The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1080 - Feel Good Friday, Adam Vinatieri, Shams Charania, Mat Ishbia, AJ Hawk

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

On today's show, Pat, 4x Super Bowl Champion Adam Vinatieri, AJ Hawk, & the boys have an ELECTRIC Feel Good Friday covering Jimmy Garoppolo receiving a suspension for violating the NFL's PED policy, Caitlin Clark's LEGENDARY record-breaking performance last night against Michigan, CJ Stroud continuing to be one of the most likeable players in the NFL, and more. The GOAT, Adam Vinatieri, takes a seat at the Toxic Table this Feel Good Friday and does not disappoint, giving his take on the Super Bowl, never before heard insight into the Patriots dynasty, the evolution of NFL kicking, social media's effect on the locker room, and more. In the first hour, friend of the progrum & NBA Insider Shams Charania joins the show live in studio ahead of All Star weekend and gives an update on the Lakers potential offseason additions, Klay Thompson's looming extension or lack thereof, and more. Also in the first hour we are joined by Mat Ishbia, Governor of the Phoenix Suns & CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, who gives insight into how he runs the Suns & Mercury, his perspective on Caitlin Clark's amazing career & performance, and what his day to day life looks like. 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. We're off on a two week break, but can't wait to get back on the other side. Cheers.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome, on this Feel Good Friday, February 16th, 2024. This sports program starts now. Sports are happening all around us as we speak. This weekend in this beautiful city of Indianapolis, Indiana, it'll play host to the NBA All-Star Weekend. Tonight, the Celebrity All-Star Game tips off at 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. Then there's Skills Challenge tomorrow. Then East vs. West on Sunday. NBA should rule the weekend, and we're lucky to have a small piece of it happening right here in the Thunderdome today. We are going to be packed and stacked with guests

from the association, and let's dive right in. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not alone today. I'm also alongside the toxic table. At Boston Corner and four-time Super Bowl champion. Whoa! Are you kidding me? Vinny, you look so cool over there. Thank you for joining us today, brother.

It's my pleasure. Thank you for having me here. Hey, now listen. The Dynasty docuseries is up and running. You're a massive piece of this thing. Is that an accurate depiction of your role in it? Well, you know, the first couple series is all about how it started and then obviously halfway through the transition

into some of the second phase of the dynasty. And then I think toward the end of it gets really interesting. For all you non-Patriot lovers out there, you'll enjoy the second half of the series because there's a lot of controversial stuff. A lot of the Bill and Tom. They're saying salacious details are coming out. They're talking about the Flategate.

They're talking about the beef behind the scenes. They're talking Spygate. Matt Hamachek is the name of the director, the producer. I think he really wanted to piece together a very transparent documentary and make it good. And allegedly everybody signed off on it. Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, obviously you, a bunch of the boys, Bill Burrs in this thing.

Everybody's like, it's like a very transparent documentary is what I've been told. 100%. Julian Edelman and Randy Ma. I mean, they're all part of it. They talk very candidly about what was going on behind the scenes. So, you know, a lot of that stuff is, you know, I know some of it, but I was gone. I was already here.

You know, I know a little bit of what's going on, but I'm kind of excited because they've kept it very, very quiet. We know kind of our specific part of it, but I don't know the other five episodes that I'm not part of. So it's going to be pretty off. Dude, I'm so jacked. Stop it. You're so jacked.

I see his neck over here from the side profile. Holy shit. I couldn't even fathom it. It's ridiculous. He goes straight from sternum spine to dome. Just like that. Barbarian caveman almost. Seeing old clips, too.

He was not this size when he was playing football. I didn't have nearly as much free time either back then. Not free time. I had to kick footballs and figure that out. Also, opportunity for stuff. You and I both, we know. We had dreams and aspirations of these days that we are currently living in right now. You look amazing.

We appreciate you joining us. You're not the only Italian on the stage. One half of the hammer. Cowboy's tone digs your tone. A lot of stars in the Thunderdome. A lot of stars in the Thunderdome. A lot of stars in the Thunderdome today. A lot of wealth in the Thunderdome today

is another way to put it as well. But anytime you can get more paisans in the Thunderdome, it's going to be a good day. And having top two, top three Italian-American NFL player of all time in the Thunderdome? You want to talk about Italian-Americans?

Jimmy Garoppolo suspended two-game substance abuse policy. What? It just came out. Yep, literally just came out. James. Adam Schefter, Raiders quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo is being suspended two games for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing substances. That's P-E-D, sorry, not substance of abuse.

It was in my ear a little different there. League sources told ESPN the policy violation is righted to him using a prescribed medication without having a valid therapeutic use exemption. Per sources, this is an Adderall situation. Oh, I was going to say Viagra. Could be Viagra. Jimmy doesn't need it. He don't need it. Could be Adderall. Could be any of these. You get therapeutic

use for some things. You have to go through four or five different doctors to get them. Believe me, everybody is attempting to get some of these therapeutic exemptions. I think even testosterone has been a therapeutic exemption before, but it went through five, six different doctors because somebody had a testosterone deficiency at an age in which they weren't supposed to have it.

So this TEU thing is a real deal throughout the NFL, but everybody knows the process, and it's a long one. It's a tedious one. There's independent doctors. There's team doctors. And once you get through it, though, there's quite a benefit on the other side to potentially make you a little bit more focused, a little bit more jacked, a deficiency that you had obviously needed to be fixed.

Obviously, Garoppolo did not go through the proper process is what we were assuming, just learning this right now. And that's a bummer for Jimmy G, who I don't think was going to be the Raiders quarterback next year anyways, but he's going to be the Raiders quarterback next year anyways, but he's going to miss the first two games. Let's pivot back to the NBA, though, shall we, because they have a massive weekend. Joining us in studio is a guy who has a wet jumper. Oh, yeah.

Impressive. Wet jumper. Not only is it, like, filthy if he was wearing, you know, like, basketball shoes and shorts and a T-shirt. In a full suit, this man walked into the Thunderdome and started splashing all over the place. Ladies and gentlemen, insider from the athletic, the stadium network, Fandle TV, Sean Sherrod. I'm honored to be here. The energy here, the energy that you guys have in the Thunderdome.

It's a blessing to be here. And Adam and Terry to be here with a legend. You know, I used to be here with a legend. I used to watch you kick field goals like they said. You're in good shape now. What are you saying, Shams? He was in great shape, but now you're just feeling good. Shams, friend of the program, obviously have been for a matter of years.

You're climbing the ranks. You are one of the biggest insiders in all of sport, not just basketball. But the NBA coming to Indianapolis, I assume this is big time work weekend for you. Shaking a lot of hands, kissing a lot of babies, getting a lot of scoops, a lot, a lot of networking, a lot of really just FaceTime because you know, news and things that I'm tracking. This isn't just something that happens trade deadline week or free agency week draft week. This is something that you're talking,

you're talking to people, all the people that I'm meeting this weekend, you're communicating with throughout the year. So definitely. Any news come out of All-Star break? Feels like this is a time for some things to get settled. For instance, for us, for Combine Week, there's a lot of agents talking to teams and there's a lot of rumors that kind of get started. Super Bowl week, when everybody's around each other, a lot of rumors get started.

Here for the NBA, I think this is the only time where everybody kind of comes to one city. A lot of rumors and stuff like that take place. It used to be when the trade deadline was after the All-Star break. That's when you used to hear it. When I first started covering the league, it was after the All-Star break, and that's when it was rumor central. It was like winter meetings of the MLB. That's what it used to be.

Now it's like teams, and you talk to agents, teams, everyone's a little bit more relaxed. Really right now it's like buyout guys that are on the market. You have some teams planning for the summer, so you have a little bit of relaxed. Really right now it's like buyout guys that are on the market. You have some teams planning for the summer, so you have a little bit of summer chatter right now, but a lot of it is the stretch run of the NBA season. Kendrick Perkins told us yesterday, he said, I said this on Get Up, I said this on First Take, and I'm saying it on your show.

If Lakers fans can just wait one season here and do a little run or whatever, he said have your little fun. He had a sweet beard, good Cuban link on, turtleneck whenever he said it. We love Perk. We are big fans of old racist-ass Perk. He hates white people, but he comes on our show anytime we ask, which we appreciate. But he said there's an

all-star coming to the Lakers this next summer or next offseason. Is that just rumors around the NBA? How does Perk know that? Does everybody know that? And who is that that he's talking about? Well, I don't know his sources. I don't know who he's talking to.

But the Lakers will have three first-round draft picks, and they're going to have players. A guy like Austin Reeves. Austin Reeves was a guy that everyone around the league wanted. When they went to try to get DeJounte Murray, when you try to go get Zach Levine. Is that how that's pronounced? DeJounte Murray.

Okay. We got it. We got it. We would have got that wrong. I did not think that's how you pronounce it. I thought it was DeJounte Murray, when you try to go get Zach Levine. Is that how that's pronounced? DeJounte Murray. Okay. We got it. We got it. What do you want to call that role? I did not think that's how you pronounce it. What do you think? DeJounte. DeJounte.

DeJounte. DeJounte. The J could be so many different ways in so many different languages. Yeah, exactly. I pronounce it with a Y. DeJounte. DeJounte. Yeah.

So, everyone wanted Austin Reeves. DeJounte. DeJounte. When you have Austin Reeves, three first-round draft picks, you could put yourself in a position to go get Trey Young, DeJounte Murray, Atlanta this summer. I think a lot of eyes are on them. They're going to have to make a decision.

They have two guys, two point guards that clearly, you know, they feel might not mesh. And so when you look at the summer, the Hawks gave up a lot to go get to John T. Murray a couple of years ago, they get three first round draft picks and a pick swap to San Antonio to get to John T. Murray in. And now they explored the marketplace,

but they didn't get quite the return. So I think a lot of teams are keeping an eye on Trey young, potentially in the marketplace this year. But again, there's going to be plenty of teams that would want a guy like Trey young as well, but the Lakers knowing what the Lakers are, we know the market there.

They'll have three first-round draft picks. Of course they're going to be aggressive. We also don't know the future of LeBron James. Right now he's committed to the Lakers. He's got a player option for next season. We know Bronny might have an impact on what he does. How's he playing? Bronny is still a guy?

NBA guy? Bronny's, I think he's finding his footing still collegiately. But when you talk to scouts, they view him a lot further along defensively than offensively defensively he's already got the makings of an nba caliber defender it's about the rest of his game getting there yeah because everybody just assumed that lebron's gonna go to wherever brani gets uh drafted to so it's like a two for one because he's always said he wanted to play with his son potential i mean there's potential for that but there's also the chance let's say brani gets drafted by another team. What does LeBron do at that point?

Do you play out the year with the Lakers next season? Do you opt in? Do you opt out? Do you go to that other team? But what if that team doesn't have cap space? Do you take a pick? Like, there's all these different scenarios. I think LeBron James is going to have time after the season

to figure out exactly what it is he wants to do. Connor has a question for you. Bronny also put out a sweet Photoshop of him in a Lakers jersey just yesterday. What was this? Is this confirmed? Yeah, this is from Bronny's put out a sweet Photoshop of him in a Lakers jersey just yesterday. What was this? Is this confirmed? Yeah, this is from Bronny's Twitter account. We should not be telling you this. I don't think he has a Twitter account.

We might have to double check that. I would do that too. That USC team stinks. Yeah, they're brutal. They're terrible. Yeah, but they got cool uniforms. Cool uniforms. And LeBron goes to their games.

It's pretty cool. Yeah, I saw him walk in there one time. Yeah, everyone went nuts. It's a zoo. It's a zoo. Yeah, it is. I saw Bronny's first game at USC. It was definitely a spectacle.

LeBron James was there. The one I saw had way more retweets. This is not from Bronny's account. Yeah, this is sus. This is sus here, Pat. Oh, it's fake news? Not on this show. No, not on this show.

You don't put this information out on this show. That's not Bronny's account. Nuh-uh. That hasn't caused us some trouble in the past. No, never. Anyways, it would be cool. Listen, there's definitely a chance. Lakers have scouted him. Miami scouted him. Toronto scouted him. Plenty of teams have gone

out and scouted Bronny James. The question is, you know, will he enter the draft? Will he get there? That we're talking about. Trey Young is one of the names I think if you're the Lakers, you have to keep an eye on because Atlanta eventually come summertime, they're going to do something. Trae Young, friend of the program. That would be very cool if Trae Young ends up in

LA. Not that Atlanta's not fun, but you're saying they brought in another point guard when they already had Trae Young? What are the Coonans doing over there? Yeah, I don't know. Connor's got a question for you. Another guy that was rumored to be traded at least recently, Klay Thompson. Obviously, he got benched last night, comes off the bench, has 35 points.

Unbelievable game for him. Yeah, crushed it. Splash Brothers. What's going on with him? Are they done? Because Steph Curry, you know, after a debacle on Wednesday nights where he fouled a guy with plenty of time on the clock, he decided, you know what, I'm not going to dap up Steph Curry,

even though we are the Splash Brothers. He even takes a little jab towards Steph, then, you know, rubs his hands together. What's going on with the Splash Bros.? Because a lot of people are saying, hey, Splash Bros. is no longer a thing. The era is done. So let's look at Klay Thompson going into the year. They discussed an extension. They offered him an extension

around two years, $48 million. I think when you look at it, they just gave Draymond Green four years, $100 million. So if you're Klay Thompson and you're in that same realm, you get offered two years, $48 million. I think the extension, the lack of an extension, and then his free agency is looming. That's a factor, I think, just off the bat going into the season.

And then he's had, you know, an up and down year. Last night, amazing. You know, and he's had these performances. He's shown still that he can be Klay Thompson. Like, he can go and help a team, I think, to a high degree. He helped the Warriors last night. And then you have this question of his role, right? When you talk about sacrificing role, you talk about your minutes.

Last night he comes off the bench, still plays significant minutes. But this is a guy, Clay Thompson, he's a four-time champion, all-NBA, all-star caliber guy, now coming off the bench. That's an adjustment. When you think about his contract situation, you think about the team as a whole, they're a 500 team right now. And they haven't performed. They suck.

Yes, they do. I think they still have potential. State warriors stink. But this isn't the warriors that we're accustomed to, right, at least in this dynasty era. So when you factor all these things together, you know, from everything I've been told, like, Klay Thompson's been, this has been a stressful year for Klay Thompson.

I think he's been going through it at different points. And I think he's doing the best he can to get through it. But he's set to be a phasian at the end of the season. From everything, I expect him to test the marketplace. I would expect both Florida teams. I would expect both L.A. teams. Austin. I would expect potentially a couple East Coast teams to have interest in Clay Thompson.

As of right now, unless there's a miracle extension, he's going to test the marketplace, and I think the Warriors have understood going into the year after they didn't extend him. His future is up in the air just for the simple fact he's going to be going into free agency. Did this all start at that golf thing whenever he was just horrendous? And remember Draymond

just killing him? Yeah, dunking on him. You remember that? And Steph was good. Clay stunk. He was wearing his own clothes, stunk too. I mean, everything about it seemed to be bad news, bad vibes. Clay always just marches to his own beat, beat of his own drum. So I think he's very, very comfortable being out there and doing his own thing. I don't know if that, you know, if you struggle at golf, that might impact a lot. No, I mean, just Draymond was burying him and killing him.

Remember, Vaughn Miller was going to bat for guys that weren't his teammates. Let's talk about Draymond because we are huge fans of the Phoenix Suns. Huge. Huge. Love the Suns. We love the Phoenix Suns. Pat and the Gorilla. Pat and the Gorilla, I think, have bonded for life.

Now, the Phoenix Suns social media team kind of put me on front street when they posted the highest I've ever looked in my life. I don't think, I think you were just happy. The lights were bright. They brought their own lights in. There was a lot going on that night. Yeah, there was. There was a lot going on that night.

They brought red lights. The social team and I certainly have a conversation to have at some point. But aside from that, the way the Phoenix Suns are run from the top all the way to the bottom. That's right. First class. Top tier. That's Kevin. First class. Top tier. That's Kevin Durant's team now, right? Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal.

Why is Draymond Green calling Kevin Durant whack? What the hell is going on? There's beef there? Do we have beefs again in the NBA? We like that. I thought Dylan Brooks was the only guy that had beefs. Turns out. Now there's real beefs around the NBA now?

There was a lot said by Draymond Green toward Kevin Durant. I don't think we can say a lot of it on these airwaves. Well, you would never because you're like a super professional. Well, you had me say the S word once. Which one? S-H. Stupid? The S-H word. The four-letter S-H. How old are you?

I'm 29. You should never sound the way you just sounded. You had me say the S-H. As a 29-year-old, you should never say it. This is a family-friendly show. No, it's not actually. There's actually a thing before this is like,

I don't speak. You had me say shit. Oh! Stop that! This guy's terrible. Kick him out now. You guys ruined the kids. Just once.

Just once. Vinny, go beat that guy's ass. Do we have more beefs behind the scenes than we did? Once Kevin Durant left the Warriors, I think, guy, Zach. Do we have more beefs behind the scenes? Once Kevin Durant left the Warriors, I think, obviously, there's going to be that level of rivalry. But I think even over the years. I mean, anytime you're not on the same team,

there's going to be some level of competition. Kevin Durant's got his own squad now. Draymond Green obviously has his own team. But Draymond Green, you see the chip that he plays with right now. You see why the Warriors are a totally different team when he's in the lineup, when he's not. And what he's done for the Warriors, Kaminga, Wiggins, these guys are clicking now that

Jermon Green is back. So Jermon Green, obviously, we can't condone some of the stuff that has happened when you think about Rudy Gobert and things like that, but off the court, we've known him as nothing but a professional, obviously. He's never gotten in trouble, always been a professional. And when he's on the floor... I guess practice was on the court. Obviously, he never got in trouble. Always been a professional. And when he's on the floor...

I guess practice was on the court. Yeah, that's on the court. It was on the baseline. It was on the pads. Near the pads. Because I saw a guy end up starting on court. It was in the arena. It was in... He's in the arena. But I think Draymond Green's thing was when he got

suspended, I think he wanted Kevin Durant to call him directly. I think Kevin Durant made some comments, but again, I think a lot of it stems from they're not on the same team anymore. And that's what happens when a player leaves in free agency. Vinny has a question for you, Shams. The only question that we all want to know who's going to win the NBA finals. That's a great question. That's a great question.

You're putting me on the spot. Good question, man. Absolutely. I know the answer. I'll give you the, I'll give you my contenders in each. I think you've got to put Boston in the East. I think you have to put Milwaukee out there. Even though Milwaukee's gone through a lot of ups and downs.

Doc Rivers, I think they're what, three and seven? Yeah, we've heard that. Yeah, some people are in Cabo, he said. Yeah, that's a little dicey. You know, there's a lot of things said about the altitude in Utah in his first game coaching there. Come on. There was a lot of things said about the altitude in Utah in his first game coaching there. Come on. There was a lot, I think.

Get out of town. But I will say about Milwaukee, this is a championship or bust season for them. And I don't think there's – you can't make excuses for this team. Well, it sounds like they like big busts in the game a lot. If it's championship or bust. They need to – that's a championship or bust season. I think them you have to look at. They're not alive. If it's championship or boss. They need to win. That's a championship or boss season. I think them you have to look at. Suns, obviously.

Suns. We're not at the West yet. So we got Boston. We're at Milwaukee. Do we consider Philadelphia a contender? Joel Embiid, maybe he's back early April. Okay, so he's coming back? The hope is that he's going to be back by late March, early April. That would put him

at the tail end of one to two months. Let's say he's back 100%. You have to put them in there, right? Let's put them in there. And then I think when you look out west, I think you have to think Denver. You have to think the Clippers. You have to think Phoenix. They've got star power. Now the question is

do you put Minnesota and Oklahoma City in there? Yes. Minnesota, OKC. So that's is, do you put Minnesota and Oklahoma City in there? Yes. Yes. Minnesota, OKC, so that's what, five teams, six teams? So to me, those are the eight teams, eight or nine teams, that I think could go into the playoffs and feel they have a chance. Tony has a little bit of a follow-up on one of those teams. Yeah, about the Bucs.

I saw around the Internet going, you know, there was the elevation excuse for the Bucs and Doc Rivers potentially. And, you know, it started with they had a good record. Coach got fired, Doc Rivers comes in. And then I saw on the Internet they said, you know, the only thing that Doc has left in his bag is to throw his players under the bus. And then last night was the, you know, half of us, half the players were in Cabo, half were here tonight.

Is that already – are we – is everyone, is the NBA super worried about the Doc Buck situation? Is it already like, oh boy, this is a mistake? I will say this, I will say this. Before Doc Rivers took over, their defense was the biggest problem. And since Doc Rivers has been there, their defense has been among the best in the league. So I will say, they have flipped

on the defensive end, but again, you have to win games. Winning games is the cure, and they have not won yet. But anytime you have Dame, you have Giannis, I think you have a chance. They just got Dino Gallinari as a free agent. They were pursuing him. A few other contenders were pursuing him.

I think their team, you still have to consider is dangerous. Okay, and are you and Kay Adams dating? That's why you said it. Got her shoes. That's a great colleague of mine. I think she's amazing. You got to know her a little bit, too.

We do know her, yeah. We're big fans. We're certainly big fans of her. I think she's amazing at what she does. I enjoy going on her show. Obviously, she has, to me, like with you, similarly, you make me feel comfortable when I'm on your show. She makes me feel very comfortable.

Oh, you're comfortable around each other. That's a good start. That's a great start. That's number one. We saw the Super Bowl together. We were in the suite. We were in the FanDuel suite. Nice.

Did you get drinks? Amy Howe was out there. She was doing her thing. Nice. Was Raffensperger there? Raffensperger was there. I didn't see him on the stock thing. I didn't see him up there.

I thought maybe he wasn't anymore. That's a good crew. Got some inside info on that? It was good. So you are dating? I wouldn't classify myself. Any news we have not asked you about that we should ask you about? Any news you guys haven't asked me about?

We're not big NBA people. I mean, Alaska, we're a commissioner on here. We are. Yes, we are. I think you have to look at the West and look how stacked the West is. We know this is a Phoenix-friendly show.

Oh, love Phoenix Suns. Another incident. This reminds me of Boston Connor, actually. Isaiah Stewart. I don't know if you saw this story. In the back tunnels of the arena, punched a player on Drew Eubanks in the face, actually. And then we heard that he got arrested.

That's something Boston Connor would do to me, actually. What? No, no, no. Hold on. Let me ask you about this. When I was draining those jumpers, Boston was looking at me crazy. I was just testing you.

We're very proud of you. He did want to put a little heat on you, see if he could handle the kitchen or not. Welcome to the Thunderdome. Bingo. But you did. You handled it perfectly. So old buddy who tried to get at LeBron a couple years ago

from the Detroit Pistons where there was like six people holding him back as he was sprinting to go fight LeBron was in a back tunnel of the Phoenix Suns arena, which we've been in. Beautiful. So nice. Punched Eubanks in the face. Yeah. Allegedly.

Yeah. That happened. Then he got arrested? He got arrested, I believe, for assault and then citation and then released. So how does that happen? Eubanks has to press charges there? Phoenix presses charges? I think there was police obviously there. There's always police.

There's security in these arenas. And, yeah, that's what happened. Has that ever happened before? That feels like something in the sport world. Like in the NFL tunnel, if two guys got into a fight, I don't think police would get involved, ever. So on my show, Chandler Parsons, Lou Will, obviously played

a very long time, and they said they've never seen anything like this. I mean, usually there's stuff that happens on the court all the time, but I mean, for you to be walking into the arena and then, you know, you exchange words all the time, and from what I was told, went chest to chest, but then, you know, anytime you throw one. And then old you know, you exchange words all the time. And from what I was told, went chest to chest. But then, you know, any time you throw one.

And then old buddy didn't even, you said, I think you reported that he didn't even flinch. No flinch. He just ate it. Stone cold. No cell. Eubanks ate it? Yeah. So Eubanks, big winner in this whole thing.

Didn't get arrested and didn't get really. That's a win for you. Don't get arrested. That's a huge win. As somebody who has been arrested, not getting arrested is a huge win. That's a big win in life, Shams. That's a win for you. Don't get arrested. That's a huge somebody who has been arrested. Not getting arrested is a huge win. That is a huge win just as somebody who's been a part of it.

Okay, so how does that get ended? Well, this is now a league investigation. So it's up to the league and it's also a police investigation. Come on. Don't we have more to worry about than two NBA guys punching each other in the face? It's now up to them to figure this out.

So nobody would have seen this. No kids would have known this happened. Like nobody's getting influenced and do bad things. Two NBA guys get into a fight in an NBA building, and now we got police involved? For one of them, yes. Yeah. Yeah, there was police involved. Come on, man.

There was police involved. Can't be just punching people in the face. We get it. Of course. Who in here would do that? Can't be just punching people in the face. We get it. Of course. Who in here would do that, though? I feel like there's got to be some energy like that in here. That would punch somebody in the face? Stop looking at me, dude.

I understand what you're trying to say here, Chubbs, and what plane you're trying to land. I actually think Nick would be the guy that would punch you in the face. Yeah. I think Nick would be the guy. Thank you. And Nick is the one who's the quietest. You know, it's the one who's the quietest. No, he's not the quietest.

That is the one on the show. He's in the shadows it's the one who's the quietest. No, he's not the quietest. That is the one on the show. He's in the shadows. Yeah, quiet mouth normally means loud mind. And fist. Don't ever forget that. And fist. All right, Chums, well, have a fantastic host for the weekend. Appreciate you guys having me.

I should have just came here in 2020. I should have just, you know, when everything was shut down, I should have just been making the drive back and forth when you guys had the Thunderdome in the city. This is a beautiful setting, seriously. Thank you. Very beautiful. It's much nicer than the last office, and it's much closer to all

of our houses. So this is about a 5,000-time... Sources say you live near. Oh, yeah. You know where Monroe Lake is? There's a lake 40 minutes away. Yeah, it's 40 minutes north. 50, I heard. Yeah. From the city. 50 minutes north.

People have found my house. It's not good. Need security. Just like you, Shulms. You guys got security all over here. Yeah, we got Navy SEALs. And we got mines. You can't see them.

They're hiding. You want to hop a fence? We got mines out there. Adam Silver came in. We got a moat, too, on the backside. Adam Silver came in and was like, there's not a lot of security here. I'm like, oh, that's good. You didn't see our Navy SEALs.

They're in the trees. Ghillied up. Yeah. Adam Silver didn't even know. There was red dot on his SEALs. They're in the trees. Ghillied up. Yeah. Adam Silver didn't even know. There was red dot on his forehead as he was driving up to the gate. I feel like, Pat, you own Indy, though. You probably have like seven homes out here. Well, that is actual factual.

That's your best shot of the day. You never know where Pat is. Yeah, we're working on that. We're actually trying to change that. We're actually trying to change that right now. You know, a little house. It's a very nice house that's going for sale. Yeah, a lot of houses up for sale soon.

But you know what they say, the only thing you can't make more of, land. Boom. So out here in Indiana, try to get that as much as possible. Shams, before we let you go and invite our next guest on, we have to have you shoot a basketball. We have to have you shoot a basketball. Oh, okay. For the people, though.

Yes, for the people. So I can get ready right now. Before the show, go ahead and run the clip of before the show, what Shams was doing with a basketball. We have to have you shoot a basketball. For the people, though. For the people. So I can get ready right now. Go ahead and run the clip of before the show what Shams was doing with a basketball. Here, you can give me your jacket there. Look at this. Splash. There's music blaring. There's a lot of humans here. Shams.

Splash. You've got to have the greatest jumper for an insider ever. Who won the game? We played the game. We played Pat. Yeah, you beat me and Pat. Now, granted, I was in cowboy boots and hadn't shot a ball. You've been warming up for 25 minutes. That is neither here nor there. Pat, we got to shoot one time.

We got to. No, no. You've got the Geigers on. You look fantastic. What do you want to do? What shoot do you want to go to? What do you want to shoot? A three?

Do you want to shoot a free throw? One shot. One shot. Hold up. Hold up. Slow down, Shams. Jeez, Shams. This guy's a lunatic. If you make this shot. He is kind of a free throw? One shot. Hold up. Hold up. Slow down, Shams. Jeez, Shams. This guy's a lunatic.

If you make this shot. He is kind of a loose cannon. He is a little bit. He is. Kind of a, yeah. A little bit. Since he got here. Well, he hasn't had lunch yet.

We know how much he loves lunch. Lunch is coming up. Lunch is coming up. Oatmeal. Shams, if you make this shot right here, it's going to be an NBA three. That's where you're shooting. Have you worked with Lethal Shooter before? No.

Okay. You worked with our guy Shooter before? No. Okay. You worked with our guy over there? Yeah. Jason Smethers. Smethers, Indiana legend. Indiana legend. Shooting coach for Gordon Bombay and Hayward. What?

Nice. If you make this NBA 3 right here. What about doing a free throw? You can do a free throw. If you do a free throw, you're a wuss, dude. We just watched you hit three threes in a row. Shams, be decisive for one time in your life. It's the all-star weekend, dude.

All right, Shams, if you make this, Vinny, 20, 25, 30, 35, how many winners? They get $500 if that helps. Oh, 35 then. Let's go. Okay, Vinny. Hey, but I think you should make it a little interesting. I mean, I watched Seth Curry hit it from the back tunnel. Yep.

Yeah, well. And now all of a sudden we're taking, you know, free throws. If it means anything, Halliburton missed 15-20 straight from what he did yesterday. All right, never mind then. Okay, so 35 winners of $500, Shams, if you make this NBA 3 on your first try. Come on, Shams. For the people, Shams. We know you're a for the people guy.

He's got 10 bracelets on his shooting hand. He hasn't shot on this net one time. He didn't shoot on that net once. Why are you shooting on that net? When the pressure's up. Brother. Shams. Shams. Every shot.

Every shot you take. Okay, hold on now, Shams. There has to be some sort of. Minus 10. 25, yeah. 25 winners of $500, Shams, if you're able to. Look how the guy's got a perfectly tailored suit on. Looks great. It's tough to shoot in dress shirts, yeah.

Yeah, it's tough to be this handsome and be athletic. 25 people, $500 if you make a shot into that hoop right over there. Shams, I want to let you know that people are saying this guy sucks. No way he makes it. Yeah, right away it didn't look good. Do you want to go to the corner where you were? Are we down to 15 now? 15 winners now?

15 winners, $500, Shams. For the people. Oh, man. Go to the other corner. Go to the other corner. I don't think the other corner is the right place. How do we do seven and a half winners? How does that work?

It just feels like. How about this? Don't look at me. 50 winners of $500. You can make this one. This is the last one, Shams. Pressure. That'll make it, Shams. That'll make it, Shams. Hey, we appreciate you, buddy.

You're the absolute man. Congratulations. 50 winners, 500 bucks. Jeez, cost the company. Hey, very nice to meet you, man. We appreciate you, Shams. You're the best. As Shams makes his way off the stage

into a weekend of dominance for the NBA All-Star Weekend with 50 winners of 500 bucks. Yeah, but you had an air ball, too, to start that thing. I know. To get up to 50. A couple news happening around Indianapolis. Hey, Shams, thank you, buddy. Yeah, you're good.

Thank you, Shams. Love you, Shams. All right, see you later. He, Chomps. Love you, Chomps. Good work. All right, see you later. He's very handsome. He is. Great guy. Donnie.

Vinny, he's got that. Yeah, chiseled look. Did he tell us anything? Did we learn anything there? No, he did. There was something. Clay Thompson will be doing free agency this year. That's a big deal.

Yeah, that is a huge deal. Also, Doc Rivers are good on defense. So the whole narrative about the Bucs just being terrible since Doc Rivers coached them, that's not true. On the defense side of the ball, they've been better. They just can't find a bucket. They've been great. Yeah, it feels like when they lost that loss last night, it felt like, yeah, they're good. That's fine. The good news for us is even though we don't

know anything about the basketball world, we've seemingly had a bunch of people that have been able to join us. Joining us now is, I don't know how many teams are in the NBA. 31? 30, I think. 30, 32? 32, 30. One of the owners of one of the NBA teams, and this is a big

deal. Ladies and gentlemen, the man who owns the Phoenix Suns, the governor of the Phoenix Suns, Michigan State legend, go green! Go white! Pretty racist if you white people say that. Matt Ishmael. Yeah, Matty.

Sir. Good boy, Matt. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, 1T, right? 1T. But it's not pronouncing it differently.

No. Hey, thank you for joining us. Glad to be here, man. How old are you? 44. Man, hell yeah, dude. Congratulations. Congratulations. Because I saw you? 44. Man, hell yeah, dude. Congratulations.

Because I saw the Player 15 group promo, which pretty much talked about you being the guy on the Michigan State Spartans basketball team who wasn't scared to be there early and not scared to be the one to mop up the floors late. Every once in a while, you just need somebody on the team who's willing to do anything for the team, and you're hoping to inspire others to buy in, basically. This is the group that owns the Phoenix Suns, the Player 15 group. Is that accurate?

Yeah, it's basically just to bring everyone together. We've got the Suns, we've got the Mercury, we've got the G League. So bringing everyone together, Player 15 kind of encompasses it all. In these videos of you diving on the floor and fighting and then mopping up afterwards, it's like you're the perfect guy to be owning a team because I think a lot of us, I can help you with that, a lot of us players, we always hope that a player will end up in ownership role so

that then they can make some changes from a player's point of view or from our perspective so I want to let you know even though you're not in our sport we're very appreciative of what you've done and what you've accomplished and how you've gone about doing your business so congratulations and we appreciate you I love it all right let's talk about this now. I'm having the best time. It's great. How has it been being an owner? A little bit different than what you expected? You know, more fun, awesome, every part of it.

Because I'm a fan, really. I'm a fan that owns a team now. And so now I get to do all the things that, as a fan, I always wanted the owner to do. Whether it's getting TV or trading for players or just being involved. I love it, man. It's been the best. So you bring in Kevin Durant.

Obviously, that's a big-time move. Then Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, they're kind of the crew. We're planning on winning, right? That's what we're in this for. That's the goal. That's the plan. Win the championship. That's what we're trying to do.

Okay, so speaking of championships, Michigan State has not won since, when is it, Foxy? 2000. Okay. Jeez. Were you on that team? I was on that team. Hell yeah.

I took the last shot in the game, missed the layup, but, you know, we won. Didn't matter. But Foxy still calls it January, February, Izzo, April. Is that a fair? He's the best. Izzo is the best. Not only a great coach, but the best guy. But, you know, watch this team.

You can watch this team right now. They're not even ranked. Watch out for them. Final Four's in Phoenix this year, too. Basketball center of the world coming up. You still follow along with Michigan State? Oh, I love it. Coach Izzo's my guy, and the players there, I love watching them.

So you found a United Wholesale Mortgage, UWM. Were you a part of NIL with Michigan State before you owned the Phoenix Suns? Not really. You know, not really much on the NIL stuff. But more just, I gave some money back to the school, helped them build a football facility. Just doing the right thing. Giving back. So tell me how you get to the Phoenix Suns. Because that feels like pretty far away. Do you have any connection

with the Phoenix area? Because we love that city. So nice. Phoenix is like the greatest city. We're big fans. No, I love it. I had no connection there. Wanted to be an NBA owner. Dreamt of it. Phoenix was like, could you ever own a Phoenix Suns? I mean, you want to spend some time in the winter. That's where you want to go, right?

Absolutely. And so I live in Michigan still. That's where my kids are. That's where I live. And I'm out in Phoenix all the time now. Suns and Mercury. I'm having the best time with it. And no connection originally, but now I have a house there.

I'm there all the time. I was there that other night, Wednesday. I'm there almost at all the games, but a lot of them. Yeah, well, I would want to live there. I think I'm probably going to live there, actually. Yeah, I hope. One day. I sure hope. It's so beautiful. And it has everything. It does. Hockey team sucks. It's the worst

in the league by a mile. The Cardinals trying to figure it out. Kyler's a dog. But the Phoenix Suns are the team out there. Do you feel the energy? Do you feel the city of Phoenix behind the Suns? Energy's fantastic. The Suns fans are the best. I mean, honestly, we've got the best fans. The energy out there, we you feel the energy? Do you feel the city of Phoenix behind the Suns? Energy's fantastic. The Suns fans are the best. I mean, honestly, we've got the best fans. The energy out there, we've never won a championship.

So that's what we're trying to do. We've never done it there in Phoenix, and we're going to go win it this year. I watch SemiPro, and I've seen Jackie Moon kind of figure it out. The owners' meetings, what are those like? How much say do you guys have? How much gets done? What you thought it was going to be as an owner versus what it actually is.

Is there anything, whenever it comes to, like, making decisions about the actual game or rules or free agency, that has kind of blindsided you? Or do you feel like you have actual say in the league? No, I feel, you know, Adam Silver, I think, is an amazing commissioner. I think you guys had him here the other day. He's just on top of everything. He's in the weeds of everything. The other owners, like, you're there.

You're talking about things. You're talking about new rules. We voted on some different changes. So it's actually more in the weeds than I thought. It's not as like just whatever happens, happens. You're actually doing it, talking about it, trying to figure out making changes to make the league better. It's for the fans. How do you make this thing better?

So it's been pretty good. I've only been in a year, so I'm learning. I'm the young guy, the new guy on the block, but I'm learning and enjoying it. Who'd you get into a fight with? I forget the other one. Jokic. Yeah. I didn't get in a fight with him, so I'm learning. I'm the young guy, the new guy on the block, but I'm learning and enjoying it. Who did you get into a fight with? I forget the other. Jokic. Yeah. I didn't get in a fight with him, but, you know, he kind of pushed me a little bit.

But we're good. We're good. Yeah, I mean, he probably didn't think that a guy this young looking is the actual owner. Connor's got a question for you, Matt. Yeah, the other part of the NBA, I feel like that happens a lot, and it's happened a lot in Phoenix, is when you don't win the championship, how hard it is not to just blow up the team. And obviously you haven't blown up the team per se,

but when guys come and go like Chris Paul, DeAndre, and after every season, is it hard not to just be like, okay, how do I, how do I do this? Like, how do I get rid of some guys? Do I, how long does that kind of like encapsulate your life when you guys haven't, you know, made it all the way? You've gone to the finals, but won the trophy itself. Yeah, you're evaluating it all year. So every player, every coach, everything, we're doing strategies,

and it's trying to build the best team. We just made a trade at the trade deadline. We had some great players. We made a trade, and we got Royce O'Neal. We think we upgraded our team. We're trying to win the championship. Like I said, I'm a fan. What the fans want, they want us to win.

And we're going to try. It doesn't mean we're always right. We're not going to win every year. We always know that, but we're trying to win every year, try to do everything we can. So after the season, but throughout the whole time, like how do we make our team better? How do we compete with the best teams? Obviously, Denver's the champs from last year. How do we go out there and hopefully beat them? Are you hands-on? Because you know basketball, obviously. I mean, there's not a lot of owners that played collegiate basketball at Michigan State or won a national championship. I assume you're pretty hands-on with the whole operation? Every detail. I mean, that's not a lot of owners that played collegiate basketball at Michigan State or won a national championship. I assume you're pretty hands-on with the whole operation?

Every detail. I mean, that's how I run my mortgage business. That's how I run the basketball business. Every detail from the trades I made with the women's team. We just made a great trade for Clea Copper on the women's side, the Mercury, like the NBA involved with everything. I got great people around me. They actually help me do all the stuff, and I get my thoughts. You just want to know about it.

Oh, yeah. I'm very involved with it. Like I said, you got to talk. I mean, I can watch a little film. I'm not James Jones, my GM, but I'll watch it and talk to him and strategize. I love being involved with it because I love basketball.

I know the game a little bit, but if you want to be great at something, you've got to be all in. I'm all in with the Phoenix Suns and Mercury. Are you worried that the Indiana Fever are about to just take over the WNBA because Kaitlyn Clark's coming to town? Sorry about it. We wanted her. She'd be great. I wish we could have had her, but they're going to be good. She's coming to town. Sorry about it. Yeah, no, we wanted her. She'd be great.

You know, I wish we could have had her, but they're going to be good. She's an unbelievable player. You see her last night? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, she is. She's sick. Stud.

She's sick. Phenomenal. I mean, I love watching her anytime. I'm going to. Big Ten girl. Yeah, Big Ten girl. I wish she was coming. She's coming to Phoenix, man.

She's not. No, I know. She's a fever. Okay. Well, these Iowa Hawkeyes fans need to shut up, too. Last night, as they're celebrating her breaking the record, they're like, one more year. I had to mute the TV.

I had to mute TV. I'm like, she's coming to Indianapolis. Yeah, her brother mentioned, hey, good luck with your future, and he threw in WNBA. So if her brother's saying that, he knows, hey, Caitlin's done, which she set out to do. Time to set records in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever, baby. But I do appreciate the fact that the Hawkeyes fans understand what they have in Caitlyn. Yes.

Like, they are showing up. She's box office. She's unbelievable. Every arena she is selling out. Yeah. And then obviously last night with history on the line, she's not even nervous, not tight. You know, like when Steph Curry was coming up upon the three-point record, like there were some shots not falling that Steph normally knocked down.

Then once he got the record, it feels like he had a sense of relief. She came out, boom, boom, boom, first eight points. Unbelievable. And then she goes for 49. It's like she's an absolute killer. Now, whenever you – and obviously you play college ball. You're a player 15. We know what that means, okay, with the whole story you told.

When you're around like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and whenever you're trying to find guys for your team, are you trying to find like killers? Like, are you trying to find, like, what is the, you know, how do you get over the hump? Like, in your eyes? Well, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are killers. These guys, their mentality, I love being around them. And they're killers and they're amazing players, too. But just seeing these

guys, like, yeah, like, my DNA, Michigan State basketball, like, I like guys that play tough. We're different. We want to have a built culture in phoenix and so we look for those kind of guys that's one of the reasons we're here for royce o'neill i think he fits in like that kind of mentality but honestly booker durant beal nurkic like i love nurkic the way he plays he's big strong he's guys a monster down there and uh we got grayson allen who's tough plays the right way we got we got a team well i like grayson allen's guy trips everybody yeah that's right no not anymore no no that was this guy's a great guy i'm telling you man you'd love him you would love him right way. We got a team. Grayson Allen's guy trips everybody. No, not anymore.

This guy's a great guy, I'm telling you, man. You'd love him. You would love him. As he was tripping people, this guy is awesome. When they were playing in L.A., actually, Emma Stone was leaving the game and she said bye only to Grayson Allen and the entire bench was like,

what the hell just happened? Absolute dog. What's next for you? Obviously, you're on the Suns. You got UWM. Any other ventures that you'll get into? I just want to try to win. Try to win with the Suns, the Mercury. Try to win championships. Be involved with it.

I love it. I'm in the weeds of it. My mortgage business, I run it all day, every day. That's what I'm doing most of the time. But basketball business, I got three kids, and I coach my kids sports on the weekends. It's the best. God, how do you have enough time? How do you have the energy?

How do you have the juice? You have the juice. You make the time, make the time every day. And so I got the young kids, coach them, coaching flag football, basketball, trying to win those games too.

I don't care. It's nine year old football. We try to win champions. Are we smacking the wood? Oh, we, we, we,

we, we compete. You know, we try to compete and win every day. Are you up like 4 a.m. Have like a 4 a.m. Yes. I every day in my office.

Not here today, but suit and tie every day. 4 a.m. In the office, Pontiac, Michigan grinding. Are you kidding me? No, that's and tie every day, 4 a.m. in the office. Pontiac, Michigan. Grinding. Are you kidding me?

No. That's what I've done for 20 years. How much are you worth? Do you look that up? I don't look it up. I just did. What is it? $8.1 billion.

Okay. All right. Pretty good. Pretty good. Pretty damn good. Okay, so $8.1 billion. Coming and going, depending upon the day. You know, however that old thing goes.

You're in Pontiac, Michigan still. You're coaching all three of your kids' stuff. Oh, yeah. You're hands-on with everything in the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury, and you're still running your mortgage business. Love it. How long is it? Is it sustainable forever?

I got energy. I love it. You wake up excited. You're excited every day. I love it. I love what I do. The kids are most important. My mortgage business, the basketball businesses.

I don't have much time for anything else, but I'm loving it. When do you work out? Do you have like a... No, I don't. Look at me. I don't look like you. I'm just... No, I'm on science.

I'm taking science. Yeah, you got to share with me. I need to figure it out. I'm not looking that good anymore. There's some stuff you can just take. I mean, I'm not saying he's on anything, but he's working out heavily with his son too as a bodybuilder, but there's some stuff that'll get you.

I don't think you need it. You're doing okay. Were you, I don't want to say self-made because everybody has help, but how'd you get in the mortgage business? I joined the company as 12th person. Originally, my father, who's a lawyer, started the company as side business. I joined as the 12th person. Now we have 7, who's a lawyer, started the company, his side business. I joined as the 12th person. Now we have 7,500

people. I bought the company 10, 15 years ago when we had a couple hundred people building it. And so, yeah, I don't know. You call it self-made. If you don't give self-made, give credit to my dad. My dad's an amazing man. I love giving him credit, anyone credit. I'm just grinding every day. Yeah, you're up at 4 a.m. every day. In the office, suit and tie. In the office at 4 a.m.?

Yeah, not getting up. 4 a.m., I'm in the office. What time? So that's 3.15? 3.30, 3.29, you know. Do you hit snooze ever? No, I don't need an alarm. I just get up. Oh, my God. I just go. Oh, you're an alien. Psychopath. So what time do you go to sleep? 9.30, 9.45. Now with the Suns game,

it's throwing me off a little bit. Now the Suns play late, so some of those days, I don't get into the office at like 6.30, but, you know, three-hour time difference, two-hour time difference, depending on the time of the year. Golly, you're a weapon, dude. Have you always been like this? 20 years, been doing it for 20.

I'm not that smart, so I have to outwork everybody. That's how I built my whole business. I've just got to come up, grind, outwork everyone. Same thing with basketball. I'm learning it. I've got to outwork everyone. I'm not the smartest guy. Do you still play a little bit?

I can play. You still got a jumper? Yeah, bit a little bit you still play pickup and pony yeah i gotta i play with some buddies everyone so i'm so i played michigan state a bunch of my old teammates play i work at uwm with me my mortgage company so we play on tuesday nights at my house sometimes i have a little game so we got some nba players and i got guys that can't make a layup i got my kids sometimes play how do you do it you do pretty good i'm okay you know i can i can make some shots. When the game's not like we play, we screw around and then eating gummy bears

and stuff during the games. But when the game gets on the line, it gets competitive for the last two or four points. Any of those Michigan gummy bears? Or just, no. Tony's got a question for you. I had a question, and I apologize. I don't know all of the details. But I think last year you left Bally's, I think,

and then you decided to go with all the local games on your own network. Is that correct? And I think you did it for free. Is that correct? For all the local. How's that working out? Has that been a great decision for you? How much heat did you get for that, too? I got all love from the fans, right?

Because they used to have to pay. So the way the NBA works is you give your media rights, and they pay you. B Leagues or Diamond Sports pays you $30, $35, a lot of money. And then they sell it to the fans. I said, we're done with it. Give it to the fans for free. They should not be able to watch the game because their team is not my team. So we gave it to them all

for free. No money coming our way on that. We split the advertisers. We make some of the money back. But it's the right thing to do. It's not my team. It's their team. What we have run my business my whole life is money follows success. Go do the right thing to do. It's not my team, it's their team. What we have run my business my whole life is money follows success. Go do the right thing, do a successful thing, put a winning product out there, we'll make money down the road. And so it's been great, and the fans love it,

and I think more NBA teams will follow it as well. I think Ryan Smith, who was on your show recently, he just did the same thing, and you'll see. This is going to be a new trend. No more of this pay to play, pay to watch. Just put the games on TV and let's watch them. Yeah, if you build it, they will come. That's obviously from the great baseball, but it's like life, too.

Yeah, and if not, you know what? The owners, we're all doing okay. What was that? $8.1 billion. So it's not about money. Nobody cares about the owner. Someone's like, oh, your luxury tax bill went up. I'm like, no fan cares how much I pay in luxury tax.

They care if we win. My job is to do what they want and it's not to try to how much money I make or how much money. Let's just go talk about winning. Well, you talk about if you build it, they will come. I think you just put $100 million into the Phoenix Mercury's practice facility. Only one in the WNBA. Is that accurate? Yeah. The best of the class.

We want to take, you know, we're investing in something and things happen good. You know, we made some great trades. Like, we're putting money. WNBA's great. I don't think, if you saw K.M. Clark, putting money. WNBA is great. I don't think you saw Kayden Clark. The WNBA is going to take a step up in the next 10, 15 years. You watch it. I'm excited about it. When she comes here, she'll sell out our arena because not just Indianapolis people

who have been fans of the Fever for a long time, everybody in the Midwest will travel to come watch her. For sure. With the way the Aces have been playing, with the way New York Liberty has been playing, and I assume the Mercury are going to get in. If you're building a $100 million practice facility, I assume free agents are going to want to come there as well. Absolutely. How come not all people with money understand that?

So, like, it feels like there is, and I don't want to say I'm at war with olds, but I am. I kind of am in our industry, okay? But I am. I kind of am in our industry. And there's always like a cut corners, save money, cut costs type situation. As opposed to like, hey, if you invest money in something, the return will be bigger. As opposed to the little bit of money that you can make off of saving money, if you actually invest money into something, the returns will probably come back bigger. Why do some people that are in positions of power and have money,

why did that become almost a train of thought for a lot of people? I really have no idea because the truth is people jump over dollars picking up pennies all the time, doing the wrong thing, cut costs. How about you just go do the right thing, invest, spend time, spend money? Money follows success every single time. And so, yeah, too many people, I guess I have a different mentality. I run a business all day. A lot of people invest and watch things. I'm just like do the right thing.

Good things happen. It's been successful for me. It's successful for a lot of people. I think more and more people are going to see that going on. Are you a business major? Business major. Michigan State. Go green. Go white. Go white. Let's do it. Do you feel racist when you're saying the second half of this? I feel supportive. Michigan State.

I'll put Foxy in a spot. We were down in Houston. We were the only white people in the entire place. We were walking through and just right in the middle of that thing, I go, hey Foxy in a spot. You know, we were down in Houston. We were the only white people in the entire place. Yep. And we were walking through and just right in the middle of that thing, I go, hey, Foxy, go green. You know, he responds with a go white. Nope. And I just bail out of there really quickly. But Michigan State has a lot of great things.

Boy, there's a lot of headlines made about Michigan State going the opposite direction. Certainly. I think we need to talk about you being a Michigan State product a lot more than we do. That's on us, Foxy. And that team he was on, like that molded specifically the area of Lansing but the state of Michigan.

Everyone wanted to play basketball for Tom Izzo, and quite honestly, everyone wanted to be Ishbia, that last guy on the bench, the gritty guy, the hardworking guy, the whole thing. So that's why I played basketball my whole life because of that, and everyone in the Lansing area, same kind of thing you fathered foxy seriously i take it that's a nice word i appreciate that i'm proud to be part of it is those the best michigan state's great like we got some great michigan state players in the nba too we got some good things but just good people there fox you got a question for matt yeah matt i mean i'm gonna follow up on that

you're very successful your business is very successful. You still live in the state of Michigan. I love the great state of Michigan. But I'll say it for a fact, there's a lot of better places to live. Whoa, Foxy. Why? Just why? Yeah, that's real.

What the hell? I love it. So I love it. It's where my kids are. What? It's negative 10 degrees. That's cold. Oh, yeah.

Very cold. I have the suns in Mercury. I go out to the Phoenix quite a bit. Oh, you've got a business trip, babe. I've got a business trip. I'm out of town. I'm going to go spend time there. But I love Michigan.

Great people in Michigan. Great people. Spartans are an hour and 15 away. I've got my kids there. My business is there. Pontiac, Michigan. We're grinding every day. And so just trying to be the best that we can do.

But, yeah, I get it. I'm in Arizona a lot nowadays. I enjoy it. Yeah, it's very smart. You said your business degree from Michigan State. And are you a good card player? I can play cards. What are the hobbies?

Golf? No, no, never. Yeah, because you live in Michigan. Yeah. It's five hours. I've got five hours to do that. So long. So cards, hobby?

No, no. I don't really. Coaching my kids. I'm not that much fun. I've got to hang out with you guys more. This is more fun hanging out with you guys. Shoot around the Thunderdome. I've got to hang out with you guys more. This is more fun hanging out with you guys. Shoot around the Thunderdome. I've got to be around you guys.

Well, listen. This is it. Don't let us make you dumber. We need more people like you. Any other aspirations going forward? Are you going to run the presidency or anything like that? No, man. Just got to win.

We've got to win a championship. I'm trying to win a Suns. And Mercury. That's all we're trying to do. How did the sportsbook operate inside the Suns arena go? Has that been going well? Has there been any backlash? Do you think other states, like

Indiana, for example, who's legal online sports gambling, do you think they're going to start putting in sportsbooks all over? I think so. I think it's just engaging for fans. I think fans like it. We have the FanDuel thing in our arena. It's been great. People are there before the games. They enjoy that. It's all about the fans. Basketball, it's entertainment.

What's best for the fans? What makes it more engaging for them? And I think that does it. It's not a huge thing either way. I never really bet on sports. I'm not really into that thing. But at the same time, fans do and they enjoy it. Now they care more and they enjoy it. It's cool. Steve Ballmer built that new place for the Clippers

and the first press conference he said, toilets! We got more toilets than anybody else because we want people not in lines to take pee. We want them in their seats watching the team. Like, how much do you have to balance? Like, we went down to the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta Hawks have this beautiful setup where, like, people are hanging out.

You get to go to the bar, food. There's not even, like, seats. You're just kind of standing. But I found myself not really paying attention to the game, but I would certainly go back to a game. How much do you have to balance like, all right, we want our environment to be a home court advantage, but also we want people to know that when they're coming to one of our games,

it's going to be a great time? Is that something you're hands-on with? Yeah, very hands-on with it. You know, every time out, there's got to be entertainment. Because, you know, husbands, wives, kids, not everyone loves the basketball game, so they're there for the whole entertainment. So I think making the arena a great place for people. Now, you've got to have the home court advantage.

Luckily, in Phoenix, we've got the best fans. They're all in. They're going crazy. It's all good. But you want to make it fun for people. Not everyone wants to watch every aspect, every minute of the game. They might want to go to the FanDuel Park. They might want to go grab a drink or a cocktail.

They've got to create some cool kid zones. So we try to do a little bit of everything balancing that, but you definitely want to have them watching the game. They might want to go to the FanDuel Park. They might want to go grab a drink or a cocktail. They've got to create some cool kid zones. We try to do a little bit of everything balancing that, but you definitely want to have them watching the game and cheering on your team. How about that gorilla you guys got? Dog. He's a weapon. That gorilla's a weapon. Oh, yeah, he is. Do you drink anything? Yeah, I'm a vodka guy. Great dude. Nice. Oh, okay.

With what? Sprite? Soda? Lemonade. Lemonade. It's not really tough. I'm not that tough. But vodka lemonade. I've been doing it my whole life. The fact that you still drink vodka lemonades, I think we like. Respect. It's a summer drink. I'm doing it. Absolutely. Tone's got a question for you. I was going to ask about, with the Fandle being there,

and you talked about how the fans like it. Have you heard anything from the players? Like, hey, fans are heckling me because I didn't hit my point total night. Have you heard any of the negatives from, hey, fans are heckling me because I didn't hit my points until tonight or anything like that? Have you heard any of the negatives from the player side or anything like that? Never once. Never once from one of my guys about that stuff. Or just never really about that stuff. You hear some stuff about that, like fantasy stuff.

But I really haven't heard it from our guys at all. They love it. I think our guys love that fans are engaged and care. You know, sometimes when we're on the road, you get some fans yelling at our guys. But not really on the FanDuel stuff or on the sports betting stuff, at least that I've seen. Do you talk to your players? All the time.

Okay, so you take their feedback. Hey, what can we make better? How do we make better? Has any player, like when Kevin Durant comes over and you have a conversation with him, do you ask him, like, hey, what has it been like in some other places that maybe we don't have? Is that happening? How can I run a business if I don't talk to my players?

I talk to every player on my women's team and my men's team. Talk to them all the time. I text with them. I have dinner with them. I'm around these guys and gals all the time. I'm learning to get better. And so do I ask them? Of course I ask them.

I tell people that came from other teams, like, hey, what do they do better than us? Because we're going to do better than that. Like, oh, we like team dinners on the road. Okay, we got it. How do we make the hotels better? What can we do? I'm trying to be the best. We're trying to be the best franchise in

all of the NBA, all sports. How do we do that? You've got to invest. You've got to find out. The players actually know. They've been, oh, at this place we did this. Or, hey, I love this. Take care of your guys. Do the right thing. Take care of your girls. That's what we're trying to do. Every detail, I'm involved with. Do you think because you're an athlete that that's quite an advantage

over everybody else? Because you're like a suit. You are a suit. And you're in a suit. 4 a.m. 8.1 billion. But're an athlete that that's quite an advantage over everybody else. Because you're like a suit. You are a suit. And you're in a suit. 4 a.m. 8.1 billion. But being an athlete, I think, is a weapon that the suits don't have. I think it differentiates because I've been there. I've been in the locker room.

I've been part of that. And they understand that I've done it. I'm also younger. I'm a little closer to a lot of their age. I'm thinking the youngest owner in sports. It's like I've been there with them. I've played with them. Kevin Durant's

eight, nine years younger than me, so it's not like we're that far apart. But the thing is, I know what it takes because I've seen it and I want to be involved. I've never done it in the NBA. I've never done it in the NWA. You know who's done it? Some of my players. My head coach has won a championship. So ask them. I don't need to reinvent the wheel. What works?

What doesn't work? Let's try to do more of that. Let's build a new film room. Okay, we got you. My job is to be the best owner. Their job is to be the best player, best coach, best medical trainer. We all have to play our roles and that's even what Player 15 is about. Do your role. Be the best at it. It's all about team. Has there been a price

of something that's come across your desk? You're like, I'm not paying for that. I feel like I'm getting ripped off. No. No. Not if it's going to help us win. So I say, hey, listen, we did the trade deadline. They said, oh, it's going to add to the luxury tax. I said, is Royce O'Neal going to make us better? Yes.

Okay, then what are we talking about? No fan's going to be like, good job saving money in the tax bill. HB is really great. They don't care. They want to see a championship team out there. Let's do what it takes. Do you feel obligated because you're new to the team? Like, you've got to earn almost credibility with the fans? I'm going to be doing the same thing in 40 years.

You'll be talking to me about the same stuff. I'm not trying to do it because I'm new. I just want to do the right thing. I'm doing what the fans would want. We've all done it. If I was the owner, I would do this. We all played fantasy style. Now I am the owner. Now I'm going to do what the fans want. Winning is what they want. What have you learned about the NBA, about

building a championship team that maybe you're still trying to find with your squad? Well, I think the biggest thing you learn is health, right? Like I, I, I took for granted that, you know, these guys got the humans. Yeah. They're human beings and you know what, you get hurt. And like, you got to sort of the medical stuff and making sure that they feel

comfortable and that we do all the right things to get the players playing. Cause I think you got to build the best players, build the best team by getting the best players, but you've got to make sure that they play. And so being healthy is a big part of it. We started the year with some unhealthy players. We weren't as healthy. And then the last 25, 30 games,

we've been one of the best teams in the league like we expected. And so health is a big part of it. But putting the guys in positions to succeed, too, it's like any business. A team with the best players usually wins if you treat them the right way, you have the right vision, and you work hard. I'm happy we got you.

I'm happy the United States of America is great. I kind of wish he was in the NFL, but whatever. Yeah, you have no aspirations for the NFL? Yeah, I love that. NFL, I originally bid on the Denver Broncos. I was trying to get in that. The Waltons beat me. I didn't get that one. You got eight. They got 50. Yeah, I realized that.

NBA's my thing. WNBA's my thing. I'm a. Yeah, I realize that. But NBA is my thing. WNBA is my thing. I'm a basketball guy. I wouldn't rule out NFL one day. But NBA and WNBA, I got a lot of work to do to learn. You get along with all the other owners there? Most of them. We get along pretty good.

They're all good people. They've all been really welcoming. Most of them, huh? You've had a couple? No, no. They've all been great. They've all been good. No, no, no.

A couple. You know the NFL owners? No, no, they've all been great. They've all been great. Well, no, no, no. A couple. You know the NFL owners? Tepper in particular? I don't know. I've never met him. I know a lot of the NFL owners. I've met a lot of them. Honestly, this is one thing about sports that I learned.

The owners, to give credit, NBA owners, NFL owners, MLB owners, they have been great. When I was trying to buy a team, learning about it, they would welcome me in, have lunch with me, talk to me. They were over-the-top cool with me. They didn't know me for anybody. I give a lot of credit to the NBA, NFL. And Adam Silver, Roger Goodell, these guys,

they care about the sport so much and the team. It was better than expected on that. The owners have been better than you expect. They share. I called one of the owners the other day, like, hey, do this with your team. We're teammates, except for the 48 minutes on the court. How much did you get the Suns for?

$4 billion. And you just have to pay for that or you get a mortgage out? No, I wish there was a mortgage. No, no, you actually wire out the money. Like, it's gone. Minus four. Just watching that. Jeez, yeah.

See you later. All right, now we've got a team, though. Well, I'm happy that you're an owner during our existence. Good luck out in Phoenix. Good luck with everything else. And you're the man, dude. Your energy just made me feel better. Seriously, I love being with you guys.

This is the best, man. I'm going to come back. Well, you're in Pontiac, Michigan, so come by whenever you want. Let's go. Very close. Ladies and gentlemen, owner of the Phoenix Suns, governor of the Phoenix Suns, Matt Ishvier. Thank you.

Hey, thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate you. Nice clean dap up with a billionaire. Yeah, he is a dog. I'll be honest. I did not expect that. 44 years old. Absolute weapon.

I mean, what was that? That's sweet. 4 a.m. in the office. That's how it happens. Beast. That's just the Michigan State guy. Sure. That's all out of it.

Foxy, your ass ain't in it. 4 a.m. You finally found one. Jeez, Luis. What a legend. That was so cool. Fours! Are happening all around us.

The NBA has invaded Indianapolis, Indiana, as Matt Ishbia, the owner slash governor of the Phoenix Suns, makes his way out of here alongside Shams Sharani and representatives of the Suns and the Mercury. This is a phenomenal time to be in Indy. We're lucky to be here. I'm not alone, obviously. One half of the hammer. Cowboys' Tone Diggs is here. Tone's been battling over there.

Yeah, a little bit. Tone left twice during Shams and HBO. Made his way back and asked great questions. We appreciate you. Got a cough drop. We got two weeks coming up. Perfect time for the boys to get out. And the Talks at Table is here at Boston Corner.

Sweet shirt. Thank you. Yeah, it's the same one as Wednesday. Essentially just a different animal because everybody was so excited about it. No, no, no. That's the way we go. It's the same exact one. They're in the same tab.

Next to each other. Not nearly as good. Speaking next to each other, next to you is a four-time Super Bowl champion. Hell, yeah. Vinny, I apologize for the chaos that happened in the first hour there. We didn't get a chance to chat with you as much. This is not what it's normally like. No, it's awesome.

I really, really enjoyed it. I'm not a huge, huge basketball guy. I never played it. But listening to the Phoenix Sun enjoyed it. I'm not a huge, huge basketball guy. Never played it. But listening to the Phoenix Suns owner, I'm like... What's his name? Matt. Don't ask me how to spell his last name. But he's

a baller. I sat there and listened to him. I wish every owner had the same pizzazz thought about how do I make my team win? He's less about, obviously, $8.1 billion. Yeah, but he saw four of it go. Right. And he's not about, like, hey, how can I make more money?

He's like, I want to win. And that's the cool part because he played the sport. I think guys that have played that become owners understand both sides of it. And I was just excited. I literally was sitting there going, if I was a basketball player, I'd want to play for him. You know what I mean? It was amazing. Yeah, I loved it.

There's a Dynasty documentary happening about Robert Kraft, who was once a fan of the Patriots and bought the Patriots. It's like he was never scared to invest. Like just a few years ago, they spent a hundred and some million on one day trying to, but it's like the owners that get it. And I think this is not just sports teams. This is businesses as well.

Like if you invest in your business, you're probably going to end up making more money, which is the question I ask. I'm like, why do people think, like, oh, I need to cut corners. We need to do this. We need to do that. It's like, well, you're not going to end up making the big prize at the end. You might be able to stay alive, but you're not going to win it in the end. I think what Robert Kraft and the Patriots did for 20-plus years was exactly what he was kind of describing there

alongside, obviously, Bill Belichick and the boys. For sure. You know, if you want to make money, you have to win games, period. I mean, that's how you fill seats. That's how you fill luxury boxes. That's how you sell jerseys. That's how you on and on and on and on, right? That's how you build a Patriot place.

That's how you build up a casino. That's how you build up hotels. Yeah. Does any of that stuff happen without six, seven, eight, ten Super Bowl visits and, you know, six championships? I don't know. You know, if you don't win the first couple, you know, where does it go from there? You know, I mean, it's completely different now when you drive down Route 1 than it was when I first got there, for sure. Yeah, and then when you win, you know, there's enough to go around.

Oh, yeah. But some people think, like, nah, we're here. This is enough to go around. Those owners, I think, are going to slowly fizzle out. Because as the new money gets in, he talked about the Waltons. The Waltons immediately. Sean Payton in. They're spending money everywhere.

Josh Harris over there with the Commanders. I assume he's going to do the same thing. Like, the NFL is going to feel the effects of this new money that's going to come in. And they're all going to be hungry. They're all going to be the same thing. The NFL is going to feel the effects of this new money that's going to come in, and they're all going to be hungry. They're all going to be yearning for it. But there is a little bit of chaos that can come with that, and the Tepper question was a good one because Tepper's just like, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire.

You can invest a bunch and still not win. I think he's experiencing that. Yeah, and talking to Ishbia, it was similar to talking to Ryan Smith. They have the same thought process as far as the game. It's not just a basketball game. It's entertainment for everyone, and we're not trying to cut costs, cut corners, or anything like that. And I feel like that is a new business model. The old guys, the old suited guys,

where it's just about the bottom line and stuff like that, I don't think it is like that anymore. Obviously, it's about the bottom line. Those people still exist. They do definitely still exist. But they're getting. Yeah, bingo. Well, in generations, you know, owners, sons and daughters take over.

And then they have to either agree with the way that they're, you know, the predecessors. Well, look at the Bengals. For sure. Look at the Bengals. They just bought a, they built an indoor dome. That's probably because the kids have more of a stadium. Sold the rights.

Yeah, the kids. Katie, I believe, is her name. She is making the decision. It's like, this kids have more of a stadium. Sold the rights. Yeah, the kids. Katie, I believe, is her name. She is making the decision. It's like, this is good for all of us. And I wish there was more of those guys around. But you're right. Listening to him and Ryan Smith talk, it's like both guys that started businesses, had businesses, ran businesses, sold businesses, made money, got into their dream jobs, which is owning teams, and taking the same exact type of approach to it.

Like, I want to build this. I want to win. Joining us now is a man who's won college football national championship, Super Bowl championship. He's a Ryder Cup winner. Ladies and gentlemen, the all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, A.J. Hawker. Hey, A.J.

A.J., you should have felt this guy's energy, dude. He was – I did. I did feel it through the screen. I was watching. As Vinny says, he brought a lot of pizzazz and a lot of juice, man. That was impressive. Hey, good word there, pizzazz. Great one.

We love the word pizzazz. We love the word pizzazz around here. AJ, as you think about everything, are we an NBA program now? I feel like we are. I mean, Shams, you know, you have the owner of the Phoenix Suns, as Vinny Terry says. What's his name, AJ? Matt Ishbia. There you go. I do not know how to What's his name, AJ? Matt Ishbia.

There you go. I do not know how to spell that last name, though. Just as it sounds. Yeah, I-S-H-B-I-A, and Matt is just one T. M-A-T. Oh. Ishbia. Sweet.

Yeah, dude. He's a dog. He is a dog. Yep, there he is. Matthew Randall Ishbia, CEO and Chairman of United Wholesale. I may or may not need a mortgage right now. Yep, please. So this is good timing to become friends with Matt with one T.

AJ, I don't know if you got a chance to see, the first two episodes of this Dynasty docuseries were released. Did you get an early view of them? I did not, no. Are you a little worried? Am I worried? Like, um... Don't be.

I would assume like Robert Kraft, maybe Belichick. Anytime you do some of these, you have no idea how it's going to get edited. You have no clue what they're going to choose. Who had final cut? Did anyone get final approval? No, I think the cool part about this is that the producer said, we're going to make this as transparent and raw as possible,

and don't say it if you don't want it to be said, if you don't want it to be heard. And I think they took the gloves off and they just said, everybody's going to kind of air it out a little bit because we're going to celebrate the dynasty as well. But we're also going to talk about how the collapse of friendships and how the it got divided and why tom and bill's relationship went you know sideways and and i'm excited for some of that not not excited is the wrong word i think it's more like eager eager

yeah because like there's going to be some new england fans that are going to watch this going yeah i want to relive the dynasty and there's going to be the rest of the world that goes, I can't wait to see how it collapsed because F those guys. You know what I mean? And so I'm kind of excited to see some of the parts that I know of. There's a section on Aaron Hernandez in it, you know, and all that went down during that time. What they knew, what they didn't know.

Yeah. I mean, all the above of, like, what was in his mindset when it was all going through, what the team felt. I mean, there's a lot of it that I'm familiar with, but I don't know a lot of it. I'm kind of excited and eager to see some of that. So you were there the first 10 years of the dynasty? I was there from 96 to 05.

So I was there when we won three of the last four. And then after that, I obviously came here. And did what? And we won another one. The first year, yeah. Of course, the Vinatieri aspect. But were the Patriots already hated by the time you left there? Yes.

I would think any time you have that type of success that people start. Well, here's the thing, right? The Patriots, you know, from inception when Robert Kraft bought it, they were kind of the bottom team in the AFC East at the time. That was whack when they were in the AFC East. They went to the Super Bowl in 85 and they lost to Chicago and Refrigerator Perry and all those

guys. But there was a lot of meek years in there. So when we went to the Super Bowl in 2001, we were huge underdogs. I think the whole world was cheering for us. That changes pretty quickly after you have a bunch of success. So I want to ask you about the Chiefs because it's happening right now. For sure.

We had Patrick Mahomes on the other day. He seemed like the coolest dude of all time. Every interview he does seems like an actual human. He likes ketchup, which I appreciate. He doesn't have the finer taste. His new house is awesome. That new house that he has, he has numerous houses. Absurd.

A couple golf holes outside, doesn't he? Yeah, he's living high society for sure, but people hate the Chiefs now. That is too much greatness, too much winning, too much success, too much exposure. For the Patriots, what do you think it was, and do you think it was just natural? Here's the thing.

Everybody wants to see the underdog win. I was cheering for the 49ers because I wanted to see Purdy, the mystery-relevant win one. I wanted to see, you know, Purdy, you know, the mystery irrelevant win one, right? And I hate it when they always sit there and go, oh, Patrick Mahomes, Purdy, you know, they're not playing against each other. You know, Purdy's going against the Chiefs defensive coordinator and the 11 guys on the field.

So it always gets like, oh, well, he's not equivalent to this or whatever. For me, selfishly probably, I kind of enjoyed being the last – being a guy on a team that won three of the last four and nobody else had done that. So, you know, nobody wants to see their records broken, I guess, right? So, I wasn't anti-Chiefs, but I was more – I wanted to see the 49ers win. And I think – I didn't even think about Patriots people being like,

let's slow these Chiefs down. Well, you know, what Patrick's done, you know, what the Chiefs have done, but what Patrick's done over the last X amount. His Apple Watch. Your Apple Watch is yelling at us. Nice. Hey, shut up, bitch. Exactly.

I lost my train of thought. But, yeah, I think at the end of the day. Patrick this far six years in. Yeah, yeah. I mean, could he potentially break every record that's out there? Absolutely. I mean, watching his skill sets and what he, you know, I think halfway through the season I would have – I didn't write him off,

but I didn't think that they were going to run the table like they did toward the end of the season. So, it's pretty impressive to watch what that organization's done, Andy Reid's done. I mean, you know, you want to talk about great coaches? Andy Reid. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God.

To your point about the first six years, too, because there's been a lot of that with Brady and Mahomes, just to clarify here, the Patriots were 5-11, and then Brady took over for a $100 million quarterback where it was clearly not his team. And then they even talked about that, too, where Brady went out to dinner with Lawyer Malloy and Ty Law, and he told them, like, hey, this is my team now. And Lawyer Malloy and Ty Law and he told them, hey, this is my team

now. And Lawyer Malloy and Ty Law were like, bitch, you're going back to the bench with what so gets back. They just paid him $100 million. Ty Law and Ernie Adams, they stole the show in the first two episodes, but Brady takes over 5-11 team. They go 10-6 and then make it all the way.

Patrick Mahomes takes over for a playoff team and obviously what Mahomes is doing is unmatched. I'm not taking anything away from that. I'm just saying the situations between the two, as far as their first six years, they're both kind of up against two different things. Yeah, I think obviously it's going to be tough to compare apples to apples here.

Two different cities, two different organizations, two different situations. But we got the two dynasties. Oh, yeah. That of the most recent era. And everything we learn, in the middle of it, you guys knew you were going to continue to have success? Yeah?

You know, about the time that the second run took off, I was gone. So I wasn't part of that. I do know I watched them go 19-0 and then lose to the Giants in the Super Bowl. I was already here at that point. But so was the Super Bowl. Correct, correct. Yeah. And so I watched as as a fan of a few of my buddies still there. But as as a current Colt player, I, you know, obviously I wanted less success and more success for us, but still cheering on a

couple of my buddies that were there and continuing to do it. But I just, you know, I thought when when the big transformation and a lot of those older vets that kind of built that team left, I was like, I don't know if they're going to still be able to keep the run. How many years did you play? There? In the NFL. 24. Jesus.

You already knew that. So many. What a crazy number. That's fun. Yeah. Did the league change at all, Vinny, from when you came in? Absolutely, man. Yeah. It was, it was good. Did the league change at all, Vinny, from when you came in? Absolutely, man. Absolutely. Social media has been one of those things that, you know,

obviously we didn't have any of that. You think that's the biggest change? That and fantasy football has changed a lot too. Now you've got a lot of fans that are less about team success and more about their team, if you will. So I think it's brought a lot more attention. It's brought a lot more fans to know the game and stats of players and all that stuff. But I definitely think that some of the social media stuff, like guys,

are more about how many tweets or how many followers or how can I monetize my account more so than the success of the team. And that's the one thing that that you never saw that back in in the 90s early 2000s it was all about hey if we win success and everything will go around for everybody and i think now it's more about you know me i kind of feel bad because i think my name gets thrown around a lot about building a brand but one of the reasons why i retired is because i thought like if you have a job in the NFL, you owe it to your team to be 100 percent focused on punting footballs or on kicking balls. And I wanted to kind of stray away from that.

I wanted to focus on other stuff. I wanted to do philanthropy. I wanted to build up, do some of this shit. So I think, like, there's kind of a misconception on that. But your brand was you never it was never a distraction to you or to our team when you were trying to to do stuff like that. It was never a distraction to you or to our team when you were trying to do stuff like that. You weren't live streaming in the locker room after a game.

That's a weird thing, isn't it? I took a picture of you one time and then Andrew Luck was in the back. I was trying to give credit to Adam Vinatieri being the legend. He was wearing a towel with a dress shirt up top. He had just had a massive playoff dub. And then in the background, like Bigfoot, Andrew Luck is a lot of thought.

Oh, yeah. A lot of thought. Thank God there was a guy with a camera in front blocking a little bit of private. It was literally like Austin Powers. It was amazing. Blocking it perfectly. It was fantastic. But I felt horrendous.

I felt sick that that happened. Nowadays, it's almost like, oh, I got a good piece of content from some people. Not everybody. But those who can keep the culture on the main thing are going to be the ones that win. Andy Reid's been able to do that. Bill Belichick was able to do that for a long time. He doesn't have a job now, and a lot of people are trying to speculate on why he wasn't hired. One of the things that is being said, we don't know if it's true or not, or if people actually feel this,

is they don't think he'd be able to coach in the modern football era. Obviously, you played football for 24 years. You went through like six different eras of the NFL, let alone from tackling the style of play, the style of human going in there. You think Bill Belichick could coach at any time, no matter what? So I think the thing that Bill Belichick does really well, and Bill Parcells, and probably Andy Reid, I've never played for Andy, but some of these guys can cherry pick their leaders, right?

Like I know when Parcells would go to a new team, when he left us and went to the Jets, first thing he did, took five or six of his captain, his older leader guys, right? And he brought them to his team, and he did it again when he went to Dallas. He would get his guys that would believe in his philosophies and would drink the Kool-Aid and would lead the guys.

The thing about the Patriots and the reason why they had a dynasty is because they had great coaching and great players, but they had leadership that a lot of teams don't have now, right? And so they had the guys, the Willie McGinnis of the world, that would challenge guys, hey, listen, lifting's at 6 a.m., and we're going to do it before our meetings. And, oh, by the way, even if you that would challenge guys. Hey, listen, lifting's at 6 a.m. and we're going to do it before our meetings. And oh, by the way, even if you're there at 5.50, but you're the last guy there, you're late and we're going to dog cuss you or we're going to give shit or we're

going to do whatever. Right. And that was one of the things that I don't think I shouldn't say that because I'm not sure. But I think some of that leadership, the old school leadership on the Reggie Waynes that would go, hey, listen, I want to teach you young guys how to be a pro, right? And I think a lot of guys nowadays are more concerned about how much money can I make or my own stats and stuff. And I don't want to say that. I don't want to say the league's in a bad place. It's not everybody. I know that there's great players out there and there's great leaders out there.

I know that there's great players out there and there's great leaders out there, but if you want to win championships, you have to have the core group of leaders that are going to not only make themselves ready to play, but they're going to drag everybody up with them. Patrick, Travis. I mean, on the defensive side, Spag said they got 11 guys that were all bought in. Even when guys got hurt, they continued to go. It's like at your pillar positions, you've got to have your best people. And it feels like the dynasties that we've watched, both the Patriots

and now the Chiefs, even back at the Steelers and the Cowboys, it's like at the pillar positions, you've got your best guys. That's not easy to figure out. Go ahead, AJ. Vinny, one thing I think that makes this, you know, the whole series even more intriguing for people is because you guys were so secretive. Like, you guys didn't give the media much obviously bill didn't the players didn't

did you feel that when you were a player there like did you feel nervous speaking to the media i've talked to guys that have played there like man i did not want to i just didn't want to build a talk about me in the team meeting for what i said the day before to the media i watched bill belichick tell matt light and and again i'm I'm giving a little information, but Matt was a rookie, and he loved to talk to the media. Great vodka, too. He's got great vodka. Oh, yeah.

Matt Light's got a great vodka. Good beer. Well, he loved to talk to the media, and I remember Belichick one time saying, hey, Matt, I don't want to hear any more effing words from you to the media. Here's the thing. If I hear another statement from you to the media, if's the thing. If I hear another statement from you to the media, if I see another quote from you, I'm going to fine you. So the media is in his locker and guys are laughing because they're asking him questions and he's like sitting here and he's

literally not saying a word. So there was definitely some, some heat from up top that said, you don't talk about injuries. You don't talk about any, you know, like he wanted to make sure that it was always a very, a very tight ship that nobody leaked out any information. Is that possible nowadays? I don't think so. Probably very tough to do that. There's rats everywhere.

Right. We're kind of learning that. Well, and here's the other thing. We're learning that. Such as in professional sports, by the way. I would like to say the thing I might be most proud of of this thunderdome is i mean we got a tight group here it's obviously not a lot of people we got a 15 person business in here every day i don't think i'm i mean maybe there's a turncoat in here but i don't think so

we have no rats in here nothing's ever gone out like nothing has ever gotten out of our thunderdome that has been said in a modern, that is something I'm very proud of our business because people can get self pops from leaking information down the road. And that's kind of and now we had Shams here, right? So like that's his entire business pretty much. Adam Schefter, Ian

Rappaport's been a massive piece of the program. Pellicero, Garofalo, Josina Anderson, Diana Rossini. Even Jet Passon. Jet Passon's in the MLB. And then he's alongside Tim Kirchner. Tim Kirchner, who we miss you, Ty. Hope you're having a good time.

Ty, you can throw in there, too, with Yamamoto. Yeah, exactly. Ty, it's like there's full professions now. And it's like it almost behooves you to be a rat. And it's like when you're trying to build a team or build a business, like's how you get killed do you think that is another part of like the modern era that maybe bill belichick isn't able to control and people are worried about him coming into a building not being able to do that type of stuff is because we're trying to figure out why the hell bill belichick doesn't have a job yeah and he told atlanta he wouldn't be the gm he had no problem

with that either that's come out from arthur blank directly during an interview so all the different stuff. That's what we're trying to figure out, but also, do you think it is vastly different now whenever it comes to that type of stuff and how you go about building a team? I guess the Chiefs, you don't really hear much. No, not really. All the good teams, you don't really hear much. Tony has been the only one with the Chiefs, and it feels like... And they just

didn't even play. He wasn't active. Yeah, see you later out there. You know, I think with Bill, I think he's not in a hurry, necessarily. I think he wants to find the exact right fit and right team where he can do what he thinks he wants to do and how. And, hey, do I want to be the coach and the general manager? Do I want to have this much control or this much say, whatever? And, you know, obviously he wants to get that record,

but that's only a couple years away if he finds the right team. So, again, I haven't spoken to him. I don't know for sure. But as I look at it, I'm like, don't jump in bed with a bad situation. Wait it out and find the right situations because ultimately, like this has no merit at all. But I thought if Jerry Jones could have gave him control, which Jerry's not going to do

but if he could have that team is ripe for winning championships i mean look at they just seemingly need just like they need the leadership or one thing to get them over the hump the the talent's there the ability's there every you know it's it's lined up but it just you know he so i think ultimately he's just probably sitting there trying to find the exact right team where he'll fit in and be able to go from zero to 100 quick. Yesterday, because I was lucky enough to watch it, and we were talking about team earlier, Vinny has an unbelievable little segment towards the end of the second episode.

First of all, they go to the Raiders kick was the end of the second episode, and there's a clip of Vinny being like, hey, if you don't make this, your life is over before he hits the game time field goal. Somebody said that to him? No, he says that about himself. He was like, hey, if you don't make this, your life is done. He should have practiced like that, too. Well, he went into the zone. Like he talked about the zone he goes into.

I want to let you like this dude is a machine right here. Like this guy is an absolute machine. Oh, oh yeah he would miss a kick in practice and it was like worst day ever i'm like bro i kicked 10 balls this one who gives a you've already won four super but then what you want but then me personally yeah once i'm watching him treat it that way i'm like oh that's why he's won four yeah yeah So then I start, you know, like getting pissed off over a shank. Like you molded me into a, I don't want to say just much better punter, human almost with the way you focused on your craft. Were you like that going into the Patriots?

Do you think Parcells and Belichick created you into that? Was it a fear? Like what do you think it was? Well, I truly believe there's moments in your life. And I don't think just like moments in a game. I don't know if you know this specific moment is going to change your life, right? We talk about that snow kick or a Super Bowl kick. Absolutely.

We know that moment is going to change your life for the better or for the worse. We don't usually know when that time is going to happen, but I always try to make practice more difficult than games. I know Bill Parcells, my rookie year, it's training camp. Hey, practice is over. We're going to do our conditioning. That's back when you conditioned after practice, too, in training camp, two a days kind of thing. And he said, all right, Vinatieri, get out there, kick this 50-yard field goal. If you make it, no conditioning. If you miss it, we're going to do double conditioning.

So that's the kind of stuff that they put pressure on you in practice. So when you get into a game, it's different, but it's not different. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think you are first ballot Hall of Famer. We all think that. I think every football person thinks that. You're up next year, right? I am.

Okay, so let's go and get that. We will pound the drum for you, obviously, all year am. Okay, so let's go and get that. We will pound the drum for you, obviously, all year for what you've done for kickers and punters. Justin Tucker, he's a machine. That guy is an absolute machine. Every craft evolves and gets better as the years go on. Ray Guy used to be the guy. Ray Guy would be like number 15 or 16 in the NFL right now if he was in there because everybody's gotten bigger, stronger, faster. Techniques have have gotten better that's what's supposed to happen in the sport

whenever you see guys like Justin Tucker and Harrison Buckner he mishits a 57 yarder in the super did you see I mean he mishit that ball absolutely completely and he still puts it in it's like there's people I assume to think maybe you're bitter about that i don't think that's probably the case how you feel at all about how those guys are doing i love the fact that the the sport or our craft is continuing to get better you know like like i look at it and you know you you get little at adam hey who's the best kicker oh justin tucker this i am a huge fan of justin tucker and harrison buckner and there's so many guys out there that are so good right now. Jake Moody's a rookie. That guy went through the rookie wall and hit a 50-point.

52, 55 in a game. I'm like, those are huge kicks in the most stressful, tough time of your life. And, yeah, I love the fact that these guys are doing it. And, you know, our stats, our records, all that stuff will be broken. And great. I mean, that's part of the game. I can sit there and watch this stuff. I get more nervous.

I'm watching the Super Bowl, and I'm watching these guys having to do it. And granted, I've gone through it, so I know what it feels like. But I think I'm more nervous sitting on the couch with no skin in the game whatsoever. I'm sitting there going, dude, holy shit, I can't believe this is going on right now. We're walking in the suite at that Colts game, and Rego's coming out to punt from a backed-up punt in, like, the fourth quarter. And I'm like, oh, my God. I'm, like, so nervous.

Because there's so many things that can go wrong that people don't. Let's say the snap is just a little bit wide. He drops it. That goes out the back for his safety. We lose that game right there. Like, those are all things that I'm, like, thinking of for Rigo. And, obviously, he just catches it, turns it over, and does it. Whenever we were in that situation, we wanted to be there.

But now that I'm watching, I'm scared to death for these guys. I'm happy to hear you are the same thing. It's just different. It's different now because when you're on this, I always said, I was always way more nervous when I'm standing on the sideline and I can't make a difference. You know, hey, we're up by a point, and they've got the ball in two minutes, and they can go down and score a field goal, and game's over.

I hate sitting on the sideline because i have no control over it other than flying a towel or cheering you know what i mean i like i've told i've told the story before about you becoming a psycho basically for those uh game winners like a soulless human being okay and i assume you talk about a little bit sounds like you talk about getting into the zone a little bit did you ever have any of those scared or negative thoughts during your career how about towards the end there when you're battling injuries and shit like that? You know, that for me was more about am I going to be able to help my team? Because you were trying to get the record, right? We all know that.

Yeah, yeah. Well, it got to a point where when I played against, I think I played against Mort in my second year in the league. He was in Atlanta. I shook his hand. I'm like, hey, I'm going to fanboy for a second. I'm like, you know, you were the guy when I was growing up as a kid your records will never be touched oh my god you know i was really fanboying it at the time and then you play a couple of decades right

and all of a sudden you're like you know i'm looking at the stuff going hey you know there might be an opportunity here where if i play long enough i maybe can catch his records right and so i never really thought about it, but I suppose those last couple of years, it got to a point where I was a little bit more, you know, wanting those records. But I think the most nervous kick of the year for me always was first kick of the season because it's been six, seven months of, you know,

as you get into the middle of the season, you just get into your routine. Everything goes. Playoffs, yeah, it's a different beast. But then you know you guys are clicking everything feels normal and right for me when you take six months off and you get back out there you don't forget how to do it but it was always once i drilled that first one then i was like okay the season's on the way yeah you're one of the only kickers that has a top 10 kicks yeah exactly top 10 game winners or whatever sets all-time career points record here on a chip shot yeah this is a chippy hey who cares yeah right yeah don't give it to you it

doesn't matter how three counts you put that thing right through the middle i assume going into this one you wanted a good ball to be on tape whenever you broke the record i did like caitlin clark last night she said you knew i was going to go logo three yeah to break the record because that's going to be played over and over and i assume you And I assume you thought as well, we need to hit a good ball here. Well, you know, we all thought it was going to happen at home the week before. And then it was that game. It never really turned out that I had a bunch of attempts. So it pushed to, of all things, in Oakland, of all places, you know, they, they, they,

I'm sure they didn't want me to break the record there. They still hate me there, but it's okay. You know, it's part of the deal. Yeah. I mean, it's a. Tucker wasn't your fault. That Tucker, when they go back over that in the second episode, is nuts as well.

Because you guys robbed everybody. Just the rule that they had. The rule that they had in place. The definition of the rule was just the most incorrect rule you've ever heard of. Because they read it. They show it, too. Offense leaves the fields oakland comes on

patriots defense goes on i know i was back in my locker cleaning my locker at the time big yeah we talked about justin tucker though there was a little bit of a scene before uh game yeah we need to get i would have got kicked out of the game for that. Okay, so you think... Because I would have manned up on all of those guys. Yeah, but we would have moved, too, don't you think? Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. You know what I mean? It's Patrick Mahomes. I think that's the big thing that I'm thinking about.

Well, it just depends. I mean, if he was out there prior to those guys coming out there, or did he walk out there and put it down where Patrick was doing his thing? So here's my take on it at the time was I think we've had a couple situations, and I was trying to remember, where somebody was trying to warm up where we were, and it was easy. We just moved

a couple feet or whatever, but you were also Adam Vinatieri at the time, so it's like very easy conversations, and I think I was potentially pretty well known around the league as well. So for it to happen to Justin Tucker and Travis Kelsey to be involved and Patrick Mahomes to be involved, I think I was confused by it to happen to Justin Tucker and Travis Kelsey to be involved and Patrick Mahomes to be involved, I think I was confused by it all,

how there wasn't an agreement just to be like, move a couple feet. I appreciate you saying I would have fought him, though. I've been like, hold on a second now. I'm not some chump either right now. I get it. This is Patrick, and he's the face of the league. But Justin Tucker ain't no chump either now. He's not some rookie guy.

I wish I could see the five minutes that led up to that particular situation. Because if I was sitting there stretching and Patrick came out, I would assume that he would have worked around me. Or he would have been like, hey, I'm going to go. And then I would have moved if it was cordial. Would you pick up my tee and my helmet and you throw it? So Patrick Mahomes came out and said that he asked him to move his helmet, you know, because we know each other, and he moved it like half an inch.

Oh, okay. So I think there's a chance that Tucker was also in it, which, by the way, three goats. Love that. I love how petty. Keep that going. We are not mad about this happening at all, but it was a fascinating situation before there. Yeah, I love

it. I love it. Yeah, I would have had a tough time biting my tongue. And I know there's one teammate of mine that definitely would have said something at that point. Because I've heard you say many, many things live. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You and Kelsey and Vinny and Mahomes at each other's faces. Yeah, me and Kelsey have a full conversation. Well, here's the great thing.

Like, if we go to blows and I get kicked out of the game, who cares, right? We're not going to kick extra points or field goals. If he's not in the game, totally different story. It's a win. Yeah, it's definitely a win. If we both get kicked out, it's a win for sure. Travis, Patrick Mahomes, Adam Vinatieri, Pat McAfee, all ejected.

Colts fans are like, good work, boys. We're getting pay raises on that one. Good work, boys. Alright, let's raises on that one. Good work, boys. Let's talk about some stuff happening around the sports world and as we bring A.J. Hawk back into the fold. Sorry about it, A.J. Anytime people are rolling through the Thunderdome, it is difficult. Obviously, when you're

in that beautiful, palatial estate. 2,000 acres. That you have over there in Ohio. This news broke this week and obviously it's going to benefit us in the long term. I guess ESPN has just bought the entire college football playoff. Yep. Looks like it.

Unbelievable. Is that what you read? Yeah, for quite a bit of money. And for a pretty good amount of time. Yeah. ESPN has agreed to a six-year deal because they have two more years left. Yes. Okay, so they have two more years, so they bought another six years on the back end of it.

12-team college football playoff player for 1.3 billion a year this is on top of the last two years of the current deal says stewart mandel uh via andrew rat marsan of uh the athletic it's in i don't know if any of this has been signed sealed delivered yet obviously whenever these deals are reported, it feels like they're at an agreement. But is it actual and what's the reality of it? But whenever you think about college football and how Peacock had a piece of it, Fox obviously has a piece of it. Everybody has pregame shows now that are happening.

ESPN's been around college football for a very long time. A lot of money being spent everywhere. New alignment, new transition. It's like ESPN's like, yep, we're going to take that whole thing. I'm very thankful. Hey, shout out. Good work. For us, it's great.

You know, obviously for our show and our program. But also, this is an investment from ESPN and from Disney saying we are going to remain in the live sports world. Because there was this conversation about, like, budget cutting and can't afford this and they're cutting back on that. I think everything ESPN has done has proved they are still going all in. So I'm very thankful that that is the case. And good for the college football playoff, making $1.3 billion a year off their team. That's just 12 games. That's just 12 games.

That's just 12 games. You're right. ESPN has always had a lock on bowl games. I feel like almost every bowl game is an ESPN game. But was this like a continuation on what they had? Or was there other, like, did Fox put a bid in? Were other people bidding against them? So the conversation was that it was going to be divvied.

Yeah. Like it was going to be, that was kind of the fear, I think. You know, and I haven't really paid close enough attention. I did pay attention to that NFL thing that was announced like two weeks ago about the ESPN potentially either buying NFL media or partnering with NFL media. Haven't heard much from that. That just kind of got chattered. And then I assume that is not a deal that has been signed.

Then you hear about the merger that took place. So we don't know what's real or what's not real because a lot of things get reported, especially by that particular human That is not that are not accurate We've been right in the middle of that but from the sources that we've talked to this does sound Like this is something that is going to take place so ESPN is gonna be pumped about that But I think the big story is you know, I was the reason why everybody got fired You know

It's crazy and then all those people's friends were trying to just kill us from within I was the reason why everybody got fired. Yes. You know, remember that? That's how things started. Yeah, it was crazy. And then all those people's friends were trying to just kill us from within ESPN because we are the assholes. 1.3 billion a year is available, okay, for a college football playoff. So, like, that is good news for the future of sports, that the OGs of sports are still very much in love and still very much invested as opposed to what the narrative potentially was

at the beginning of the season for the company that we chose to license our show to. And we talk about the ratings all the time in the NFL. They are, the NFL is king, but football is king because right below the NFL is college football. And then it's every other sport. It's sudden death football too. Sud sudden death football where the loser goes home. And that's what they bid on right here. There's home field.

You're right. You're 100 percent right. Remember the first round of this. Now the one seeds get a buy or whatever. Yeah. But the first round of these playoffs are home games. So think about. Yes.

The atmosphere. Oh, I don't know how many megaasts there we are going to negotiate to be doing but when i saw this my immediate thought was good news for old pat mcafee show business wise as well that we're going to be able to do this but it's like this is only going to continue to get more and more electric but also what does college football look like exactly eight years from now when this deal is up you know like who's in the big 10 who's in the sec who's in the big 12 what's going on with the pac-12 what's going on with the acc what's going on with power five you got power five schools head coaches leaving

mid-spring to go be tight end coaches other places it's like what's happening with the power five what's i mean there's so many questions but it feels like at least one thing has been decided here is that this college football playoff is going to go off and it's going to be very profitable hopefully for the players as well in this entire deal yeah to tony's point like after those 13 nfl playoff games we always talk about the top you know 100 rated broadcasts of every year after those 13 nfl playoff games it's the college football playoff games. And those are the top 20, top 25 most watched things every year. So it is huge. Do you think, to your point about all the teams and what college football will look like in six years,

that some of these teams that do go, Oregon, Washington, USC, UCLA to the Big Ten. Texas. Texas to the SEC. Some of those schools are going to end up with two, three losses. So let's say like uh texas is at 14 naturally do you just think that in six years because of the fact that there will be great teams that lose a couple games by you know a combined 10 points or whatever that because of that they'll say okay hey we got to go to 16 now so ranking obviously this is just like the

nfl is at 17 games now bingo they're going to go to 18 yes you know like that is only a matter of time more international everybody knows it we all know it we all see it coming the nfl players association it's going to happen there's going to be an added bye week too because that gets an extra week of prime time games and everything in there we assume if this 12 game thing works yeah right yeah they're going Yeah, they're going to say, hey, the NFL has a – well, they have a 16-team playoff or whatever it is. It's more now or whatever it was. Then we can do it.

Yeah, exactly. It's only a matter of time. And people are going to say, well, what's best for a student human athlete? It's like, when did we still ask that? I don't know that's something that we still ask. You want to talk about something that would put up massive numbers. If last night's game between Iowa and Michigan was on ESPN, I think the numbers would have been gigantic.

Now, I watched on Peacock. Kaitlin Clark is a stone cold dog. I mean, the first eight points are the record-breaking points. There's a chance that she could be a little tight, a little bit nervous. Obviously, everybody is in that arena, everybody that's watching that game. History is literally watching her play basketball. And in moments past, wherever that situation has arose in many sports, maybe a little bit overthinking and something like basketball,

shooting in basketball, if you overthink, you're a little bit tight, you can miss. She had her best game she's ever had as an Iowa Hawkeye. Puts up 49 points, has 13 assists. She would have had a bunch of rebounds if she wanted to hang out underneath the hoop more. She pulls up from the logo to break the record. Splash. It's like she is a killer.

She is stone cold. She is a savage, and she is maybe one of the greatest mental competitors that I've ever watched play a sport, A.J. Hawk. It sure feels like that. I mean, the announcers were talking about that throughout the game, like how has she handled all of this, like all of the extra attention, all of what's going on, and she just seems – what do they say? What's the old saying?

Why is beyond her years? Like she's only 22 years old. This was awesome too, and she got fouled. She had 18 points within the first five minutes of the game. 23 points in the first quarter. She was on pace to score 92 points in a night in which people were wondering, how will she handle history being right around the corner? It's like, best game she's ever had.

She's going to have the best game she's ever had. Finney, this is perfect for you to talk about because I view you mentally as one of the most clutch humans to ever exist. Not just sports, but just exist. Whenever you watch somebody like her perform in the pressure moments that she's had, obviously you have a massive amount of respect. But do you think she was born with this? Like, is that something that you were just born with, you think? Yeah, she's so impressive. I mean, like, to watch that and to watch her her what she's done over her whole career it's amazing

and do do I think at some point when she was a little girl was she just that much more mentally tough than most I would say yes I would definitely see us has she developed even greater as she's developed her game probably I mean the the more you work, the more time you put into it. But yeah, she just walks out on the court knowing that she's the best player out there. And she has a lot of swag and a lot of confidence. And it's just

impressive to watch that because like you said, huge moment for her. She knows that this is an opportunity completely unfazed. Does not care. Does not care. No nerves, no tightness, plays her best game. It's like that's whenever some people can get rattled.

Instead, there's only a few amount of humans in history in those situations that just somehow get even better. It's like she's not a human. I am a massive fan of watching her play basketball. She's going to be a total rock star in the WNBA as well. She's going to go out there here in Indy. She's just going to throw up

50 points a game too. She's that special. I got emotional. They did a Kaitlyn Clark celebration afterwards where her family and ex-teammates and everybody kind of sent a message. Watching her watch that, you know, was a cool thing because I feel like she's probably

a human and I got to be around one of them, me and Adam Vinatieri watching them where it's like, what's next? We got to focus on whatever's next, whatever next. It's almost like last night she did take a moment to, yeah, she even got teary-eyed watching it and I'm almost

getting emotional because the amount of work that this girl has put in to get to this point, the amount of parties, hangouts, relationships, things that everybody else was able to go to, she missed them. You know why? Because she was putting up shots in the gym so that whenever she has history on the line, she just pulls up and bangs it home. It's like that moment of celebration made me emotional watching. I'm like, hey made me emotional watching. I'm like,

Hey, way to go. You know, like, like wait, you, you've earned this Caitlin. You've earned it at the age of 22,

the amount of sacrifice she's put in to be this person. You don't really get to see or hear, but you know, has happened. It's like last night. I hope she got a chance to really take that all in. You know what I mean? AJ. Yeah.

I mean, it's, it's probably hard for her in the moment like you know she's like she's a killer so she's like what's next but yeah it's cool to see she actually getting emotional watching that but i'm sure she's on to the next i'm sure she was already up shooting this morning probably got up 500 shots this morning that's what they those like the great ones seem to do but at one point in the broadcast i heard that them trying to say well you know it might take her a little bit to,

she might struggle a little bit to transition into the WNBA. And I was instantly thinking, I don't believe that to be the case. Yeah. Like she can shoot from everywhere. Her one teammate said, like, she's the greatest player on earth. Like this isn't like a college basketball thing. She's the greatest player on earth. And they're like, well, that's a little crazy to say for a college player.

Yeah, but you don't watch her in practice. You haven't seen her in practice. You have no idea. And in the biggest moments, she plays the best she can play. She sets up her own shots. She moves differently. She sets her teammates up so, oh my goodness, some of the passing she makes.

I think I mentioned it yesterday on the show, how good her passing is. And then last night, boom. If she's not scoring, she's setting up a teammate with an unbelievable pass. Full speed. Pull up. She plays like prime Steph Curry. Like watching last night, I was like, oh, I'm just watching prime Steph. Like the way – where she shoots from, how she works off of ball screens

and stuff like that, creates her own shot with step back, stuff like that. She plays just like prime Steph. And she also – I watched, and I don't know how common this is. Sue me, I'm just getting into watching women's basketball because of Kaitlyn Clark, because of Angel Reese, because of South Carolina. Like that last March Madness, I was like, I'm going to watch this. This is good.

So this season, I've been watching it. And the Angel Reese not playing for a while. She's back. Okay, she's back, which is good. But Caitlyn, in this, I don't want this to sound sexist. Okay. We should dump that because no matter what I say, people are going to say it. Yeah, exactly. Because I said that.

But I don't see this as much, and I'm very casual. Last night, ball going out of bounds. She jumps, grabs that thing. She's throwing that ball as hard as she can at the girl that's standing in front of her from the other team. I'm like, hey, that's pickup. I didn't know that happened in women's college basketball. I had no idea it took place. She is a killer.

She is an absolute killer. And it's like, I'm pumped she's going to be a member of the Indiana Fever next year. Yeah, well, that's what I was about to say. This is like, for the WNBA, this is like a Wemby-type figure coming into your league. Like, that is the exact same amount of hype as, you know, what Wemby is going through now with the Spurs. Yeah, even bigger. Changing the whole sport. From the United States, changing the whole sport.

If she doesn't come to the Fever, it is going to break my heart. I'm going to have to hate her forever. Yeah, we need these Hawkeye fans, too. We've got a We need these Hawkeye fans who we got a lot of respect for. We got a lot of respect for Hawkeye fans. Obviously, we got a diehard one that normally sits right over there. Why can't we just celebrate the moment instead of one more year? Come on. Let the girl grow and live.

She's going to destroy the state of Indiana if she doesn't come play for the fever. I was laying in my bed watching the whole thing happen, and I hear them start chanting one more year. I'm like, shut up. Yeah, now. Stop it.

Do not be doing that. I mean, that's strictly as somebody that lives in Indianapolis. Probably the head coach that started that chant. The head coach, they interviewed a lot of people. Listening to the head coach, and I should definitely know her name. I don't. But she – I apologize. She's a great head coach.

She said, I had to change the way I coach because of Kaitlyn Clark. And I don't know what that meant, but yeah, I would assume that that's the case. And shout to the Indiana Fever because they're going to change the way they play, the way they coach, the way they market, the way they do everything. Whenever she comes here and at halftime, they asked her, you know, like, how do you feel about breaking the record? She said, cool, we need to play better defense. And then she went in there. Like that was, and then at the end of the record? She said, cool, we need to play better defense. And then she went in there.

Like, that was – and then at the end of the game, she said, yeah, this has all been very fun. Thank you. We got a lot more games to win. And then said, let's go, and then walked off. It's like, she's the perfect leader. Yeah, who wants to win it all? You need to win it all, don't you think?

Have to. Yes. She has that. She knows. You know, that is – because I posted about her last night, about the 23 points in one quarter, whenever she had the whole world watching pretty much, seeing if she'll break this record.

She's on pace to score 92 points. How many natties? That's all anybody. How many natties does she have? How many natties does she have? She hears that. If she's anything like what we think she's like, she hears all of that.

And it's like, why not? Yeah, well, Hawkekeyes going on a run to win a natty yeah and Vinny brings up a point he just wrote down the board her NIL is just so high that is why there is that chance where well that's what yeah I'm sorry I didn't mean to rub but that's exactly right you actually told him to say yeah exactly he interrupted you I was just saying what's her NIL deal versus her salary for the people. So we talked to Chad Lystico from the Des Moines Register yesterday. Very great conversation.

He's covered her, obviously, since she's got there, even in high school, because he's been over there in Iowa. He said she's got Gatorade. That'll transfer over. She's got Nike. That'll transfer over. State Farm will transfer over. So, like, she does have a bunch of deals.

I would assume she's got Iowa deals as well. They'll stay. But those deals. And more. Yeah, like if it's car dealer in Iowa, like Indianapolis, there'll be. Oh, there'll be? Right. People here, too.

Yeah, there'll be Indianapolis. They're throwing everything at her, though. Don't you think? Whatever collective, whatever they're doing, they're trying to put a package together to make it enticing to come back. And if she does play another year, her record will never be touched. I think they're trying to get her to play quarterback, too, for Iowa's football team. That'd be good.

They would have won the big time this year if she played quarterback. They would have scored more, for sure. Absolutely. She is a weapon. I am serious. From a strictly competitive competitor standpoint, I like watching greats be great. I like learning why greats are great.

I like watching competitive people showcase their greatness. That's why I enjoy sports so much. That's why sports are the greatest thing of all time. Sports obviously unify people and bring people together that wouldn't normally see eye to eye to cheer for a thing and give people hope and optimism and all the different emotions that you can experience through sports but also you watch like a meritocracy happen right in front of you you watch hard work pay off you watch greatness take place in front of you on display live in person not behind the scenes not in a boardroom not with like a chance to edit or anything like that it's like live your work Did it work or did it not work?

And it's like watching her, it's like, hey, it worked. It was all worth it. It was all worth it, Kaitlin. Keep on going. Her family, too. You know, they went through it all. It's like her dad, I didn't see him cry. We're in celebration afterwards.

We talked about it. I think that might be where she gets that from. He's probably the national champion. Her mom, too, though. Didn't you see her mom yelling? Like, they were up 15 or something. Her mom's, like, yelling to pick it up on D. Yeah, like, I have, like, a tear rolling down my eye watching her watch people say thanks

and, like, her enjoy the moment. And then they pan to her dad, and her dad's just, like, looking at the video or whatever. Yeah, that's good. I was alarmed by that as well. Yeah, I'm like, bro, if that's – now that I have a daughter. Imagine if that's your kid. Yeah, imagine if that's your kid. I would be just by that as well. Yeah, I'm like, bro, if that's – now that I have a daughter. Imagine if that's your kid. Yeah, imagine if that's your kid. I would be just absolutely full on water.

I'm shedding a tear for a human that I've never watched before or known before or met before because, like, hey, all your hard work is paying off. And her family is just like, yeah, this is what it's supposed to be. What are we talking about? Yeah, she was going to break the record. It's almost like, you know like when that shot put record happened at Colorado State the first time, and the response was like, yeah, this is a part of it.

That's the whole thing. It's crazy to think how you get to that mindset, but it feels like the Clark family's in it for the long haul, and they want it all. And she can go get it, I think. Good moxie on the younger brother, too. I don't know if you noticed in the video portion, he just had the peach fuzz mustache,

clearly growing it out strictly for this video, knowing that it would be showing up on the big board. I mean, the camera was this close to his face, and when they showed him, she actually started laughing, too. C.J. Stroud has been doing a lot of interviews. Him and Micah were awesome. Him on our show talking shit about burke kreischer awesome yeah cj stroud was on the pivot talking about ohio state aj i don't know if you heard this you gotta love everything about it this was amazing to look back and be like man like we we should have won it all like yeah no duh but like

sometimes it doesn't shake like that you know so? So, well, where did you go? I went to Florida. Come on, man. What is he talking about? I mean, but I was on my way. I'm thinking he went to. CJ, CJ. What are we talking about?

But you say you talk about it one though. I'm a Gator too. Come on, what are we talking about? Y'all, no disrespect. We won national championships. We did too. What are you talking about? I'm talking about.

Yeah, let's talk about the recent season. In the last eight years. What have y'all done? Nothing so bad. It's hard to fight. LSU is maybe the only... One of the only teams. They only did one good year.

Look, I'm going to lay down when I have to. Yeah, come on. I'm thinking you went to Bama or something. What are you talking about? I love CJ. Great response. Great response, honestly. Middle of his answer.

So sick. What are we talking about? I thought you went to Bama or something. And we love Fred response, honestly. Middle of his answer. So sick. What do we do? How do you want to bam or something? And we love Fred Taylor, obviously. We love Channing. We love the pivot and everything they got going on. But I also love everything about C.J. Stroud. That guy might be – we talk about who can pick up the ball

when Patrick Mahomes is on the other side of the field in a massive game. For him, it would have to be the AFC Championship game. In answer, I think CJ's a guy that could potentially, when the moment comes, could answer. Not a lot of those guys can do that. No, especially at his age. We're talking about a guy who's still a rookie. There's talk about Purdy, how he's in his second year. Absolutely.

He's made it all the way. He's gone to NFC Championships. Stroud took a team that was plus 600 to go to the playoffs, I believe. And they won a game. They made it to the division. They had the longest odds to win the Super Bowl before the start of the season.

With the Colts. That's how low they were on the totem pole. Think about that, Vinny. Crazy. We got to wrap up this beautiful feel-good Friday on ESPN. We'll be back in two weeks. We are off next week and the week following. We hope you enjoy the hell out of your life. We'll see you then.

That was a terrible sign-off for two weeks. Yeah, but you hit it on the screws. I did, didn't I? Yeah, you did good. And I told them we were gone. There's been times in the past where I just forgot to tell our listeners what we were going to be missing. Yeah, just have a good one. They get very mean whenever that happens. Where the

hell are you? What's going to be on? Do you know? I don't know. Something sick. I do not know. I do not know. Less impressive than this show. No duh. No. Yeah. No doi. I wish you would have said no doi. I loved it. Old school. Where'd you go? Where'd you go to school? Florida.

So what are you talking about? What the fuck are you talking about? Oh, I wouldn't ask for tea. Yeah, but you need to go to Bama or something? Bama. So good. Hey, Bama's in the middle of it right now. So have you paid attention to college ball? I know your kid, college age, so that probably keeps you in it a little bit.

College time is fucking wild. Us getting dropped into it with game day, very lucky to obviously be dropped into it during game day, and like to see the pageantry and experience college football and all that shit it is insane what college football is right now how close do you pay attention we're off air right yes no no we're live we're so live but you can say fuck we're on youtube and espn plus we're off espn okay people are still watching this no that's cool no my my son hit the transfer portal he's somewhere else but, but he's like, Dad, don't say anything.

I just want people to find out. Oh, so he's out of place. Punning or kicking? Punning. Congratulations. So the world doesn't know where he's at yet. Big school. I know where he's at. Big school. Me too. Yeah. What's it rhyme with?

Is he pumped? Schmooeyville. Oh, congratulations, AJ. I'm happy for him. Yeah, he's going to be pissed Schmooeyville. Oh, congratulations, AJ. Let's go. I'm happy for him. Yeah, he's going to be pissed at me for saying it. He's like, Dad, let me win the job and let me get out there and do my stuff. All right, AJ. Your last name's been a Terry.

This is just going to be a part of it. It's different than the high school kid that wants to tweet everything out there on the planet, say, look at me, I got an offer. Now he's like he's starting to mature and grow a little bit, so I love it. Well, I love that as well. And just get to work, kid. As somebody that knows AJ and has known him for a large part of his life, first of all, I'm pumped for him.

I'm happy he's back. Yeah, me too. You know, because I think this is what he's supposed to be doing. But I do think there's probably been a lot of pressure on him throughout his entire life in this world because of his last name. So he, if he's at a point now mentally where he understands it's going to come with it, I think, boy, that'll fucking help him ten times through it all, I would hope.

Right? You feel the same way? 100%. It sucks. Like, you probably feel kind of bad about that. Like, hey, sorry I had 24 years in the NFL. Adding extra on you because of me, that's difficult. But, hey, that's the nature of the beast.

You know what? You just have to. There's special things and there's bonuses that come along with it, and then there's extra whatever, pressure on top of it, too. You just have to deal with it. You think that's pressure. Wait until you get onto the field, or wait until you're playing in the championship game or a Super Bowl.

You want to know pressure? That's pressure. There's a Vinatieri going to Louisville? Yeah. That's sick. Fucking good for Louisville. Yeah, let's go. That is. That is awesome. I i'm excited to hear that they got a guy too as their coach right we like that yeah yeah yeah yeah he's hard enough yeah he's a dog he's old school i love him that's

good stuff had a great first year yeah they did legit they were undefeated yeah yeah well well they went to the acc championship and lost to florida what's the situation with punter and the kicker um there's a very it's it's an open job it's the situation with the punter and the kicker? There's a very – it's an open job. It's an open job. Like the kicker is a senior. The punter that was there was, I think, a sophomore, going to go into his junior year. But there's an opportunity there.

So what year would this be for him? A.J.? Yeah. This is his second season – second year. So red shirt, this is his sophomore year right now. So he'd be – or I'm sorry, this is his freshman year. So, he's got three years of eligibility. Oh, so we're cool even if the returning punter has a job.

We're still getting bigger, stronger, faster, better. That's not our goal. No, of course not. Yeah, yeah. There's Caitlin Clark's dad. Yeah, you can see that. Not our goal, Pat. That's not our goal.

I understand. Well, old Uncle Pat says, hey, even if it doesn't work, we still work. You know, because the only thing that matters is where you're at at the end. And, man, I'm very happy to hear that. That's pretty awesome. Well, and what you just said, I feel like that's another thing that's lost. Like, there isn't any thought about, hey, where am I going to be at the end? It's where I am right now.

Like, that's why the transfer portal is what it is. Remember, Saban told us, Saban said, I don't know how many guys we got in the NFL all right but every NFL scout that I've talked to has never said how was he as a freshman yeah how was he as a sophomore all they want to know is how you are now so like development is something that is a massive ordeal and the guys that want to play right away like you're worrying about the wrong things almost so we we'd like to reiterate that to A.J., Vinatieri, Adam's son. But also, let's go get that fucking job done. We compete. We compete out here.

We do. He's turning them over. I saw you watching videos. I watched some of his videos. Has he gotten better? He has. You know, this last year, taking it off, he spent a lot of time in the gym, working out, getting stronger and stuff. And I was a little concerned that he would be rusty, but really shocked.

He came back, I was like, hmm. Sometimes your golf game, right, you put the clubs down for a little bit. You maybe drop some of your bad tendencies, and he can kind of rebuild your swing. And I see the love again of it, you know, like the want. You see what's the thing that keeps people going, what's the thing that got Miss Clark to where she's at, the love of the game, the want.

Because you're not going to go out and shoot 500 shots in the morning at 5 a.m. every morning if you don't love it, right? Now, there's a grind to it, and we all talk, you know, all the greats talk about, you know, what happens on the field is a factor of what you've done when nobody's been watching you, right? And so it's nice because I see the want and the desire and the want to work. And, like, you know, I asked him, I said, hey, how's it going?

He's like, ah, it's tough. You know, they're working our butts off. And I love, like, he's excited and happy about how hard the work is. And that's great because you don't want to shy away from that. I mean, that's what you need to get to the next level. How many drops are we doing today? Are we doing a lot of drops? Yeah, and here's the good thing.

I got him on jugs machines there because I'm not throwing him the balls now, right? So he's in there. He's working on jugs machines. I said, you know what? I've watched Reggie Wayne and some of the great guys out there. After practice, after two and a half hours of practice, sweaty, tired, goes right to the jugs machine, and he catches, you know, X amount of catches from all these different angles and stuff.

And I said, that's why he doesn't drop balls in the game, right? And I said, you want to – I said, the one thing that I feel like you need the most work is making sure your hands are good because you catch the ball clean, you mold the ball, you get it out in front of you. Everything else is just smooth after that, right? And so, yeah, every day he goes in there and takes 100 off the jugs machine, you know, after practice or this or that. And I go, that's the things, that's the little things that separate the good

from the great or the great from the elite or the bad to the decent, you know? So it's like you just have to figure out how can you do more to get an advantage. Yeah, the little things. Yeah, like hands. There's been a lot of punters going to combine, and maybe they'll reach out to me or something like that, and I'll watch some of their film, and I'm like, no offense. This is no offense.

You're a great athlete. But if your hands were better, you'd probably see the ball longer. If you see the ball longer, you're probably going to make solid contact with it more. So, like, people think punter. They think leg, kick, everything like that. But, like, the ball on the tee, like a half a second longer, probably gives you a much better opportunity to do it. So I think you should work on your hands.

And I don't think a lot of these guys, like, take it seriously whenever I'm saying it. I wouldn't think about that. I don't think about that as a punter. Like, it didn't cross my mind. I didn't need to be on the jugs like that. I assume, boom, that thing. These things right here. It starts with that.

But you're also born with your hands as well. You can improve them, but you know you're born with how you catch. You're right. That's like some of those Aussies. No offense to some of the Aussies. I love the Aussies. I'm a big fan. On record.

On the record. Love Australia, the country. Love the Aussies. Love what they brought to punting. I don't necessarily love 26-year-olds competing with 17-year-olds for scholarships, but that's a whole conversation in and of itself. American dream. Coming to America. Opportunity. I'm not going to be the one that's a whole conversation in of itself american dream coming

to america opportunity i'm not gonna be the one that's gonna do that but there's some that are not natural you know like speckies happen and like catches a punts happen but like darts coming at you from not natural with hands as much and if they have to adjust sometimes things can go a bit awry there's amer Americans who their parents are like my kid's going to be a punter in the NFL so all they do is punt but they don't play any other sports so if a snap goes awry

the athleticism is and they make the whole brand look bad it's like you've got to be an athlete at the punter position you're catching the ball every time you're on the field and you're probably holding too which is a whole other dynamic with your hands. And if you do kickoffs, too, the refs toss you the ball. So literally every time I went onto the field, I was catching a football.

So people are like, why did you wear one glove or whatever? I was like, well, I would have wore fucking two because I'm catching the ball every time, but I want to feel. I want to be able to feel it. So it's like your hands are almost the most important part of punting. If you can swing, if you have leg strength and you understand how to punt, the hands are the biggest deal.

Pat, didn't Mr. Vinatieri put you through some ropes early on for holding? Yeah. And I appreciate you for it because, you know, the one thing that I can say about Pat, like everybody knows he's a super athletic, like the thing that I loved about you the most is you were always a fun guy, right?

You knew how to joke and you knew how to have the life of the room, right? But when Pat wanted to work, he worked. And I can't tell you how much I appreciated that because you came in day one and said, Shit, dude, I've never held my life. And I'm like, my heart just sank. Holy crap. I'm going to have to deal with this like what but but you you went out you spent a week out with with the guy that that taught me you know holding and stuff you went out there you came back and you worked every single day and i know you probably have calluses on your knees no um but but like good pause but you never complained

you just did it until you got really really good and so when I walked out into the field it was never oh is he going to be I had all the confidence in the world in you and I could just worry about my own stuff and I knew even if it wasn't going to be a good

snap you were going to get it down I always was like I could just concentrate and focus on my stuff. And I know I've said thank you before, but I can't thank you enough for helping me do my job. Yeah, well, I was lucky to be a part of it. And I wasn't an NFL punter either, you know, like an NFL-style punter. So I never held and I never did the NFL style of punting before. And before the first game, the thing that I was most scared to death about

was holding for you because you missed that kick. It's not Adam Vinatieri. Obviously, it's the fucking young asshole that lied to Bill Pullian about being able to hold whenever he got drafted. But I appreciated watching you work, man. Your work ethic was something that was special. But, yeah, I do believe, and I appreciate you mentioning it, people don't fully understand. You've got to work, like, in everything. No doubt.

Like, you've got to work your dick off if you want to have anything, even whenever it comes to a job like holding or punning. If you want to have success, you've got to fucking go. And I think that's the greatest trait that my old man instilled inside of me. So I think him listening to you say that probably got him a little bit more emotional there, and I appreciate you saying that, but yeah, I was just there not to fuck it

up, buddy. We all know that one. Let's get to a break. We'll wrap up this Feel Good Friday. Maybe we'll take some phone calls. Oh. Huh. Huh. Vinny, how do you feel about it? Well, I don't, you know,

everybody else, it's, uh, huh, huh. Whatever you want to do, man. My name's not on the show. It's the Pat McAfee Show. Yeah, I've been saying that a lot. I've been saying that a lot lately. There you go.

Because a lot of people have had great ideas. I want to start asking me questions. Don't ask me questions. Don't compliment me either, by the way. Oh, next hour. This is about complimenting you. I've been nominated for the Hall of Fame twice already.

That's right. All right, Vinny. Get in line, Vinny. So maybe you'll be nominated this upcoming year. 24 years. If he doesn't go in this year, we'll be so fucked up. Everybody is in agreement. I hope.

But the position of kicker is not necessarily just a guarantee. But everybody in football wants you in there. So I think that is going to... That'd be like the biggest blunder for the Hall of Fame in a long time. It'd be a hell of a party if it happens. Have you thought about that already? No, but it will be. We'll make it.

I have not thought about it. But also, I think if I did for a matter of moments, we could figure it out. It will be. Who's going to perform? That's a million-dollar question. Some Italian guy. It actually is a million-dollar question, probably.

I've got some thoughts on it. Hey, listen. Maybe it's multiple people. Let's not put the carriage in front of the horse right let's get there first and then well you should cgi sinatra oh just to open it yeah oh a hologram yeah hologram holograms maybe he did it his way i mean by next year who knows if we'll still be on the air or not. No way. But, I mean, if you go in, we would probably do the show live from there to celebrate everything you're about. Well, I was going to ask you off air, but you could introduce me if you wanted. Could you imagine? Thank you.

That's an honor. It's an open invitation. Do they even do that anymore? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I think they do. Oh, they do it. Oh, yeah. That would be an honor. For me, too. Hey,

just want to let you know, you're talking about the Afro Party being the greatest? That introduction would be the greatest one. I guarantee it. The problem is the introduction would be so good, I'll go out there and people would be like, what the hell? No, no, no. That would be the first time. Because I think they do it as a video, right? Yeah, and they do the introduction? I think so. Some of them. Not all of them, though. That would be the first time. Because I think they do it as a video, right? Yeah, and they do the introduction?

I think so. Some of them. Not all of them, though. Some of them are there. Me going out there cutting a promo on this little fuck from South Dakota. Yeah. That would be great. What a story, dude. Legit.

Your story is a cool one. South Dakota Jackrabbit. Fucking Amsterdam. Admirals. Are you kidding me? Two kickers. How was that? There's two kickers on that team.

I didn't know that. Yeah, because they had a local, right? Hans Verdrekker. Who was a soccer player who was a kicker. And then he was the American kicker. Yeah. Had to battle through that. Then I think you were teaching at one point, right?

Back in America, weren't you in Virginia? Like a gym teacher? That was prior to. No, that was prior to. I was helping out with the high school team there, so I had a place to work out and kick and stuff like that. And then I go to Amsterdam after that. And then you go to compete against Barr, right, in New England.

Yep. Who? Yeah, exactly. The Barr family. Oh, he's pretty good. Yeah, the Barr family, yeah, yeah, pretty good history. I'll give him some props. He's pretty damn good.

And then you just go on to have a 20th. That was Amsterdam, didn't he? Amazing. It's a good place. You'd enjoy it. Your apartment was in the red light district. Yeah, he was dancing to the windows. It's the family show.

My wife's watching. Knock it off, guys. Sorry, Mr. Van Der. I didn't know it was the time. So it's all fine. But no, it was a fun place to be. All the other teams wanted to go down. Pre-cell phones, too. Pre-everything. Pre-everything. Yeah, it was pre- place to be. All the other teams wanted to go down. Pre-cell phones, too.

Pre-everything. Pre-everything. Yeah, it was pre-internet. I mean, Vinatieri played 20. He's old. Look at this guy. And pre-STDs. Jack.

Come on. What else could you ask for? That's right. They didn't even exist. Nope. I don't think that's correct. The clap was just an applause. Pretty sure they were pretty prevalent during the dark ages.

The clap was just an applause. Pretty sure they were pretty prevalent during the dark ages. The clap was just an applause. What'd they say? It's not for you, Vinny. Hey, if this goes in, you're going to the Hall of Fame. Okay. It's a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. I'm not Caitlin Clark.

I am nervous right now. I'm not even going to watch. He's going. Oh! Maybe next year. Uh-oh. He's going. Maybe next year. Sports! All right, beautiful.

AJ, obviously, you know, like Doc Rivers said, some of the guys were here tonight, some of the guys were in Cabo. We got a two-week break popping off immediately after this show ends today and i'm gonna be bummed out legitimately i love doing this every single day we are incredibly lucky to get to do this every single day but how long have we been rolling here so from the hall of fame game to today is 27 weeks in a day uh from yeah from the last time we were not doing the show i believe tony had it on the dot i think it's 28 weeks in a day. Okay, so obviously our job is not hard

in comparison to actual jobs, okay? Like my dad, truck driver, I understand that there's much more difficult jobs, let alone military, police, firefighters. I got family doing all that. Like, it's not a hard job, but mentally it is going to be nice, you know, to potentially just drift away for 24, 48 hours, potentially AJ.

I hope you get a chance to do that, even though you have 10 kids. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I've gotten into the rhythm though, of doing the show to like, on the weekends, I feel it feels weird sometimes not coming up and doing it. So yeah, believe me, I, I, I, I know it might sound corny or whatever, but yeah, I get, I'm very thankful for, for doing this. I feel like Chuck, you know, when Chuck always says or whatever, but, yeah, I'm very thankful for doing this. I feel like Chuck, you know when Chuck always says how, like, you know, doing this has helped me out, it keeps me in football. Like, I feel the same way.

This is awesome, man. So I do. It is going to be weird. It'll be really weird not being on for a couple weeks. I think, like, I appreciate you. We're lucky that you joined us, obviously, again. You've been memed to death this year. It's not easy, you know, being in Ohio and also being as handsome as you are.

Yeah, but people aren't going to love that. Yeah, people aren't necessarily the friendliest group of folks, but it's like my wife, you know, by about day four, I think she kind of gets sick of me being, you know what I mean, like day five. Like there's a whole. So we'll be gone for two weeks but though that we won't be you know i uh we'll be active what if we just come back to by the way like i'm not saying it i'm like we're gonna enjoy this i'm pumped yes i am excited to get away and get refreshed going into the off

season i think we might have a special combine show yep that is kind of in the works right now we will see if it ends up coming to fruition or not. What are you laughing about, AJ? What's your deal? I heard you mentioned something before about that. I can see your when the gears get rolling up there, something usually happens. That's probably going to take place.

There's probably going to be some sort of combine spectacle that we will try to piece together and then we'll be back. And when we're back, boy, best time of the year. By far. Talks and tables here at Boston. Connor and Adam Vinatieri, obviously four times your boat champion. Connor, the offseason, whenever we get back,

this is when we really showcase the journalism. Yeah, if you think you've seen anything, you haven't. What's going to happen over these next six months before next football season is going to be life-changing and is going to be groundbreaking. I do actually genuinely believe that this will be the best offseason we've ever had by a lot. The access we have with this ESPN, we're going to do a lot of road shows. We're going to be at a lot of different events. We can do a lot of things that we haven't had the capability to do in the past. Getting an opportunity to just post up at something that maybe ESPN has the rights to,

boy, it's just a different energy. Oh, yeah. All of a sudden, you get a different vibe. You get different conversations. We get different access to people. It's like I am, let alone Adam Silver is just sitting over here. Bingo. Just like a couple days ago.

It's like this offseason, I think we're going to be able to do something that not only have we not been able to do, but I think like sports media, you know, hasn't done in a while. Yeah. Which is we're going to enjoy the shit out of the fact that we get to cover sports and enjoy all the sports that are happening while covering all the bullshit that the NFL happens during the offseason. Yes. Vinatieri, you were a player rep for a long time.

You're part of the senior council. The amount of bullshit that the NFL goes through during the offseason is almost one of the greatest parts of the year as well. Do you see what's happening with the kickoff? Do you have thoughts? Do you have concerns? Do you still do any, like, I don't want to say representation for the players, but are you still involved in any facet at all with the NFL?

I'm not doing anything with the Players Association at all at this point moving forward. I kind of told them, I said, if you need my help at any point, let me know. But I really stepped back from it. And I'm just truly a fan of the game at this point moving forward. Was there a time where you weren't? Were you jaded a little bit towards the end of your career? Was there ever a time? Because there's some guys that play a long time.

And then whenever their either body tells them they're done or team tells them they're done, they can be jaded against the league and against football a little bit but inevitably most of them after like a year or two come back and they're like oh yeah i love this game love this league love this sport did that happen with you at all honestly not at all i i literally played the the length of the career that i i mean i never thought i played that long so a lot of guys that are a little jaded maybe leave the league earlier than they wanted to. And now they're like, ah, shoot, I've got to find a job. I've got to figure out what I'm doing. For me, it was just an easier transition.

I guess the only part for me was I would dream at night and think about, oh, my gosh, I can't get onto the field for some reason. Somebody's hit my shoes, and they need a field goal. When you were done think about, oh, my gosh, like I can't get onto the field for some reason. Like somebody's hid my shoes and they need a field goal. When you were done? Oh, my God. I still have the dream every once in a while. But literally for the first year and a half, it would happen three, four, five nights a week. And I would wake up in the middle of the night and I'd be like, holy shit, where's my helmet?

Like I would. That's out of a movie, bro. It was never that I wasn't going to make the kick or the kick it wasn't like oh i missed it it was i couldn't get on to the field and like like they're lining up for a field goal and i'm in the locker room going who took my helmet you know it's stupid stupid stuff like that but it took me a long time like that's out of a movie i called some of my old teammates and i'm like that I'm like, did you? And they started laughing at me. Lloyd Malloy, for one guy, for instance, he was like, it will go away,

dude. And it did. It was like, then it kind of was like once a week and then once every couple weeks. And now I get it every once in a while. I wake up and I laugh, and I'm like, I go back to sleep. That's long. That's so far gone. You don't have to worry about that anymore

but no as as far as is not wanting to be around the league I I obviously I wasn't in the locker room and stuff but I didn't stop cheering on my boys and cheering for my team and and wanting to be around did I go into the facilities and and you know chum it up with the guys that much no I didn't do that because I didn't feel like it was the right place. Like, hey, you're done, you're gone. Don't go in there and be a distraction or anything. But as far as jaded, no, absolutely not. They're going to get rid of the kickoff, though, Vinny. You need to get back in there.

You know, like maybe a part of your – But then rosters would have to go down. Dude, special teamers. They can't. There's no way. Well, they would still have a kicker because they – Yeah, you're right. They'd still have punters.

Yeah, still have everything else, I guess. But, man. It's an all-out assault right now. There's no way. Well, they would still have a kicker. Yeah, you're right. They'd still have punters. They'd still have everything else, I guess. But, man. It's an all-out assault right now. Yeah, I know. They've been trying to devalue us specialists for a long time. And special teamers. Yeah, in general. Yeah, it's just like, why are we trying to change something that's never been more popular?

Like, people love it. Now, I understand when they said, okay, we're going to move the kickoffs up five yards because we don't want the impacts and we don't want the concussions and we don't want all these whatever on the kickoff. But to remove a facet of the game that's been there for 100 years doesn't make sense to me. Yeah, Lombardi was okay with it. Belichick was okay with it. Basically, all of the greats throughout the history of football

Andy Reid, probably. have been massive fans. That's coaches. They're not going to get sued down the road. The NFL just doesn't want to get sued 20 years from now. I'd knock myself out a thousand times. Yeah, and it's... Sign the waiver.

That's what I'm saying. We need to sign a waiver. And then Florida says, well, what if they die on the field? It's like, yeah, we don't want that. That's why they signed the waiver. We obviously don't want that. it's like yeah we don't want that that's why they signed the wave we obviously don't want that but it's like everybody that is playing on special teams plays are very pumped and thankful to be playing on special teams plays yeah because they're maybe not on the team if they're not

playing special bingo like this is this is their entire and also they're very good at it like this is something that they are good at and they have found to make a living at it and it's a strategy it's an added bonus if you have good guys that do it versus teams that have bad guys that do it. It's a part of football as a whole. It's like when you go into the Hall of Fame next year, I do hope it's something that you mention about how, like, you know, and I hope it will bring to the forefront because of how important you were

to the greatest dynasty in the history of the league. Now, whatever Chiefs do, it's like hopefully that'll be a nice little reminder for some of these suits that just want to change the game. I mean, think about in Dallas. Like, Kevontae Turpin is in the NFL because he was the best kick returner and punt returner for the XFL. And then he comes to the NFL and it transitions. Like, he can still do that.

They're using him as a wide receiver this year. Like, even for those guys not getting opportunities, that sucks. But it does feel like, unfortunately. Slater, I mean... What's his name from Cowboys Kicker? Sorry, I'm forgetting his name right now. Brandon Aubrey. Did he come from... USFL? Yeah. Yeah, I think he had to play in there because he was a soccer player. I don't know

if his soccer career went exactly how he had planned it to go, but I think he was a very good soccer player. Obviously, if you play in college, you're a good soccer player. Yeah. Like, very good. Obviously, if you play in college, you're a good soccer player. You end up making TMLS, you're good at soccer. Like, if you're not Lionel Messi, it doesn't mean you're not good at soccer. Like, he was a good soccer player, but, boy, I bet you he and his family are pumped that he started kicking.

I love what the UFL's doing, though, like, pushing it back to the 20, the kickoff. They got rid of the XFL kickoff, and they said, hey, we're pushing it back to the 20. kick off they're not they got rid of the xfl kickoff and they they said hey we're we're pushing it back to the 20 we're gonna have returns and like because that's those guys are gonna be showcased in that league that's how they're gonna make it bingo those guys that in ufl if they're gonna make it to the nfl it's gonna be doing through special i assume not a lot of touchbacks from 20 probably not bucker give me, you see these motherfuckers? Kamarda? Murder these things. I genuinely believe

and I'm not, I mean it might change without, I had the highest touchback percentage like in the history of the NFL for a season. And that's because everybody played their hands team against us because we did so many surprise on sides and shit like that. So we were stealing these touchbacks. By the end of the season, and I feel

like I kick stock about 124 miles an hour. I feel like I had a very strong leg. If I was putting a ball like six yards deep at the end of the season, I'm like pumped. I'm like, I'm a fucking big dog. Harrison Bucker's putting these fucking things into like the front first row of the stands. The whole Super Bowl booty was too.

These guys are fucking destroying footballs right now. It's a show. It is an absolute spectacle. But it does go to the point like kickoffs are just a formal, like a formality. Yes. Because of the kickers just bombing balls. So can guys kick a touchback from the 20? There are certainly a few, I think, that exist.

But there's not going to be. They're not going to be in the UFL, though. There you go. Those guys are going to be in the NFL already if they're kicking touchbacks from the 20 20s so there's gonna be a lot of returns over there yeah who was it there's a preseason video kamarda hitting 190 i believe that jake kamarda yeah he had a kickoff like 87 or 90 yards or something like that i'm like what the fuck is wrong with this kid how does that happen are the balls different are they changing the balls how it's just that we talked about this earlier about tucker and bucker and boz and money mac mcpherson and like there's a good core of kickers right moody i think he's going to be one because mentally i think he has it and everything

like that but it's like techniques evolve in fundamentals evolve in workouts to get better at that evolve like the game's only going to get better and better and better at that position. And that's a good thing, not a bad thing. I don't think any kickers or putters feel that way. Those fucking kickoffs, though, I'm watching them. I'm like, I'm embarrassed. Everyone takes it for granted now, though. Every kick, like, what was the one?

It was a 54-yarder in the Super Bowl. And I know, like, there was a bunch of kids in my house, and they all were like, oh, this is easy. This is an easy one. It's a chip. I'm like, it's 54 yards, guys. I don't think they are like, oh, this is easy. This is an easy one. It's a chip. I'm like, it's 54 yards, guys. I don't think you have any idea how difficult it is. You've got to hate hearing that.

I have to continue to tell them how difficult all of this stuff is and try to educate them because, like, they don't make – you're not supposed to make every single kick. A 50-yarder used to be big ball. Huge. A 50-yarder was a big ball. I mean, 65 is the record right now for longest of all time, and obviously it was 63 for a long time.

But yeah, this is a rookie from 54 to like break the score to zero, zero. Deep into the net. Deep into the net from the logo. And he didn't get the kickoff. Yeah, exactly. He was sitting for it. That was the first time he hit a ball in the Super Bowl. And he just buries it.

It's like if guys miss 55 yarders now, fans are like, these guys suck. Like these guys absolutely stink when it's like back in the Super Bowl, and he just buries it. It's like if guys miss 55-yarders now, fans are like, these guys suck. Like, these guys absolutely stink when it's like back in the day, it didn't used to be like that. That's your fault, Vinny. Now, snappers are better. Too good. Holders are better. Yeah.

Like, everything is better in operation. But somehow these guys have figured out how to kick balls fucking much further than what I was even able to do just six years ago. And I thought I had a strong leg. I'm like, yeah. And I see these guys. I'm like, I don't want to be on the same field as these fucking guys. I'm almost embarrassed of my entire career at this stage.

That's what I want to ask. Vinny is like, how heartbroken were you for Brandon Aubrey when his first kick that he missed all year was a block in the last game? And then he missed another one later on. Is that like worst case scenario for a kicker we almost had a perfect year yeah we almost did uh you know it is tough obviously because you sit there and go god dang it you know if i miss a kick i miss a kick but if you get one block especially it's low or whatever that's one thing but if he's gonna make this kick and it gets blocked you just

like son of a bitch you know like yeah 30 in a row or 40. However, he had a bunch in a row. 31 to 31. Yeah, like that. You just got to be like, come on, man. I mean, I guess there's some sacks where they blame the quarterback, but normally on a sack they're blaming the offensive line or something. Right. For a blocked kick, it's like kicker's fault.

It's like, is it? I don't know if it's always. Better than a miss, though, right? Don't you think it's better than just a miss? No, stats-wise, it's exactly the same. It's 100% exactly the same. But doesn't it feel better, though, getting? Don't you think it's better than just a miss? No, stats-wise, it's exactly the same. It's 100% exactly the same. But doesn't it feel better, though, getting it blocked? Yeah, I would have made that one if my guys would have chopped them down.

Yeah, I guess every time it gets blocked, guys would say they were going to make it. I'd rather it stay blocked. If I was a kicker, I'd rather be like, yeah, I got it blocked. It might have been a little bit low instead of yanking it hard left or something. Well, yeah, I suppose for Jake Moody, like we just said, he had one blocked in the thing, and I know that was a lower kick.

It's probably, you know, that's 90% on the kicker for sure. Maybe if it doesn't get blocked, maybe it goes through or whatever. You can walk away from that and go, yeah, it was blocked, so it's not quite. That's like Bucker mishit that 57-yarder. He hit that fat, still carry. That was one hit. 57-yarder, still.

Yeah, yeah. He hit that like shit. Like, people think, well, for a longer kick, you got a line driver. It's like, no, your best ball is a monster ball. Like, people aren't hitting the longest home runs line drives. You know, like, people always say that about kicker. Like, well, if it's further away, you got a line driving more. It's like, no, you're trying to hit a fucking big ball.

He mishits this thing, and it still would have been good from like 62 63 i don't understand how they're doing it i honestly have no idea how these guys are doing it and buckers uh that last replay and they showed it i think there was an additional replay on the uh broadcast that they showed like that was two inches away from being blocked now to be clear every kick is two is potentially yeah that one at least height wise i mean but yeah this one going between two guys's arms the last yeah this last replay the guys off the edge are always if they're going to bring it off the edge always like this far off you know it's like oh you could every time pretty much every time but that's the snap that's the hold that's the kick that's the nfl and guys are just hey you gotta make 100%

of your kicks. Or you know what? Get your fucking ass out of here. That's why it lasted for 24 years. Phenomenal stuff. First ballot Hall of Fame stuff. Alright, let's do some news here, shall we? Sidney Crosby scored two goals last night. He's the greatest of all time. Second greatest of all time. I learned Wayne

Gretzky won the MVP the first seven years he was in the NHL. No one else was in the league. Is that right? Is that inaccurate? Yeah, he did, but then Mario came along and stopped that streak and then, you know, they had Mario and Jags and then Crosby and Ovechkin come in. So it's a great tradition being passed down by

generational players. Yeah, but Wayne Gretzky, his first seven years in the NHL, won the MVP. And if you were to take away Wayne Gretzky's goals, take away all of his goals, he would still have more points than anybody else that's ever played. So I have to acknowledge. He is the great one.

He's the greatest of all time. So let's take that alien out. Sidney Crosby, greatest player of all time. You see a jogger's birthday today, too. Yeah, and they're going to be at the game. You see he's jogged. Yeah, super jogged. Of course.

He's still playing. Still playing. And him and Le Magnifique, I believe, are going to be at the game. You see he's jocked. Yeah, super jocked. Of course. He's still playing. Still playing. And him and Le Magnifique, I believe, are going to be at the game this weekend in Pittsburgh together. I think it's the Jersey retirement, I believe. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, let's go, Penns. Let's go, Penns.

I don't even know if we're in the playoff hunt. No, we are. No, you're not. Shut up. You're not. Another cool Gretzky stat. Shut up. Another cool Gretzky stat.

The Penns are in the playoff. They're not. They're not. Another cool Gretzky stat. Shut up. Another cool Gretzky stat. The pens are in the play. They're not. Another cool Gretzky stat. He has, I think it was like 425 games with multiple points, and he only has like 120 games with only one point. He's really good at the hall. That guy did what he was supposed to do. Has he ever had a game with no points?

Oh, man. Probably at some point, but I bet that is less than 100. What was the... You had some streak of scoring a point in every game that you had played, and then the Colts got shut out one game. And there was, like, a real question, like, after the...

Did we fuck up, like, one of the biggest streaks of all time, too? Since he never went on the field. It didn't count. It didn't count. Because I didn't officially play in the game. Yeah, smart. That's a good rule. I was kicking off at the time, so he never stepped on the field it didn't count it didn't count because i didn't officially play in the game yeah smart because that's a good rule i was kicking off at the time so he never stepped on the field for the one kickoff so his record can take that was a wild thought that was being talked

about with like 10 seconds left in the game like oh no we fucked up wait we fucked up and then they had to do some research they called the nfl and we found out all good there. So those records are tough. Oh, yeah. Tough to keep going. So many outside factors come into it all, and Wayne Gretzky didn't care about any of it. Way to go, Wayne. Good job, Wayne.

Also, this year in history, Bobby Orr became the first defenseman to score 700 points in the NHL. This year in history. This year in history? This day in history. See? I tried. I tried to get it before on friday i just

can't i can't do it so on this particular day i can't do it i can't don't even ask me don't even ask me because i don't know february 16th i don't know some year i don't know on this particular day what happened bobby orr became the first defenseman to score 700 points. Way to go. 1974. In a career. Yeah. Fuck it. He puts the next news fucking hot. I can't wait for the next one.

Two weeks. Two weeks from now, I'm waiting for this. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'm coming back with a hot one, so you better be ready. For those that don't know what's happening here, we tried to start a segment with Connor. Yeah. It doesn't work.

In the middle. It doesn't compute. It doesn't compute. It doesn't compute. Yeah, I mean, I can't even get through explaining what it was supposed to be because how mad you got even the thought of it. So a lot of people obviously think our show is choreographed and everything like that. We tried to premeditate some things.

Yes. So we tried to premeditate a segment for Connor at the very beginning when I introduced the Toxic Table, which happens every single day, I compliment the shirt. A good way for him to distract away from the shirt would be, hey, did you know on this day, a 19-whatever or 2000-whatever insert some sport thing that took place? So then now we have a nice little interaction,

a nice little conversation. Pretty straightforward, pretty simple, right? Shut up. AJ, prick. I have faith in you, Con Man. I can't wait for it to come back. I've never seen somebody butcher something so bad, so quick, so early. And then bail so early, too.

I didn't bail. You quit. No, I didn't. You quit. No, I didn't. You did. It was an embarrassment. No way.

We came back to it the next hour. I fucked it up again. Yeah, but you're sitting right next to one of the most mentally tough people of all time. If he would have watched how you handled that entire thing, he would have been embarrassed that you were a Patriot fan whenever he was kicking for the Patriots. I came back and I hit a home run. Okay, so it's not an act like that.

Today? No, not today. After the first one, I did it again the next hour. Got it right. People forget about that. That won't get talked about. And then the next time I tried it, I fucked it again the next hour. Got it right. People forget about that. That won't get talked about. And then the next time I tried it, I fucked it up again. And then what?

And then I kept fucking it up until now. And then I fucked it up again. No, you never did it again. That thing happened maybe two days. I think it happened three times. And this would be the fourth. That would have been a good segment for our show. It made our show better.

Well, you know, that's why. Maybe people wouldn't have been attacking our show for being so shitty if we did have that segment right at the top. They'd watch the first minute and be like, oh, these guys got segments. That's why. They think we're a real show. I'm excited for these next two weeks. I'm going to wake up every morning, and the first person I see, whether it's the coffee barista or someone in my building, I'm going to tell them, hey, this day in sports history, you know what happened?

And I'm going to, boom, rattle off some unbelievable stats. No, no, take a break. No, no, I need to work. These are things you need to work on. You got to self-scout. This is what you do. Get on vacation, self-scout. See are things you need to work on. You got to self-scout. This is what you do. Get on vacation, self-scout. See what you did.

See what you did good. See what you did wrong. See what you did bad. That's one of those things I'm going to work on. No, I think first couple days, disappear. Forget about it. Well, for sure. Then afterwards, then let's go ahead and say, you know,

what can we work on a little bit? Then we get better. Then we come back. Yes. You need to get away for a little bit. You need to shut that brain down for a little bit. I will. I will. better then we come back yes you need to get away for a little bit you need to shut that brain down for a little bit i i will i will and maybe not take on your biggest biggest enemy this year in history not even not even close there isn't a second there is only one enemy that the patient

is this day in history yeah but it's not being good yeah but once again you know that that's seeing bill bolechek getting fired. Mutually agreed to part ways. That's the thing, though. You know what I mean? My football season ended like September 20th. So I've already been in this stage where I've been looking forward to this time of the year where we got free agency. On this day in history? On this day in history.

In 2023. In 2023. You were thinking Super Bowl. I was so fucking in. There was no fucking in. There was no doubt in my mind we were going back to the playoffs. But on this day in 2024, who are we drafting? We're taking a quarterback.

We're in full rebuild. And we don't even get to pick the quarterback. Full rebuild. No. Full rebuild. It's not a full rebuild. It's not a full rebuild. Whole new coaching staff. Whole new quarterback.

Whole new offense. Yeah, you're right. Same defense. Same exact defense. It is a. Steve Belichick's still there? It Whole new offense. Yeah, you're right. Same defense. Same exact defense. It is a... Steve Belichick's still there? It is a 50... No, Steve's gone.

But he wasn't... What was he? Was he doing something with the defense? He was helping game plan with John Mayo. What about Bill? Is Bill there? Did he help with the defense? Can I fucking get to the point where the defense is the same?

No, it's the same exact defense. The players are the same. Are they going to score any points? The players are the same. The system is the same. The game plan is the same. So, absolutely, you don't have Bill to tell you how the Are they going to score any points? The players are the same. The system is the same. The game plan is the same. So, absolutely, you don't have Bill to tell you how the game is going to go. But fucking half the ball is the same.

Okay? Sure, we've got to figure out offense. And we're going to do that. What about Chad Ryland? Did you see this guy? Well, Chad Ryland is the savior of New England. The reason I'm still thinking about getting a Chad Ryland jersey, even though I know he's not going to be on the team next year

because he's the reason we're the third overall pick. That Giants kick when he missed. Oh, my God. That was the happiest I've been in the Colts suite all year. Legit. Screaming. Popped up out of my seat. I think Colts had ball, so stadium was quiet.

Connor watching Giants-Patriots. Down by three. Chad Ryland has a chance to kick it to send it to overtime. He misses the kick. You hear Conor go, ho, ho, ho, let's go. Yes. That goes through Lucas Oil Stadium. That goes through Lucas Oil Stadium.

So I'm standing watching. I turn around and go, what happened? He goes, Chad Ryland just missed his 10th kick to lose us the game. Yes. We're going to be top four pick. Like, that was literally what you were thinking. That's not good. That's not a good place for your team to be. I completely agree, and I hated it.

I hated every fucking second of this NFL season. It really was brutal being that fan and having to frame it in my brain that we needed to lose in order to get to a position where we can talk about Super Bowls and the dynasty going back through it. Obviously, that is a thought.

But, yeah, sometimes you've got to root for the worst things to happen in order to get to the good things. Chad Ryland's going to get good this offseason, too. That was kind of one of those suck for luck things, right? I mean, are you allowed to say that? Yeah. But you know what I mean. We were in the middle of that whole thing.

I know. That was terrible. That was miserable. Yeah. Miserable. That guy sucked for it, but then he quit. He retired. Sure. He had some good years in there, though. He did have some. He was awesome when he was there. He was awesome when he was terrible. That was miserable. Yeah. Miserable. Guy sucked for it, but then he quit. He retired. Sure.

He had some good years in there, though. He did have some great years. He was awesome when he was there. He was, I mean, just a prototype. He was a dude. That 2014 AFC finalist? Are you fucking kidding me? He'd still be your quarterback.

You probably would have won a Super Bowl. Is that your favorite banner? Is that your favorite banner? Is that really up? Vinny, is that your favorite banner, Vinny? The 2014 AFC finalist banner that's hanging from the roof of Lucas Oil? Hey, Pete. Pete.

The number one for you? Hey, Pete Ward. Take that fucking thing down. It's embarrassing. Do they still have the banner that hosts the Super Bowl that we didn't plan? Oh, yeah. That's a good point, actually. Lucas can flex that it hosted the Super Bowl.

Okay, Connor, don't be egging this on. I'm not egging it on. I'm just saying. I want to hear from the guy. No, I like banners of... Boom, there it is. We need to take that down. Every year, week one, I'm sending that out.

I think the way it's worded, just finalists being on the banner is the problem. They should put the score. What should they put it? They should put the score of the game on there. And a deflated ball. Yeah, and a deflated ball. Exactly. Put them both on there. I believe it was 38-10. and a deflated ball. Exactly. Put them both on there.

I believe it was 38-10. Might have been 42-10. Yeah, might have been 50-10. I believe Dwayne Allen said they could have beat us with a fucking beach ball was his quote. Yeah, but he might have played for the Patriots. A couple years later. Yeah, but Dwayne Allen, monster. He was an extension of a tackle.

Good dude. Enjoys personal. Good ping pong player. Big son of a bitch. We were in the second quarter. This is how I knew we were in trouble. They sent Danny Amendola, I think, out to punt return. He was only going out there to fair catch.

They were fair catching every single punt starting in, like, the second quarter. Like, we're not even returning. We don't give a fuck. Like, this game is over. We don't need to do anything This game is, this is over. We don't need to do anything. So it was a wild scene up there quickly. Do you remember the weather, too, before that game? Yeah, it was nasty.

Yeah. And then it cleared up completely. And then the balls. Well, to the deflate gate point, maybe the weather atmosphere made it. Well, Bill, not a science guy, told me. You know what? Watch Apple TV. You'll get to see all about the deflate game.

Oh, really? Oh, yeah. It's all addressed in there. That was a good plug. It was, wasn't it? Yeah, I like that. You're a professional. Yeah.

To the deflated balls thing, just real quick. LeGarrette Blount had 150 yards and three touchdowns rushing the ball. So just to Blount, just to clarify there. Yeah, I see him still running, actually. He was from our right to left. He broke the long one. Was that the year that he switched from the Steelers to Patriots mid-year, or was that the next year?

Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, I think that was that year. Or before. It might have been the year before, because that year I believe he had like 20 touchdowns. He was really good against us every time he played. He was one of my favorite Patriots. Let's talk about your Steelers year and your season that was for us.

What a rollercoaster. It was. I was going to. That was the best word. That was an absolute rollercoaster season. What about preseason? Remember when Kenny Pickett? Starting there.

Super Bowl. Seven was back on. Couldn't have been higher. Couldn't have been higher. And then week one just absolutely smacked in the fucking mouth by the 49ers. And that's in my head then it was over. It didn't get much better. You dressed up like a devil.

No, no, no. I dressed up as Mac Fiera. You spent a lot of time on that. There was full chance. No, I didn't. Utah, Georgia, Ohio. Everywhere. James Madison.

James Madison telling this guy to get fired. Fire Canada. That was the offensive coordinator. Yeah. First time. Well, he deserved it. First time a coordinator ended up working out, I guess, with Steelers. Yeah, the offense was much better after he got fired.

First time a coordinator or some significant coach had been fired in the Pittsburgh Steelers organization pretty much. Yeah, since one of the owners did it to himself. He was a owner coach or owner coordinator. In like 1980-something. That was like 40-something. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, that is something that doesn't happen. It's an organization that prides themselves on just consistency and maintaining just status quo as far as like the ownership coaches are concerned. It was an up-and-down year. A lot of question marks going into the offseason, but I'm excited. I'm very excited. Tony, that was weird, Tony.

There's Tony. That's him. Hey, for real, did you do that yourself, Tony, or who painted it? Because your hands and everything. Yeah, I believe you did it. Who are you dressed as here? Matt Canada. So that's not the devil. I'm going to deliver you guys some shocking news, okay?

We've gone through... I think all the coaches have been hired. Matt Cannon was not picked up. What? I just want to. He's taking a year off. Before I. Thought he was the OC of Bama. All these bad Steelers fans chanting stuff.

None of the NFL coaches picked him up to be a part of their offensive staff this offseason either. And this is who you're addressed as? Matt Cannon. Just Matt Cannon. Yeah. What about the horns? Does he have horns? I don't know how that happened, to be honest.

Is that part of the hat? I don't know. I didn't do that to the hat. Matt Canada wears a hat. Think about if Ice Spice would have seen you. She loves Matt Cannell. You'd be dating her right now. She loves Matt Cannell.

I'm married with a child. No, but Matt Cannell. We're not talking about you. No, not you. We're talking about Matt Kell. Yeah, Canada. Hey, Matt, we hope you land on your feet somewhere and also learn how to fucking call plays. That's what we hope happens. I will be. Not

everybody deserves to have an NFL job. You know, like that is, you know, don't you think? Like that's a real statement. No, I'm like, I don't know what the guy, I don't know what he's like at all. I've never met him, but it'd be a pretty trying year for him i would imagine ultimately getting fired during the season but man like the leading up to it especially this year it felt very loud every single game congrats uh matt canada getting a little relief i assume we've

heard he's a good dude i don't know have we it's not what i've heard okay see we'll always remember that first drive when he switched to being back on the field, though. Remember that? They walked down. That whole game. He marched down the field that first drive. Matt didn't have the best year, but there's a lot of guys that didn't have the best year. No, but now we have Arthur Smith, and I will absolutely better have that fucking mustache back.

And if he does it, I will have a mustache as long as Artie does. Oh, really? You would have a good mustache right now. I agree. Are you going to do that? You should do that. I'm going to. This two-week break?

Oh, I mean. Because, look, you've got a jawline again probably? When's the new league year? You could have a monster stache. You could have a great mustache. I was thinking when the players of the new team. I think that's March 14th. Okay, so after the draft and after the team has been

assembled and we report for maybe draft night. I'm thinking mini camp. Draft night. Yeah, draft night would be perfect because we're going to be there too. But it has to be Artie. Artie has to do it too. I think he's going to do it. He knows. He's coming to Pittsburgh. Why there was a certain tone in my

voices, there's just the most important position in sports. There's still a question mark there. Well, how about us with the Colts? You got the erections back throwing. Did you see it? I did, yeah. Had no shoes on, had sunglasses on, looked comfortable spinning it.

He's grounded. Absolutely. Baby steps, right? But it looks good. I mean, it looks good. It does. I always wondered about being barefoot or barehanded on this turf because a lot of people

I know that make a living on those things happen to just spit all over it. Dip spit all day. Yeah. Zen spit now, I assume. Spitting from playing sports. Probably the move there. But I like the fact that he looks like he's back in a good spot health-wise. I hope he survives. What was surgery again?

Shoulder. Throw and shoulder. Throw and shoulder. Yep. Yeah, so this is a big deal here to watch this. I hope he survives. There's a couple snippets from an athletic article about Shane Steichen. I'm going to read a couple of these things. And the Colts culture is in trouble, dude.

It was in trouble. Like, I think Shane Steichen bringing it back. I forgot to weigh out a practice three times. Okay? Now, I understand people can forget things and stuff like that. But this is like our best player. You know, lead by example. I'm never late for practice or anything like that.

But even something as small as that, he wasn't messing around. They fined me the first time. I was like, damn. They fined me the second time and the third time. I was like, damn, damn. That's when I knew he was all business. It's like, this is a professional fucking, yeah. Yeah. That's kind of what it's supposed to be. Yeah.

That's what I'm saying. Like, acting like that, where the hell were the Colts a couple years ago? Because we heard, you know what I mean? Like, this is not Michael Pittman's fault, obviously. Michael Pittman should have been in an organization, in a building that probably was a little bit more, like, yeah, we're not late for treatment.

What? You know, we're not getting to treatment at 7.15 when it starts at 7. We're not getting into the building eating at 7 when treatment's supposed to start at 7, so then we mosey into treatment at 7.10 or 7.15 or late for team meetings. I heard people, like, the shit that was happening in that building, I'm like, what are we doing? Shane Sikens the guy.

Feels like Shane Sikens the guy, Vinny. Absolutely. I'm very pumped about that. The only thing I've heard is great things from him. Like he's no nonsense. He brings a different type of atmosphere in there and holds guys accountable. And that's exactly what you need. I mean, you can't – how do you expect everybody to get in line

when some guys aren't? And, you know, I remember B.A. saying, hey, one time I remember one guy being late and he said, we're going to wait for the five-star because he's a five-star, right? But that's the only time. But that was just – that was a one thing that he was doing something else and we had to – but no. An interview.

There was an interview happening. Correct. The five-star had an interview happening correct the five star had an interview happening and it was with a tv thing and we had a team meeting and ba literally comes in and goes we have a one of our five stars is missing and we will wait for this motherfucker but all you other motherfuckers need to know you are not this motherfucker and it was like a dress and then like i think three minutes or two minutes came in. Obviously we all,

super embarrassing, but like was forced to not be, but it was like a scene. It was like, Hey, you're not going to be fucking late around here. It's like, that's how it always had been though.

When Peyton was there, obviously you're not fucking around with anything. And it felt like it kind of, it seems like it. And then Stikens bringing it back. So if AR can remain healthy and Stiken can remain who everybody thinks he is i like it a lot i'm excited i'm really excited for that because you know at the beginning of the year i kind of was like oh you know how's the colts going to be you know if if they win five six games that's you know that's

a win right that's going to be good they get all the way to the end of the season and with one or two plays in that last game, they make the playoffs, right? And that's with, you know, and granted, you know, Richardson wasn't there. The other quarterback did a great job, right? No problem at all, but with him in there, he brings a whole different aspect to our offense,

and man, I'm excited. Jonathan Taylor for a full year. You know, missing training camp. Josh Downs. Yeah, we got... Josh Downs, full offseason. Gus Bradley's back, I think, on the defensive side. We got, like, hey, why not? The culture's coming back, yeah.

The culture of what we need is back, yeah. What was that? You said, why not? And then you just kind of faded off. Why? CJ Stroud's down in Houston. Oh, yeah. Yeah, but you guys should have beat CJ Stroud

if you just catched that ball. Agreed. And you beat him with AR. Beat the shit out of them with A.R. Yeah, and I think A.R. maybe had his best game there, too. So that's good news. Biggest moments. He's playing his best football.

We only saw him in four games. Yeah. We have no idea what he's going to be like for a full season. Can he survive? But we got hope. Colts got hope. Steelers got hope. Patriots got hope.

We're here. Packers, I assume you're thinking we got hope for the Packers with everything that we saw this past year. A ton got hope. Patriots got hope. We're here. Packers, I assume you're thinking we got hope for the Packers with everything that we saw this past year. A ton of hope. A ton of hope. Obviously, with what Jordan Love did, I think Goody's getting a bunch of love lately as well. I think they have five picks in the top 100 as well,

so people are looking to them to only get better and absolutely be a force. The Aaron Rodgers trade becomes a second-round pick, right, because he didn't play 85% of the snaps or whatever. But listen, from me this time last year, I don't want to say this day in history, being like, has Goody proven that he can build a team all by himself? Because Aaron got a lot of credit for covering up a lot of things. And whenever they were in the NFC Championship, they lose.

They decide to look to the future and get a whole new group in there, right? And it's like, he certainly had Goody. He's fucking figured it out. Great GM. That guy was a phenomenal general manager. He got a new DC. to look to the future and get a whole new group in there, right? And it's like, he certainly had goodies. Oh, yeah. Figured it out. Great GM. That guy was a phenomenal general manager. He got a new DC. Yeah, that feels like one of the biggest hires of the entire offseason is Halfley.

New energy in there. Yeah. It's like the Packers' real deal next year. And on the NFC side, like, are the Niners going to be able to continue to go? Seems like yes. Brock Purdy's got another year under his belt. Who's going to be the DC there? We shall see.

And then you think the Eagles, are they going to wake back up after having to hire a whole new thing? And then you go to the city of Detroit with the brand new Lions. We're not going to call them that next year, right? It's just the Lions now all of a sudden. Nope. Not the brand new Lions anymore. Just the Lions.

Victory beers are dead. We're not celebrating wins. Amen. The Lions are dead. Atta boy, Foxy. Atta boy, Foxy. Boys, it's dead. It's over.

They got their playoff win. I watched the Super Bowl for the first time, and I said, my team could win that thing. And that's never happened in my entire life. So, yeah, it was probably the best. It was the best football season as a Lions fan I've ever had in my life. And right next to you, the Chicago Bears' first pick overall. Oh, yeah.

That's fun. You got a quarterback. Trayden, who knows? Much better. Famous for CM Punk. Next year's our year. That's right. Shout out, Phil.

Shout out, Punk. CM Punk. CM Punk. CM Punk. He is so kind to us. Yeah, great guy. He was so nice to us. Super good guy.

To me and Connor both. Like, just so incredibly nice. Yeah, great guy. He was so nice to us. Super good guy. To me and Connor both. Like, just so incredibly nice. Yeah, it was cool. No reason to be evil. At all. No. Just, like, out of his way. Yeah.

Out of his way to go. Asked Michael Cole to tell him whenever I got there or whatever, wanted to come out of his way to come talk to us and meet us. It was like, you're the... It was cool. Oh, gee, you're a good guy. Nice guy. Then I got to work alongside of him. He is a massive Bears fan. Big Blackhawks

fan as well. How are the Blackhawks doing? How did last night go? You know, Conor Bedard had some cobwebs on him after that broken jaw, but you know, it was a rough night for us. And what happened? We lost. To who? To old Sid. And? Just Sid. And? Just Sid.

Yeah, Sid certainly had more goals than your entire team, but who else was out there? The Guinos. Oh, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The who? The Gui what? With an N. Easy. Jesus Christ, I was going to say. Pen-guino. I know, I just thought I heard a D. Well, yeah, because

Vinny's not going to be happy about that either. I wouldn't be either. I'd be pissed too. Be his ass, Vinny. Vinny Terry, are you the only Italian in South Dakota? There's very few. Very, very few. I wonder how the hell you got out there. So you were relocated because of something your family did in the mob, and that's where they relocated.

We don't talk about it. Witness protection. Yeah, we don't talk about it. I'll tell you what, as somebody that comes from a way too overpopulated by the Italians community, you go to a city somewhere out in the middle. Don't do what you do. That wasn't me. I'm via was you. That wasn't me. I was very lucky to be in that community. It's a beautiful community.

A fantastic community. It is a great group of people who really stay loyal to each other and everything. I was very lucky to grow up in a super duper ridiculously overpopulated Italian community. Now, in doing so, you learn a lot

about them. So, I go out to Montana or something like that, and I meet a local and it's an Italian person and I'm like, so, your family's from Montana? My dad and mom moved out here. I'm like, we're running from something.

I don't want to be an asshole, but normally the Italians stick around Italians. That's kind of how it's always been. And waterways. We need more Italians out here in Indianapolis. There's no rivers. Well, there's a canal, allegedly. Need is weird. Allegedly there's a canal out here.

You know what I mean? What'd you say? I mean, I'm just saying need is a weird way to put it there's a canal out here. You know what I mean? What'd you say? I mean, I'm just saying, need is a weird way to put it. Could have more, sure. No, we need more Italians in Indianapolis. We need more Italians in Indianapolis. I think we need less bums.

You know, we need potholes to be filled. We need construction to be done. Having a couple more people from the boot country wouldn't hurt, but I don't think we need... We need construction to be done. Having a couple more people from the boot country wouldn't hurt, but I don't think we need. We need more Italians. All those things you're talking about, well, I don't know about the bums, but, like, everything else, the Italians are the ones pretty much taking care of all that.

That's kind of how it goes. Maybe. I thought Hogsett was Italian. He's not. I do not think Hogsett is Italian. I thought he was. Hogsett think so. I do not think so. His name doesn't sound Italian. I thought he was. The mayor of Indianapolis is Italian. That fucking guy.

We don't need him. Watch your mouth. Watch your mouth. I'm just raising questions. Nothing else. Bubba Gumpino, the Miami Dolphins had a hell of a year. So did you, pal. Thank you, brother.

How about you being back in America for the season? How about it? That happened this year, right? Yeah. I've kind of made it a point to every day kind of just take it in for a minute. It's been a really cool year. Yeah, we're lucky to have you. You're a weapon, brother.

The Dolphins were a weapon for a while, and then it just kind of all crumbled, and now it looks like maybe never again. Yeah, minus 52 in the cap right now. I've got to pay some guys. We're in a bad spot all of a sudden. Dolphins are going to be okay. Cap isn't real. Yeah, for sure.

Mike Daniel will figure it out. Yeah. Mike Daniel, too. We might win the Super Bowl. Who knows? All right, Frank, great year. Dirty, Bruce, great year. Mitt, fantastic job.

I don't even know if he can hear us. No, he can't. To everybody that helped this year with the company, thank you. To everybody at ESPN who helped us this season, thank you. To everybody behind the scenes that helped us, thank you. And to everybody that watched and listened, thank you so much. You're the greatest people on earth. I say it a lot, and I genuinely mean it.

We are eternally grateful that you allow us to be a part of your lives and you allow us to get a chance to talk about sports as a profession. That's so fucking stupid to say, but we're living the dumbest lives of all time. We're going to take a couple of weeks off here to maybe refresh, reset and get things organized for the greatest off season in the history. But know that we will miss the hell out of you. We will miss the hell out of doing this show. And you're the best. You are the best. And I hope you continue to look around and notice that there's a lot of good in this world,

not just negative bullshit that seems to hog all the headlines everywhere. And let's enjoy this life and be pumped that we even get to wake up in the morning because whenever terrible things happen either publicly or personally it kind of puts life into perspective very quickly you know you get a chance to really say what matters what doesn't well being alive is a fucking massive part of it and let's make sure every time we get a chance to wake and get out of bed we appreciate the good things

and try to eliminate the negative bullshits. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. We'll see you in a few weeks.

One, two, three. Team. Goodbye.