The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 168 - No CoronaVirus Yet. General Manager Of The Los Angeles Chargers, Tom Telesco, Stops By... AND LEGEND, NICK MANGOLD Joins Us. Let's Go.

Episode Date: February 27, 2020

On today’s show, Pat sits down with Los Angeles Charges General Manager, Tom Telesco. Tom tells Pat the story of how he watched Pat at his bowl game Senior year and went back and told Bill Polian that he thought he had just found the Colts new punter. Tom also explains what it’s like being a General Manager during combine week, including all the things the Chargers are looking for, what the process is like, and whether he’s a best available, or biggest need guy. Pat also grills Tom about Tom Brady potentially landing in Los Angeles with the Chargers and if they’re in the market for a veteran Quarterback after the departure of Phillip Rivers. It’s a great interview into the mind of one of the 32 decision makers during the NFL Combine (2:58-21:46). Also joining the show is 7x Pro Bowler, 3x All-Pro, former center for the New York Jets and friend of the show, Nick Mangold. Nick and Pat discuss the new reports coming out about the CBA and Nick gives his stance on where he stands, and what he thinks certain players are rejecting, why the process took so long the other night, and what things may be holding it up from being passed. Nick and Pat also chat about his love for barbecue, and getting into the barbecue sauce game (39:04-55:06). Pat and Digs also discuss Pat winning the Heisman Trophy of radio, dive a little bit deeper into the CBA negotiations as certain things are now starting to be reported and some big name players still have massive issues with the deal, and they do a deep dive into Zion Williamson and LeBron’s first matchup, and why it is impossible not to be impressed with what Zion has done in his first handful of games in the NBA and why LeBron is still so tough. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ThisIsWhereImAtPat for your chance to win some free march. 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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use promo code McAfee, you deserve it. The human you're fornicating with deserves it. And when you wake up that next morning knowing that you put on an absolute show, you're going to be a brand new man. Thanks to your friends at Roman. Now let's get to the show. Joining us now is the general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers. And this is a man I've known since I'm 21 years old. I met this guy when I was 21 on my visit to the Indianapolis Colts pre-draft. And he just told me a story off air that I don't mind, or you don't mind telling. No, go ahead.

So you told me, this is Tom Telesco, general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers. I had no idea that you were the reason why I came to the Colts, by the way. That is massive to me. Well, I don't know if I was the main reason, but a lot of it was based on your bowl game, your senior year in Charlotte. So I go to Charlotte. It was a Meineke Carre Bowl, maybe. Big one.

So you guys were playing UNC, and Hakeem Nix was the big prospect. And he had a great game that day. I mean, big-time game, like 8, 9, 10 catches, 200 yards. But you, in pregame warm-ups, like eight, nine, 10 catches, 200 yards. But you in pregame warmups, you must have kicked for 45 minutes to an hour of kickoffs, punts, plus 50 punts, backed up punts, regular punts, field goals,

PATs, the whole thing. So it was like a full workout for me to watch. I watched the whole thing. So when I came back, I think Bill Pullen asked me about Hakeem Nix. I'm like, yeah, you can play, he's good. But I said, hey, they got a kicker slash punter who does everything that has a powerful leg. So I don't know if he can hold or not but uh he had a big time

workout now find out later you could but at that time you weren't holding right no i lied to bill too bill asked me he was like can you hold i was like oh bill held every day i had no idea how to do it vinitary actually sent me down to a guy in north carolina ken walter who was his holder yeah yeah we had him in carolina yeah an entire holding camp for like a bootcamp for two days to do it. But I had no idea it was, Hey, thank you. By the way, how was the workout? It was pretty good, huh? It was a hell of a workout. It really was. I'd say I didn't get invited to the combine, right? But we still drafted you though. Yes. So that was massive for me that particular day. Now this week, the combine, you see a lot of teams or some teams are not having their coaches come, right?

There are some coaches that are staying behind. How important is the Combine week for, you know, personnel in the scouting, or is everything basically based off of film? You know, really a lot of it's off film. For the Combine, for us, I mean, the biggest thing is the medical part of it, which I have nothing to do with. So all the players come in, they meet with the doctors for all 32 clubs, and it's all one central location. That's the biggest part of the combine for us. After that, psychological testing was very important to do. The interview process is somewhat important,

but you get 15 to 20 minutes with each kid. It's hard to figure somebody out in 15, 20 minutes. Especially because it's all staged, right? Yeah, it really kind of is. And then the on-field workouts, I mean, all the measurables are important to us. The position drills, some are, some aren't, but obviously those we can watch anywhere. We can watch that on tape.

We don't have to be here to watch that. Everybody's assuming, right, because Phillip Rivers, hell of a career with the Chargers, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. I assume it was an honor for you to work with him, especially coming from the Colts where you guys had battles with him.

Great quarterback. You guys mutually parted ways. Everybody on earth is assuming that you guys are going with a veteran quarterback right tom brady has been linked to the chargers teddy bridgewater has been linked to the chargers i assume this is all outside noise but is there anything this week that could persuade you to be like you know what maybe we go with a young guy and build around him or tyrod taylor is still on the roster has anybody talked about that yeah i mean that's you talk about veteran quarterback we have one on our roster with Has anybody talked about that? Yeah, I mean, you talk about veteran quarterback. We have one on our roster with Tyrod Taylor.

And the reason why we signed him last year was a couple of reasons. One, we feel like he's a winning starter quarterback. And we hadn't had that in that backup role. It was hard to get quarterbacks to come to us when we had Phillip Rivers. He hadn't missed a game in years. So to have Tyrod come in did a great job for us last year in the backup role, but we see him as starting ability. So we have him in-house.

We have a young quarterback who's a developmental quarterback, Easton Stick from North Dakota State. Oh, yeah, yeah. He can dribble a football, by the way. He can. But again, more on the developmental side. We'll look at other options. It's so early right now before free agency, before the draft.

I'm not going to eliminate anything, but I feel good with what we have in-house right now. Have you had real conversations about the potential of Tom Brady playing for the Los Angeles Chargers? Those aren't conversations we would really have yet. There really isn't. I mean, I guess I wouldn't eliminate anything yet, but we knew going into this,

at least we have a quarterback in house, and we'll see what else is available draft-wise or free agent-wise. Because free agency, in the past, we've looked at quarterbacks, but we haven't looked at those type of quarterbacks. We had Phillip Rivers, so it wasn't part of our process. That will change a little bit this year, see what happens.

My draft process pretty much stays the same. So you would not rule out a potential big-name quarterback becoming the Los Angeles Chargers? I wouldn't eliminate any options yet. It's too early. I love what you just said there. Now, it was just announced this morning that Tom Brady's representatives will be meeting with the New England Patriots representatives here in Indianapolis. Everybody who's from Indianapolis knows how the combine

works, right? Prime 47, massive place. St. Elmo's, Harry and Izzy's, a lot of conversations get done. What is the process or the rules behind pitching free agents, talking to your own free agents, and how much business really gets done here in Indianapolis? Well, as a rule of state, you can talk to the agents of your own free agents here. Okay. You cannot talk to agents with prospective free agents of other teams here. You can't do that until March 18th is the day the league year starts. Two days before, there's a legal tampering window that opens.

That's when you can start those discussions. Here, it's supposed to be centered around your own free agents. So some of those conversations we've had with our own guys before here, and we'll have some of them that are here. I know every team's got 10, 15 different free agents to talk to, so those will go on here. So that's why Tom Brady's meeting with the Patriots people because everybody's here.

It's like, okay, do deals get done with your own free agents in Indianapolis? They could. They could. I mean, sometimes it's easier because you're face-to-face because every agent's here, every front office executive is here. But those deals with those guys, it could happen before the combine, after the combine. It doesn't necessarily have to be here, but sometimes face-to-face get things going a little bit quicker. What has the move been to Los Angeles for this storied franchise, right? I mean,

the San Diego Chargers, people still call it the San Diego Chargers every once in a while on television. But as the general manager, as the guy that's supposed to lead this team, literally CEO of the team at this point, what was it like moving to Los Angeles? I assume there was some struggles, but what's it like to kind of find your footing in there? You know what? It was a challenge, but it's a challenge, that exciting part of it, because you're really starting from scratch, moving from one city to the other. And we knew there were a lot of things that were going to come up

with the course of the move that you hadn't anticipated. And I do believe, even from outside the players and coaches, our building, it kind of brought everybody a little bit closer together because it was a tough move. It really is. People move their families and their kids, and it was a big deal. And then as a football team, we're building from scratch. It's a new market, even though it was close to us,

brand-new market for us, trying to market our players, market how we play. And it takes time. We know that. It's a new market even though it was close to us. Brand new market for us. Trying to market our players, market how we play. And it takes time. We know that it takes time. I think I was here 1998. It was my first year here. And I know in 1998, the Colts really hadn't established themselves here yet.

Basketball, racing. Yep, car racing. Indiana-Purdue basketball, Indiana Pacers. But then you start winning some playoff games. You start winning consistently. You win a Super Bowl. You have Peyton Manning and Edger and James and Marvin Harrison, and you've got Freeney and Mathis and you.

Yeah, okay. Now we're talking. Now we're talking. And all of a sudden, now you're at a Colts game. That's a full Colts crowd. 1999, we played the Titans here in a playoff game, and Peyton went silent count for most of the game. There were so many Titans fans here, and that's 1999.

Obviously, into the 2000s, it grew, and that will never happen here again. What did you learn under Bill Pullian's leadership? I'll say this. Bosa held out, right? Melvin Gordon held out. And if you look from outside the world, you're like, oh, Tom must be hammering down on the business side of things. Now, Bill Pullian, known as a shrewd businessman, but built great teams.

I think you're in the process of doing the same exact thing. But what did you learn from Bill Pullian? And were those situations kind of coincidence? Or is that kind of just a thing that popped up out of nowhere in your eyes? Well, I mean, everything I learned as far as building a culture, building a football team, really came from Bill Point and his son Chris, those two guys. And Bill let myself and Chris just watch so much of what he did,

and I learned a lot from both of them. So a lot of what I do is based on what I learned, and Bill is a Hall of Fame general manager. We all have different personalities, how we go about things, but our principles are pretty much the same, how we do things things so and I saw it worked it worked with him in Buffalo worked with him in the Carolina Panthers worked with Indy so but yeah I've learned it's amazing how much I learned just from being around I wish I would have taken more notes at the time but it's amazing how much I have remembered that things will come up to through the course of day and

remember you know what this is how Chris handled that back in 2000 this is how Bill handled that and you know what worked what didn't work but the one thing Bill used to always say you know what? This is how Chris handled that back in 2000. This is how Bill handled that and what worked, what didn't work. But the one thing Bill used to always say, this is a people business. I know we work in football. Football is our product, but it's a people business. And between 53 players and a practice squad and 20-plus coaches and all the support staff and trying to get everybody on the same page and build a culture and trying to give them a vision and then just let people work, that's the big thing.

Okay, so right now, new CBA negotiations are happening. How many decisions can you actually make before knowing if it's 50%, 51%, 52%, what the salary cap's going to be, how many games there's going to be, is there going to be extra people? There's a lot kind of in limbo right now with,

what, I think there's like 64 people voting on this from one side and 64 people voting on this from one side and 31 people voting on from this side. How much is that distracting to the business process of who you're looking to sign, how much room you have in the cap and everything like that? Yeah, no, it's certainly a big part of it. I mean, as far as the percentage of revenues, that doesn't affect us so much as far as the business side of what we're doing now. But what does is there's different salary cap accounting rules that will kick in based on is there a CBA agreement extension or is there not. So as we've gone through this offseason, we've had to kind of have parallel plans.

Yes, there's a CBA extension. No, there is not. Because that will change how contracts are done, this free agency. So we try to keep up to date on that. I'm not totally up to date on all the negotiations I've been working on. If this gets done or doesn't get done, how does it affect us this year moving forward? What do you think the Los Angeles Chargers, aside from filling a quarterback role,

whether it's Tyrod Taylor, Tom Brady, Teddy Bridgewater, or a young guy, whoever it is, Easton Ball, Dribbling Stick, whoever it is, what do you think the Los Angeles Chargers need to do to take that next step? Just two years ago, by the way, everybody and their mom thought you guys were going to go into Foxborough and beat the Patriots. That's how good the team was. And last year, you guys went

on a run as well. The Chargers seem like you guys are about this close. Now you lose Phillip Rivers. What do the Chargers need to do to take that next step? Well, every year is a new year. The big thing is we have an excellent head coach. And Anthony Lynn, he's a strong leader. He's great with the guys. He's tough on them, but he's fair. And he put together great coaching staff. So we have the leadership in place. We just got to keep working at it. I got to do my job, make sure we get some holes filled, whether it's free agency, whether it's draft, whether it's trade,

and get back at it, you know, to kind of tune out the noise. We always talk about it, but this day and age it's hard to do. We're moving into a new stadium, which will be exciting, I think, for our players. We were in the StubHub slash Dignity Health for three years. It worked for the time, but it's time to move into a real stadium. And I think our guys will be excited about that. How much money do you have in the salary cap? It's a sliding scale. We've got about 47, 48, you know, but the thing with the salary cap, you cap, you might have 47, 48. You have to budget money for other things.

You have to budget for in-season moves, which is a good amount of money. You have to budget for the draft picks this year, which is like $7.5 million. You've got to budget for RFA tender. So it starts to chew up pretty quick. So 47 sounds like a lot, and you take all the money off. It's not as much as you think. You've got three pretty big-name free agents in Melvin Gordon, Adrian Phillips, and Hunter Henry. Have you prioritized that?

Have you talked to them yet? Are you trying to bring all of them back or any of them back? Or what's the situation with those guys? Yeah, I don't know if we prioritize, but yeah, they're three very important players. And that's what we work through right now. A lot of it is depending on where money goes.

And it's like talking about sliding scale. And it's a hard salary cap. So if this player gets this much, how much do we we have for this player and it's more than just those three guys i mean those are three pretty important players but but there's a number of others too so those are discussions we have and we've got to work with you know what's what's the market for these players you know it's a little bit of a game with that too um it's not like we're trying to shortchange a player that's not what it is but for every one dollar less one player gets the other player gets that dollar it's not like i take that money and put it in my pocket.

So it's constant work and negotiations. We like to keep the core of our team together. I mean, our philosophy is draft, develop, resign our own, and then fill in through free agency. You can't resign every single one of your draft picks. But these guys are homegrown. Well, Bosa and Derwin James have been incredible draft picks. What's your process as far as the draft goes?

What's your involvement? Is it need or best player? That's always the thing. You know what? This person drafts for need. This person drafts best player. I assume there's situations where it's like, oh, this is like a win-win for Bosa. If it lines up, you have a need and it's the best player, then that's simple.

You never want to pass a really good player to take what you think is perceived. Your needs may change from April to May to August. You may have a player develop you didn't expect already on the roster. Austin Eckler. Yeah. I mean, one example was when I first arrived at the Chargers, I think our strongest position group at that point was receiver. So we're in the third round.

Keenan Allen's sitting there. We didn't really need a receiver. I didn't know how much he'd play or even dress the first year. We took him because he was the best player there. And lo and behold, one receiver gets hurt. One doesn't perform the way you'd expect. Keenan's in the lineup and the rest is history.

So it's hard to not go best player. He's unbelievable, Keenan Allen, by the way. Every time you guys get on national television, I'm like, oh, I forget how good that kid wearing a hoodie is. He is unbelievable. If I'm a good fantasy football owner would that make me a good general manager i would say no because both my sons play fantasy football i've given them advice and hasn't always worked out real well and i've heard about it so i just stay away uh what has it been like transitioning into this general manager role? Is it – because there's only 32 jobs.

So you are automatically in a fishbowl, right? Everything you do is spotlighted. Just like we talked about Bosa and Melvin Gordon. The name that was being announced alongside those was Tom Telesco. I mean, everything falls to your desk. What has it been like being a general manager in the NFL? Well, number one, I was prepared the right way. I was very lucky.

I mean, I worked in one organization for a long time here with the Colts. I worked under Bill Pullen and Chris Pullen for 18 years. So I feel like I was prepared for the job as much as anyone could be. It doesn't mean I don't have to be great at it, but I was prepared for it going in. And I don't know. I mean, I just love being on a team. I've been on a team every year since I was probably

eight years old. So to still be on a team, work with a bunch of guys, one common goal. And I love the lead. It's fun to me. I like making decisions, whether they go right or go wrong, taking people input. I mean, I enjoy it. I love trying to win. I mean, the goal here is to win a championship. What was the first decision you had to make? What was the first big decision as a general manager you had to make? Aside from like, okay, this is the house I'm buying or something like that. Like actual football decision that you can recall. You were like, you know what?

This one kept me up a little bit. I got to say the first year that we were in San Diego when I got hired, I mean, it's a blur. I mean, things were going so fast. I was just trying to keep my head above water. I mean, you come into the job in mid-January, and your first thing you have to do is hire a head coach. So you have to get that done, and you put the coaching staff together,

and then you're right in the free, and so you're right in the draft. So it's, second year is when things start to slow down. At least for me, it started to slow down a little bit as far as making decisions. That first year was a blur, but I know the first year, actually Chris Pulling told me this. He said, no matter what you do, just make sure you get the first round draft pick right.

So we did as much work as we could on that one. He was a solid player for us. Who was it? DJ Fluker. Of course. We knew that. Old DJ Fluker. Still playing in the league.

Absolutely. Didn't get a second contract with us, but that first year, just trying to get the staff together, I mean, it's a blur. I remember you texted me and asked me to go speak at your kid's school because you didn't know you were getting the Chargers general manager job. And then all of a sudden you're hired in San Diego and you're like, hey, I was scheduled to speak at my child's school tomorrow. Is there any way you can go do that? I'm like, absolutely, Tom.

I'll never forget that. Yeah, it was literally. That's why I'm here now. When I first heard, hey, Pat McAfee show, I'm like, I don't know if that's a good idea. And I'm like, you don't know if that's a good idea. And then I'm like, you know what? I owe him. No, I'll never forget that because I got the job in San Diego.

And then once you're there, I can't go back home. We're looking for a head coach. And I asked you because I know you'd be great at it. And they still talk about it. Well, I was very lucky to do it. But by the way, I'm happy you came on the show because I think I owe you, by the way, from the story that we heard earlier.

Do you have a question? No. I mean, he owes you and all of us by proxy. Yeah. So thank you very much. We're very thankful for you, man. Very, very thankful for you. I appreciate it.

The story you just told me right there, I thought that was Bill that did that. To hear that that was you, my entire life is owed to Tom Telesco. Bill still had to pick you. So I could give Bill the recommendation when he, ah, I'm going with somebody else. He gave me that personality test. I took that personality test during work. Is that the same one you used? Yep, the same thing.

What is that? It's essentially a personality test, but it kind of looks at your work ethic, your desire, your drive, intelligence. I don't know how you scored on it. Did you score well enough? Believe me, we were tough with that test. If you didn't score well on that, we wouldn't have taken you. And whenever I flew out here for the visit, last question before we go, a guy named Jamie Moore, who's a scout for the Colts. I think he still is. Yep. Excellent scout. Good guy. Great guy. He's the one, I didn't know who the hell he was then, but he picked me up at the airport.

He drove me to get my physical, which is like 45 minutes north of the airport. And then from there to the facility, that's like another 45 minutes. So I was in a car with this guy for about an hour and a half. And now that I'm looking back on it, as you were coming in, he was judging me the entire time. Is that accurate? No doubt. Like literally he was, I think he was peppering me with questions at one point. And I was just like, oh, this guy's a cool guy. He's just an intern. He's trying to make his way through this thing. It was like, no, that guy was on a mission there. Yeah. And he's an excellent scout now, but at the time he was just like, oh, this guy's a cool guy. He's just an intern. He's trying to make his way through this thing. It was like, no, that guy was on a mission there. Yeah. He's an excellent scout now, but at the time he was probably a, I don't know if he was

an intern or scouting assistant. But really what he was doing is just trying to verify the information we had from West Virginia. Just trying to see, you know, get you to talk a little bit, like a comfortable environment, which is the same reason why I talked to you. We sat down and talked for a while. Like I said, you were very yes sir, no sir that day with me. I see that.

How'd that work out? Pretty good. I got drafted. Pretty good. I got drafted. Yeah, well, then the mugshot happened. That was my fault. That was 100% my fault.

It's all part of the process. We do the same thing here with the guys. Every single moment's being monitored, though. It really is. These are big decisions we have to make. You only get seven picks. A lot of money on the line and a lot of wins on the line trying to get the right guy. Tom Brady's going to be a Charger next year, yeah?

Jeez. I haven't heard that too many times this week. Ladies and gentlemen, general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers. The reason why I made it in the NFL, very thankful for him. Good guy, Tom Telesco. Thanks for having me on.

Thank you, Tom. We're in New York for a prestigious award. Yes, very. It's being called the Heisman of Radio. Yeah. First year out the gate, get the chance to win the Tony Bruno Award. Like I said, I mean,

the Heisman started at some point. The Tony Bruno Award started at some point. It's already the Heisman of Radio. Yeah, Heisman of Radio I'm winning, which, by the way, prestigious award. Excited to be here. Have to give an acceptance speech today at about 1 o'clock. Can't wait to hear what flies out of my mouth.

Did a sit-down last night with Jason Barrett. Good guy. Barrett Sports Media. Had a Q&A for like an hour last night. Got to talk a little bit. I haven't spoken in front of humans in a long time. So getting a chance to speak in front of people is a good time. I always enjoy doing that.

Diving deep into the stories, a lot of question about how we do the radio show, how we prep for the radio show. And I was as honest as I could in a room full of program directors that could potentially pick our show up on their station, which is the goal of radio shows is to get picked up on other people's stations. I said, we have no idea what we're doing. And we think that is potentially a massive weapon for this Pat McAfee. The most surprising thing about last night was you told them our preparation, which we never thought was much. They were kind of impressed with how much we prepped.

Yeah. I guess a lot of people don't do any conversation beforehand, and I told them that our prep is just living, right? Like bouncing around the city. For instance, Diggs and the boys were on an elevator with a guy last night as the guy gets off the elevator he says i'm an elevator worker i've worked on all these elevators it's a death trap have a good night elevator door closes it's it's probably the all-time worst elevator i've ever been into the all the numbers on the elevator on the buttons

are upside down or sideways. It inches. You know how when you go up a roller coaster and you inch up? That's basically how the elevator worked where we were at. It was like a wooden ride. Yeah, yeah. And he goes, everything you've ever seen in the movies, it's all bull. There's no way to get out of this thing. It's a metal death trap.

You're dead, pretty much. And then the door closes and that guy leaves the elevator. Yeah. That's our prep. That is what our prep is, sir. That moment right there of scaring us to near death is our prep for our show. And they're like, oh, that's very smart. I'm like,

well, I don't think we're that. That's why our prep is much different, but we're honored to be here. Last night, late night, got a chance to check out Zion LeBron. The Lakers played host to my team, the New Orleans Pelicans.

Pat, why are the New Orleans Pelicans your team? At one point, you actually bought 5,000 tickets for the Indiana Pacers for their first playoff run and gave them away to the city of Indiana just to ensure the fact that that place was sold out. I agree. I agree. I was once a Pacers fan. That team, Paul George, Roy

Hibbert, Lance Stevenson, the boys, George Hill, Frank Vogel, that team. I was friends with all of them. This new generation of Pacers, I don't know any of them. Not a single one of them. I respect Victor Oladipo. I think he's a good singer. I like the white guy that they have,

T.J. McConnell. I like the's a good singer. I like the white guy that they have, T.J. McConnell. I like the other white guy, but I don't know any of them personally. The Pelicans I feel a deep connection to because I've been watching Zion Williamson dunk on white kids for the last 25 years. I honestly feel like for the last 20, he's not even 25 years old, but I feel like for most of

my adulthood life, I've been watching Zion just dunk on people on the internet. He is the phenom in the basketball world, Zion Williamson. He is everything that everybody was saying about LeBron James coming out of high school and coming, yeah, coming into the NBA, but before the social media era. He is the modern day LeBron James. So anytime Zion and LeBron are on the same court, the world's going to stop for a little bit. Now, granted, the world that we're in right now obviously has a pandemic happening where there is a state of emergency in every single place. It's not being talked about

enough, not being talked about a lot. I'm trying to stay ignorant to this whole thing because I think it's a very scary sitch, but Dean Kuntz wrote a book in 1981 that I think predicted this entire thing. Word for word. But anyways, so to distract us from what's really happening, we watch these sports. That's what sports is, by the way. A distraction. That's what this show's supposed to be. A mental vacation.

It's not supposed to be anything that's real deep thought, but when Zion and LeBron hop on a court together and play against each other, I am tuning in. The present greatness of basketball, the present face of basketball, the current state of basketball all runs through LeBron James. When I watched that Dwayne Wade documentary, it was a 30 for 30, I think, on Sunday night, maybe? Dwayne Wade? I don't know. It was on the other night. And Dwayne Wade's reaction

to the decision and coming to the Heat and his family's reaction was like, hey, we did it. Like, hey, okay, we're gonna eat now. Like, he was friends with him. Watching how the other players treat LeBron and respond to LeBron, and LeBron basically being the leader of the entire league,

not just of the Lakers. That is what Zion's going to be in 10 years from now. Right? So when LeBron is done, whenever it is, he's 17 years in, he's still yakking on folks. Last night, that dunk from Charlie Caruso through the legs. That dunk. Charlie Caruso.

That dunk on old buddy. Close enough. What's his name? Alex. Yeah, Mr. Caruso through the legs. That dunk, Charlie Caruso. That dunk on old buddy. Close enough. What's his name? Alex. Yeah, Mr. Caruso. Charlie Caruso, WWE, ESPN. Mr. Caruso, LA Lakers. That pass through the leg to LeBron with the, yeah, was nasty.

In year 17, he's still going up. It is still LeBron James League, okay? I don't want to be a person that goes on record and goes, this is Zion's league. It's going to be Zion's league, though, very soon. Zion said in the next two to three years he's going to get it, right? And I think Zion's underselling himself. I think he's already starting to get it. All the people that thought Zion was not going to be able to play in the NBA

are already proven wrong. Already proven wrong. 20 straight points for nine games under the age of 20 ties Carmelo Anthony for an NBA record. Zion Williamson is becoming this player that we didn't think he would become. He's becoming this ground and pound, underneath guy that's willing to go to work in the paint if he has to. He reminds me of, who's that guy from Pitt that had bad knees? DeJuan Blair. No ACLs. No ACL. He reminds me of how DeJuan Blair used to play back in the day.

Kind of a thick body, low center of gravity, but had a good read on where the ball was going. Zion's got that. He's got a step back. And whenever Zell throws that oop, I mean, everybody stops what they're doing and cameras come out as if it's a Super Bowl kickoff. So when Zion and LeBron play each other,

you know that LeBron knows all these things. LeBron hears all these things. Jay Williams told a story when Kobe Bryant passed away. He said that when he met Kobe, or a story that he remembers about Kobe is their first time playing in L.A., they were playing the Lakers. And he said he wanted to get over to the arena at about 3 o'clock to do a shoot-around. And when he got there to do his shoot-around, he was a rookie. Kobe was on the other side.

On the other side of the court. And Jay was doing his shoot-around, whatever it was. And Kobe went through the hardest workout he's ever seen a human go through. He was doing all these things. He was going a full practice all by himself basically while Jay Williams is standing on the other side of the court

just putting up free throws. This whole thing happened. So Jay asked him after the game, he said, is that normal? Is that what you do? And Kobe said, no, I saw you over there. He said, I want to let you know basically that this is how this goes. This is how this goes. I saw the young guy come in and Kobe won him.

LeBron did that last night. Zion came into his house. Everybody has heard the talk about Kobe won him. LeBron did that last night. Zion came into his house. Everybody's heard the talk about Zion being the next LeBron. Everybody's heard this conversation that Zion is potentially the pop culture icon that LeBron is. And Zion can go on to be the next LeBron

and be the face of this league relatively soon because of how nice he is, how upbeat he is, how hardworking he is, how much his teammates like him, and how talented he is. And LeBron went to work. I thought there was a chance LeBron was going to score 100 points last night. I like this new LeBron, by the way. New LeBron is, now they have so much more length than the Pelicans, my Pelicans, and

they took advantage of that. But even if you go back to the Celtics game just a couple days ago, LeBron is backing people down. He has changed his game a bit here in year 17, becoming much more, I don't want to say unpredictable, but I think he's utilizing a lot of the bigness that he has that not a lot of other people have, that a lot of people have always wondered about. LeBron can take it to the rack anytime he wants. Sometimes he decides to do a pull-up and people go after him. They're like, well, LeBron's six foot eight. He doesn't want to take it to the rack. He wants to do a pull-up. He should do that. LeBron has become one of the most well-rounded players in the NBA, hitting fadeaway threes whenever he wants, banging into paint, step backs, everything like that.

And that's why LeBron's LeBron. He's getting better year after year. And watching Zion kind of develop into this super confident NBA guy who doesn't view people as like idols anymore he just views them as peers in competition like I love I love everything that happened last night ultimately the Lakers get to win Zion puts up 29 Brandon Ingram who's only 22 years old puts up 34 LeBron puts up 40 the Lakers get a. Dwight Howard playing really good basketball for the Lakers finally. Caruso's good. That young squad of the Pelicans, I mean, it was a win-win that trade of Zoe and

Ingram from the Lakers to the Pelicans. Zoe found a jumper in New Orleans. They've got a young team. The Lakers are a good team, and I'm very happy with the state of the NBA, especially because I'm a Zion diehard. LeBron we know what LeBron is but I think the way that LeBron played last night said more about Zion

because I think he knows how good Zion is and how much he already respects Zion that he knew what he had to do with his game last night and then Zion in that Pelicans offense where they just run and run and run. And Alvin Gentry says, we can't run on some possessions. We have to run on every single possession. It's great because it spreads the floor for Zion so he can use his athleticism. And then he is getting really good at using his leverage and putting a shoulder into someone who's taller to create space because then he has the athletic ability. And his second jump, like when he misses a shot and he knows where it's going because obviously he knows his second jump is quicker than anyone so he could get back up i the thing that zion needs to prove on i think is a

little bit of his handles so that he could get by guys easier and doesn't need to do everything in the paint um and then he did hit one he's only hit one three since uh that opening night where he hit three in a row but But that'll come. He's 19 years old. He's going to be incredible. LeBron couldn't shoot early either. By couldn't shoot, he's a better shooter than you or I. Correct.

But in NBA standards, him knocking down shots, everybody's like, well, LeBron can't shoot. Kobe can shoot. That was always the big conversation. Kobe can do this. Kobe can do this. And Kobe was just a scorer through and through. Bron Bron is a facilitator, and now he's changing up his offense.

I mean, he's just, Bron Bron's the guy, and I think Zion's going to be right behind him. I'm excited because the eighth seed right now in the West is either Memphis or New Orleans, most likely, and all respect to Ja and that very young team that's going to be very good in the future, but what we saw last night is the first round matchup that everyone is dreaming about in the NBA. If you get Zion, LeBron, first round in the future. But what we saw last night is the first-round matchup that everyone is dreaming about in the NBA. If you get Zion LeBron first round in the West. Let's go. I love Zion, man. I don't know if I should or not.

I didn't because I hate Duke, and I also hate frontrunners and stuff like that. But there's no way you can hate on him right now. I've completely flipped the 180. Did not understand when he chose to go to Duke. As a guy who was a fan of Zion on the Internet, I've completely flipped the 180. Did not understand when he chose to go to Duke. Right? As a guy who was a fan of Zion on the internet, I'm like, going to Duke? Like, bro, you're going to the NBA in one year? Like, go to Miami

or, like, Los Angeles? Or, like, you know, do what the O.J. Mayo did? I could learn from Coach K, who's... Well, that was the thought. By the way, got beat last night again by an inferior team. Well, he's a real team guy. Like, I think that is something that is not said enough about zion and lebron like lebron i think was the first real big noted basketball name that was 100 okay being a facilitator like magic johnson magic johnson was

the freak who was also a facilitator not just like a a kill like that is the thing that i love about lebron and that was the same thing that he gets bashed for like oh he's passing the ball too much he doesn't want the ball in his hands it's like well i think he views himself a little bit like a point guard magic johnson he's got great passes good vision zion same exact thing goes to duke buys into their system just like i said about the pelicans the first game zion debuted is like hey gentry i thought should have told zion like, you can do no wrong tonight. This team runs through you. I thought

Duke should have done that. Instead, college basketball is a little bit different, but the NBA's future is in good hands. Especially with, you know, me being a diehard Pelican. Exactly. Hey, that bird's gonna fly. That bird's gonna soar right to the top of this damn thing.

So, sorry to interrupt. I just want to let you know that right now you're probably thinking to yourself, I'm thankful I chose to listen to the show today. And if you're thinking that, why don't you go ahead and tell your friends. And if you're thinking, man, why am I listening to this show? I shouldn't be listening to this show. Just act like you never listened to this show. Just act like it never fucking happened. Just don't tell anybody. But if you like this show, we need to grow this a little bit, okay? I would like to build up the community a little bit. I'd like for us to be a little bit stronger together.

I'd like you to tweet me. I'd like you to tweet a friend. I would like you to say, hey, Pat, I like the show. I like the conversation with Lesko. I like the way the mango conversation is going. I like the way the conversation, the chatter about life is. I want you to do that. Could you do that for me?

I'd be very, very grateful. I also would like to inform you that currently I'm reading this ad at 1022 at night because I just got home from New York after winning a prestigious award. Shout out to the Heisman of Radio, the Tony Bruno Award. Jason Barrett of Barrett Sports Media put together an entire thing. Got to win an award and met Mike Francesa. Okay. It was a good day.

Could I have got the coronavirus? Possibly. Flew right into New York. Shook a lot of hands. Hugged some people. Didn't kiss anybody, but I don't think it matters. That's not how the coronavirus works. If I'm understanding this correctly, I do have the sniffles. I'm not overheating like I'm the Iranian health minister, but you know, there's always that option. We're

in the middle of a wild time right now. There's a lot going on with this thing. State of emergency everywhere, everywhere. Mike Pence, vice president, was just put in charge of handling this. Could you think of the pressure for that guy? He was the governor in Indiana at one point, the state that I live in. Then he's vice president, just kind of cruise control or whatever. Now he's got to take care of the coronavirus. The coronavirus. It's going to be hard to sleep at night, but not for me because i'm sleeping on a lisa mattress yeah that might have been the greatest lead into an ad read in history just a smooth roll from coronavirus to the greatest mattress i have ever put my ass on

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It showed up in a box on my front doorstep. I unboxed it in less than three minutes put in my bedroom voila greatest mattress i've ever had in my life i didn't have to sleep or try or do any test runs on any dungy nasty beds at the mattress store with the car salesman telling you like that one is that the mattress you like or you are a little firmer well i think i'd like it without the lice you know is anybody else late in this oh just a minute ago oh you are a little firmer? Well, I think I like it without the lice, you know. Is anybody else late in this? Oh, just a minute ago? Oh, is there a little kid, you know, drooling all over this thing? Oh, maybe it's comfortable because I just want to get out of here. Maybe none of these beds are actually comfortable. And even though I tried it in public in front of all

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I absolutely love it It's because of my bed Now granted, my fiance is in said bed I like being around her Our animals are around time I get home, I absolutely love it. It's because of my bed. Now, granted, my fiance is in said bed. I like being around her. Our animals are around. Chuck, the corgi, is actually coming around on me. He's not too bad. I don't think he's shitting the house where we're gone. That's good. But this Lisa mattress is the real deal. Right now at lisa.com forward slash McAfee, it's 10% off site wide and a free gift with the purchase of a mattress. L-E-E-S-A.com forward slash M-C-A-F-E-E. 10% off everything

and a free gift with the purchase of a mattress. Your sleep will thank you. Your rest will thank you. And you're getting a gift and 10% off. Hello, leesa.com forward slash McAfee. Let's get back to the show. Welcome back to the Pat McAfee show. Could be the last one. I got sniffles there going into the last break. And where do we live in now?

That could mean the end of it. So if that's the case, our last guest is our next guest. And I would not choose any other man to do that. Not only is it one of the best beards of all time. Not only is he one of the best beards of all time, not only is he one of the best centers in the history of football, legendary human being, barbecue sauce salesman, griller, meathead, hilarious, sophisticated gentleman. You can hear him on Barstool Breakfast Fridays for Gentlemen

Fridays. You can follow them at Nick Mangold. Ladies and gentlemen, Nick Mangold. That was beautiful. I need you to follow me around. My kids would appreciate me more. I think I have the coronavirus right now. You don't want me anywhere near you or your kids right now, Nick. You'll be fine. It's a fake

disease. That's not what I've heard, and to be honest, the more and more I learn about it, the more and more I try to get that men in black thing that just eliminates my memory so I don't learn about it. So let's talk about something other than that. Let's talk about something fun here. The NFL player reps

voted to pass the proposed CBA to move it to a vote amongst all the players. My question for you is this. Did you see that there was a majority voted yes, minority voted no, and then there was one vote that was abstained, one person that was a player rep decided not to vote at all? How much do you respect that? How much do you hate that?

And who, in what position do you think that potentially was? I don't know who that was i was shocked to see uh an abstained vote i don't understand what that accomplishes um you're either for it or you're against it um but you know the fact that it was so tightly contested it's going to be interesting when it goes to a full membership vote um you know i think it passed what 17 to 14 yep um and you know and then even i, if I read the article correctly this morning, the executive committee actually voted it down, but the team reps voted for it.

So it's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out. The person in the room that chose not to vote is like, I need more time. I need more time. They're like, well, we don't have time for you. They released the announcement of the vote at 1.41 a.m., Nick. vote is like i need more time i need more time like well we don't have time for you they released the announcement of the vote at 1 41 a.m nick is that mean they were on a conference call yesterday from 5 p.m all the way to 1 a like what does that mean in your eyes well what it means is i guess

the person that abstained probably fell asleep well i didn't get to vote because about seven hours into the damn thing, I fell asleep. I fell asleep. I woke up and they said it passed. Wait a minute. Did my vote matter? You're an offensive lineman. And offensive linemen hand-to-hand combat every single day of your life, literally. And let alone the slaps to the head from defensive linemen and the physical toll it takes on, that one extra game, 17 games, has been a topic of conversation

for everybody. For the NFL side and for the media side, it's more money, it's more football, it's everything that is potentially good in the world for football fans and the owners. For the players, though, it's always been like, yo, we are crawling to the finish line with 16 games, let alone if there was to be 17. As an offensive lineman, what would a 17th game really have done, not only in the long term of your career, but in a year-to-year basis? Would that change the way you train? Would that change the way you play? Or is it just something you just have to hope that your body can sustain another week? I think that's the biggest thing. I think it's that you have to hope that you can just sustain for another week. If you make it through 16 games in the first place,

you've done that by taking care of your body and having a little luck. So now it's the same thing. Adding one game I don't think is going to change that too much. The biggest thing I get a kick out of, which angers me to no end, is the fact that everything in the league has been pushed for player safety um and that's their core number one you know hey we're doing this for player safety and everything that goes on from equipment to scheduling to offseason to training camp the whole thing and then they add another game

it just doesn't make any sense um and i don't understand how anyone can say, hey, this is, you know, we're all for player safety, but, hey, you now have to go out there and play another 60 minutes. To the NFL's credit, they haven't pitched that NFL safety or this player safety move in a couple years. Once the Will Smith CTE movie kind of died off a little bit, the conversation pivoted from that to let's put the best product we could possibly put on the field to now just more games and more games.

I mean, the player safety thing, we all knew that was hypocritical as soon as it was said because you got games on Thursday, you got games on Monday, you got games on Sunday, you got games in Europe, you got games in Canada, you got games in Mexico. I mean, that was a hypocritical statement that they did PR. We just have to automatically assume that they no longer are pitching for that. Is that accurate? Yeah, I mean, they can't.

And I think I blame the media and the NFL itself for being able to put that out there that they say they're all for player safety. And no one questioned them. No one said, wait, if you are, then why are you doing this this and this and you know at this point it's now just kind of a uh oh well that that has come and gone and there's nothing we can do about it nick that's because everybody's got their hands in a cookie jar man it's hard to get people if they have their hands in a cookie jar to want to take away some of the cookie jar. It's in politics. It's in college sports. It's in the NFL.

Because the media is making money off of it as well. We're making money off of talking about the NFL. So coming out against the NFL is a tough thing to do. It's a wild time to be involved in professional sports, especially with all the money. Diggs has a question for you. Nick, we asked your good buddy A.J. Hawk, when we were talking about the 17-game season,

if they would need to put a second bye week in, which Pat has always been a proponent of in this formula. He said he would not like a second bye week because he hated the bye week. So how do you feel? Do you feel that there should have been a second bye week in a 17-game season? Well, that's because A.J. is just one big

meathead. That's what I said, too, by the way. I think an extra bye week, I think if you're able to space it out, what's going to happen is even if they were to put it in, there's going to be a team that's going to get the bye week on week four and then get their second bye week at week six, and it's not going to make any difference. Anybody who gets a bye in the beginning of the season is cursing. As soon as the schedule comes out and you see you've got a week five bye,

you'd realize that the second half of your season is the majority of your season and you're cursing all the way through training camp. It was reported today in the media that you're speaking of, it was reported today that every human on the roster will get an extra $100,000. The bottom three quarters of NFL rosters are filled with guys that would love an extra $100,000. Now granted, the top quarter,

everybody would love an extra $100,000, but that extra $100,000 to a lot of players in the NFL is massive. They don't know how long their careers are going to be. They haven't got broken off in that contract. Do you think that was something that was added in there by the NFL to say, hey, we'll be able to get the players to vote this through if we guarantee an extra hundred grand to the bottom half of the roster? We're going to need that to get a majority

vote to get this thing passed? Yeah. I mean, it's like every politician is giving away something free to get a vote. It's the same thing. If you d dangle a hundred thousand dollars which is a massive amount of money uh not only for the bottom half of the rosters but for anybody i mean if i could pick up a hundred thousand right now it'd be awesome it would be awesome i know um and it would be great like of course like how do you not vote for that um the tough part is you know when when you do have influxes of money if they they don't have a program in place to help these guys understand it, you know, who've gone through, bought a roster and been living at league minimum, then all of a sudden you get an extra $100,000,

you'd rather put it in the bank instead of going out and get a new car. So hopefully if it does get passed, the guys are smart about it. Nah, I would have bought a wrestling ring as soon as I got it. Hey, speaking of an extra $100,000, in a couple of weeks, you're launching a new line of barbecue sauces at 74BBQ.com. 70 spelled out, 4 spelled out, BBQ.com. A brand new line of barbecue sauce that Nick Mangold's putting out there. What are we getting from that, and are we making a billion dollars off of how damn good it is? Yes, we are taking this straight past the the moon and we are going to mars um it is going to be

fantastic uh it is my home recipe that i came up with and i wanted after football was over and i had uh kind of the well what do i do with myself now um and i realized that i've never actually created anything uh other than my children so i said I said, you know, what if we took the opportunity, took something that I'm passionate about, which is barbecue and sauce, packaged it all together and, you know, sold it to get it to as many people as possible because I think it's the best barbecue sauce out there. Right now we're starting out with two flavors. There's the OG and then the spicy OG. right now we're starting out with two flavors there's the og and then the spicy og um and with the hope that we'll get to four flavors as our uh mainstay because i have four children so each one will coincide with one of my kids so the original is my uh my firstborn my son he's the

og um my second son is the uh firecracker the spicy one, so he's the spicy. And then I've got two daughters, so we'll have a sweet barbecue and a honey barbecue hopefully coming out shortly if all things go as planned. That's awesome. I can't wait to buy at least 1,000 bottles of each and give them away on this show and other social medias. Is this a passion project for you then? Because a lot of guys, whenever they leave the game, this is a noted issue. Not only is there financial problems because a lot of guys whenever they leave the game this is a noted issue not only

is there financial problems for a lot of guys because you're not taught what to do with money whenever you're handed six figures seven figures worth of cash and everything you've ever envisioned getting in your life automatically becomes available for you i mean that's just a whole different ball game it's hard to it's hard to save your money whenever those things are available even when people are telling you like you should save your money it's things are available. Even when people are telling you, like, you should save your money, it's like, well, that Escalade right there is also very, very affordable all of a sudden. It's hard to do. But for you, whenever

guys leave the game, they almost feel like they lose fulfillment in life, right? Their purpose is no longer needed. They were a warrior for so long, judged strictly off what they did on a football field, and a lot of guys have problems finding fulfillment or purpose off of that i'm not saying that ever happened for

you because you're an incredibly hilarious person well-liked person you do a lot of great things and all that stuff but at any point in your life you're like you know what i have to put my focus into something because i'm feeling as if my worth was judged strictly off of football for a long time i wanted to be judged off something else and is that what this barbecue sauce has become focus into something because I'm feeling as if my worth was judged strictly off of football for a long time. I want to be judged off something else. And is that what this barbecue sauce has become? No, my kids put me in my place very quickly. I have no worth whatsoever.

So this is more, for me, this is a passion project of this is something I enjoy. This is something that i'm passionate about i i really love barbecue i've fallen in love with it over the past i'd say eight years now um and to give an opportunity to have something to to be able to share it with other people like i always love you know doing uh pulled pork and sending it to somebody's house with a side of the sauce and hey you know let me know what you think um and the other side of it too is the charity component so we're uh we're teaming up with answer the call um and we'll hopefully be able to donate some of the proceeds uh to help out the um new york city families that have uh lost someone in the line of duty so uh it's a

it's a great cause uh it's something i'm passionate about. And so it all kind of works together. Speaking of passion products, did you know that when he was on the show, when you were on vacation, that we broke news? No, what was it? That if Rex Ryan asked Nick to be his offensive line coach, he would drop everything immediately and become an offensive line coach. I've asked Rex Ryan to get back into coaching bad. I'm like, yo, Rex, I love you on television,

but the NFL needs you back in there. And his answer is always like, well, they're not going to pay me enough or they're going to make me a defensive coordinator. I want to be a head coach. I think he's a guy who has been kind of slighted in the judgment with the amount of success that he had as a head coach and really never getting another opportunity at this thing. Yeah, and there was breaking news.

So that's two breaking news things that we have on the show the barbecue sauce and uh me coaching correct hey good for us and we're winning awards too winning awards award-winning shows um and no i i think i think he would be great if he got another opportunity um but at the same time and having not talked to him about it uh directly recently i think he's having too much fun doing tv i think so and i think that's where he's enjoying he's getting paid money to be uh you know the jokester and he doesn't have to wake up at you know 5 a.m every morning and go deal with 53 knuckleheads at a team meeting well plus four more on the roster now because you you know,

the new CBA and an extra week and a shortened offseason. I mean, hey, less practices. There's like 12 less practices. Yeah, but it's going to become tough to coach. I think it's going to become tough to coach in the NFL and manage, especially with less practicing. Because especially in the offensive line position, there's not a lot of great college offensive linemen with the way football is going.

I think that could be a big problem in the NFL, especially with less practice and everything. I think it's a big problem already. I think you're seeing what's going on with NFL offenses, the way that it takes a while to get going at the beginning of the season. The college programs are turning out guys that aren't ready, and the NFL programs don't have time to get guys ready. So it's creating a softened offensive line

where you just don't have time to get the practice in that it requires. I mean, you can't just say, hey, go run fast and catch ball. You've got to be able to go through the techniques and really dive down deep. And without time, without practice, that just doesn't happen. Moving humans takes a lot of work yeah i mean that and you're protecting a couple hundred million dollar asset right behind you i mean that that is a real that is a real thing that is going to be talked about in the nfl over the next couple years already been talked about last thing before we let you

go and we're so thankful you joined nick i love talking to you man your brain is such a good one i'm happy cte hasn't just completely ruined you. Not yet. My wife hates when I joke. I'll remember something from 10 years ago and go, well, not today, CTE. Not today. We got like a minute and a half left. Did you watch that Deontay Wilder fight against Tyson Fury? Two things.

Did you hear Deontay Wilder said it was because his 45-pound costume is why he lost? And are you mad, just like me, that you didn't know enough about Tyson Fury before this fight? I will agree with you on the second point. I wish I knew more about Tyson Fury beforehand because he seems hilarious. Electric! Catching some of the interviews before the fight made me a big fan of his, just the way that he talks.

I did not watch the fight. I was fast asleep at that point. But getting caught up on it, and anyone who said that that 45-pound costume was a good idea, not for the legs or for anything else other than just looking ridiculous, should be fired. All right, Nick, we appreciate you. I carry an extra 45 pounds around every single day,

and my legs are doing just fine. I've been carrying an extra 35 for the last, what, three weeks after this whole thing. but I guess we're not boxers. We're not in the cardio game. Ladies and gentlemen, 74bbq.com in a couple weeks. The OG and the Spicy OG will debut and change taste buds

for the rest of time. Ladies and gentlemen, all pro legend, Nick Mangold. Thank you, Nick. Thank you very much. I appreciate you guys. Hey, cheers, man. Thank you, Nick. Thank you very much. I appreciate you guys. Hey, cheers, man. Stay away from the coronavirus. We got a new sponsor. Hey, hey, we got a new sponsor.

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BoostMobile. Okay, I like what you guys are pitching. Go to BoostMobile.com or Retailer, and let's take advantage of what they got going on. Back to the show. Now, what we do know about the new CBA proposal, the way the NFL is spinning this, at least in their PR campaign, is it's a 17-game regular season capped at that for the next 10 years. There are more roster spots for them, to be exact.

There's a shortened preseason, I think only to two games, maybe to three games, which is good. There is a higher percentage of revenue for the players. It'll go from 47% to 48%. When it goes to a 17-game season, it'll go to 48.5%. That 1.5% jump is a $5 billion revenue jump in the next 10 years, which is a massive

amount of money. And there's upgraded pension for former players. Which, hey, I've heard not only upgraded pension, but also free healthcare from me. I get a chance to go to hospitals and get checkups and physicals for free and everything like that. All those things sound.

Also the $100,000. $100,000 to every player on the roster, which is massive for the bottom half of the roster, bottom three-quarters of the roster. I mean, these are all things that are awesome in the new CBA. We have not read the entire CBA. We have no idea what else is being said in there, but there's a lot of players saying absolutely not the 250 000 cap on the 17th game salary has been ruled

out i think that was the reason why some of the big name players like i'm not doing that we're already taking pay cuts in the playoffs we're not going to do it for another regular season game so i think they're just going to match people's salary for that 17th game by the way which is smart that's a good move that's the right move business-wise. It's the right move morally. Now, what we don't know is why the players are so against everything. The reason why it could be the 17th game is going to be very hard. I mean, the body has already taken up a toll. Player safety is already something that's a hypocritical statement by the NFL whenever you're playing on Thursday, playing on Sunday, playing on Monday,

playing on Saturday in the playoffs, playing in Europe, Canada, Mexico with short weeks. I mean, player safety was something that came out during the CTE PR scandal, and then it's kind of faded away, but it's still something the NFL has to think about. So the 17th game is obviously something they want to talk about. Then the percentage split. Everybody says it should be 50-50. Players do a lot of the work. The owners are obviously the business people behind this. It should be a 50-50 split. That's never going to happen, ever going to happen with the NFL owners because they have to have a little bit of the power. Anytime you negotiate with somebody and you give up half the thing,

then you're admitting that they are half the importance. The NFL is not going to do that because the NFL thinks the Shield and the league are the most important part of the NFL having success. They believe that. That's how it is. Might be ignorant, but they live in their own bubble. They think nothing else exists other than the NFL having success, right? They believe that. That's how it is. Might be ignorant, but they live in their own bubble. They think nothing else exists other than the NFL. So 48 to 48.5%, Adam Schefter tweeted out this morning that that would be the highest percentage

of all the four major sports or something along those lines. He was tweeting out very positive things from all this, from the NFL side, because I think he was getting all the positive information from the NFL. NFL PA has been very tight-lipped on what they don't like about it, other than saying, well, the 17-game season is going to be tough. Other than saying we're voting hard no. We haven't heard a lot of explanation from the NFL PA side on why they hate the deal so much. All we hear are from the people who get incredible information.

Very hard to get information. Getting this information saying, okay, we're doing this, we're doing this, we're doing this. And in the PR war, the NFL players have already lost it, but it seems like in that player rep room, right, the people that aren't J.J. Watt, the people that aren't Russell Wilson, the people that aren't Richard Sherman.

Richard Sherman, great businessman, bet on himself, made a lot of money. Russell Wilson, great businessman, bet on himself, made a lot of money. J.J. Watt, bet on himself, made a lot of money. Russell Wilson, great businessman, bet on himself, made a lot of money. J.J. Watt, bet on himself, made a lot of money. These guys who are at the bottom half of the roster that sometimes player reps are kickers, punters, things along these lines, special teamers, guys that have good business minds, those are the player reps. Sometimes teams don't want to be, sometimes the smartest people don't want to be player reps because a lot of that deals with a lot of BS. So you got a 17 player rep saying yes

14 saying no one abstaining that passes to the players vote now and with a hundred thousand dollars to every single position on the roster you got a lot of guys going like i'll get an extra hundred grand for this a year yes yes yes yes yes yes i think this is going to pass i honestly think it's going to pass once it gets to the players, strictly because of that. And Russell Wilson and J.J. Watt can continue to almost campaign against it, which is what they're doing. That's why they're publicly stating this. But I think this is going to be something that's going to get people to pass.

And we don't know why it isn't a great deal. We don't know why it isn't a great deal. $100 million for every single team. You start doing the math, it's only like $70, 70 000 per player so the big number can kind of be alarming it's like whenever agents work players contracts this guy just signed for 100 million it's like well 65 million of it is in incentives that he's never going to get it's actually a 35 million dollar deal but the 100 million is like oh my god that's an alarming number the 5 billion number for the one and a half percent from 47 to 48 and a half is an alarming number it was like oh damn they got to do this but then once you start breaking

it down it's like well it's only like 70 000 per player i think blah blah blah blah you move forward and that's probably what the players are mad about but every time they tweet that this is a hard no it's a no i think you keep turning the pr against you and that's not something that's smart for the nflp maybe dumb question yeah buddy um so when players like Russell Wilson and J.J. Watt tweet out that they do not like this CBA, do you think the bottom half of the roster's guys, those tweets carry weight for them? Or they look at it and like, hey, these guys have already made their money. They can afford if we get locked out to live. So does it go, hey, we respect what they're saying, or hey, these guys have already made their money

and they don't care about, I'm not saying they don't care about the bottom half of the roster, but it's not. No, I think it's situational. I think everything's situational. I think there's some players that'll be like, exactly what you said, like, oh, those rich guys are telling us what not to do.

I'm just trying to survive. I've got three kids. Right? There's some people that are like that. And then just like LeBron James is in the NBA, how he's a guy who when he speaks, people listen. J.J. Watt is probably a guy in the NFL that when he speaks, people are like listening, kind of peek your head like, oh, why is he not like it? I'm not sure about Russell Wilson outside of the Seattle Seahawks locker room. I'm not sure if the rest of the NFL listens to Russell Wilson speaking, goes like, oh, we should listen to that. You know what I mean? Richard Sherman, definitely a guy. Whenever he speaks, people go, oh, we should listen about that. It depends on where you're at credibility-wise amongst other locker rooms. But I'm not 100% sure you can paint a broad brush and be like, oh, everybody said, okay, that matters. And everybody's like, oh, those are just rich guys.

And that's why I think the NFL knows that if it gets to a full player vote, they know that that 50th guy on the roster who's maybe only playing three games a year, who's making, I don't know, $100,000 a year, $150,000 a year, that money's supposed to last him for the next 40, 50 years of his life. They know that that extra $100,000 is going to be an incentive for them to vote yes, even if all the other stuff that is eye-opening is a no. That's why this is a great business move by the NFL to add that. Also, I believe I saw in there when I've been reading about this

that the practice squad guy's salary is also going up like the the weekly salary that if you get your when you're on the practice squad that is also going up are those guys that's such a small number are they in the nfl pa though if they saw like if you're on the practice squad are you part of the players that vote i don't think so okay unless you were a player yeah came back down i don't think so. Okay. Unless you were a player and came back down. I don't know. That's a great question. That's only like 10 guys, though, per team. 32 teams, 320 people. 320 votes?

That's 320 votes. Extra 100 grand? I will take that. I'm not 100% sure if they all get votes, though. I don't think they do. Because if I look... Remember, the last two years of my career, I did not sign up for the NFLPA. I did not sign up for the NFLPA. I did not sign in. I might not even get access to these things.

You're going to be all right. Yeah, I'll be okay. But if I remember back, the practice squad members were not in those meetings, if I do recall. It's like, yeah, you've got to make the roster to do it. Which, by the way, the NFL is saying, oh, we'll give the practice squad people more money. If you're already on a team, then you're back on a practice squad. Bang, that's a vote yes. They're doing things in this CBA to ensure the fact that they get people to vote yes.

They're like, all right, we'll drop this in there, we'll drop this in there, we'll drop this in there. That's just good business. That's Bernie Sanders saying on day one of being president, I'm going to legalize marijuana for all 50 states. That's everybody saying, oh, we're going to get free this, free this, free this. It's just getting votes, trying to win over votes. The NFL is doing that as well. They know this is the same world. I think it's going to pass. I think so too.

The $100,000 for every player is going to pass. That's why I think it took the NFL PA and the reps a long time. This thing didn't pass until 1.41 a.m. That was when the tweet was announced that it was past 17.14. I think there was a lot of conversation between the people that were saying no because they knew if it got to the entire players, this was going to pass.

And they're like, well, we gave it our best fight. Yeah, so what happened was that the meeting started at 5 o'clock yesterday, and there was four hours of meetings between the players' reps and the members of the NFL's negotiating committee. And then the 32 team reps spent several more hours discussing the deal. Then they gave the nod for the vote. That's why it was all night long. The 14 no's were fighting very hard last night for more people to join their side

because they know that if this gets to a league-wide vote, this is going to go through. This is going to go through. $100,000. You got guys like like for instance me, after my rookie year, I was told, save your money. This money isn't going to last that long. I was told don't buy a house.

I was told do all these things. But I was staring at a bank account that was larger than I could have ever fathomed. There's a lot of places I wanted to go to and I spent it and I lived it. And by the time I got back from my second year training camp, if we didn't have a game coming up, I would have been in a bad spot. I would have been in a bad spot.

But all my friends were in debt. All my friends had student loan debt. All my friends were like, yeah, we're behind eight ball anyway. I'm like, well, if this all comes crashing down, I'm alongside my boys here at least. But that is a real thing. You've got a lot of young players that are like itching, inching, and crawling towards every single payment. They're living paycheck to paycheck because they're not the high-end guy that you hear about.

And an extra $100,000 is massive in their pocket. And the NFL knew that. And the no's that voted no in the NFLPA knew that. That's why whenever they got a pass, they're like, yeah, this is going to pass for sure. Well, that's it. I hope you learned something today. It's not often you get to talk to a general manager, especially during a combine, especially one that is potentially in the market for Tom Brady. He was already fed up with the question. He hasn't even hit the period of when

he would be allowed to talk to Tom Brady. I tried though. You can't say I didn't try to put the pressure on the guy. Nick Mangold, obviously a legend. Obviously a legend. The Heisman of Radio. The Tony Bruno Award. Very thankful for that. And I'm very, very, very, very thankful for all of you. You're the absolute greatest. I can't thank you enough. Take a picture of where you're listening to the show at.

You know what I mean? Does that make sense? Listen in your car, take a photo. You know, the radio playing it on the Bluetooth. If it's on your phone, go ahead and screenshot or write something in. I need to know where people are listening to the show at so I can cater to you guys a little bit better. Because I have no idea, to be honest with you.

I know people listen. I'm thankful for you guys. Not every show is great. I think we get a couple good ones. Today, I think, was a good one. But I just would like to know a little bit more about you guys. And if I like what you're doing, Zito will give away some free merch today.

Use the hashtag, this is where I'm at, Pat. Hashtag, this is where I'm at, Pat. Don't use the apostrophe in I'm, though, because that'll stop the hashtag. So it's just, this is where, grammatically incorrect, I'm at, Pat. This is where I'm at, Pat. So you'll be giving out free merch all day if you post a picture there.

And I'm very, very thankful for you. Ty Schmidt, please play some independent music. សូវាប់ពីបានប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់� Thank you.