yeah, he's got moxie. He's like a quarterback out there. He doesn't seem to overthink it. Yeah, yeah. And his walk is cool. cool yeah he's got a great pre-beard not great beard great yes he really saunters i think bill didn't feel that

he saunters up the fairway yeah he looks super cool whenever he walks and then he remember he was the first guy that was going real long it was like uh now everybody seemingly goes real long oh yeah and i know phil mickelson had his run about hitting bombs and seeds and everything like that. But DJ was going like 365, 370 when nobody else was really doing that. He looks effortless. He was making courses real small there for a bit, and then everybody else seemed to catch up. Is that an accurate reading of golf?

100%. He used to hit a draw, and he would hit it even further. But when he got really good, he just switched to a fade, and it was so easy for him. And that's when he started winning all the majors. Yeah, he's a dog. And he got really paid. Yes, he did.

Love it. I believe there was a quote Brooks Koepka said to somebody where he said, yeah, man, this could all end tomorrow. I don't come from much, so, like, yeah, I took the massive payday. And it's like we watched that swing time or full swing show on Netflix. It's, like, very understandable why Brooks Koepka took a multiple $100 million deal at the time in which he did. Still tough to watch.

I don't find myself watching it. They haven't figured that out yet, have they? No, they haven't. No, they got cool dudes, but I'm not going to watch it. Cool dudes, cool concept. Maybe they need to go middle of the week. Maybe they need to go primetime. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday would be sweet.

Maybe middle of the week. That'd be awesome. Because they can put lights. They've got enough money. They can put lights on pretty much anything. They can set up courses with lights. I need to figure something out. Tigers League is going to be on Tuesday.

That's going to be awesome. I thought it was Monday. I think it's the Tuesday after the Super Bowl. I thought it was the Monday after Monday Night Football is over. I might be wrong. No, you're probably right. They're driving into a simulator, right? Correct.

And then they go place wherever they are on that particular hole inside a massive warehouse. Yes. And there's going to be a live audience. And it should be a pretty relatively quick thing that has the chance to have some sick chip-ins, some great putts, some good moments.

Yes. I think it's a good idea. It's like Topgolf for actual golf. So how far, though? How far are they capable of hitting indoors after they drive

into the screen? I think it's going to be massive. It's huge. I found my... I don't know how one ended up in my email, but, like, somebody sent me one about getting a team in this whole thing it's going to be massive it's huge i found my i don't know how one ended up in my uh email but like somebody sent me one about getting a team in this whole thing and like the whole idea of what

it is and like the warehouse drawing in the pitch deck of it massive i mean it looked like it was very like i think you're going to be able to get like 175 yard 100 yard shots almost in there you know what i mean they're gonna have to hit low liners they got pretty high ceilings in those have you seen these like amazon warehouses that just get built oh they're everywhere yeah yeah just get built like out of nowhere a day those have giant you're right those have giant ceilings because they who know yeah so i don't know if it's i don't know what it will actually be you know like the bison out front of the buffalo bill stadium but i will the thing that I saw, it looked like there's actual shots, like actual second shots coming.

You know what I mean in there? I'll watch the first one for sure. Yeah, and if Tiger's able to golf, it's like he doesn't have to walk. And he's talking. As far as he just goes over here, he's mic'd up. You're seeing him still be able to do his shit, like chip-ins, and he'll be able to swing. We need them. we need the players like because a lot of it's going to bank on the back and forth between all the players so we need them to really

bring it to bring the juice you know maybe you nah there's not enough like maybe you team them up with a human like a personality or like somebody else and then it's always like tiger and dude or lady versus rory and dude and lady so then there is some sort of banter potentially that could happen i don't know because some of those uh matches yeah been pretty they're tough boring yeah very because whenever they're golfing it's like yeah they're golfing they're like locked in you know so i don't know they usually go back and forth and talk because i didn't see them talking to each other at all. In actual competition, I don't think so. Super locked in.

That's why the Netflix show is tough at times because the guys are so dialed in, doing their thing and there's not that cool banter and making fun of each other and stuff we're used to. That's what happened at Tahoe. You need to stop talking to me. You're right. A couple times and we're waiting for 72 minutes to hit a shot

because the Wiz is hurt three fairways back. The Wiz? Yeah. The Wiz. Hold on. I accidentally said that to him, and he was so distraught. What did you just call me? The Wiz.

I got a buddy that we call Wiz, so. I'm FaceTime. To feel you? I'm FaceTimeing the Miz. Khalifa? No. Hockey player. What's Miz Khalifa got going on? Something awesome.

Are we losing a match? He'll answer. Breaking golf clubs. He might be in an airport. He's going to win Tahoe next year. He gets that six iron figured out. He told me and Pat about. Oh my god. My eight iron good. Seven good. Nine flawless. me and pat about is he oh my god my eight good seven good nine flawless my wedges maybe hitting

them but this six iron though i just can't i just can't figure it out he went to the range after the round and said he finally figured out like 200 balls so i go did you he's one he's one six iron lunatic what's your favorite that's the only issue he That's the only issue he had, though. That's the only issue he had. It's my favorite club. Yeah, I know you're talking about the two. Deuce. You're talking about Deuce. What's your favorite?

Deuce might be my favorite club, to be honest with you. It has the biggest. That Deuce thing is awesome. I was starting to use that. I should have used that more. Or reliable. It is. It really did.

I think the Deuce is my favorite club. I think that's what I'm going to say. Unduffable? Unduffable was a lot. Unduffable was a lot. Unduffable was a lie. You can duff with that thing. What? Yeah.

It's crazy. You just drop your shoulder just a little bit. That fucker goes right into the ground, and then you're fucked. You're duffed. That's the way it goes. What I've realized is golf is going to be impossible. But I got how many years until you owe me $20 million for me to make, what, top 50 at a championship? What was it again?

What did we say? By 10 years? 65 was it? 65. So I got 29 years to figure it out. That's numerous lifetimes. You want to extend it to 70? We can go to 70 if you want. You're an athlete, too. You got time. I do. You're right, D-Blood.

You are. I would like a five-year extension. Same price, though. You're going to have to move down to Texas and train with old Tony Romo every day now. That's the only way you can get there. That'd be sweet. I do like that Tony Romo has committed his entire being to being a golfer, and then he shows up at Tahoe, and him and Steph Curry battle it out on a Sunday.

Yeah, he's a golfer. How about Steph rolling that fucker in to win for an eagle? Oh, man. I mean, they killed Fish. Fish would have been rolling in for eagle too. So someone yelled in his backswing on the 18th tee shot, right? Yeah. Somebody was a bit boozed up. Yeah. And just, yeah. You know, because that area

on the 18th where your team is a little rowdy. Who knows how they were looking at it? That's a very rowdy area there. I mean, that is a real deal. Man, you're going to do so well on that next year, AJ. So are you, man. You're going to win.

Hey, we know we're going to go through the roller coaster of emotions and how we feel about playing next year from now, what is it, October 24th until July 7th or whenever it happens. So I look forward to watching your progression, and then we'll be out there on the first team record. I thought I wasn't coming. I wasn't supposed to come to this. And then you're going to start out eagle, eagle birding.

But, yeah, I was always coming. Well, and then we'll get to hole 11 or whatever, and I'll be like, oh, man, I forgot. I have not played 18 holes of golf since last year at this tournament. And this is a lot of golf. This is a lot of golf. But I will say, the tournament is awesome. You know what I mean?

Like, it is an awesome setup. It's a cool thing. It's a great vibe. the tournament is awesome. You know what I mean? It is an awesome setup. It's a cool thing. It's a great vibe. Tahoe is beautiful. I'm just not built for it. That's what I'm realizing. Every year, it's something. Last year, it was the back of my feet.

This time, it was all of my toes were bruised, and I couldn't walk. That's quite a deficit when you're golfing and having to walk 18 holes every single day for four straight days, and you don't do it any other time in your life. Does Hoka make golf shoes? That's what I need. I need to do something. Maybe the Jays are not for me. Yeah, those are cool-looking golf shoes.

Yeah, they are sweet. You have to get taller clubs, though, if you get those Hokas on. Yeah. Yeah, you have to use J.J. Watt's clubs. That was stupid. You remember? I mean, his clubs were actual hockey sticks. Yeah.

His, like, nine iron was above my head when we put hockey sticks. Yeah. He's so fucking big. It's like mine was above my head when we put it on the ground. He's so fucking big. People forget that, I think, because it's like you, for instance. We don't talk about it enough how you're just an absolute weapon, and we watched his Ohio State highlights last week. Sick. Cannot wait to go to Utah.

Hey, let's go, Utah. Let's go, Utah. I've heard some great things about going to Utah on this particular Friday. We even got a tweet from the Utah Athletics saying, welcome to town. It's going to be beautiful whenever you get here. It's like, thank you, Utah Athletics. I had one of the players said, Brother McAfee,

due to our Latter Day Saints speech, welcome back home. We cannot wait to get out there. Long flight, I do believe. It's going to take a little bit to get there, but whenever we're at our... Well, as far as Seattle. What's that? Not as far as Seattle. We know Seattle was the... As long as it's not as far as Seattle, you're good, right? Seattle was so

far. Far. So far. It was beautiful up there, though. It didn't rain. Utah looks beautiful. Looks very beautiful. Boulder was gorgeous. Yeah, it's like right... It's similar to Pogre, I believe. Salt Lake is sweet. I've been out there. It's sweet. You a skier nope

not at all but uh I did like uh I worked at Utah game years ago as like an audition me and another guy we did like a booth below everybody and they filmed it and we did it like we were doing a game but it was just for like the execs or whatever how was it you do pretty good you call great game oh I'm sure it was awful no joke I bet it was we were out we were we weren't outside but we were out in the elements and it was cold and rainy and we were shivering and dying we had no clue it was uh it was a great learning experience though which network you don't have to say it but it was for uh it was for fox it was fs1 i think okay so you had nice is this during the season this is after you retired when was the audition thing like as soon as i got done because actually

my brother-in-law brady was doing the game for real on tv like the floor above me oh classic nepotism of course classic tv nepotism getting an opportunity well we're thankful it went however it went because now we get a chance to enjoy your uh toxicity every day and they're also we get to revisit you were a fucking what do you ever remind yourself of what... Your kids were there. They got to see you, I hope, but you used to... This dude was a menace on the football field. Bro, absolute

dog out there, bro. Wait, did they say seven pick sixes? That's real? Yeah. No, Pat said that. That's not real. Fifth all time. Seven interceptions. Seven interceptions. I'm like, oh shit. I said pick sixes just all-time? Seven interceptions. I'm like, oh, shit. I said pick sixes. I'll just make it sound a little better.

That's crazy. I think you did have two or three. How many did you have? I don't know. I think my freshman year, maybe I was the only pick six I had. I scored on a block punt my senior day. Yeah, it was Kent State freshman year. Yeah.

And then here's his NFL highlights. But, you know, D-Butt knows. My kid's got to take a picture with Marv Harrison Jr. That is all that matters. Oh, yeah. Best dad in the planet now. Hey, Marv, this is with a cast on, right? No, no, no.

No, later. No, it's later in this highlight reel. You always spatted up? Yeah, PK Subban over there. Yes, I did. I spat it from the jump. So over there. Yes, I did. I spatted from the jump, so from the beginning I had to keep spatting. AP.

Did you get shoe deal? I was underarm when I first came in, and they let me – Oh, I did the shocker here. Click clack. Yeah, throw the shocker. Oh, I did the shocker here. I jammed it. Jammed it. Boom.

That right there was one of the hardest hits I've ever delivered or taken. Was that on Aaron Foster in the goal line? And it looks like nothing, but it was like straight neck broken. And you just tried to kill a guy, and here you come again. Aaron Foster was a monster. He was. Aaron Foster did the amount of bows that I've seen Aaron Foster do against the Indianapolis Colts.

That's the cast. That was nice. The Steelers won that game. What'd you weigh when you played, AJ? I came in at like, oh, what's this guy trying to get me? Oh, you were about to fight that guy. You know the only reason that worked on Ben? Because I got sucked up.

I took like a big old step into the line of scrimmage when I should not have. And so I think I disappeared from Ben's vision. Oh, AB farted your face. Isn't Antonio Brown tackling you? He farted your face. Yeah. Like the chiropractor guy. What did you weigh?

I came in at like 248 and then my first probably four or five years and then my last four or five years I was like 230. These highlights don't realize that if A.J. would have played in the AFC North he would have been a 14 time Pro Bowler because all the plays were against the AFC North. He had a hell of a run against them Bowler because all the plays were against AFC North. Yeah, he had a

hell of a run against them. You know, physical football teams. That's the type of style that AJ liked to play, but your athleticism was something that, you know, watching his freshman highlights of you last week, it was awesome. Nuts. You just get dropped into a game because of an injury and then all of a sudden, eh, give me that thing. Centerville, Ohio, you've done good,

AJ. You've done good. Kirk Herbstreit, too. That's a welcome to the college football moment. Freshman year at Wisconsin, I think we ended up winning the game like 13-7, like every game we ever won at Ohio State. And C. Grant, unbelievable player.

I was backing up, rolls his ankle. I get thrust in there as an 18-year-old playing against all grown-ass men on Wisconsin's offensive line. They had like three fullbacks that were 270, almost could knock your head off every play like that. So I was like, oh, okay, this is it. You didn't back down though, did you?

It was great. We won the game. I got blasted a few times. We got to make a few tackles and, yeah, build some confidence. If somebody's going to die here, I guess it's going to have to be you. A.J. Hawk has told us before about if I'm in a situation where somebody's going to die, it's not going to be me. Nope.'s gonna have to be you aj hawk has told us before about if i'm in a situation where somebody's gonna die it's not gonna be me nope it is gonna be you and that's what he felt like he's an 18 year old that's right just like whenever he was 14 and he decided to end kirk herb street's padded football career that's right the other president of ohio it's funny how the

world comes together doesn't it aj it's a beautiful thing everything's connected is someone up there someone up there controlling us or what whoa Whoa! Don't you say that. Washington Post would be pissed. Is he talking about conspiracy theories right now? Oh, I apologize. Yeah, I did not mean simulation theory. I didn't mean to say anything. Oh, you were talking about God.

No. Simulation theory. Someone's controlling us. Yeah, you sent me something the other day about the old simulation theory. Yeah, there's some theorist, which I don't even know what the hell they're titled, super smart person that does what Oppenheimer did pretty much. I don't even know what the hell they're titled. Super smart person that does what Oppenheimer did pretty much. I didn't even know that was something. Just scientists. So when you get to a point that is so smart, your job is just

to like hypothesize about potential things. And then it becomes a law. Yeah, it's bananas. How do they find who the smartest? I guess they find themselves. Yeah, I mean like Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking, he was one of those guys who was just making theories about black holes.

I have no idea. But somebody said basically that the math says it's more likely to be a simulation than not a simulation. Oh, really? Yeah, some math person. I would love to hear how we got to this part. What are the statistics? This is like when the Bigfoot hunting guys told me what a Bigfoot

sounds like. It's like, we know. If that's the case, there's a lot of news to break here. We have an exact sound that this thing that nobody's ever documented makes. That is awesome. It feels like that type of thing. Our math tells us it's more likely a simulation than not a simulation. It's like, I believe that's possible, but I would like to see where the fuck these numbers are coming from. What is the math that you're adding up?

The amount of room that space potentially has? I have no idea. I have no clue. That shit makes no sense. None of it. But I appreciate that they exist out there. Keep doing it. Keep hypothesizing.

Smart people. Keep hypothesizing. Nikola Tesla. What's that? Smartest human ever. Dog. He makes all the math make sense. People say Tesla's actually a huge piece of shit.

Nikola Tesla? Mm-hmm. I don't think it's... Is that the company? I think you... Is that a maybe voice? I don't know. No, no, no.

People actually do say Tesla's a huge piece of shit. So is it because of the time in which they lived? Probably. There was a lot of terrible stuff? Probably. That's an interesting thing to kind of add into it. Like Albert Einstein, he was alive recently. I learned that in an Oppenheimer thing.

Yeah. Did you know that? I did not. Bro, I've only seen him in black and white with that fucking crazy hair. And I'm like, oh, he must be real, like, a long time ago. He was in that Oppenheimer movie. Oh, yeah. He still had it.

He was pretty quick-witted at that time in Oppenheimer. 40s. Did you know this? How much of that did you watch? When did he die? Was it 40s or 50s? He was pissed. He was not happy with what they were

doing off was definitely what'd you see like 40 minutes of the oppenheimer no i watched the movie of course i watched it i heard it was not as everything that everyone thought it would be i think my take was that it could have been like two hours shorter or something like that i think if i do recall what i thought but it was nice to learn about things that had happened and taking place i enjoy that second time was much easier just because you knew what they were talking about. And also, there's two different movies happening, allegedly, that I didn't know going into it. If you watch it, the black and whites.

Oh, I might need to. I'll watch it. Yeah, like they follow Oppenheimer's life and then they follow the... AJ, sounds like you're not going to watch it. That's what that sounded like. No, I think when it pops up on my feed somewhere, I'll probably pay the money to rent it or buy it.

You're going to have to have, like, what? Four or five hours? Just like the Killers of the Flower moon that's three hours three hours and 26 i think yep that's leo and bob de niro yeah de niro has a southern accent in that movie it's awesome i watched that movie do it you already watched it i watched the movie i saw the movie how long huh three hours and 30 minutes you watched something that was three hours and 30 it was date night with my wife i love her so we had to get out of town we know you love her but we know you would also be elbowing her three minutes in and say all right we all right i'm doing this it

was date night not doing okay it was date night how long did did one of us not know how long that movie was sure whenever date night was discussed and figured out? Maybe. How many times did you look at the clock? Buddy, I went to the bathroom a couple times. I was wondering real quick, like, how are we... How much of the movie did you watch? Is there going to be some action in this thing, or what is...

Great story. Figured out the story within the first, like, 35 minutes. That's always fun. And who knows if I'm right or not, but that's how I'm viewing it. Sure. And we're going to move forward. And Scorsese tells a great tale. We were there for more than an hour. That's what I. Who knows if I'm right or not, but that's how I'm viewing it. Scorsese tells a great tale.

We're there for more than an hour. That's what I would like to let everybody know. Congrats. Thank you. The previews ended. You saw the first opening scene. Let's do this. That's a whole other thing. Unless I was lied to by the wife,

that movie's start time was nowhere near the actual start time. No, no. You've got to go 30 minutes late. Go 30 minutes after this. This was like 25 minutes. Wow. That used to be 10. Now it's pushing damn near 30.

Yeah, I'm sitting there. And now, okay. We showed up on time for something for the first time ever. I think that's maybe our first time ever doing that. It was pretty cool. We are a movie-going couple. Enjoy going to the movies. But then they have the lights on for this thing for 25 minutes they're not even the lights off

previews happening for the first 15 minutes and then the lights go off and then the whole thing starts and then i didn't even know the movie was three and a half hours until after we left so like after we left she was like we're missing like two and a half hours of this movie or whatever i'm like two there's two more hours of that movie? How is that even possible? I guess it was a good story. Yeah. I guess it was a good story. Movies like that, you really can't show up early.

Because if you do, that's the situation you're in, where you're there for four and a half hours. I'll watch the end of it. And the Osage tribe was nice to learn about. I did not know they existed. Based on true story, right? That's what I believe, yeah. And at the beginning, Scorsese comes out.

I think it's scorsese and gives wait like tom cruise before maverick because that's that was unprecedented seeing tom pop up before maverick so scorsese pops up on the screen right before the movie starts and gives a speech about how long he's wanted to tell his story and true story and everything and thank you for supporting the movies and then boom he off, and then we're right into it. The Osage, though. What a group. Yeah. Hey, they were the – I don't know how – I don't want to say they were the first ones,

but, like, I don't want to give too much away. It's not giving away. Honestly, what you told us about the Osage tribe makes me want to see it more. Okay, so Osage Tribe leaves Kansas, Missouri, and somewhere else, goes to Oklahoma. From the way that I watched, this tribe goes to Oklahoma. They find a new piece of land. As they're kind of diminishing and kind of, I think, disappearing, dying off,

they find oil on their land. So then they keep the rights to the oil and negotiate deals with everybody so then they become like the wealthiest people pretty much in the area and they start living good like we got we got mansions we got jewels we got diamonds we got everything and then obviously mo money mo problems and uh that's where de niro and leo come in and numerous other whites you know that come in and and kind of wreck shop i'll say but it's actually learning about the osage was cool very very cool the more you learn about the natives and everything it's like it's crazy fascinating time what a crazy weird time it was. It is. Not just here, though. Worldwide, it is a...

Wait, is Leo a good... From the previews, it looks like Bob De Niro is a bad guy and Leo falls in love with somebody and is a decent guy. Yes, that is what I thought as well. Don't give that up because I do want to see it. I don't want to know already whether or not that's...

I like knowing when I go in. Yeah, we already know. Leo has a southern accent, I will say. Interesting hair. Still handsome as a devil. Always, of course. Which is a big part of it, by the way. Big, big part of it.

Yeah, I feel like I know kind of what that first hour entails. Will you stop it? I'm not giving away anything. This is based on what you told me. No, just off the trailer. I don't know. It's a long one. I'll probably finish it whenever I'm at home or something.

Have you finished Avatar 2 yet? What's that? Have you finished Avatar 2 yet? So that's... So... So... So... Who are you imitating?

Who are you imitating? What do you mean? When you're saying so like that, what does that mean? It's not imitating. It's celebrating. Don't repeat my question. You do it. Don't buy time. Who did that? Not us. Oh, no.

How was the parade? I lost all a little bit. Becky Hammond was counting the fine money. Adam, talk your shit, Becky. Yeah. She's the best. NBA needs her. Oh, no.

She'll be there soon. Yeah, absolutely. Shoot, shoot. Shoot, shoot. All right, I'm done with it. Let's get the fuck out of here. Uh-oh. Oh, no.

Oh, yeah, ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen. Breaking news. Before we get out of here. Okay. This was at the buzzer, not because of us, but because of order, you know. Oh. And logistics.

Mm-hmm. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a birthday today. God damn it. It's not yours, Conor. I know, that's why I said God damn it. I didn't know whose birthday it was. I hadn't said happy birthday. Well, that's the thing.

Nobody does because then as we wrap up this show, there's no better way than to celebrate a man who's been really the only graphic designer for our company for numerous years right now. Big things on the horizon in his personal life and also in his professional life. Ladies and gentlemen, happy birthday to Dirty. Happy birthday! Happy birthday!

To Dirty. Now, I do believe There is a cake If you could Happy birthday To you Happy birthday To you It's coming out here

Happy birthday Dear Dirty Happy birthday, dear Dirty. It's a bunt case. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Dirty. I appreciate you. Happy birthday, Dirty. Happy birthday, Dirty.

We appreciate you. Hey, you're about to embark on an awesome adventure with your bride. This next year is going to be your best year. We appreciate the hell out of you. Ladies and gentlemen, happy birthday. Happy birthday, Dirty. Happy birthday, Dirty. Hell yeah, Dirty. Hell yeah.

That's a real talent. The art. Dog. Capability. Real talent. Dirty's made us better. Dirty also. Remember, if you go up to Indianapolis Colts training camp,

catching punts, spinning the pigskin a little bit. Yeah. He's about to be a dad. Yeah. Welcome to the club. Those first three weeks. Good luck. It's like buds.

Yeah. Tough weeks. Not as, you know, buds is like for Navy, obviously getting ready for war, vastly different, but it's like human butts. Yeah.

You know what I mean? There's like, how can you be tested to the max? All right, no sleep, doing something you've never done before. And the worst case scenario is the actual worst case scenario. Good luck. That's what those first three weeks are. I was never told that.

So I would just like to do my service to other potential fathers out there, Dirty more specifically. Just know the first three weeks, everybody's thinking the same things. And you're going to do great, Dirty. Proud of you, buddy. I don't know how you have four kids i don't know you have four kids i don't know how you did it i don't know how you guys got through it but i'm incredibly impressed i thought there was nine kids there yesterday yeah there was 14 of them and you talk about that even marv hey what marv just takes off too in the middle of that game you guys got a guy over

there in marv and comic or two maybe huh yeah man i mean marv also is like uh such a unique superstar to where like he's super down to earth i've heard i've heard from a million like he showed up at bobby's son's birthday party he had at the indoor facility a while back and he gets more he just asked marv to come marv came take pictures talk to the parents everything just because, I got a jugs machine session at 5, 6.30, and 9.30. So when is this party? It's at 7. 7.40 maybe I can swing by. I got to do more

jugs. Now with the NIL, are the academics still as expected as they were before? Do we know that? Hard to imagine. You got to stay eligible, right? Isn't there a certain threshold to stay eligible to play? Interesting. I haven't really talked about the academics much in this new NIL. Notre Dame, we chatted about it with Freeman just because you asked him about it.

That's getting into school, though. That's to get in, not once you're in. Yeah, have we heard any discussions about once you've been in? We had a couple guys on our team that were academically ineligible for a few bowl games. That used to happen all the time. That used to happen way more than we see now.

Now it's not happening. Because everything's online. If you got NIL money, you can just get. You can use Fiverr and have someone pay $10 and someone will write you a paper. I used to have the guys coming out of school. I feel like I never hear that anymore. Ever. Never.

That's a good point. Everybody's doing great. Hey, I'm happy to hear that. This generation of athletes takes care of their academics just like they take care of their finances. That's right. It has to do with how college is now and how much different it is for guys like Marvin Harrison to go

out. They can't. Yeah, they can't. They legitimately can't. They're doing their work and they're doing their football. They're playing go out. They can't. Yeah, they can't go out. They legitimately can't. So they're doing their work, and they're doing their football. They're playing video games. Congrats to them. And congrats to Marv. If you don't want to go to the NFL, maybe use your one transfer. Come to West Virginia next year.

Oh. You know what I mean? Come to West Virginia next year. Good idea. Yeah, I heard rumors about that. I mean, we can start them right now. It's just rumors. We can say whatever we want.

Is that what you're hearing? Yeah. I think I saw a few reports Hey, Ryan Day texted me and said he enjoyed being on the program That's huge How about him? We haven't really looked back on this Him talking to you, seriously

That was the best It was pretty cool That's fucking pretty hilarious The way he handled it all He had a big grin on when I come on I don't think people actually realized that. I think they thought he had no idea that was happening.

We did not tell him. He could have reacted very differently. He definitely could have. That's one of those decisions that has to be made in real time that you don't think about. I assume in business school they're not necessarily going to teach you.

Or journalism school or journalism school or TV school or things like this. Like, alright, not easy to book some people, and I'm not saying Ryan Day's that, but head coach of Ohio State, going to be tough to potentially get on the program. Especially with what took place

with Lou Holtz just a few weeks back because of our program. Now we have a couple wins because he's friends there and we've got an Ohio State legend on the show. But do we want to tell him and give them any reason at all to potentially not come on the show? The answer was absolutely not. It might not have even been him either,

but someone probably would have told him, like, yeah, you shouldn't do that. Yeah, because everybody is so smart. And I'm not saying the Ohio State SID is, and acts that way, but everybody is looking for reasons to tell people to do stuff or to not do stuff, especially if they're getting

paid to say stuff and they might not even know what the fuck they're talking about. So we decided not to tell him. And, I think it was the right play because it got to showcase

Ryan Day who he is. Yeah. Like him just going in there and just bobbing, weaving with it, talking. He's a dude. Yeah, he's a dude. He's not a robot coach.

He's a human. That's what I think showed beautifully. It was awesome. I think it was good for Ryan Day. You know what I mean? And if we would have told him or the people around him, and obviously his people are the best and they wouldn't do this, but there's been numerous situations where we have pitched something

that we thought would be a good move, good idea, end up being solid, and it gets killed before it even gets to the person because the team is so smart in protecting the person. It's like Ryan Day is the head coach of Ohio State. He's fucking smart. I assume he's a dude, loves football. Let's see it. He handled it beautifully.

So incredibly pumped about that. I think we might come on the show again too. Yeah, that'd be awesome. That would be cool. Yeah, for sure. I don't really remember anything he said, because that mask was very uncomfortable when I was doing it, but it was a good time.

I heard, I've seen there's a big rip down here on the neck. It's almost like two pieces now coming together. There is, yeah. Well, it's very difficult getting it on without ripping the entire chin and everything off, so it's a very delicate process. What were you going to say, ZD Baby? No, before Ty went out there, we asked who's in the production truck. We were hiding

from Ryan Day, and he was like, there's a 98% chance Ryan Day punches me right in the mouth. He had the mindset to get ready and take one in the mouth. Could you imagine? You were in character. You came up, you shook everybody's hands, boys, boys, and then you gave a wave to the crowd as if you were

an 86-year-old man. You were in full character. Boys. Boys. And then you gave a wave to the crowd as if you were an 86-year-old man. I mean, you were in full character. Had to be. Had to be. Just pay respects, and I'm happy you two settled that. He came out on the other end of it, I think, looking good. I think so. That game between Michigan and Ohio State, buddy.

Huh? Let's go. How about in Utah, the game we're going to? There's a dude that plays both sides for Utah. Plays offense and defense. Here we go. Absolute dog. Like, there is some real star power happening around college football this year.

And I'm not saying it's different than any other year's past. I'm just saying this year feels like there's teams everywhere. Loaded. Utah's going to be fucking sick. Yeah. Pumped. Let's enjoy it. Seeing the scene looks amazing.

I think it's going to be chilly, right? Getting better. Weather was supposed to be cold, rainy Friday. That has moved to Thursday now. Perfect. Friday now, kind of clear sky. Like 53 in sun, it looks like. Afternoon, morning, like 36 in the morning.

It'll be a little chilly. That's nicer than Ohio. Ohio, yeah, bro. No, it's supposed to be like cold and rainy. Game day was perfect, but Friday was nasty. So game day was perfect. I was expecting it not to be, so I had that big wool fucking jacket on. It got real hot. Yeah. It got real hot. It was the perfect football day because I was expecting it not to be, so I had that big wool fucking jacket on. It got real hot.

Yeah. It got real hot. It was the perfect football day because I hit game day quick with you, and then we went out and hit my buddy's tailgate and then went to the field for pregame. I was telling my kids, I'm like, this is the most perfect day you could ever have for this game. We are very lucky to be here.

This is the dream college football day. Guess what you did? You told truth on that Zotron, too. You told truth. It ended up paying off. All right, let's get the hell out of here. We're back tomorrow. And then we're off to Utah for Friday's show.

Cannot wait for Thursday, though. Thursday's going to be a big one. Kick off week eight of the NFL season. Will the insane finishes and covers continue from week seven into week eight? Is this the new NFL now? Is it the 70% public losing weeks? Have those begun because the AI of the sportsbook have started to keep up and find out ways to beat us all?

That's what we find out on Thursday. The good teams, the teams, the Lions, the Niners, all those teams that have been just covering, they just didn't this week. And that's going to happen you know you know who did oh chiefs are the best ats team in the uh that's very different than normal that is very different than normal the chiefs normally do not cover they win don't cover this year they're covering you know why what's that it's a great way to end it because you know what we love love travis and taylor are in love every new thing we see that gets printed in a publication

tells me that they love each other more and more. Exclusive from Daily Mail, Taylor Swift thinks Travis Kelsey's NFL dominance is beyond sexy and loves going to games so she can bond with his friends and family. While Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelsey, he's telling a pop star that she's his lucky charm. Okay. Risen!

They're in love, boys. Everybody needs to understand that, AJ. This is actual love. These two are perfect. Has he been ring shopping? Huh? Has he been ring shopping? You know, sometimes when you know you know,

I want to let him know that it feels like we've known since the beginning this might be the perfect matchup. Like, actually. And I'm happy Taylor Swift is getting to experience sports. You know, got handshakes in sports. You got L's. You got crazy.

Like, welcome to the sports world, Taylor. Welcome to the sports world. And shout out to you, Travis, for representing for all football. You're doing a great job. Let's get the hell out of here. NHL frozen frenzy tonight. Here we go.

NBA tip-off tonight. Bingo. Oh, game seven. A's, No B, game seven. Which? Oh, yes. Yeah. We haven't discussed much, but.

In Philly. Tell you what, old buddy last night for, who was the guy that had an absolute monster night? Arizona. You're talking about Adoles Garcia for 10 rings? Yeah. Yes. He is awesome. Okay, so the Rangers have advanced.

They beat the Astros. Astros always good, except for when Ted Cruz is in the building. Ted Cruz is a losing machine for the Astros. That continued last night. Rangers going to the World Series. And now the Phillies, who have been unstoppable at home, lose last night at home? Yes.

It's all right. Boys are back tonight. Boys are back tonight. Boys are back tonight. Phillies dominate the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 7 in front of that crowd. And we have a World Series between the Rangers and Phillies that the whole world is going to want to watch. First Game 7 for Philadelphia Phillies. They wanted to experience one. You know what I mean?

Why not? They just wanted to experience one. They wanted their fans to experience one. There's nothing like Game 7. No. No, no, no. They wanted their fans to experience one. There's nothing like game seven. No, no, no, no. Especially in that stadium with those bats. Oh, tonight's going to be fireworks all over the yard.

And I have been told that if one team wins, there's a chance we have a person on the show, Mark. Nice. He does this. As long as he's not on the schedule right now. Sweet hair. He hits it real far. He was relacing his glove mid-game. He's a dog. With his teeth.

He's self-sufficient. He's an independent. He dropped out of high school when he was 16, so he can become the guy that he is. So he can become the guy in a Game 7 at-home must-have game. Hit six home runs. He's going to hit six home runs tonight. Yep, that'd be awesome. And he's coming on the show tomorrow.

That'd be a lot. Let's go. Has anybody ever done that? No. What's the most home runs one game? Five. Okay, so I was involved. Four, actually.

I think four. I don't think anyone's ever done five. I know several guys have hit four. Bryce might hit five tonight. Bryce might hit five tonight. From what I've been told, he's seeing the ball. It's a beach ball. That's good news.

Also, stot shot. That's going big. This Diamondbacks team, I do apologize for seeming like we have not paid attention at all. If you win, we will certainly pay you your good graces that you have earned from beating the Philadelphia Phillies. But that's the team of destiny over there in the original capital of the

United States of America. With the way their fans operate and the way that Liberty Bell has been sitting there for so long, there's no chance they lose tonight is how I feel. It's a win-win. Because if the Phillies win, let's go around to the World Series and if the Phillies lose, baseball season's over. Alright, let's get out of here. That's probably

a more accurate depiction of what's about to happen. Let's get to this evening. Let's enjoy our lives. You all are the greatest people of all time. Thank you for allowing us to do this every single day. Obviously there's a lot of shots to the shins that are taking place. It comes with the incredible fortune and luck that we have to do this every day. You're the greatest humans on earth. We appreciate you. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. You never know what somebody's going through. We'll see you tomorrow.

Goodbye.