The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 145 - My Pro Bowl Thoughts, Ryan Leaf Tried To Help Josh Gordon, & More

Episode Date: December 19, 2019

On today's show, Pat and the boys go through the Pro Bowl selections and give their thoughts on all the snubs, who made it that maybe shouldn't have, and whether or not players seriously care if they're selected to a Pro Bowl. Pat also breaks down the difference between Pro Bowlers and All-Pro's, and why he thinks after a certain point, most players will see through the facade and realize that for the most part, it's a bunch of malarkey. Later, Heisman Trophy finalist, #2 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, and friend of the show, Ryan Leaf calls in. He explains how he tried to help out Josh Gordon, but he wasn't in the mindset at the time to actually open up to help. Ryan explains his current situation and chats about the moment where he actually started to realize he needed to change, and gives a quick recap of his life for those who aren't aware of his situation. Pat and Ryan also chat about the Cheez-It Bowl and how they'll get to interact down there, and a challenge is issued for each man. If you are unaware of Ryan Leaf's life story, this is a can't miss conversation (23:48-36:56). Also covered in today's show is Zion Williamson's knee injury and whether or not he'll be the same player when he comes back, Congress cracking down on e-cigs, Charlotte wanting $325 million for a new expansion MLS team and why that seems a little absurd, and Josh Allen getting one of his selfies hung in a museum after beating the Steelers last Sunday night. Today's show is a fun one. Come and laugh with us, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And yeah, you're going to want to hear about it. He tells an incredible story about him in jail. We've heard it once before, but he dives into it a little bit deeper if you're new to the show. I talk about the Pro Bowl and how I got voted into it. And, you know, I think awards are a bunch of bullshit, but pretty good story behind it all. And speaking of stories, maybe you should go listen to a comedian tell us some stories or maybe you go watch a game or or maybe you go to a concert or a theater or something along those lines if you're gonna do that you need to get your tickets from one place in one place alone and that's our presenting sponsor

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Holy shit, they're a perfect holiday gift. I know, that's what you're saying. And I agree with you completely. Speaking of what I was saying, Hey, here's some good shit to listen to. Last night, the pro bowl rosters were debuted and it's always a massive evening for the NFL. And it's a massive evening for players if they haven't made a pro bowl yet. And let me tell you why this is the case. So for me, my hatred for these fake awards goes back all the way to high school. My sophomore year of high school, I led the entire state of Pennsylvania in goals scored in Western Pennsylvania in assists for our soccer team.

My teammates got voted Valley News Dispatch, which is a newspaper from where we're from, player of the year while I was just honorable mention on the team. I led the entire state in goals scored and the Western Pennsylvania in assists. And a teammate of mine, who's a friend of mine, got named Player of the Year. So it was at that moment I knew that everything was just a big joke. I knew that these awards are just a big joke. Because what more could I have possibly done? I honestly

don't know but I was happy for him in the moment couldn't be selfish obviously I'd be happy for didn't tell him how mad I was about this until about three months later let him enjoy his little fake ceremony that didn't matter and that whole thing but for me that's when it all started so then when you go into whenever I went into college uh I was all American rookie all American then I got all American my senior year but I was a Ray Guy finalist, and I came in second place for the Ray Guy award to a kid that had half the punts I had, much lower average than I had, just absolutely everything was terrible, but Ray Guy picked him strictly because Ray Guy was friends with the guy's coach. So you compound these things that have happened to me whenever these awards are up and

these titles are up and I haven't won. You can see how I could personally become jaded. Then whenever I get to the NFL, there's this massive bonus put into my contract to make a Pro Bowl. It's a quarter of a million of dollars. A lot of money, by the way. $250,000 if I get voted in the Pro Bowl. And I have this hatred for these these things but now I have direct financial gain if I do get voted in so there was a couple years where I did okay and I didn't get in there but like my fourth year I think or my fifth year I had a great year and I kept telling myself like hey this could be the year where I make the pro bowl this could be the year where that $250,000 thing happens and I start like hyping myself up to fall in love with this completely fake completely fake not relevant award or title because really the only thing

that matters in team sports is if your team likes you if your coaches like you if the players respect you in the locker room if if the equipment managers and the athletic trainers and the people that you work with and surround yourself with appreciate and respect what you do and you make your team better and win games. Honestly, if you're a true team player, that's the only thing that matters. And for me, that was the only thing that mattered. But whenever you put a quarter of a million dollars on something, all of a sudden you start worrying about a little bit more. And whenever that was put into the contract, I thought back to my sophomore year of high school.

I thought back to college when I got screwed out of these awards. I'm like, well, this is just how it's going to be for the rest of my life. So let's assume that that is never going to happen. I have a good year. My name starts getting thrown out there a little bit. And all of a sudden, it's like, wait, am I going to make the Pro Bowl? I started hyping myself up. I started hyping myself up.

And then like a week before it was supposed to happen, I started talking myself down. Like, oh, you're not going to make it. Remember, you get screwed out of this. Don't get your hopes up. And then the day before it's to be announced, the night before I go to happen, I start talking myself down like, oh, you're not going to make it. Remember, you get screwed out of this. Don't get your hopes up. And then the day before it's to be announced, the night before I go to bed, I'm like, you know, it'd be really cool if you get voted for the Pro Bowl, Pat. Not only is it vindication and all that stuff, but the $250,000 would be great. I mean, that's just good news. And it's nice to be recognized by your peers, coaches, and fans as the best in the game. So I go to bed.

I go into work the next day. And I ask our PR guy. I'm like, yo, did I make it? He's like, oh, we don't know yet. I'm like, you're lying to me. I know that you know. And he's like, I really won't know until this afternoon. So we go to practice.

We come out after practice. I'm like, did I make it? He's like, they haven't told me yet. I'm like, what the hell with them? I'm going home. So the rest of the team had meetings to watch practice after practice to kind of recap the film so we could go in later the next day something was going on and I did not have to do that so I went home I was driving home and I'm like damn another year I got my hopes up there's no reason for me to be even excited about this because I thought

the team would tell me I'm like three quarters of the way home and I get a call from the PR guy and he's like uh where you at I'm like I'm close to home right now. He's like, I need you to come back. And I was like, why is that? He's like, you know why. And I'm like, I don't know why. He's like, well, coach would like to announce the rest of the team, the Pro Bowlers. And I never had this moment where I had talked myself off of the ledge

of being a center. I was like, I made the Pro Bowl? He was like, yeah, you made the Pro Bowl. I'm like, let's go. So I hang up on him. I do a U-turn in the middle of a highway. I head back to the facility, and I put on like, I'm so, let's go. So I hang up on him. I do a U-turn in the middle of a highway. I head back to the facility, and I put on, like, I'm so paid, right? I'm so paid by Akon on the thing.

And I'm driving back, and I'm having this entire moment. I get back into the facility. Both me and Vinatieri made it. Chuck wanted to introduce us to the team. So after they had their meetings after practice, everybody went in the team meeting room. Chuck introduced us. I think TY made it. Luck made it. He wanted to introduce all of us. And it was that moment with the rest of my teammates where they were

like happy, like clapping for us, you know, that was a real vindicating moment. It was like, you know what? What I'm doing, people are recognizing. My peers are recognizing that I've kind of changed the game a little bit. My peers have recognized all the hard work that I've kind of changed the game a little bit my peers have recognized all the hard work that I put in so you immediately have this moment of gratification where you're like so thankful and grateful for the entire thing along with the $250,000 financial bonus but that moment where your teammates are like happy for you is really the best moment of the whole thing because then as soon as I got in the car to drive home i was like yeah but who cares who cares and i think that's the biggest difference between being a first time pro bowler and then the next time i got voted in the pro bowl where i chose not to play in it

it's like that first time it feels so good to have that vindication of like people recognize what i'm doing because there's so much bs in the world and a lot of war awards are we could go buy an emmy right now if we wanted lot of awards are, we could go buy an Emmy right now if we wanted. A local regional Emmy. We could go buy one right now. It's like 250 bucks. You read people on their Twitter buyer, they're like, Emmy award winning. It's like, no, no.

Any Emmy award buying is what you should call yourself. It's like every award is normally crap. But whenever you get that first Pro Bowl nod, it's so exhilarating where you're like, you know what, finally. And then afterwards you realize, like, oh, a lot of bad players make it in the pro bowl strictly because of their name a lot of this happens a lot of that happens and i think that's the biggest difference between like young guys like i know darius leonard last year he was uh rookie of the year for some people he was all pro for some people which we'll talk about in a minute but he didn't make the pro ball and he was like actually heard about it and I wanted to tell him as somebody like a little bit older, like, hey, this doesn't

matter, but then I thought back to myself. I was like, you know what? Whenever I was going in for my potential first one, I would have been very upset if I didn't make it. I can respect it, but I think that's the difference between the first batch of Pro Bowlers versus repeat Pro Bowlers, where it's like I appreciate and respect the honor it's very nice to be recognized by people but i very much understand that this is a subjective thing not an objective thing and that's why you can get people's opinions and politics involved it doesn't really matter now speaking of not really mattering but people hyping it up all pro does not mean a damn thing people say all pro is worth more and when they talk about hall of fames like well he was an all pro five times all pro means that the media people think that you're the best so if you don't have a good

relationship with the media people you're never going to get voted in in my position the media people have no idea what's happening in punting and kicking so they have no clue what's going now granted i was all pro at one point but there was years where i should have been and i should have been in the pro bowl it didn't happen but it was just like these people have no idea what they're talking about now for some positions i would assume that the media knows what's good and what isn't good so like for quarterbacks let's assume that the media gets it right and that type of stuff but don't don't undersell their relationship with different players too on who gets voted into all pro so i never really gave a damn about all pro i cared about the players vote for pro bowl

more than anything else more than the fan vote more than the coaches vote i cared about the players vote for pro bowl more than anything else more than the fan vote more than the coaches vote I cared about the players vote but for me I love the fodder I love the conversation it's a great honor for people but it's obviously made out to be a much bigger deal than it actually is and I think we all understand that about all awards if you have an actual brain you can see how people get vindicated you can see how people get heartbroken but it's all a bunch of malarkey in my eyes do you think players and coaches take it seriously when they're voting for the Pro Bowl? Oh, yeah, we do. But also now there's politics in that, too.

So you're not allowed to vote for your own team. So you're asked to vote like who your three at each position are to whatever it is. Who's your first team Pro Bowl or second team? I think alternate to I don't know if it's three or two for each position. You're not allowed to vote for anybody on your team. But if you have a guy who you know deserves it at a position who's probably not going to get enough votes, you're like, okay, who's probably going to beat him out?

Let's leave him out of the list. So there is, I mean, there is politicking and everything. And that's why you can't really take it serious. Because if it wasn't subjective, if it was just complete facts, like, hey, you are the best, which is impossible to do because situations are situational. That is a real thing. So it's hard to take serious. And I think if it wasn't for my jaded past with these types of awards and titles and things like that, I would probably have a very different view.

But I've gone on to be very, very successful in a lot of things. And I have not won a lot of awards I probably think I should have won and that's why i don't give a real damn about them but that first time i got voted in the pro bowl i remember having this incredible feeling of like excitement like okay they like me they really really like me and then as soon as that passes you're like there's some other guys are pretty good too they probably could have got in if they deserved it i think the process of voting in the Pro Bowl is an interesting one, where the fans vote. Now, granted, remember, if you're on a popular team,

that's probably going to help you a lot. Nowadays, with the way Twitter operates, if you have a good team that is good in social, that probably helps you out a lot. If you have a good Twitter, it helps you out a lot. If you're in a wasteland, for instance, a team that never gets talked about, if you're in like a wasteland for instance the team that never gets talked about if you're like the sacramento kings of the nfl it's probably gonna

be very difficult for you to get into the pro bowl strictly because one third of the vote revolves around having fans and if you're a team that doesn't have fans like the detroit lions don't have a lot of fans they have fans but it's not a massive amount of fans because people like winners and that's a team that hasn't done that a lot true uh and by the way anybody that says like oh you're a fair weather fan everybody's a fair weather fan look at stadiums whenever teams are doing well and look at stadiums whenever teams aren't doing well there's only a couple teams that can really carry their weight and that's because it's been around for generations and generations but whenever you're

in a big market on a good team or you're on primetime television a lot obviously it's going to be skewed for the fans a little bit more but i think it's a third fans a third players and a third coaches i think they should add refs into that now i think refs should also get a vote because they're on the field like like for me every time i punted in in the years that i was doing well towards the back half of my year uh back half of my career like me and the refs would have a great interaction. Like if I hit the hell out of one, they'd be like, Pat, bomb it. Like it would be like a good give and take while we're jogging down the field together. And if I hit one not so good, they'd be like, Patty, we look forward to this. You know what I mean? Like there's like a real thing. I think refs are on

the field should have a little bit more of a say. Now, granted, they'll get it wrong. I mean, the Alberta Riveron gang would get it wrong this year. But I think there is something to be said about making the Pro Bowl. And if you're a guy who got snubbed and you haven't made it before, know that, yes, I can understand you're upset. Like Aaron Jones, for instance, of the Green Bay Packers. I'm sure he hasn't made a Pro Bowl yet. This year, he's been incredible. I mean, if you talk to packers fans

you're talking about a guy who should be an mvp conversation for how well he he's not in it eckler austin eckler for the los angeles chargers he's one of their biggest upsides he's not in it right dac prescott was a snob everybody says he's uh playing for a seven and seven team he has 11 interceptions that's gonna be difficult but he has been also the most prolific offensive player in the nfl he didn't make it in and Dak's been to the Pro Bowl before, I'm assuming. Has Dak been to Pro Bowl? I think I've seen him play dodgeball. Quarterback for the Cowboys.

Let's assume he's been in there before. So he's probably not taking it as bad as the people who have never made it, who have never had that feeling of being appreciated by their peers. And I think that's what it's all about. He's a two-time Pro Bowl? Yes, sir. Yeah, quarterback for the Cowboys is going to make it in there it well the good news for dac is they'll probably lose their first playoff game and he'll get to go yeah anyway so that's probably how i got him before i assume

oh come on take it easy i mean kirk cousins is the biggest snub out of all of them i i think kirk cousins prime time kirk was born this year let's assume he's he should have been in there but that nfc batch is a tough group to crack. I mean, you're talking in quarterbacks. That is a tough batch to crack right there. Drew Brees just broke every single record. He was out for four games and still gets in, which I'd assume would piss some people off.

Aaron Rodgers, he currently has 24 touchdowns, two interceptions, and is leading 11-3 or 10-3. What are they, 11-3 at this point? Yeah. I think they're an 11-3 team. Yeah, you could talk about how he hasn't been as good as he has been in the past, but he's a quarterback for an 11-3 team. He has threw two interceptions in 24 touchdowns.

I mean, that's a hell of a stat line. Do other people potentially make it in above him? Maybe. Maybe Kirk Cousins, who's done well, but they've lost to the Packers already. They play on Monday Night Football. Kirk Cousins has had a hell of a year, but they started out a little slow. And Russell Wilson's an MVP candidate. I the NFC three is tough one to crack very tough one to crack although Dak and Kirk I would assume in any other year would deserve it and in

the AFC Lamar Jackson is an absolute unicorn anomaly game changer for football I'm happy that he got the most votes this guy's changing football Patty Mahomes is the face of the NFL, was the face of the NFL before Lamar Jackson became the face of the NFL. Pat Mahomes gets hurt. They lose a couple games. Lamar Jackson just continues to shine. He becomes, and Deshaun Watson, the Michael Jordan of the NFL,

when he said this year has had a hell of a year. Also to be noted, four of the six quarterbacks that are voted in to the Pro Bowl this year are African-American quarterbacks. That is massive. That is a big storyline. They were talking about it on ESPN this morning. They were talking about it on every other show this morning.

That is big news, not only for the position but for our society, by the way. Good for our society, good for the game of football, and good for the position of quarterback to be a much more diverse position because for a long time, the position was dominated by the the richest kids the kids who had all the best coaching for all the years the kids who come from the best schools the smartest people they say all these things were criteria that basically had to be in place for you to become a quarterback now it's like hey who's the best players who can make plays who are the guys who are the studs and stars of their team let's get them in there and i'm happy the nfl is becoming a much more uh diverse uh operation especially at the face of the team which is the quarterback position those uh afc quarterbacks if you're

another afc franchise that's tough to look at because those all three of those quarters are very young and very good tom brady's first time not making a pro bowl since 2008 by the way there's a guy that never goes to the pro bowl normally because he's in the super bowl but if he's not in the super bowl it's probably the same thing as me like very cool to be recognized yeah me and tom same very cool to be recognized but at some point it's just like i mean who gives a damn what these people say especially because it feels like as a young player, it's so hard to crack into the Pro Bowl. Like this year I saw Keekly's in it again,

and the Carolina Panthers defense has been terrible, and he is the main point of that defense. A lot of name recognition. For instance, Pouncey's in for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's been in there, I think, since my first Pro Bowl, Pouncey's been in. Eight times, yeah. Yeah, and he's just the name helps. And an offensive line normally gets a name game for offensive line

because it doesn't get a lot of pub. But I don't think anybody gives a damn, except for the people that haven't made a Pro Bowl yet. Because you want to be able to say for the rest of your life you're a Pro Bowler. Like, for instance, I will forever be an All-Pro Pat McAfee, right? Because the media, the association, whatever they are, voted me as an All-Pro one time. You could say that to me.

Now, granted, we lost the Super Bowl to Drew Brees, who's also an All-Pro. It would have been nice to be Super Bowl champion, All-Pro Pat McAfee. Even though I don't deserve either of those titles, I think you could give them to anybody at any given time. That's something you can never take away from you. And that's why the young people care about it a lot more

than the older players who just want to win, I'd assume. Oh, yeah. Richard Sherman got a million dollars for getting in today. Yeah. So that's pretty nice. Massive. Yeah. If it wasn't for the financial benefit, like for me, the $250,000 bonus was like, let's go.

We don't have to go to Hawaii anymore either. Yeah. Well, when I went, it wasn't in Hawaii either. It was in Arizona. We had to practice three hours into the desert. Come on. Yeah. And they didn't shut down the whole hotel.

They had just a bunch of randoms floating around the hotel. The bad sand, not the good sand. I mean, whoa. Don't say that about Arizona, bro. You know, beach sand's way better. It has water. I agree. That's a desert where there is no water.

But if you crack a cactus open. Yep, you can drink from that. Yes. We didn't do any cactus crack. The only thing I did was hammer strawberry marks because it was the week after we lost to the patriots by 400 and deflategate was potentially happening but i think the pro bowl although when it was back in hawaii and you were a kid i used to be like man i hope i make the pro bowl one day all these skills challenges the luau's

the beautiful weather and then i make it it's like in arizona we got a bunch of randoms in the hotel there's they wanted me to go build a sidewalk in the middle of the desert i'm like oh what are we doing here i thought this was good i didn't think this was a bad thing did they get the uh for the brand correct brett kern is the most underrated punter in the history of the nfl i'm happy he gets a pro bowl nod from tennessee he's been very good for a long time. Justin Tucker, obviously. Justin Tucker is Justin Tucker. He focuses on focusing. Will Lutz, guest of the show, friend of the show, as is Justin Tucker. Brett Kern's never been on the show, huh?

No. He and I are like friends, too. We should change that. We should. I don't know how much media he does. I think he's kind of a quiet guy, but he's a hell of a punter. And Tress Way has a massive leg, massive lefty there from Oklahoma. I guess he's a really good athlete.

By the way, I haven't seen a lot of Redskins games, so I assume he's done well. They punt a lot. Yeah. There's a lot of teams punting a lot, but he has a big old leg. I'm happy he makes it in. And Rick Lovato and Morgan Cox, good representatives for the first time long snappers have been actually voted in as opposed to just chosen.

And good for them. They can go down for the rest of their lives as the first long snappers that were actually voted in to the Pro Bowl as opposed to just selected in by the coaches that are coaching the two teams. Good for them. Slater stud. How about the Chiefs? Like, I mean, if Nicole Hartman wasn't the returner, just throw Tyree Kill back there. Yeah, I'm very happy for the brand punters that they no longer have Tyree Kill back there, but they just found another one. You know what I mean, if Nicole Hardman wasn't the returner, just throw Tyree Kill back there. Yeah, I'm very happy for the brand punters that they no longer have Tyree Kill back there,

but they just found another one. You know what I mean? They found another guy in Hardman who's faster than everybody somehow. He's elusive and he has no fear, which is what a returner has to have. And Deontay Harris for the Saints, I don't think I've seen enough of him.

He's small and he's very quick. The biggest thing for returners is the ability to be quick. If you're a kickoff returner, you've got to be fast. If you're a punt returner, you've got to be quick. If you have both of those, you're normally a very good returner for years and years and years. But the high football IQ, to know when to take a risk

and catch something when not to for field position, and then also no fear. You have to have no fear because catch something when not to for field position and then also no fear like you have to have no fear because all i'm trying to do is hang it up there high enough that you like pez this there was a couple returners that as soon as their head would go like this we knew they would wait fair catch because they couldn't see who was coming right so all you're trying to do is hit the ball high so there's no return and it's over a lot some of these dudes some of these dudes have no fear at all they could have nine humans that are running four sixes, four fours, four sevens right in their face, and they're like,

nope, I'm going to make something out of nothing. Whenever you have somebody like that, you've got to hang on to them. And a lot of teams don't. They let them just kind of go and whatever. They figure it out. But for me, Pro Bowl, All-Pro, very good honor for all these people. But I think as they get older, they'll realize that it's all just a bunch of malarkey and that's what it is that's all it is i was looking it up pac-man

jones 96 returns without a fair catch yeah that was his thing i told him i was gonna get him on one too whenever we played him i was like i'm gonna get you the fair catch one he said not me p-mech but they wouldn't put him in for pooch areas so that yeah so you know what i mean they wouldn't put him in for pooch areas which probably because like you don't know they knew yeah they knew he wouldn't so there's like a chance for something but he was a pac-man jones he was all pro returner of the year i went in he's unbelievable i love that zero fear zero fear at any time anybody can get it you're at an airport in atlanta he's eating popeyes you want to say something you can get it i mean he had zero fear him devin hester uh julian edelman was a great returner for a long time they don't have him returned anymore they have muhammad sanu who

is not a good returner back there was don't they all still the league when you were there uh no but i got a chance to meet dante hall i think at the draft he was a good guy cool guy didn't get a chance to get him cordero patterson used to be a stud because he never really did anything. He never. He's still a stud kick returner. He made it this year. Yeah, he made it. He made it as a special teamer, I think, right?

Because he's been covering on Gunner. Yeah. He made it as a special teamer, I think, which is awesome, by the way. Cordero was transferred into that. He got screwed last week against the Packers where he blew up a returner and they called. Don't even get me started. The Bears could have won that game early

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that's right to connect around the world why wait any longer visit zoom online and set up your free account today and meet happy with zoom the man who has been there done that with just about everything. He was a Washington State Cougar, an NFL prospect, hit rock bottom, has come all the way back. We'll be commentating and calling the Cheez-It Bowl the biggest, best bowl of all time ever on December 27th. ESPN employee and legend, honestly, Ryan Leaf. Ryan, how's it going, pal? I'm good, buddy. How you doing?

Good. Hey, let's get to it because we don't have that much time and I want your beautiful brain to be displayed here. Josh Gordon has been suspended indefinitely. A couple weeks ago, I stated about how if this is all just because of weed, I think in a couple years this is going to look very stupid whenever it's nationally legalized. You said, hey, I would like to talk a little bit more about that. What are your thoughts on Josh Gordon in this whole incredibly sad situation

with one of the best talents to ever enter the NFL? Yeah, I mean, it's been something that's been going on for a while now. And I've reached out to him for, oh, the last two years, and he's been willing to talk but just not really willing to listen and you can't do anything about that if someone's not willing to help themselves right and so in this process when when that happened the trade or the the release into Seattle went I knew that there was something more and it's more to it than than marijuana and marijuana for him it's not used for the relief of pain it's's a mood-altering substance for him. He's not

comfortable with who he is in those moments. Therefore, he uses it to alter his mood. It's a different scenario when people use, let's say, CBD oil and things like that to help with pain than when you're trying to remove the emotional pain of a mood-altering substance. And this time, of course, he added a performance-enhancing drug to the scenario, which also helped with the suspension. Do you think that was Adderall, or will we never know? What do you think that was potentially? Yeah, we probably won't ever know.

We may. I mean, this stuff gets leaked out all the time, so we may figure that out, or he may find some transparency and vulnerability and come to us and tell everybody what went down, and that's always a hope. I want the best for him. I don't want anybody to ever have to go through the same type of thing I did and not be able to live their dream of playing professional football because he's so talented, like you said.

That's the biggest problem here. And I want him to find that peace and that serenity that comes with acceptance and surrender. And I just don't know if he's gotten to that place. We heard Pete Carroll talk about how he understands what the resources are there for him. He just won't utilize them. And if he does, he's not transparent and vulnerable and surrender and accept all that help. And that's and vulnerable and surrender and accept all that help. And that's, that's, that's, that's shameful and sad because, you know, he's a human being. Yeah. Okay. So a lot of people might not know your story, but you ended up in jail due to pills, I believe, right? Pill, a pill addiction. Yeah. So the only drug I've ever taken is Vicodin and it was prescribed to me after surgeries

in college. And then of course, when my career ended, I had all this emotional baggage that I didn't go get the proper help with. And so I self-medicated with an opiate painkiller and it did exactly its job, right? It killed the pain I was in for a long, long time until of course, you can't manage that. You can't manage life like that. And it just continued to spiral and spiral and spiral out of control. And I was just like a junkie on the corner with a needle in his arm. Same difference. It just happened to be a little white pill prescribed by a doctor. But I'm still that junkie. And I had to feed that habit. And it ultimately took me to a prison cell. And and, and God, you know, am I grateful for that happening to me? Yeah. Because you had to hit rock bottom to find the

person you are today, which is somebody who's accepted yourself into surrender. You said that Josh Gordon has yet to be able to find, do you think there is a positive out of this potential Josh Gordon suspension indefinitely, if he's able to find a good way out of this whole thing? Of course. I think when you're that talented and you're that young, if you find that answer and find that solution, yes, of course there is. I mean, look at – I'm a perfect example of this. Chris Herron is a perfect example of this.

We're not playing the sports that we played in, but we're thriving in a lifestyle where I get to contribute on one of the biggest platforms in sports there is on ESPN and around the country. So I'm thriving in a new occupation. It just for Josh Gordon, he's still able to do the thing he really loves to do and maybe won't look back on it as a regret because he's so young and still so talented. A lot of people say that marijuana is not an addiction drug. It's a drug that can be stopped whenever you want, because it doesn't have, I guess, the body doesn't,

I forget, I don't know how to describe this. They say it's not an addictive drug, right? They say it's something you quit. Do you agree with that or not? I mean, I don't necessarily agree with it, because I work with people who are going through psychosis because of constant marijuana use. So for me, I see it as something different.

But I don't believe – I'm a proponent for decriminalization of all drugs. I think that you tax it, you educate, you set up reform. If given the opportunity to stand in front of Congress and lobby, I'm going to be for that. If given the opportunity to stand in front of Congress and lobby, I'm going to be for that. Portugal has a really good blueprint on how they've dealt with the decriminalization of drugs there in that country and how the crime rate has just absolutely dropped. Overdoses have dissipated completely almost. And people are more open about it and see it as a disease and care for it that way and so i don't know if that will ever happen here but i'm always going to be that person so

i i don't ever if the nfl chooses to continue to make it a suspendable offense that's their prerogative they it's a private company okay and i also think if you're willing to have to use a drug to do your job then you might want to have you might want to look at finding another job. If you're not capable of being yourself, now if it's a pain issue, that's a different thing. But also if you're in so much pain that you have to take some mood-altering drug to play, I mean, that's a problem too. So, I mean, this is a bigger issue than just the idea that marijuana may or may not be addictive. I abstain from everything just because I know what my mind does. You know, other people are able to do these things. People are able to drink, use marijuana, do those things like that,

use drugs recreationally and not have a problem. I'm just allergic, right? I break out in handcuffs when I do that stuff. Hey, that's a good joke. Hey, joke hey that's a very i want to let you know that's a very good joke um i i think the people would say well i'm getting a massive paycheck that's why i choose to continue to use that i think pills are a bigger problem in sports than anything else of course i'll be excited to see how they fix that now let's pivot to what you talked about how you brought your life back on track and how you work on espn now and get a chance to color commentate you're very good at that you're calling calling the Cheez-It Bowl. What are you looking forward to with the Cheez-It Bowl,

which is the biggest, best bowl of all time ever? Yeah, I was pretty excited when I got that assignment. And then to find out that my alma mater, Washington State, is in the game, that's pretty cool. But Air Force is a good football team. They went 10-2 this year. They do something really different. These teams are almost mirror images in the complete opposite right one runs the football all the day the other

team throws the football all day and you have to prepare as a defense significantly and be very structured very uh gap integrity uh all of those things to prevent i think this could be a really big shootout a lot of points score fun are you going to be there you're going to be punting there is that yeah i'm going to be sitting in a two-story cheese box field side with some people that want to contest and then i believe i'm trying to punt a ball into a bowl of cheese to raise a bunch of money for the military i love that if i can do anything to help you with that i'm all over it might have you throw one we should have you throw one into the i have something to think about.

Could you still sling it? Oh God. Yeah. Come on, let's do it. Let's do it. I'm going to fire that thing in there. We got a chance to talk to you in a podcast that was, it was an incredibly eyeopening conversation for a lot of people that are

listening. They might not have heard that. Can you tell the story about how in jail you found the way to fulfillment was you were helping teach other people how to read and things like this. And that's really how your life almost got turned back around. Yeah, I was just a super selfish, dishonest, you know, you know, self interest guy. And even when I was in prison, that didn't improve. Because I wasn't about anybody but myself. And my roommate, I don't know if you remember me talking about this.

My roommate was an Afghan-Iraqi war veteran. And he had been in there for eight years for a crime that I think a lot of us may have done in our life, and that's drive drunk at some point. But he just happened to kill somebody that night when he was on leave from tour. And I watched him try to better himself every single day. And I just, I couldn't understand it because I just looked at myself as so much self-pity. Like I'm the victim, you know, all of this.

And he just, he made amends for what he did. He tried to better himself. And then one day he finally felt confident enough, I guess, to confront me and says, I had my, he told me I had my head buried in the sand. I didn't understand the value, not only for the men in there, but when I got out. And he suggested we go down to the prison library and help prisoners who didn't know how to read, learn how to read. And I went. I mean,

I went begrudgingly, but, and I did it. And I saw these men who were being really vulnerable in a place where you're supposed to show no vulnerability. And I heard them say something to me. Hey, I'm really struggling with this. Can you help me? And I think growing up in Montana, in the cowboy culture, and then being in an NFL college locker room my whole life, where this machismo is there, where you're not ever supposed to be vulnerable and ask for help. I think it was probably the first time I ever heard a man actually ask that question.

And it really made me think. And what I found out after I went back and went back and went back and was continuing to do this is that I was actually being of service to another human being for the first time. And it just, it changed my way of thinking. I didn't know it was the answer there in the moment, right? You never know that the epiphany happens when you're in it. You're like looking at the forest through the trees, but from 30,000 feet now, and you asking the question to me doing this a lot i can look at it and go okay that was the moment where i was like this has nothing to do with me this has everything to do with the individual who needs some help the media is not watching this isn't

about my brand this nothing no one cared no one knew this was just two individuals who were in a very difficult position dealing with adversity helping each other try to be better and i think that's the best way to look at things and it's how i i really live my life now and it's given me everything these last five years that's an awesome story and we were when we heard it we thought it was incredible hearing it again hey we're all very proud of you think you could teach zito how to read we got a guy in here who's illiterate i mean it's you know it's a lot harder than you. You think you could teach Zito how to read? We got a guy in here who's illiterate. I mean, it's tough. You know, it's a lot harder than you think.

You take it for granted on how you're taught growing up, and then when you start to teach it, don't worry. You'll get better, young man. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lee. It was harder than I thought. I had to kind of relearn how to, you know, because they know what the word means.

They just don't know how to sound it out. And you have to kind of go through phonetics. It was an interesting, and it taught me a lot of patience. And I think that was helpful for me too. All right, we only got like two minutes left, but I want to ask you about the changing of football, which is happening right in front of our eyes with Lamar Jackson, a lot more at Kyler Murray's having success in his first year,

Patrick Mahomes, you name it, Baker Mayfield, if he can ever figure it out he's a mobile quarterback football seems to be changing right in front of our eyes how do you feel about it from a quarterback position i love it i mean i don't get a chance to watch a lot of nfl football i'm really impressed with what you do popping on get up on monday morning talking about everything because i'm usually flying back on sundays and then when i land i'm like i throw in the red zone but I'm playing with my kid all day. And I don't know really what's going on. I know Lamar Jackson's playing well. All the things you said. I think it's great. I mean, it allows for, I think, the college football player, especially the quarterback, to go to the next level and have success right away. It wasn't the case when a lot of us were coming out in the 90s because the pro-style offense

was set in place and didn't cater to the guy coming in in the 90s because the pro-style offense was set in place and didn't cater to the guy coming in. Instead, now, the quarterback comes in and the coach is willing to form what he does best to the offense or the defense. And that's why I think John Harbaugh really was like, this guy is special. He's a special talent.

I'm not going to impose my will on him. I'm going to allow what he does so well to be our standard. And that's why they're the best team in the AFC right now, maybe the best team in the NFL. I agree. Hey, Ryan, you're the best. I can't wait to see you on December 27th. I appreciate your time. Ladies and gentlemen,

Ryan Leaf. Thank you, man. You bet, guys. Thank you for having me. He's a good dude. Story of perseverance there, by the way. Can't wait to see him on the 27th. We interrupt this conversation yet again to let you know, well, that's for business purposes, but also to let you know that although most guys have tried different ways to last longer in a sack,

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Interesting. What's that? You sent out an interesting tweet last night. What's that? Something about a diet starting today. Yeah, and then I had a bacon and cheese croissant sandwich. I was going to be in it with you, too, and then you came in and said you weren't doing the diet, so I pushed mine back, too. Well, everybody came after me on the internet, too.

Can't start in the middle of the week. Well, not only that, I guess January 1st is right around the bend. Yeah's a fake one though what do you mean everyone says they're gonna do it in the three days and they give out well actually 80 i did this stats for a new year's eve show um oh it's either 80 82 of new year's resolutions end 12 days into the new year. So every year, January 1st, they're like, New Year, new me. New Year, new me.

This year, this year it's all about self-care and self-wealth and not caring about other people. And stats say that a large majority by January 13th, they're going to be back to being fat and caring exactly what everybody

else says about them and that's just the way things work and uh i fall right into that right into that stat we're screwed this year uh new year's day january 1st is on a wednesday oh yeah my lady last night said she started on january 2nd she said uh she'll start her diet on january 2nd for the wedding because we have a wedding coming up so she said she'll start her diet on January 2nd for the wedding because we have a wedding coming up. So she said she's starting her fitness life January 2nd because January 1st, she wants to be lazy. Yeah. I'd like to be lazy on January 1st. Watch college football. Yeah, exactly.

That's what Sam wants to do. All bowl games. Sammy Lynn, 24, wants to watch college football on January 1st. Starcrat and kielbasa. By the way, Sam has like 30,000 followers now on Instagram. She feels like she's a real influencer. She is. I think that's the demarcation.

30,000? Yeah, you're an influencer now. Congrats, Sam. Congrats. Congrats, Sam. Congrats, Sammy. That's all I know if people know her or not. If people come up to me and they're like, tell Sammy.

I said, hello. I'm like, oh, you know her from the internet. And if people come up and say, hey, tell Sam. We said, what's up? It's like, oh, you actually know Sam. Okay. The fact that her Instagram thing is Sammy Lynn, I don't think anybody on earth calls her that.

I don't think I've heard a single human that knows her call her Sammy Lynn. When you say Sammy, I think Sammy Davis Jr. Yeah, same. Is that really what you think? That was the first thing I thought about when you said that. Well, hey, then that's an accurate statement, what you just said. It's a beautiful mind. I thought the diet was going to be spurned

from you and Zito eating a whole cake. Oh, shut up. Nick came after me yesterday for no reason. We've been in a really bad spot, though. Sunday night, we were in that suite. We got chicken fingers. We got pizza. And then we were on the plane.

We got more wings. We got more chicken fingers. And another cake. Yesterday, FanDuel delivers lunch to the office. Pizza and wings. And then CBDM Yesterday, FanDuel delivers lunch to the office, pizza, and wings. And then CBDMD sent a cake from New York. The best cake in New York was sent here. Jay brought in cookies.

Oh, Jay. What are we supposed to do? It's not our fault. I feel bad, though. I didn't know you were being fat-shamed online. I was. I've been being fat-shamed. Ohio State fans have been coming after me because it's Urban Meyer.

Personal beef I have with him. Now I got all these buffoons from Ohio. It's not the entire Ohio State fan base. I would like that to be known we sold out a theater in columbus in like a minute and a half or something like that so i understand we got a lot of love in columbus but the old whites buckeye fans have been coming after me for me and urban meyers beef i i am a guy who hates people forever i'm thinking about making right with urban meyer strictly so these old whites will stop coming after me. Bullo tie wearing, idiot! Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Oh, you don't have enough money to afford sleeves? And I was like, got him. Like, I could have, yesterday could have been killing season on Twitter with these old whites coming after me. And the amount of restraint I showed was so, I think I'm ready for kids. I think I'm ready. I never knew I had this type of restraint. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Good for me.

I had no idea I had this type of restraint. Because I'm reading hey. Good for me. I had no idea I had this type of restraint because I'm reading these things and then I click on their profile and I start scanning through their tweets and their pictures and everything. I'm like, That makes it even harder. This guy doesn't even know

that I could just ruin him right now. I understand people think they're good at, you know, trash talking and things like that. And I respect that. And I think I have encountered some of the best in the history. If you want to get into a mental joust with me,

I am 100% okay with that and ready to go. You just better hope that you have your entire Twitter wiped clean of anything. Because I will do my research. Because you know a lot about me. You know a lot about me. I'm going to do my research on you. And then let's go ahead and have at it.

I'm very okay with that. But now, I'm a new man. I showed restraint yesterday. I put the phone down for like 20 minutes actually while i i had an entire tweet up that i probably would have made a guy quit twitter and i didn't i deleted it i put it in the drafts and i just went away i'm impressed i got a question i got a question for you thank you you've been on the internet for a long time long time and you're getting better like the people forget the more i'm on there, the less restraint. Hey, that Twitter,

hey, I got a lot of real estate on that Twitter, pal. And there's a reason. It's not because I just fell to the top of the Twitter mountain, pal. It's because the words I can put together in pretty good fashion on there. And a lot of these people

are just making it way too easy. Way, way too. A lot of these Ohio State fans that are coming at me, way too easy they're making. And I just, I let them all live. Let them live. Let them live.

Normally it's kill him. And I didn't. Now that I'm older. I'm 32 years old. I got hemorrhoids. Wise. I let them live. Kind of feel soft.

No. I did. I went to bed last night. I had to take more. I had to take double dosage of CBDMD because I couldn't sleep with myself. Let's do some notable news with old Nick. Josh Allen's selfie has been hung up in an art gallery. A Bills fan posted the selfie that Allen took with him on Twitter,

and he said that the photo should be hung up in the Albright Knox gallery. So the gallery did just that, and they went ahead and hung it up with the tweet caption. So what does this mean? So Josh Allen, I guess there was a bunch of fans waiting for the Buffalo Bills whenever they got home from the big victory down there in hinesfield that we were at where they beat an undefeated quarterback in duck hodges they made duck hodges not look like an undefeated quarterback for a night i mean duck hodges has been named starter for the steelers going forward but the buffalo bills in a playoff atmosphere in a playoff game must win game get a

massive win to prove that Sean McDermott has built that Buffalo Bills team all the way up. They are now six-and-a-half-point dogs against New England. I think everybody in this room is potentially hammering the Buffalo Bills, but whenever they got home after that game, after Sunday Night Football, all of Buffalo, who wasn't at Heinz Field because they had a large presence there, all of Buffalo and Bills Mafia was waiting for them Josh Allen takes a selfie through a fence now that picture is now going up in a museum in Buffalo Bill's Mafia deserves this run Bill's

Mafia is excited about this run and I'm happy and I think Josh Allen's the perfect guy to be the face of it is he the best quarterback in the league no but is he a gritty quarterback who absolutely loves the game and will do whatever it takes to get a win yes and i think the people of buffalo absolutely love that yeah i mean you gotta be happy for organizations like this that will uh hang things in museums just for making the playoffs oh no toad come on what's up toad i used to love the buffalo bills fans we. Used to love them. A little bit louder now. I mean, celebrating a regular season with the airport. That was a playoff win. Was it?

Yeah, got them in the playoffs. It secured a playoff for the first time in a long time. Ten-win season for the first time in a long time. That is a monumental victory on primetime television to propel them into a place that they haven't been for a long time. Bills Mafia is excited about that. Bills Mafia, for far too long long has been celebrating mediocrity, right? They've been the only thing that has been worth watching in Buffalo when it came to

the Bills for a long time. Hey, what's the clips that got on the internet most? Buffalo Bills playing football or Bills Mafia performing in the parking lot? Bills Mafia performing in the parking lot. Now, this year, not only is Bills Mafia putting on the parking lot, putting people through tables, showing up for about a quarter of the population in Heinz Field was Buffalo Bills fans. It was very loud there on Sunday Night Football. Now they actually have a team that's worth a damn, that's winning,

and that represents that city. I'm happy for them. And it was more than just a regular season win. I think you guys would be acting very differently if this wasn't against the Pittsburgh Steelers. No, no, no. Well, I just saw it because they were coming at me, but these organizations who

haven't won in 20, 30 years, and then they finally taste some sort of victory. They just don't know how to control themselves. Tony, you're on your high horse. Let's see if they can beat the Patriots. Can you blame them, though? Can you blame them? I can't. Why? As a diehard fan base that has tasted success for the first time in a long time, I'd be

acting a fool, too. Imagine what the dog pound's going to be like if they can ever turn that thing around. Well, we saw it. We saw it this summer. They thought they won the Super Bowl. Well, I mean. Come on. Maybe that's rubbing it off on me towards the Bills.

What happened with the Browns? Yeah. Maybe. I got Buckeye fans coming after me right now. So, I mean, they've been very good. So, I can't even tell. I can't even be like, yeah, you guys stink. They don't.

They're probably going to win the national championship. I've been saying that this entire time. I think I was the first national media member to say that Ohio State should be number one. I don't even know what we're doing here. I dressed up like Jim Trestle over there in Columbus. You've had their back. I've had their back this entire time. In a personal beef with a guy that they see as a deity has become a problem.

I hate it. I love the Bills. I loved them all them all year long just a weak heart a couple fans that have ruined it so you can't listen we tend to judge others by their worst representatives and judge ourselves by our best intentions and you just can't do that digs i have a hard time not doing it the bills mafia is a fan base that deserves success i I'm sure 99% of them are great. Bills Mafia actually hates me right now. Why? Because I filmed their sideline. That was in an article.

What article was that? It was a couple, yeah, some NFL ones. Anything else, Nick? Yeah, the Titans are on the verge of wrapping up the ugliest season of kicking that the NFL has ever seen. No, don't say it. So far this season, the Titans are 8-for-18 on field goals. If they don't improve over the final two weeks,

they'll be the first team since the 1987 Vikings to miss more field goals than they've made. This is not great for the brand, obviously. This is not great for the brand of kicking. Ryan Suckup got hurt, hurt his groin. They brought in another kicker. He missed. They bring Suckup back.

He missed. Last week against the Texans in a playoff game, basically basically a block field goal is the difference of not sending that thing to overtime i mean 8 of 18 is very difficult especially whenever you're talking about professional ball kickers now suck up has been very good for a long time obviously when you're injured and you're dealing with inches and milliseconds a little bit of a um an off kilter situation can affect that, obviously. But, man, the Titans are on such a good run, too. They're on such a good run.

And the fact that they were able to do it with a field goal unit that has missed 10 kicks out of 18 kicks is absolute insanity. I saw PFT commenter kick into the net yesterday, and he's a former rugby player. He's trying out for the D.C. Defenders in the in the xfl i mean they might as well just sign him at least he'll sign sell some jerseys they i mean they stink down there maybe suck up we'll be able to get back because it's been a couple weeks removed there from the groin injury that he had but boy that ball he kicked that got blocked looked a little low and uh they're gonna need it i mean that's just not great for the brand pft had

a great kick didn't have as much ankle lock as you would hope on his kicking foot. It kind of bounced off a little bit, but he had good form. And 8 of 18 is just not good. Yeah, suck-ups 1 for 6. Cairo Santos was 4 of 9. And then Cody Parkey was actually 3 for 3. Oh, come on. What?

Double doink, you know. Yeah, but that got blocked. Maybe your offensive line should have blocked a little bit better and held on a little bit better that never gets talked about the only thing is blame on cody parky because the commentators refuse to acknowledge the fact that it got blocked in real time so bury the handsome kid that went to auburn who's the kicker because it's an easy scapegoat i will say the training videos of him hitting poles his whole life did not help yeah no that's a terrible trick that's not good by the way i would like everybody to know that back whenever i was a field goal kicker

i might not have known where it was going but i ain't never trained on hitting the pole put that thing through the uprights i don't care how it sneaks through there get it in there i don't know why you would anything else nick yeah one more note here pelican's head coach alvin gentry said there's no return date yet for his rookie zion williamson uh he can currently work out with partial weight bearing but he's yet to get back on the floor and take contact. I'm going to say I was wrong. I'm going to say I was wrong. This guy, in my eyes, was the next one.

This guy, in my eyes, was a guy that could change the NBA. This is a guy, in my eyes, that I couldn't wait to see him play against other grown men because it seems like he's been a grown man for 10 years. I've been watching highlights of this guy on the internet, what seems to be for a decade now. And he goes to Duke. He does the same exact thing. Blows a shoe out because he's so powerful.

Still gets a Nike deal. Still becomes the number one draft pick. Gets a chance to get in there. And what we said was, he looks a little big. And we didn't want to body shame anybody, but through the history of the sport, it's been easy to tell that whenever guys get thinner, it's better for their career. LeBron James used to be a much bigger man. Then he got a lot smaller because the wear and tear on your body and how long the season is and how much running it is.

Everybody seems to have bad knees in the NBA. I watched a Dennis Rodman documentary last night. His rookie season, he was like 26 years old or something. He was icing his knees his rookie season. That's just the way it is, and he was a slender guy. So the weight we always thought could potentially be an issue, but he was so explosive, I figured he'd be able to get around it. And if he did lose some weight when he got in the NBA,

when he gets around nutritionists and physical trainers and all these things, athletic trainers, and really gets his life together and focuses strictly on them, not that there's anything wrong with that, but if he just completely focuses on his body i thought there was a chance where he's gonna be able to jump directly into the hoop i thought he was gonna be able to jump up and put his whole body into the hoop i was expecting that and i was happy for that i like seeing greats be great i like seeing people that break the mold that's why i love lamar jackson i i was excited

for zion williamson and now they don't even have a return date for the guy in his rookie season. This is not a good start. And everybody who's an old head is like, this guy's going to be a bust. This guy's going to be a bust. And I was like, no, no, no. This guy's going to be a game changer. This guy's going to be revolutionary.

And right now it just looks like they were right and I was 100% wrong. I don't know what the hell is going on with him, but I hope they get him back on the court quick because I like seeing him, and I like him to be healthy, and I'd like to see the Pelicans fly. The Pelicans fly? Oh, yeah. I think so. With fish in their gullets.

Come on. I'd like to see the Pelicans fly down there, but instead, they have no return date, and they've lost 13 straight. Yeah, it was supposed to be six to eight weeks. That six to eight weeks has passed, and now that's just not... He's getting body shamed heavily. Was it an ACL tear? Was that what it was? No, it was not an ACL tear because that's not six to eight weeks he's getting body shamed heavily was it acl tear was that no it

was not an acl tear because that's not six to eight weeks it was something in the knee that's probably like meniscus like this anytime you have weight right i mean your knees take the brunt of it it's like whenever i was fat in the nfl my knees were worse when i was thinner my knees were better it's just the way it goes weight directly affects your knees that's just that's just i for my personal experience he should wear gel insoles he should braun has those you see him give away the shoes but he pulled out his insoles first he was like oh you can have these not these not these insoles i hope he gets it together i hope they figure out what's wrong with him i hope they get him in good shape and i hope he continues to be dominant in the nba as he was in college because when he came out of

high school that guy won't be able to do this in college. He's playing against a bunch of little white kids in high school. He's not going to be able to do that in college. And then he did it in college. And everybody's like, well, he's not going to be able to do it in the NBA. And now I guess they're proving it right. But I hope he comes out. I mean, it was just summer league.

But he did look great in summer league before he got hurt. Yeah, he's a player. That's what he is. He's a good basketball player. I just wish he could get back to, you know, playing basketball. Congress is expected to prohibit the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 21 in part of a new health care reform sweep ah that's interesting to me i i think everybody's worried about high schoolers being in the e-cigs right that's the whole thing they're normally under the age of 18 in high school right

correct so is the move to 21 going to make that big of a difference i'm not 100 sure good for them didn't it used to be like 15 or something todd so? Todd, didn't tobacco used to be like 15 back in the day? 16 or something? All I know is I used to be sent to the little mini mart in our town when I was like seven and could buy cigarettes for my dad. So whether or not it was the law or not, it certainly wasn't enforced.

Okay. Well, anything else, Nick? MLS is expected to put a team in Charlotte with an expansion fee of $325 million awarded to a group backed by David Tepper, the Charlotte Panthers owner. Carolina Panthers. $325 million to get an MLS team? There's no way you're getting that money back, right?

No way. No way. Sport of the future. Lacrosse? Dippin' Dots? The MLS? Charlotte soccer. They're also asking for $110 million in taxpayer money for the stadium.

I can't wait. $325 million. Get a Dairy Queen instead. I think it's only like 50 grand or something like that. Aside from Ibrahimovic and aside from Wayne Rooney, when do you watch soccer? Pirlo. Huh?

It's Pirlo. But in the United States, never. from Wayne Rooney. When do you watch soccer? Perlow. Huh? It's Pirlo. But in the United States, never. I think Ibrahimovic was awesome to watch. Yeah, he left too. Yeah, and he left. Yeah, and I think

he even trashed the league while he was leaving. He made a couple hundred million. He trashed the league while he was gone. $325 million for a team. They must not want more teams. That must be.

That must be. I That must be it. I think they're just squeezing Tepper because they know he's loaded. Well, that does it for today. Can't thank you enough for listening. Tweet me if you enjoyed it. At Pat McAfee Show. Tweet at Ty Schmidt because he was sick yesterday on his birthday. Wish him a happy birthday.

It was coming out of the basement in the attic, he says. And also, big thanks. Oh, big yawn there. About to pass out. But I'm going to wake up feeling damn good because I know something's going to be at the house.

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and enter the code HEARTLAND at checkout. That's boxofawesome.com code HEARTLAND for 20% off your first box. Good math by my lady. Good show if I do say so myself. I can't thank you enough for listening to

us wherever you are whatever you're doing know that we appreciate the fuck out of you i'm going to be giving away fifty thousand dollars on christmas eve and christmas follow along at twitter at pat mcgree show to find out how you could be a part of that magical operation ty schmidt play some independent music. សូវាប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់� Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Thank you. សូវាប់ពីបានប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្� Thank you. Bye. Hey! Outro Music