The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 218 - The Most Electrifying College Football Player Of All-Time, Reggie Bush, World Series Champion Kevin Youkilis, Cowboys Ring Of Honor Member Darren Woodson, & Legend, AJ Hawk Stop By

Episode Date: June 25, 2020

On today’s show, Pat is joined by 2x World Series Champion, 3x All-Star, Gold Glove Winner, Hank Aaron Award Winner, member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame and friend of the show, Kevin Youkilis. Pat and Youk discuss baseball coming back, and how much different a 60 game season is going to be. Youk dives into some of the strategy of playing that many fewer games, which teams he thinks will benefit the most, if he’s heard anything about the health and safety measures, he gives an update on his beer and coffee companies, and gives a peek behind the curtain as to how a baseball player might be approaching this season (1:52-22:26). Next is another installment of McAfee & Hawk Sports Talk as Pat and AJ welcome Super Bowl Champion, All-Pro, 2x National Champion,. Member of the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame, recipient of every major college football trophy including the 2005 Heisman Trophy, USC legend, Reggie Bush. Pat, AJ, & Reggie discuss him coming back to USC after all these years and what that process has been like, how much money he thinks a top tier athlete can make at USC with the changes to the name and likeness rules, his time in the NFL and how he struggled mentally his first couple of seasons, his thoughts on the Heisman and a never before heard story of the Downtown Athletic Club trying to award his Heisman to Vince Young or Matt Leinart after his was vacated. He also talks about going into the Saints Hall of Fame, how the game was a sanctuary, and what the best way to beat AJ on defense was (24:52-1:22:36). Lastly, 3x Super Bowl Champion, 5x Pro Bowler, 4x All-Pro, Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor member, and friend of the program, Darren Woodson joins the show. Pat and Darren chat about Dak Prescott signing the franchise tag, and whether or not Darren thinks a deal will get done before the July 15th date, how the Cowboys are going to afford everyone including potentially bringing in Jamal Adams from the New York Jets, who actually controls the contracts and money: Jerry or Stephen Jones, and whether or not Darren thinks the NFL will go off without a hitch this year (1:25:06-1:40:42). Don’t forget to send in a picture of where you’re listening to the show with the hashtag #ThisIsWhereImAtPat for the chance to win some free march. We appreciate you rocking with us. Come and laugh with us, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

hello it is thursday june 25th massive show hey big one today exclusive interview with a legend a couple of them hashtag this where i'm at pat take a picture where you're listening to the show be a part of something special that we're building for the end of quarantine i can't thank you enough if you you enjoy the show, please tell a friend. If you don't enjoy the show, just act like this never fucking happened. And also shout out to Roman. Obviously, everybody knows Roman is the men's health brand that's trying to help you be the best you. Whether it's hair products, skin products, you name it, they have it to make you the ultimate you. The thing that we are currently selling you and informing you about is quarantine sex is a real

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right now. It's a good deal. It'll make you better in a sec. Getrohaman.com forward slash Pat. Let's get into this. Joining us now, one of our favorite humans that we've ever spoken to. He has a beer company, and in essence with that, he has a coffee company. So because you have the beer at night, what do you need in the morning? Wakey, wakey, give me coffee.

This man is a baseball legend, World Series champ. You! You! Kevin Ukele. Yeah, you! Woo! Hi, boy, you. Good morning.

How are you? How is it over there at the Loma Brewing Company? It's nice and quiet. So that is obviously West Coast. It's 8.06. I can't thank you enough for waking up with us. I assume you had some of your coffee that is launching soon. When's the coffee launching?

Well, it's a daily session where we're trying to figure out, you know. But three weeks, four weeks from now hopefully in portland oregon will be open okay i can't get over this aj hawk picture in the background yeah do you know aj i don't know him personally but i'm an ohio guy you know i went to the other you know university down south oh yeah the state of cincinnati yeah that's right university of cincinnati yeah universities let's go bearcats hey let's go bearcats hey luke fickle's got a good squad down there by the way football team's got a good squad yeah this is aj hawk taking a dump on a throne of lighters and cigars and then up here is all the things that he hates in the world

i mean it's pretty good i mean it's i've had conversations with very serious people and he's just been sitting on the john right over my shoulder the entire time you're the first person to bring him up though it's gorgeous and the fate and the facial expression is hands down my favorite part about it yeah we got questions dude that's what the face is about the faces i don't understand what you're saying let's talk about baseball yuk yesterday massive day you said when the last time you were on here, everybody's happy it feels like. You said if it's not 80 games, let's not talk about it. I don't think 80 games is ever going to happen in a negotiation.

Got 60. If you're going into this season, you're not, I believe you're coaching, but if you're a player going into this season, what is the thought with a 60-game season? Yeah, like everything in COVID, I mean, what I thought two weeks ago, I'm done with that. I moved on. Now I'm cool with 60. I just want to see baseball. I mean, what I thought two weeks ago, I'm done with that. I moved on. Now I'm cool with 60.

I just want to see baseball. I'm excited. I'm pumped. I just love to see competition, right? And we just haven't seen a lot of competition on TV. So I'm excited. And, yeah, this is going to be wild. I mean, 60 games.

You're going to see a couple teams that are going to be in the postseason that wouldn't probably be in the postseason. Don't worry. Don't worry. It's not the Pirseason. Don't worry. Don't worry. It's not the Pirates. I know you're kidding. Son of a bitch. Hey, it's plus 50,000 right now.

$100 bet wins you 50,000 on the Pittsburgh Pirates right now. Hey, you never know, though. I mean, with 60 games, you never know. They get hot. They get out that gate. They stay hot for another four weeks. They might put them in. They might get lucky.

And, you know, the trade deadline is, what, August 31st now even wilder so hey you never know i mean your pirates might pull it off but i'm a cubby guy now so i gotta say we're gonna try to take you guys down okay i can respect that what is the thought as a cubby guy now is there messaging being sent out to the team and how have the guys been able to keep the rust off during this quarantine what because i assume it's pretty hard to get bp when you can't go into parks and stuff like that. I assume it's pretty hard to play catch when you're not allowed to be around other people. How have the guys been able to stay fresh? And is that July 1st spring training 2.0 going to be an ugly little cluster truck of performance?

Yeah, it's going to be an interesting thing. A lot of intra-squad, a lot of guys facing the same pitching over and over and over. But it's all about an interesting thing a lot of intra squad a lot of uh guys facing uh you know the same pitching over and over and over but it's all about just getting timing down so the 2.0 like hitters need three weeks pitchers uh hopefully they've been doing all their stuff uh with their programs i mean there's so many batting cages now and so many facilities to work out at uh so these guys have been you know you know working out at home the pitchers especially i mean that's the key right now is those guys' arms need to be fresh. They need to be going.

And I think it's just going to be wild because we are in uncharted waters. I mean, we've never seen this before. So three weeks of spring training will be pretty interesting. My hope is that we just don't see a spike in injuries because guys are trying to rush. Yeah, that's what you have to worry about, right, is in football, it's always the hamstring. Like the hamstring is always the thing that goes first.

It's always in practice. It's when they're running. Okay, that guy's either worn out. That's why these Russian GPS tracking devices that they use are so important because when people are fatigued or being overexerted, that chance of injury is going high. This spring training 2.0 could cause a lot of that. Let's talk about the pitching.

Are guys going to pitch longer? Are we going to see more complete games? You think they're going to be shorter so they can rotate more often? How do you think that'll be managed throughout the shorter season? Yeah, I don't see that. These guys now, they just come out trying to throw 100 and go five and dive. I mean, they don't even care anymore. They leave it to the, you know, these guys are trying to throw as hard as they can, throw a spin, you know, they're trying to spin it. They're it to the, you know, these guys are trying to throw as hard as they can, throw spin. You know, they're trying to spin it. They're trying to get those sexy stats on the Rapsodo machine. So, I mean, I think there are those guys that still exist.

You know, you got your Verlanders. You got your Coles. You got your, you know, Scherzer. You got those big dogs that will go a little longer than usual because the season isn't as long. So I think it more depends on, you know, the pitching staff, also the quality of their arms at that point too. I mean, some guys might have dead arm, you know, just going into the season. So this is really fascinating to see because this actually favors the Washington Nationals more than ever to repeat in a lot of ways. Because think about this.

When you have that shortened gap of a postseason on October, the end of October, two spring training, it's usually because the pitching staff doesn't rebound as well the next year. A lot of guys are fatigued. They pitch longer. So they need more of a break. Now these guys have had a long break. And they've got some big dogs there that can pitch. So this actually helps out with the ability to repeat.

Uke, going off that, with teams like the Nationals and like the Yankees and some of these other teams who are really top-heavy in their rotations, do you think they'll stick with five-man rotations, or do you think they'll go down to like three or four to maximize how many starts these guys get? That's a very good question. I think you're going to see at the beginning, you're going to see a five-man rotation. And you might even see some people do a six-man rotation.

I mean, people can get really interesting with this because the rosters are expanding now, right? So now you have, I think it's 30. There's like 30 guys that can be on the team what's normal weeks what's normal well it was 25 and then now they changed it to 26 this year which is awesome because now you add that one player uh whether it be a pitcher or a position player that you can add to the roster and that really helps out teams but i think it goes 30 28 27 i believe is how it goes throughout the weeks but the six-man rotation and then i think you were going to say maybe they'll get shorter towards the end of the season.

Whenever it matters, you kind of turn them around quicker. Yeah, so now you have the ability to go to a four-man rotation later in the season because, guys, they're not pitching over 162 games. So you go in those last couple weeks, you can set yourself up for your pitching staff on your rosters for the postseason. Oh, wow. That is super sexy. It doesn't matter what number pitcher it is, I'm taking that song, bitch. Boy, just make sure you take the first pitch, though. You got to take the first pitch. Amen. I did. By the way, I played in a game. I played in a game for the first time

in my life ever playing baseball, Washington Wild Things, Frontier League in Washington, Pennsylvania. And I was told by every professional baseball player that I spoke to, the first pitch is going to be the easiest pitch to hit out of that whole thing. First pitch I ever saw in my entire life in a batter's box was like a 91 mile an hour fastball, swung at that son of a bitch, made contact, got gunned down at first, pulled a hamstring. So that's how it all, that's how the whole thing went. I mean, it was a great little trip down memory lane there. Diggs got something for you, though. Yeah, Yuke, with it being a shorter season,

are the coaches going to have a shorter leash on the starting pitching with more emphasis on the games being a shorter season? And then who has the upper hand with the shorter spring training going into the season, pitchers or batters, to start the season? Yeah, so it will be interesting to see. I think, like I said, we have no idea how this is going to play out. But I think the one key that will happen is guys will be on a shorter leash in the sense of you have more players being able to come out of the bullpen. So you're going to have a couple more bullpen guys in there

that might be able to be the stopper. But I think with a shorter season, I mean, this is – I mean, I'm trying to put my head around it, and I don't even know how to manage this, right? I mean, the fact that you're on pitch counts early on and doing all that, but I mean – and then you have the young pitchers that are studs that they usually try to you know shorten them up anyways they're not trying to go 105 pitches to save their arm for future use so I mean these guys in the bullpen are going to be coming out throwing mud and I think that's that's also the

key too are the the bullpens that are very very strong will have the ability in a two-month season to stay as fresh as possible. So watch out for those bullpens. I mean, look at those teams that have the depth in the bullpen, and they're going to be a very tough team to beat. Well, the good news about the Pirates is we would have had a very deep bullpen, but we got rid of everybody because they wanted to get paid actual money. So that's a good thing for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The health and safety guidelines were the thing that needed to be modified. The player said, what do you know about these? Nobody is really leaked other than the spitting thing. There's no spitting. You're not allowed to do this. Maybe you need to split 10 for everybody

hanging off of their hip like a 12. I don't know what they're going to do, but what is the travel? Has they gotten into travel? The rules at the stadiums? Anything like that? Has that been laid out? I haven't got all that information yet. I think that is the key, though, to this,

though. Think about this. The key to winning this year is also who doesn't get COVID. Because when guys are going to get COVID on teams, and we're seeing it already, they have to be quarantined for a couple weeks. So if a team somehow has five guys go down with COVID, that could be the detriment of the season right there. So that is going to be the most interesting aspect of this is, will those guys come back? Are they going to be healthy enough to come back? And just trying to figure out how to keep that out.

I mean, if COVID breaks out, that could be the end of that team season, possibly. So, I think the health of the COVID risk is going to be probably bigger than hamstrings being pulled or, you know, Tommy Johns. So, they might need replacement players by halfway through this thing? Is that what you're saying?

Well, they have a very deep roster right now of guys that they can bring up. So, you know, if you can slide your way in there. The Birmingham Barons. The Pirates will take you for less money, too. If you decide to go for, you know, and be a scab and go across the picket lines, you can do this. All right.

Okay. What do you do for the Cubs now? What do you do? Is this your first year doing this? No, I've been there for six years now. Kind of just. What a great, great host right there that is something i should not feel bad most people have no idea what i do what do you do are you like a hitting coach over there like mark i go there in spring training i

go throughout the season uh just sit around and uh help out with the coaching staff uh throw bp kind of talk to the players kind of tell them how great they are. I mean, you know, as a coach now, all you got to do is just build egos, man. Just build up the egos. Tell them how great they are. Tell them how much you stunk. And they're the greatest. That's the key.

Pump egos. These seasons are so long for you guys. I tried to fathom it a couple weeks ago when there was a thought that there was potential replacement players and that whole thing about somebody who's never been in the MLB doing the MLB, even if they played in high school or college or whatever. But to cross the scab, you had to never be a minor league player. So that whole thing. That season seems so much different than every other sport.

I would assume that, like, mental health is a big deal in this entire thing. And there has to be. i would assume that there's ways to try to break up the monotony of the season is that is that am i wrong in thinking that or in you coming in there probably by the way in speaking is probably like a little bit of fresh air for the cubs as they've been around each other for however long every single day of the week basically yeah i mean baseball is such a mental grind it i mean you you don't even know where you're at some days I mean you're hopping on a plane here you're going there you're you're getting in at 3 a.m in the morning trying to get sleep and you gotta wake up early the next day and your alarm

clock automatically goes off at you know 9 a.m so it's it is visible in a way because there's long games and the running and and all the pound and being in cleats for three and a half hours is just miserable some nights. But yeah, I think the mental side of it, and I always joke around, man, when you leave baseball and you played five to ten years in Major League Baseball, you're not right in the head after it. We're all kind of a little goofy after it, but it's a great you know it's a great time and and that's what separates the separation is the mental side of baseball the guy there's so much talent like once you get to double a you you can play at the major league level you have the talent to play at

the major level the separation is the mental side where guys make adjustments you know guys sacrifice their you know time of partying or doing the little things you know and getting you know guys sacrifice their you know time of partying or doing the little things you know and getting you know like you said the monotony the boring part about baseball is the practice you gotta it's repetition after repetition after repetition the guys that take all the ground balls the guys that work on their base running to do the little things are the guys that usually make their way up so it is i mean baseball can be boring you wake up every day it's the same thing over and over and over but it also helps if you have those really good routines in place, which is also known as superstitions to a lot of people.

Yeah, football is Groundhog's Day as well. It's like a six-month Groundhog's Day with the games being a little bit different. But the meetings, the day you eat at this time, you work at this time, you go to bed, you wake up, you put that on repeat for five months. In baseball, when you're doing that all on the road i mean that is just a different you're like rock stars by the that's like a rock star life and everybody that is uh you hear rock stars talk about being on the road about how much it's taken out of their lives and that's what baseball is that's what i'm so impressed about

i think the entire thing is just the ability for 162 times to show up now granted it's only gonna be 60 this time, so maybe this is my year. And you said if you get to AA, you're good enough to be in the majors? Yeah, so once you get to AA, so get yourself to AA, now you have a chance. That's the key. AA is the key.

Excuse me? You get to AA, you have it. Excuse me? What is the Birmingham Barons? They are AA. I made it to AA. So what mushrooms do I need to take or DMT to get this mental thing right to get up there into the majors?

Because the Birmingham Barons, Michael Jordan's old team, told me that they could maybe give me a little spot, a little bit of a tryout, I believe. Yeah, I would go with ayahuasca. I think a little bit of ayahuasca will take you right where you need to be. You know, get the right shaman. You know, hopefully he knows how to square

up some baseballs and put you right in the mode that you need to get into. And we've got to videotape that. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I have to. Is there any difference performance-wise for players if there are fans in the stands or not? That is probably one of the

most interesting questions right now. I never played a game without fans. Especially in Boston, man. Like the energy of the fans. I mean, that was what – and I think that's why 162 games, it's important to have a fan base. When you play in a place where there's no fans, the monotony is even worse, right? I mean, it's – I couldn't imagine, like I always say this, Tampa Bay Rays, you know, even worse, right?

I mean, I couldn't imagine, like I always say this, Tampa Bay Rays, you know, how they get to the postseason, win games with a very small fan base that shows up. It's impressive because it is not easy to get up every day and play a game. But when you have that fan base behind you and just getting that adrenaline rush, that is the key. So, yeah, this is going to be really odd. I mean, hopefully they pump some noise, like fan noise when a guy gets a hit, because otherwise it's going to be boring.

All right. Well, Yuke, every time I talk to you, I feel like, hey, I think I would have been friends with this guy. So I thank you for joining us, bub. Well, thank you. Always a pleasure. And look out for the beer and coffee. It's coming your way.

Yes. We're sending some over here. I can't wait. We can't wait to have a little loma brewing company beer sitting right here probably it'll probably go right here next to mangled stuff yeah this is nick mangled's barbecue sauce i like i like whenever ex-athletes kind of get into their own business and do their own thing i'm all about promoting it so you'll go right here bub right here what type of beer is it again is it one of them thick beers

uh i'm gonna send you a loma vita mexican lager with a little bit of lime oh yeah the loma life baby uh then we're gonna give you a blonde ale with mint a hazy ipa and a in a regular ipa i think you're gonna like that i think you're like the makeout session which is the uh it's a it's the love in the time of corona that's the blonde ale with mint if you got the analogy there blonde with mint oh look at you ladies and gentlemen absolutely not wait wait i asked you as soon as we started our first conversation, I said, how did we get to this point? And you got distracted by the Marlboro Red that was in his. Yes.

How did we get here? How did you get here? Did you start here? Like, where did you, how did you get all the way to that point there? Well, actually, in college college i was like chuck knoblock i'm trying to do it here chuck knoblock with a jeff bagwell split stance and i slowly just kept getting my yeah oh yeah keep going more but then hold your bat that way straight back other way yes like that that was how i hit in college go look it it up. You can see it on the University of Cincinnati.

This is why I didn't get drafted right there. They said there's no way this guy can hit. And then I was like, oh, I'll show you. I'll make it even weirder when I get up to the major leagues. That's probably a part of that mental battle, though, right? Trying to figure out what works. Let's get here. I feel smooth.

And I would assume that top hand was a timing thing when it came down right so basically yeah i'll explain to you my i couldn't i had a hard time trying when you load if i went backwards with my front arm it made me cock my shoulder too much so this is something that too is like you get in the analytics and stuff that now they use is like it's all scientific terms. I just say I loaded too much. I turned internally, rotated too much. So what I did was I kept this left hand still and just move this right hand like this. So it wouldn't deter me, you know, basically keep me from turning too far. So I would turn in just enough and then get to the ball. So, yeah, I don't really know what the hell I was. There it is.

Back knee. No pepper. You can't play pepper at Johnny Benchfield. No pepper. Hey, it worked, though, what you did. I mean, it worked. So good for you for finding it. But, damn, I don't know if anybody else is ever going to look like that.

There, pal. I don't know if anybody else is going to do it. there pal I don't know if anybody else gonna do it. Not everyone could be as sexy as me Ladies and gentlemen World Series champ Loma Brewing company owner and the coffee title is Loma coffee company You see Loma coffee Kevin you company you see low mccaffey uh kevin you eucalyptus thank you we have to get to a break for radio 25 minutes after the hour i enjoy that dude a lot he's very good at baseball too oh yeah on the road i bet you that i bet you

he was a great personality on the road coming off of that thing 10 years just on the road, I bet you that. I bet you he was a great personality on the road. Coming off of that thing, 10 years just on the road, 260 days a year or whatever it is. I guess it wouldn't be 260. Maybe, I don't know. 250, yeah. It's right about there. That is insane, dude.

That's a grind. That is an absolute grind. Mentally, I'm not sure I could do that. But the minors are even worse because they're on a bus. Yeah. Oh, yeah. 26 minutes after. Mentally, I'm not sure I could do that. But the minors are even worse because they're on a bus. Oh, yeah. Woo.

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thank you manscape for keeping our pubes trimmed and hairs out of our holes gone you get it 20 off and free shipping with code mcafee at manscaped.com. Shout out to the weed whacker, the lawnmower, and manscaped.com. Code McAfee. 20% off and free shipping. Hello, Massive Day McAfee and Hawk Sports Talk. I am Pat McAfee. Two to my left is AJ Hawk calling from a vacation home down in Florida. And in between us is one of the most electrifying football players to ever step on

the field he's allowed to be associated with USC again after a 10-year disassociation ladies and gentlemen Super Bowl champion Heisman winner the Reggie Bush Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I appreciate that, man. That's one of the best intros I've ever gotten. Well, you deserve a lot more, to be honest with you. I tried to get it quick so we could get to this conversation because I've been very excited about this. Thank you for taking time to join us. Yeah, thank you so much.

This morning, you had to be Dad of the Year. The fact that you made time for us is a big deal. Let's get right into it. How was this entire process of getting linked back up with USC been? This morning you had to be Dad of the Year. The fact that you made time for us is a big deal. Let's get right into it. How has this entire process of getting linked back up with USC been? I assume it's been a bit emotional to kind of take a trip down memory lane and kind of relive the glory days back whenever you and USC took over everything. Well, I think emotional would be an understatement. This was something that, you know, this is USC,

my stop at USC is where I became a man. It's where, you know, the guys that I play with on the football field pushed me to my abilities, to the things that you saw on the football field was a reflection of the culture that we built and the reflection of the guys around me. And so, you know, to say that, you know, what happened with me in USC was emotional would be an understatement because this was something that almost killed me. This was something that, you know, I went through during my NFL career that where I was depressed, I was suicidal. um i was suicidal um i went through a wave of emotions that um really affected me in such a way

because i was in new orleans by myself um i didn't have family there i had my teammates there but you know as aj knows when you go home after practice you know what i mean you have that time by yourself um you know and and for guys who are, they go home to a family, but for, for the young guys who aren't married and who don't have that at home, um, you know, there's a lot of time by yourself and there's a lot of time to think, and there's a lot of time to meditate on certain things. And if your mindset, if your foundation is not in the right place, um, that can be deadly. And, and, um, and that can be, um, you know, something that can, you know, can, can, can truly hurt you. Um, and so for me, the things that I went, you know, something that can, you know, can truly hurt you. And so for me, the things that I went through at USC, you know, when I look back on it and I look where we are now in 2020, I appreciate what's about to happen. I appreciate the fact that these young kids are going to make money off their name, image and likeness, i know what it's not what it's like not to be able to do that i know what it's like

to to to kind of still be hamstrung um you know at the college level where the universities are making millions and millions of dollars off of you but you can't make any money off of you and what that does now you know what i what the way I see it is now we're going to allow people to be able to make money at a very earlier, at an earlier rate. And also they're going to be able to take care of their families, right? They're going to be able to eat a little better, right? The life is going to be just a little bit more comfortable. And that's the way it should be when you're in college. There's this narrative and this misconception that you're supposed to be broke in college, right? You're supposed to be broke and you're supposed to still be struggling.

You're supposed to still be trying to make it and figure it out, right? But at the same time, somebody else is benefiting off of your name, image, and likeness. And so all we're asking is just for a little piece. You know what I'm saying? Y'all making millions off of us, so just let us make a little bit of money off of us at the same time. Reg, how much do you think a current player can make off this name, image, and likeness? Like, say you're quarterback at USC, and you guys

are rolling. How much do you think a guy can make in one year? Honestly, so, for example, Matt Leinart, at that time period, I think Matt could have made millions. Millions. Because he won a Heisman trophy. We had won a national championship. We had been to two national championships. I don't know one sorry and no sorry two we have been to two national championships and you know I think he could have made millions and millions of dollars you know in LA in Hollywood

you got a thing Los Angeles brings a different culture that no other city can really offer you know maybe New York places like New York City you know city can really offer you know it may be New York places like New York City you know have that that that you know the the opportunity to be able to do things like that but you know I think Matt Leiner could have made a lot of money obviously Lindale white Brian Cushing clay Matthews I mean we had so many guys that you know went to the next level that you know could have easily made hundreds of thousands of dollars and that's life-changing money that's the thing this is life-changing

money for some of these kids and their families you know when they're in college let's talk about your whenever you're at usc you are the face of now matt leinert obviously you two were a tag team of pop culture and everything like that but you were the face of la for a long time i mean reggie bush 20 years old you were the king of la at the time and if you were living off the college money that had to be a bit of a struggle so whenever this whole thing came out i think that you were one of the first players where even the people that were against college players making money they're like yeah but that's fucking Reggie Bush. I mean, we're talking every highlight, every primetime game.

Your name, your face was everywhere. That had to be very frustrating whenever that all happened. When the original, it all came out, they took your Heisman, no more Orange Bowl, like the whole thing. How was your mental state? You said that you went into a little bit of depression because you felt like you were kind of left behind by some people there when you were at the saints but as it was

happening what was your thoughts through that whole process my thoughts uh my thoughts were i was angry i was bitter um you know i was resentful i was upset i was confused i was also sad depressed um you know you name it just about every wave of emotion i went through it um and i went through it you know while i was in new orleans you know unfortunately because you know why the reason i say unfortunately is because you know i wish when i go back i wish i could have just enjoyed that ride with a little less stress you know what i mean because that was such a magical ride for us it was such a magical run for us while we were down there and we got a opportunity to be a part of history we had an

opportunity to do something special for a city that had just lost so much and it's funny because when i think about new orleans and how special it is to me um This was a city that welcomed me with open arms, right? And I never forget the first time I went to New Orleans and I went to Chef Emil's restaurant and we walked in, the whole restaurant stood up, applauded. And I thought the coaches had set that up, but the fans were truly, truly embracing me. And so when I look back on my relationship with the people there in the city, that was a place that I needed to go to because they welcomed me with open arms at a very, very vulnerable time in my life. And they gave me this renewed strength, this renewed passion that, okay, I'm wanted again, right? And now, you know, I have something to wake up for and to strive for. And so New Orleans is very special, very near and dear to my heart

because, you know, while they viewed us as, you know, kind of their saviors, I was viewing them as my savior. True. That's deep. Is there anybody that was in New Orleans in your life at that time that had any idea what you were going through mentally? My chef. I had a chef that I hired, and thank God, you know, and again, I'm not trying to brag, but I was going to New Orleans in a time period where you know I was really really struggling and you know on a football field I try not to show that

because and also the field as you know AJ the football field that's our sanctuary right like that's our place where we get to go and just and just let go of anything that's that's going on in your life you know it could be relationship issues it could be stuff with your kids could be family members that is your quiet place which sounds kind of crazy but that's your place it could be relationship issues. It could be stuff with your kids. It could be family members. That is your quiet place, which sounds kind of crazy, but that's your place where you just, okay, you can block out all the noise and just focus on your passion. And so for me, I think my parents, obviously my parents knew, you know, a little bit what I was going through,

but you know, the person that I really was, you know, really close with and saw on a daily basis, spoke to all the time was was my chef. And his name is Nelson Gayson. And he's a great chef. But he really became like that person that I just spoke to a lot about everything that was going on in my lifetime. I mean, he saw all the different ups and the downs. And I appreciate him because he listened. You know what I mean? And a lot of times, you know, when, a lot of times that's the most important thing is to be able to listen to just somebody

when they're going through things and just, and it's not always about trying to get to answers either. It's just about having somebody there to speak to, to talk to. And that's what my chef was for me, man. And I appreciate him so much. We still talk to this day. We still keep in contact. I know he was working for Will Fuller down in Houston.

I'm not sure if he's still working with him. But, yeah, man. So, thankfully, I had somebody to speak to. But, again, it wasn't enough. If I would be lying if I said it was enough that it was just, you know, my chef that I spoke to because, you know, he he wasn't he wasn't there. He wasn't part of the process. So he didn't really, you know, understand it, you know, on the level that I did. Well, I'm happy that your chef gave you a good ear to lean on i heard some stories uh from people that were in locker rooms that the the when the heisman was taken from you okay the heisman was taken from you

you weren't allowed to be a heisman winner even though every human on earth voted for you to be a heisman uh that year that they tried to move that heisman to vince who was number two and then matt who was number three but that story has never been public I only heard it in the locker room whenever it's talked about yeah is that a true yet that's a true story and that's why Vince Young is my guy you know that's why I've been selling is is uh is my boy and I respect and I appreciate him because Vince showed me love that even some of the closest people to me didn't even show. You know what I'm saying?

Like even some of the people who I built relationships with, friends, you know, people who I considered, you know, very close friends, didn't even show me the kind of love that Vince Young showed me. And so it is true because they did try to give him the Heisman Trophy. Vince Young showed me. And so it is true because they did try to give him the Heisman Trophy. And I even spoke to, you know, it's funny because we interviewed Mack Brown last week on our show, on our Fox show. And I spoke about that story with Mack Brown. And Mack Brown said, and Mack Brown validated it because I didn't know

he knew about it. But Mack Brown said that Vince came to him and told him that they had basically offered him the Heisman Trophy and he was gonna turn it down and Mack Brown basically supported him and you know Vince in tech they just beat us you know what I mean in the national championship so he had every right to be like why not just beat them you know and I just beat USC I just beat Matt liner I just beat Reggie Bush who won the Heisman Trophy this is my time you know what I mean this is my time to take what's mine and what was rightfully mine and and that's why I appreciate Vince because even

in that moment right even in that time he wasn't a sucker period like he wasn't a sucker and he didn't go for whatever that, you know, they were trying to bring towards his way. And I appreciate him for that because, um, that's real, that's a real love. And, and, um, you know, it's just, it's powerful, man. I think that's so powerful when I think about it, you know, sometimes I get chills on my back because, you know, he, he had, he had every right, you know, every right to, to say, yeah, give me that Heisman. And he did. You know what I mean?

And so Vince showed me the kind of love that even some of the people close to me didn't even show me. Well, and Mack Brown, too, by the way, because that makes Mack look better. They just won a national championship, and they have a Heisman winner. So the fact that Mack, who is a cool dude, I've gotten a chance to meet him now a couple times, the fact that he and Vince Young were like, now that's not our height. Like, listen, everybody on earth knows that that's Reggie's husband.

You can go ahead and just keep it. And I think, you know, I think that should be a story. You know what I mean? I think that's because, again, that's part of legacy. You know what I mean? That's things that, you know, that stories that you hear about, you know, hundreds of years later and you just kind of,

you kind of, somebody kind of accidentally, you know that stories that you hear about you know hundreds of years later and you just kind of you kind of somebody kind of accidentally you know stumbles upon it and and then writes a story about it or whatever it is but i really appreciate vince young you know for for just for that for that act of kindness or for that gesture gesture or whatever it was you know what i mean it didn't even have to be necessarily about me you know i mean it could have been just about him like maybe he didn't want to feel you know some type of way um and at the end of the day um you know i appreciate because i can't imagine that was an easy decision i can't imagine he just easily was like that little thing not hey rich have you and vince had a chance to speak about this? Have you, like, been able to thank him in person?

Yeah. I spoke to him about it. It was brief, but I've never spoke about it publicly until, actually, until last week, until Mack Brown, you know, until he was on the show. And I just felt it was the right moment to talk to Mack Brown about it, to bring it up because, one, he's on a great run at the University of North Carolina right now. They just got the fifth highest ranked recruiting class,

which is crazy when you think about where this program was a couple years ago. And Mack Brown obviously is a champion. He understands how to win and how to get his guys to that level, to where they can play at that level. And they believe now, you know, that they can win the ACC. And so I just think there's something to, you know, to Mack Brown's character that just screams success, you know, and also, you know, I thought it was what Vince did. I thought it was a reflection of the kind of culture that, you know, he raises his guys in and he brings, you know, his players into. Now, are you getting your Heisman back now that the 10-year disassociation? You have no idea?

Has this been talked about? We'll see. I mean. Oh, let's get that back. What are we doing? Getting the guy's Heisman back. I don't want to put nothing out there. I have no idea.

I've heard conversations and things, but again, I don't want to. If it's not here, it's not here. Now, they tried to give it to Vince. They tried to give it to Matt. They held it away from you for 10 years. It seems like it's only right to give it back, but the NCAA and the Heisman have made worse decisions before. I wouldn't be surprised. What is it?

Mike Bone, the athletic director at USC. What has your relationship been like with him, and what are the thoughts? Now, let's assume that college football happens, right? Let's assume that college football is going to happen. What will the relationship with USC look like going forward? Do you know? Me and Mike Bone have had great conversations already. Me and Mrs. Holt, who I think the absolute world of,

we had an amazing, amazing conversation, me and this lady, who we've never met before. We had a Zoom call, and we spoke for about an hour and a half. It was a great call, man, really, really good call and then i spoke with uh again like i said with mike bone and our relationship has been good and you know what is going to be good um there's no reason for us to to not have a good relationship um because mike bone and carol ford and everybody else that's that's there none of them were part of what what happened, you know, to me in 2005, you know, and during that time period. So, you know, this is something new.

And I'm excited to get to know these people. I'm excited to, you know, get back to USC and to help, you know, just be around the young guys, be around the coach, be around, you know, the team and and help, you know, get that culture back to what it was when we were there. Reggie, if this was 10 years ago, would you have you think you would have had to think twice about coming? Like, would you have ever said no to their offer if they wanted to bring you back? It's just I truly believe in timing. I believe timing is everything. And, um, 10 years ago, I don't know if I would have as a man. I've grown spiritually. You know, I've grown in a lot of different areas. And, you know, I just I think the timing is right now.

And I think the timing is perfect. And I also believe that God's timing is always right. And there's a lot of times where we want to control everything in our life. And, you know, it's crazy because and I'm sure you guys can attest to this, it's funny just how much control we don't have, you know, over our lives. And even though we like to think we do like to think that, you know, we control any and everything around us, but we really don't, you know, and I believe that the timing is right now. And I believe that the timing is also perfect because, and I believe also the people at USC are also the right people you know for us to embark on this new journey together with with me and and Carol Ford and the new AD and and all the other people there I can't wait to get to know them and I can't wait to get back can we talk

about your time at USC you were a video game I mean it was some of the shit you would do it made no your cutbacks your cutbacks for now i got a chance to play with pat white and steve slayton and obviously yeah incredible highlight reel players there but it felt like every time you were on national television it was musty the old stop cut back and then the, obviously, against AJ's brother-in-law. I mean, when you look back at your USC time, aside from the way it ended, right? And I assume that could be a little bit gloomy, too. So you might not even like to take the trip down memory lane until this all started to happen. But when you look back on your USC career, what are some of the things that jump out?

I mean, the only thing I think about is all the incredible highlights. And I would assume there's some of that for you as well. Yeah, 100%. The things that I take away is, you know, when we played on Saturdays, and AJ, you guys will be able to test this. Thank you. Jesus Christ. When you guys play on game days, right?

When you guys – I don't know about Pat. Maybe not Pat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go, let's go But, you know, when we play On games, that's That's party time, you know, that's time to go Have fun and just let all that

Aggression, all that stress out You know, whatever it is, that's your time To go out there and just release You know, and that's why You know, it's so important for us to be exhausted after games because if you're not exhausted and you might still have some pent-up energy in there but um you know it's it's um you know did you feel like you were just faster than everybody like i don't i've never felt this feeling before ever in my life did you go on the field you were just

like i did i did i didn't feel like did, I did. I have to admit it. I did feel like I was just faster than everybody. It looked like it. Jeez. I mean, those guys, but you know what? It's funny. So kids always ask me and I actually posted about this. Kids always ask me on Instagram or on social media, how do you get faster? And I tell them, go run track and field. If you run track and field, you will come back a more explosive athlete. You will come back faster. You're going to build your cardiovascular. You're going to build your endurance. So you're going to come back more faster and explosive. And then if you match that up with agility, you match that up with power. Right. Like a linebacker, you match that up with, you know, wingspan and all these

different things. That's a freak athlete. You know what I'm saying? And so, you know, for me, I've always, I've always gone back to when I ran track in high school, that was the best decision I ever made because it just turned me into a very explosive athlete. I was already, you know, very shifty, but now this gave me a different level. And so I always felt like I was faster than guys, you know, on the football And so I always felt like I was faster than guys, you know, on the football field. I always felt like I was more explosive. And for me, I fell in love with the art of just making people miss. And that was my specialty. That was the thing that when I was in Little League, I watched Barry Sanders and i watched deon sanders um i watched you know all

the different running backs and i kind of took a little piece of all of them and i tried to mold it into myself and so the cutback you know honestly that just came from when i was little i just didn't want guys to touch me don't touch me stay over there so i don't want to get hit and i just became good at you know not getting hit you ran a couple like 200 yard 80 yard runs i mean it was it was unbelievable to watch back in the day reggie i had a question about a guy who made people miss in a different way and you're running made at usc what was your relationship like with lindell white and you two sharing the success and sharing the backfield what's your relationship like with Lindell White and you two sharing the success and sharing the backfield? What's your relationship like with Lindell now?

Yeah, Lindell's my brother. And it's funny because me and Lindell, when we first got to USC, it was competition. And there was no space for weakness. There was no space for, you know, not taking care of your business because there was Herschel Dennis, there was me, there was Chauncey Washington, there was Lindell, and we had another running back. I can't remember who it was, but we had a packed backfield. And so you had to compete. And, you know, as you guys know, a lot of times in those competitions,

you know, especially on the football field, guys can get in fights. You know what I mean? There can be jealousy. There can be resentment. It's just it's just competition. Right. And so there was one famous meeting. There's one famous meeting that we were having. So during training camp as a team, as as an offense we would clown around a lot and we would have these charade wars and so the running backs would go against the quarterbacks and go against the receivers and it would be literally in the middle of a meeting and the the receivers would would like literally kick our door and be like all right let's let's go and so it was like right there on the spot we would start playing charades and so what happened was so what happened was there was something you know we were young

somebody took something and i think lindell took something from you know the receivers and it was like a fight about to break out or whatever it was and so we go back to our room and me and lindell start chirping at each other and then me and lindell literally drop ourselves and we're about to throw hands we're about to fight and we end up not fighting but from that day forward me and lindell always have respect for each other because i think we both saw okay you're not backing down i'm not backing down so let's just go to work together and uh we ended up you know becoming best friends we ended up you know we're brothers now and i just spoke to him the other day and i think the world of a man and honestly i couldn't have done it

without him because lindell was probably of anybody on that team he pushed me the most because we just competed against each other all the time and he brought something different to the game you know, he brought the power and you know, the the big ugly runs and I was more of the flash and I always kind of wanted to do what he did You know anytime I would see him going there run a couple people over I would try to go in there and run a couple people over you know what I mean? And so it was that competition that we had we were always trying to outdo each other hey charades do be like that bro you have no idea and the quarterbacks used to cheat because they already had the hand signals ah so how do you you

know what i mean how do you how do you beat that what was pete carroll like you pete carroll get along or or how yeah he was during that time period, man, Pete, me and Pete really got along. I really appreciate Pete because he brought the energy that we needed as young guys on that team to be great. And, you know, he pushed us to obviously to be accountable on the football field, to work our butts off, you know, every time, you know, we step on the field. But I also love the fact that he made football fun. And that's the thing that a lot of coaches can't do that. I don't know how many coaches you guys have been around, but a lot of coaches, some of them, more of them, more often than not,

they make it stressful. Oh, yeah. And so when you find coaches that are like players' coaches, we all hear these stories about them. You're like, damn damn you had a players coach it's like it's like this phenomenon right it's like this thing that not everybody gets and so when somebody does get a players coach and they're also winning you you you like you're almost jealous on the spot because you're like damn y'all winning and y'all having fun you know

what i'm saying and so you know i always always appreciate about Coach Carroll because he made football fun. You know, he would bring Will Ferrell around to crack jokes on our team. He would bring Gary Owen, different comedians. I met Kevin Hart when he was nobody. You know, when Kevin Hart, Gary Owen brought Kevin Hart to do stand-up for our team. And that's how we developed a relationship on the spot. And so all these guys I'm talking about now, you know, I have relationships with and that's kind of the culture that Coach Carroll created.

Reg, is USC going to have to get back to those ways of like – we would hear stories. I was in college at the same time as you. We hear stories. Yeah, I know. Keanu Reeves just stops by when we have a period. Things like that happen. Is USC going to have to get back to that to where it's like you

guys are movie stars and they're all coming to watch you like do they need to get back to that level to start winning again well this this is what i know um anytime i was on that football field and i looked across on that sideline and i saw marcus allen or i saw snoop dogg or i saw will ferrell you know or i saw whoever was, that just energized us even more. And I'm not saying that that was the main reason, you know, we, you know, we were, you know, we did what we did on the field, but there's a little bit of, you know, that, that soup, that star power, you know, that, you know, just elevates the game, you know, it's,

and we see it all the time in NBA games, right? We see people sitting, sitting courtside, Laker games, Jack Nicholas, you know, all these, all these people. And, and it just adds to, you know, I think it adds to the experience and I don't think it's a bad thing. I loved looking across the field and seeing all these guys over there supporting us because I knew what that meant. And I knew that, you know, that meant that we had an opportunity to do something special on the biggest stage. And I don't know if USC needs to get back to directly that, because to me, that's, you know, we got to build the culture first. You know, we got to build a culture of winning first, because you build the culture of winning. The celebrity is going to come right. You build a culture of winning.

The fans are going to show up. And so let's build a culture of winning, the celebrity is going to come, right? If you build the culture of winning, the fans are going to show up. And so let's build the culture of winning first, and then let's let everybody else jump on the bandwagon. When I was at West Virginia, we had a guy that drank an entire keg in one hour on the side. That was a big deal, Reg. I really wanted to get that. In five degrees.

Let's talk about you getting into the NFL. You're in the Saints hall of fame uh congratulations 2019 inductee that is huge uh you won a super bowl against a team that i was on you're a punt returner against me in the super bowl i almost shit my pants a couple times but going in now that i'm hearing you talk about your mental state of mind whenever you went to new orleans and how much you were going through because of what happened at USC. When you think about your transition to the NFL, what was your thoughts on that?

Was the game harder, easier than what you thought, or did you have so much going on? It was so much harder. To me, it was so much harder than what I thought because guys were now just as fast as me. You know what I mean? Like at the college level, you can get away with just outrunning people. You can get away with, you know, you can get away with a lot of things in college.

Because most of those guys you're playing against aren't going to go pro. Right? And that's just the reality. And so, you know, just outrunning people at the NFL level doesn't happen. I remember my first game, my first preseason game was against the Dallas Cowboys. And I caught a swing pass, and we were probably on the five-yard line. And it was me and DeMarcus Ware.

And I just already knew I was a touchdown. I knew it was going to outrun him. And he caught me, ran step for step with me. And you know, DeMarcus, his wingspan is crazy. And so he was still in his prime prime and he ran me down. And that was my first introduction really to the speed of the game.

And so I really started to understand that, OK, these D linemen are just as fast as me. These linebackers are just as fast as me. So I got to find a way to try to gain an edge because now I can't just rely on my athleticism anymore. I got to get smarter. I got to get knowledge. I got to get all these things to get myself an edge and it was tough I ain't gonna lie to you my rookie year I was people was trying to knock my head off it felt like every game I was public enemy number one it felt like every game you know guys you know when you come from a story program you win a Heisman Trophy national championship guys want to try you they want to know is this real you know what I'm saying is what I've seen on TV is that real and um you

know I a lot of games man where where I just felt like you know guys was just trying to knock me out take me out the games and hey the night before the games too they're watching and everybody's hyping up Reggie Bush best athletes athlete to ever come on the field. You got these guys who are in the NFL. Oh, we're going to see. We're going to see. We're going to see. That's real.

Hey, Reg, what was that first training camp like, Reg? My first training camp? Was that when you were still going to Mississippi? I know Sean Payton doesn't mess around. You guys hit in training camp, and it's 6,000 degrees. Yeah. going to Mississippi and I know Sean Payton doesn't mess around. You guys hit in training camp and it's 6,000 degrees. Yeah. So Sean Payton now is not the same Sean Payton we had at my rookie year in 2006.

You know, I love going into the locker rooms now and they're partying in there. They got strobe lights. They got music going, you know, and I'm like, what the hell is this? Like,

I've never seen this before. And going, you know, I'm like, what the hell is this? Like, I've never seen this before. And so, um, you know, I appreciate it though, because I know what it took to get there. You know what I mean? I know the workload and I know, um, you know, I know what Sean had to go through to get to that point because when he first got to new Orleans, um, you know, he wanted to change the culture. first got to new orleans um you know he wanted to change the culture um and and he had to uh because the culture of the new orleans saints before sean got there got there um was not winning um they weren't getting the job done they were the ain'ts and um you know and then also it was a year before

her year of hurricane katrina too so there was just a lot of uncertainty about the team, about the city, about our stadium. And so, you know, Sean did a great job and I applaud him because he came in there as, you know, demanding respect and demanding accountability and demanding all these things from us. And I think it was the right thing to do um i think also the same time there were times where people didn't like sean there were times people hated sean because you know of the kind of environment he was running it wasn't a loose ship anymore um and he was demanding you know that everybody was accountable for themselves and everybody got their work done.

And there were times where teams pushed back in training camp because, again, we were in Mississippi and it was 120 degrees every day. The humidity was like 100%. And we were still doing – AJ, you remember those real two-a-days? Like those real ones, not the little fake ones. I mean like the real ones where – Yeah, run your head, yeah, not the little fake ones. I mean, like the real ones where. Yeah, run your head. Yeah, in the morning. Yeah.

Those real two-a-days, I believe, shortened my career by about four or five years. I think I could still play had I not had to do nine-on-seven to start off practice every day. You know what I mean? And one-on-one blocking drills with linebackers who were 250 pounds you know what i mean those that was that was hard to do and to get done and and when i look back on it i feel like i survived it i don't feel like um it was something that you know necessarily helped me i just feel like i survived like death i survived death a great way to experience something now and this is a completely ignorant question but looking back for how explosive and dynamic of a player you were you were healthy

you remained healthy on a very regular basis and then obviously you caught an acl there uh against rams yeah but what was that Was that all the offseason? Like, what was it? Like, I don't know. What do you attribute that to? Well, I'll be honest with you. You know, I attribute a lot of knee injuries to turf, to the turf that they still play on. And, you know, I know a lot of times, and this is the thing that I want so badly to see, you know, get done in the NFL

because I believe it's going to save injuries. I believe it'll save bodies if we can get back to playing on grass and it's the reason i got a chance to uh to to get to know uh steve bushati the owner of the baltimore ravens a little bit and um baltimore used to be on turf i don't know if you guys remember they went back to grass because of those reasons because they were having players who were getting injured at a very high rate. And I also attribute a lot of injuries to turf. I think that turf, again, I don't care how soft you try to make it, it's still not real grass.

And it still puts too much just torque on your knees when you match that up with these explosive athletes. And I think so from just the turf and, uh, also leading an unhealthy lifestyle. Um, you know, when I was 21, 22 years old, I wasn't eating great. You know, I had a chef, but you know, I didn't understand, you know, just, you know, I was eating chicken and, and, you know, all mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. I was eating all those things almost every other day. And I wasn't eating enough fruits and enough and mashed potatoes. I was eating all those things almost every other day. And I wasn't eating enough fruits and enough vegetables and enough. And so you can get away with that when you're 21, 22, 23.

But now if I try to do that, it would take my body forever to recover. So, you know, now I understand on a different level just how important it is to really, you know, focus on eating properly. And especially, you know, as you're trying to, you know, focus on eating properly and especially, you know, as you're trying to, you know, produce on the football field. Every little edge you can gain is important. So I attribute it to field turf and just not eating well enough, you know, not eating good enough. I was eating a lot, but just it wasn't great food. Me too.

Reg, I can't thank you enough for your time man your transition tv has been awesome i love watching you on tv you're really good at it i hope you keep doing that i appreciate you guys man thanks for having me on aj we have some battles on the field man but i always appreciate it hey hold on here we go reggie whenever you're taking on when you're taking on this jawline aj hawk and you're looking at film what is is the thought? You're like, okay, we've got a little stalky white guy here, big jawline. He's going to throw his head, probably can make him miss. Is there a game plan going in? And is that something as a running back that you look at?

Like, okay, who's the people we stay away from? What's an easy way to beat said Caucasian guy? Like, is there – does that happen? Well, A.J. was a thumper, man. So we knew in the run game he was going to be extra aggressive. We knew he was going to come downhill, you know, trying to, you know, put his helmet, you know, in the middle of our linemen. And so, you know, we just, you know, when I was in Detroit, you know,

that's what I'm talking about where we had our battles. And when I was in Detroit, you know, our offensive system that we ran, you know, we always spread guys out. We always to you know keep the box light and so you know for me i always just tried to um you know just make sure i was always aware of where aj was because i knew he was always coming downhill and when you play against linebackers that are you know coming downhill they will knock your ass out if you don't see them coming. You know what I'm saying? And so I always knew the kind of player, I always studied my opponents,

I always knew the kind of player AJ was. He was a very smart player, very instinctual, and he was a thumper. And so you just know, you just have to be aware of, you know, when you're living in those trenches of, you know, just where certain guys at all times, man. And so I knew in the trenches in the trenches, it was going to be tough, but I knew if I got AJ out wide quarterback as a receiver, split that boy out there. He couldn't handle me. Yeah. No, who can, that's the problem.

When Reg is in Detroit, they'll do most. Okay. They know it's third down. I got a man to man, most God. When Reg is in Detroit, they'll motion. Okay, they know it's third down. I got a man-to-man most likely. I hope we get some points. I don't know. No, they'll motion him to empty at number one. So he's out there at slot receiver. I'm playing.

I'm like Deion Sanders out there. And he runs. I wouldn't shake him going. I even have decent coverage. And Reg will catch the ball on the sideline, make an amazing catch. I'm like, don't act like this is a normal play. I don't stop this. We schemed that play up, man, just for that.

We knew it was third down. I knew he had to have me mad, man. Motion me all wide. And, you know, I was just – I was praying to God Matt didn't get off me on that read. But, you know, again, when you play at the NFL – when you play, you know, in these divisional games, you have these rivalries and you got to find every little edge you can get because they've seen your stuff already and they've already studied it enough. And, you know, obviously Green Bay was it was a smart team, a great team.

So, you know, we had some great battles. The team always made me better. Reggie, funny story about A.J. Hawk being a thumper when he was a sophomore in high school at Centerville High School in Ohio, they have an alumni game where all these old drunks put on pads and play against the high school team. Kirk Herbstreet was one of those guys. A.J. went helmet to jaw.

No. Yes, as a sophomore in high school, ended Kirk Herbstreet's entire career. He has never played football since. Sophomore in high school. Hey, that'sreet's entire career. He has never played football since. Sophomore in high school. Hey, that's Kirk's fault. He should have known what he was doing. That ain't for the weak. Reggie, you're the best, man.

Thank you so much. You deserve the Heisman. You are electric on the football field. We're all very lucky to watch it. And you on TV is amazing as well. Ladies and gentlemen, Heisman winner, Super Bowl champion, living legend, Reggie Bush. Yeah, Reggie! Thank you, Reg.

Thank you so much. Hey, that's got to feel pretty good. You just said you're a thumper. I don't think there's a better compliment for a linebacker than what he just said to you right there. Now, granted, he said, I get him in space, he's fucking done. But aside from that, I think that is a great compliment. What a – hey, whenever he was going back in the day, dude, it was unbelievable to watch.

You hit it. I mean, you hit it. Like when – it's like the step back, the whole defense run by. Like, yeah, he's – every run seemed like a highlight real run. Dude, it was out of a movie, the step back shit he would do. Because he would even lift the ball. The ball would even be up like this. And you would just see seven people just standing by.

And then he was just gone the other way. Well, I'm so happy he joined us there. Great conversation. I almost lost it, Pat. I had a hard time holding on early on. I forget exactly what was going on when you came. You know. I couldn't what was going on when you came. He said, AJ, you know. I couldn't help but look at you.

I was looking at you, and I was trying to hold a straight face into the camera. And I just couldn't do it. I just felt like it was amazing. I thought me and Reggie were potentially going to hate each other. But halfway through, we came home. You know what I mean? I need to talk to you, AJ, especially with that beautiful jawline. I got something I'm sending over to you.

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Right now? I cannot hear myself, so this is throwing everything off. Well, that's all right. That cough. The cough in the middle of a couple of his answers. I love New Orleans. Sandy Lyle. I love New Orleans, but...

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for $3 at harrys.com forward slash Pat McAfee. There's no way they're making fucking money off that. Hey, we like beating companies and stealing from companies. It sounds like Harry's is losing money. harrys.com forward slash Pat McAfee. $3, you get an incredible lineup to keep your face shaved, moisturized, and beautiful. Hey, Reggie's a good-looking dude, by the way. I couldn't imagine being Reggie Bush back in the day in L.A., being that guy.

Oh, man. I couldn't have even fathomed being Reggie Bush back then. Yeah, Reggie Bush, Matt Lelooking dude, by the way. I couldn't imagine being Reggie Bush back in the day in L.A., being that guy. Oh, man. I couldn't have even fathomed being Reggie Bush back in the day. Yeah, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Lindale White, that whole crew. Can you imagine? Like, all the actors and celebrities and all these people wanted to hang out with them. One of the players wanted to hang out with this celebrity. He was the biggest star, I'd assume, in L.A. whenever he was there. I mean, he was there on national TV every single week.

And every single week, he was doing something that was insane. This was before Twitter. Imagine if Twitter or any of these TikTok, who knows, any of these viral platforms that there are, Reggie Bush would have been at the top every single week. It would have been like, Reggie Bush is trending. Bush is trending. Holy shit, Reggie is trending.

Like there would have been so many things. He was the next level. And I'm happy that with his rekindling here the uh the stoppage of the disassociation with usc more and more people who weren't around whenever he was hot are going to get to see his highlights because i think that's what's coming next is all the reliving the reggie bush glory days and i'm here for it all the way here for it well i i didn't realize like did you have any idea it was that difficult for him when they took the heisman away from him and all this stuff was happening? Like, I guess you just look at it and you assume, like, oh, everything.

What do you mean? He doesn't care. He's making a bunch of money. He's playing great in the NFL now. Who cares? Like, that's, I guess, what people, we don't really give time to think about that. When, oh, it's a real person. Like, real things are happening to them.

He's very bummed out that the school that he put on the map, he probably feels like, or helped put on the map, he's not even allowed to go back and visit. He's not even allowed to talk to anybody. usc is even allowed to talk to him pete carroll's gone he has zero connection to them his family isn't with him although he's a first round draft pick he didn't get picked over mario williams remember who was drafted strictly to sack peyton manning at charlie casserly eventually got fired for that that was a big deal but yeah the thought of what was going on in between his ears while this was all happening while trying to figure out the nfl while being a target for everybody i mean there's a lot for a

guy to handle he comes out as a super bowl champion saints hall of fame member yeah i hope he gets his heisman back he's back with usc i mean it's come full circle but there for a little bit i'm sure he was i mean he said he was suicidal and stuff that's crazy i would have never guessed that yeah we didn't i mean maybe we'll have him on again at some point, but we didn't really get into how long did he see his chef? His chef guy was the one dude to kind of lean on and he could listen. The only guy he could have in person to listen to him. Do you think he was living with him? I don't know. I never really understood the whole chef thing. Did you have a chef, AJ? I do not have a chef. No, not now.

No, I never had a chef didn't like to do with seafood and shellfish I do that myself I did I beat that myself a couple shrimp hell yeah hell yeah the chef thing I never understood though there's all these nutritional supplements now but I didn't understand the chef like did they live at the people's house like did you wake up and they're there make a break dj khaled made it seem as if the chef is just there living at the house on his snapchat i don't know but that's a smart move that was ahead of his time by the way getting a chef not not a lot of guys were doing that back then now it's kind of like the modern move is everybody does that aj i'm so happy reggie came on man i didn't know if it was going to happen i had no idea if it was going to happen that was a cool convo

i never knew i didn't know how long we had him so like i 15 minutes in i thought like okay is he like a reason too much of reggie's time we had him on for what 40 minutes yeah i had no idea either i mean i i was just trying to like get a read on his answers on how miserable he was because normally at the end yeah i tried hard it was a lot of fun oh okay this son of a bitch wants out of here now he was going he i think he potentially enjoyed that conversation oh yeah too i mean i hated the first 10-15 minutes just because the amount of disrespect that was happening but after that i mean i really enjoyed it a lot yeah was did you hear him ask mac brown about the whole vince young heisman situation no i actually heard it in the locker room but at that point he didn't know i was in a locker room so i

said i had to hear it from somebody in the locker room just to carry on i wanted to see if we could go the entire show with him thinking i never played football before so i was just trying to do that whole thing but we had somebody who came from texas maybe they were on the team and we were indulging in vitamins together i don't know if he's stuck on our team if he's practicing i forget it was it was a conversation and it came up and was like they tried to give reggie's heisman to vince or whatever and vince said no and i was like It was a conversation, and it came up, and it was like, they tried to give Reggie's Heisman to Vince or whatever, and Vince said no, and I was like, the conversation just moved past it.

But Jaime was like, they just tried to, I don't know if anybody knows that, and I had to keep that one bundled inside for a long time because it was not public. Also, I didn't know the guy that well, so it was like, is he full of shit or not? So then whenever I was like, if I ever talk to Reggie, I am going to ask him about this. And here it is.

I guess last week he started talking about it for the first time. Yeah, that was a real thing. The Heisman people were like, oh, this is yours now because it's no longer Reggie's. And Vince was like,

no, this is Reggie's Heisman. It's not mine. That's awesome, by the way. Because that is, I mean, if a Heisman just shows up on your front door, I mean, that's kind of tough to be like,

eh, I don't want that fucking thing. Get it out of here. I give Vince a lot of credit. But the thing is, so he has rekindled his relationship with USC, but the Heisman Committee, are they still going to say

his year that nobody won the Heisman? If you go to the website, it just skips over the year? I have no idea. I would assume that it would only be right to give the guy back his Heisman, especially at this point

with his relationship at USC now. I would assume on Tuesday, June 23rd, after talking to him and hearing how he's speaking about how much that really affected him. And like, I think that is a much deeper conversation than I assume the NCAA and Heisman people never really had. Like, oh, should we worry about this guy as a human at all that we just completely disassociate everything he just accomplished in his entire life? Like, I bet you they never even thought about that as i didn't i never even thought about reggie caring about that because he's reggie bush is always the thought but now

hearing him tell his story and i think the more and more he talks and the more and more he goes back to usc i think it's only a matter of time before the heisman people go like hey uh we were wrong about this in fact we try to give it to vince kind of fucked up fucked up, too, now that we think about it. You know what I mean? And then your teammates, too. And then also Matt Leiner as well. Once Vince said no, we were like, well, fuck him. We'll go to Matt then. Matt will take it.

I'd tell him to shove it up their ass. Yeah, you did or Vince did? I would. You would have? With Vince, yeah. Yeah? You're so noble. You took it away from me.

I don't want it back now. You're so noble. Oh, you're talking about Reggie? Yeah. Oh, geez. No, if I'm Reggie, I'm taking that thing so I can put it up in the fireplace. I would, for sure. And also, by the way, I'm taking that thing so I can put it up in the fireplace. I would for sure. And also, by the way, I'm giving another speech.

I'm giving another Heisman speech. Ceremony. As if I just won it again. Screw those people. On the actual Heisman website, it just skips 2005. I mean, OJ Simpson still has a couple Heismans, and they won't give Reggie one. Screw those people. I'll tell you what.

I'm just saying. Fucking OJ. How do we get him on this show?'m just saying Fucking OJ How about him get How do we get him on this show How do we get OJ Simpson On this show I have some questions I have

Yeah Zito Zito doesn't know him What would be Actually How would you Start off the talk If we had OJ on Like hey

How's it going Ladies and gentlemen Hall of Famer Former Heisman winner And alleged murderer OJ Simpson There you go Juice So if he If he doesn't hang up there Okay if he Famer, former Heisman winner, and alleged murderer, O.J. Simpson. Here you go, Juice. So if he doesn't hang up there, hey, guys, if he does this little thing,

if he doesn't hang up there, then I lead into, O.J., with all that you've accomplished both in movies and on the football field, when you thought about getting into being an author and you said, if I would have done it, this is how I would have done it, do you think that was a great move for you let's start there that's what i would start with i think i honestly think he might enjoy that interview because he's talked around he's talking circles around everything now so i think it'd be fun maybe we'll get him zito reach out got it don't get too close don't get too close we all wear gloves yeah yeah definitely

i'm coming well this is for COVID-19. I wear these leather. These are kind of small. Reggie's going to need a bigger knife. Man, Reggie was awesome, dude. Reggie was awesome, though. He really was. That was a cool convo.

He doesn't do a lot of interviews. He doesn't. And a lot of people that are... I told a couple of people that we're potentially going to have Reggie on this morning show and then this show, and they're like, maybe, maybe. Sure. Maybe, maybe. That's always the thing is like maybe, maybe.

Because I think he's kind of like, I don't know, he has kids now. He's married. He's in a whole different world. And I don't know how much he enjoys talking about everything. You know, I think that's kind of something that obviously hit him pretty well. So I'm so thankful he joined us for that conversation. 40 minutes, too. Good shit.

Well, yeah. And think about most things. I guess most people that reach out for that conversation. 40 minutes, too. Good shit. Well, yeah, and think about most things. I guess most people that reach out to him that want to speak to him, it's probably about, like, what are your feelings like now towards this negative thing that happened to you in your life? Like, it's all, like, he's like, all right, I probably talked about this enough. I don't need to go into it every other day.

All right. Well, AJ, thanks to Harry's, by the way, getting on board. Three bucks. Harry's.com forward slash Pat mcafee they are giving things away somebody I think this is the actual I think this is probably what you get here oh

don't do it AJ ergonomic handle cuz for a nice firm grip respect ergonomics oh there's the thing in there. This is what you get. Three bucks. Need to go in there. AJ, you see this

right here, this razor? Be careful, it's sharp. OJ would not use this, but... We just lost Aries, I think. Aries, the blade OJ used. Zeno. There's no reason for that um go back to your vacation i don't think we'll have a show thursday or friday because i have a bachelor party weekend

then i'm going on to golf yeah hell yeah yeah going to golf where are you going i think we're going to golf up in michigan uh it was supposed to be colorado and then we Yeah, going to golf. Where are you going? I think we're going to golf up in Michigan. It was supposed to be Colorado. Then we ended up going to Michigan because it's drivable and I don't have to hop on a plane. And if you know anything about the laws in both Colorado and Michigan, you know why we chose to go to said states. I think I might know why. Marijuana. Can you just walk into one of those places?

I do believe. Yeah, you can. I do believe. I you can I do believe I've been getting real into golf, AJ I heard I heard you're already pretty much scratch I'll tell you what If me and the flat stick have a real conversation

And figure it out There's a chance I get very low very soon I have figured out my swing I am very happy about it I am at a whole nother level of golf I'm enjoying golfing And I'm actually having the nother level of golf. I'm enjoying golfing. And I'm actually having the mindset when I go golf, like, I'm going to try to do good today. Like, as opposed to like, I'm just going to go hit the shit out of the ball a couple times.

I'm having a thought like, you know what? I'm going to do good today. And it's a good feeling to have. I haven't had this probably 10 years. Do you think one quick weekend could derail that whole situation? Bingo! Bingo. A couple early tea times, too. I'm excited to see how the boys react.

I'm excited to see how the boys react. So we will see you next Monday. AJ from Florida, myself from Indianapolis, all the boys, we can't thank you enough for fucking with us. Reggie Bush, what a man, what a legend. And we will see you on Monday. AJ, anything to say to the people here whenever we won't see them for a couple days?

Yeah, we'll be back Monday. Pat, have fun this weekend. I'm excited to hear. I'm excited to hear stories about what you did. AJ was invited, by the way. He chose to go down to Florida with his family in 45 minutes. Real selfish of him. You guys just love golf too much.

I couldn't wake up. I wouldn't want to play at 7 a.m. and have another 18 at like – Yeah, because there's no fans for you to tackle on the lake. It's not about golf. It's not about golf. Oh, I would pay so much money to see you tackle Connor into a lake. Yeah, for sure. That's what it's about.

That is what it's about. That's what we would have been doing. Fellowship. It's about fellowship, yeah. Yeah, and you're just on a – I mean, everybody knows – I think we bought out a few hours worth of tee times, too. So we just have the entire course, basically.

Again? Again? This time we're going to do it right, though. This time we're going to do it right. Oh, yeah. We're going to do it right this time. It's just nice to get out there on a course, you know, do a little of this, talk a little shit, hit some shots, maybe drink a little beers.

Gamble a little bit. Gamble a little bit, you know. Smoke a lot of the trees because it's legal up there. I mean, it's just what it's to do. From myself and AJ, we can't thank you enough for watching. We'll see you on Monday. This has been McAfee and Hawk Sports Talk. The greatest sports talk show on the internet

From one to two, it's in standard time So come on down for a mental vacation With the boys on YouTube Live It's McAfee and Hawk It's McAfee and Hawk Sports Talk AJ used to tackle quarterbacks And he's a Rust Belt kind of guy He's a zumper

For the 2010s, kicking Pierce Missiles to the sky It's McAfee and Hawk It's McAfee and Hulk. It's McAfee and Hulk. It's McAfee and Hulk. Oh, you're down. So sorry to interrupt, but I have to tell you about this new cereal that has come into my life. Okay, everybody knows I was born and raised on cereal in fifth grade. They asked us to bring in our parents' favorite recipe because they were going to make a mother's cookbook for some holiday. I came in written down on a piece of paper. I need 2% milk, a bowl, a spoon,

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We thank Magic Spoon for sponsoring this podcast and also for creating something that's absolutely delicious while I try to suffer through this keto time. Shout out to magicspoon.com forward slash pat. Free shipping. Get the variety back. You're going to love it. I do. Cheers. How are the cowboys going to love it. I do. Cheers. How are the Cowboys going to afford everybody?

Honestly. They've paid everybody. It's like what the Los Angeles Rams did. And the Rams went on that run. And then they score like four points in the Super Bowl. They lose. And then they have to implode that entire team because they paid everybody. The Dallas Cowboys might be running into that. To join us is a three-time Super Bowl

champ, five-time Pro Bowler, All-Pro, Cowboys Ring of Honor member, ladies and gentlemen, Darren Woods. What's up, Pat? How you doing, bro? I'm great. Thank you for joining us again. I see you're not at your office. You have a lovely painting right behind you there. What do we got going on? No, that's, please, that's not a lovely painting man that's just uh i'm not gonna put my wife on blast that's not a lovely painting i think you just did right there okay that is in the eye of the beholder i've been to a couple of those galleries and i've seen things much worse than that sell for a lot of money with those drunk art

purchasers. But let's talk, Darren. Let's talk about Dak Prescott signing that franchise tag for $31.4 million. The last time you joined us, you told us a couple things. You talked about how your office overlooks the practice field, which I found alarming. I found that a bit alarming because I'd assumed there's some secret things that could potentially get out. But you said Dak Prescott has this workhorse-like mentality.

He's out there all the time. And basically, he's a guy that if you were to build a team, you would put it on his shoulders. It seems like Jerry Jones and Dak are closer and closer to that inevitability. Yeah, I think they're getting closer to that. And I would not be surprised if by in July, which is going to be the deadline as far as them redoing a contract, that they get this thing done at some point. But, you know, again, Dak Prescott has been that guy. He's done everything this organization has asked of him in his tenure here as a cowboy. He came in his first year,

he became an instant leader. He was a guy that showed up every day and consistently did the things that they asked for him to do and beyond you know and one of the biggest problems that this organization has had even before Dak got here was a leadership issue a ton of talent but couldn't get over the hump because they didn't have those guys that were true leaders that helped them now you have a young kid at your quarterback position who's willing to go that extra mile and he still doesn't have a long-term deal so this is you know for them i think the cowboys are looking at this saying let's we got to get this deal done and not knowing what the salary cap is going to look like in the future this has to get done by july i would assume because of all the things that you just said is why dac prescott was standing so

firm on what he wanted because they could have paid him a year ago they chose not to do that they rolled the dice he had his best season yet. Now, going into a season with Mike McCarthy, who is an incredible offensive quarterback coach. I mean, that is just well known by, if you look through any of his stats with his work with you name it, he might have his best year yet, and nobody knows what's going to happen with the salary cap.

So what do you think they do with the deal? Do you think it'll be largely based on if the salary cap moves, he'll get a percentage of the salary cap like how do you think they make this deal happen by july 15th here's the hang-up hang-ups on how many years the hang-up is cowboys want him at five years he wants it he wants a four-year deal which i totally understand i mean you want the flexibility to say i play four years and then i move on and go on to the next because what the cowboys are going to do is lock you down with five years and we all know who's in control of the franchise tag again five year deal and then when you're five years up they're gonna lock you

they said well we don't want a long-term deal we're gonna franchise tag you again which they have the option to do so if i'm dac i'm going four years. I'm going to stick to my guns and make sure I win because it's not on Dak that the fact, like you just said, they had this option last year to get him signed. They should have got him signed. It didn't happen. Now he's going to stick to his gun and have the leverage on. I want a four-year deal.

Let's figure it out. How are the Cowboys going to afford everybody? I just talked about the rams the rams last year they paid everybody boom boom boom they had a team they went on a run and then now they're literally having to implode that entire thing because they don't have the ability to build a team around their salary cap because they're strapped on the cash how will the cowboys be able to afford everybody including the thought that jamal adams potentially comes to the cowboys on a restructured deal for less money because he understands the market value of being a cowboy how do they afford

everybody moving forward listen they can't i mean and that's the honest to god truth so when you start to sign these players you start to sign them through priority who's the who's the priority dac prescott's priority but he's been sitting there waiting on Amari Cooper to get signed on Ezekiel Elliott to get signed on Zach Martin to get signed so he sat there and waited this is not his problem trust me this is not a Dak Prescott problem this is a Dallas Cowboy problem and that problem has to be and you know as any other team as you're watching with the Rams you're gonna lose players good players superstar players in order to get your guy signed and that's going to be the offensive line they're going to

take a hit which has been their strength for the longest time defensive players young defensive players who are coming up are going to have to go the byron joneses of the world who's gone to miami you're going to have to you're going to start seeing this Cowboy team start losing players as time goes on as well, superstar players as well. Everybody says Jerry Jones is making these decisions. We've all seen him on draft night on his yacht in Miami. It looked amazing. He had a great draft night.

But who is the one that has to manage the salary cap? Is that a Stephen Jones gig? Is that Jerry Jones hand-on being like, well, okay, if we pay this guy $7,000 million here, who's the one that's for it? That's all Stephen Jones gig, like who is that? Jerry Jones hand on being like, well, OK, if we pay this guy seven thousand million dollars here. Who's the one that's Stephen Jones? Stephen Jones. Stephen Jones. And look, that relationship is a great father son relationship. And I love both of them.

They've just been awesome for me throughout my career and after. But Stephen is the guy who's going to be crunching numbers. Will McClay is the acting GM, as you would say, because Will McClay is the one who's running the day-to-day as far as personnel is concerned. But it's going to be up to those two to figure out how they get up under the cap and what the cap looks like. Still don't know what it's going to look like here in the future months yeah andrew brant joined us yesterday he has the business of sports podcast

former green bay packers executive and agent he said that the a lot of other sports potentially have 40 of their income coming from day to days whenever the stadiums are open in the nfl it's only 15 to 20 because of the massive tv deals that they're making so he might see a potential dip in a salary cap but he doesn't think it'll be as drastic as the mlb or the nba potentially or anything like that and he could be completely wrong so i'm not 100 sure how they like how because nobody's negotiating long-term deals right now christian mccaffrey got a long-term deal which was nobody expected it was big for a running back but he's not just a running back but everybody else is kind of sitting back and saying hey listen we can't lock anything long term until we know what the hell is going to happen this season because that's

going to affect the future salary cap is that why Dak Prescott signed a franchise tag you think because that conversation happened between Steven and you think that's what happened that's ultimately why absolutely that conversation has has happened and and and he had to get this deal done. Listen, I think the one thing I want to say about Dak is this. Everything, again, everything they've asked him to do, he's pretty much done. He's not going to fight the fact of, yeah, this is the situation now. We all understand what the situation is. I'm going to be franchise tag as of now.

I'm going to set up. I'll sign it. I'll be in camp. I'll do all the little things that they're asking me to do and ask that I'm asked to do. I'm not going to ruffle any feathers. It's Mike McCarthy's offense. Now I'm going to be there day one. You won't see this guy holding out, doing all those things. And that's that way. That's been the expectation from that locker room, knowing he's going to do what's right for the team. But at some point you you have to look.

And I'm looking at July, end of July. At some point, he's going to have to do what's right for Dak Prescott as well and show leverage and say, maybe I don't show up. Maybe I do something a little different to get what I absolutely want because he's gone along company line for the longest time everything you just said right there made me think that Stephen Jones and Jerry Jones if the whole locker room knew that he was going to do what's right by the team all the posturing by both sides none of it mattered because they knew at the end they

would have a deal that's that's a very interesting thing to know if you're on the side that has to negotiate the deal to give up your own money knowing that that person hey this guy such a good guy this guy now granted that would probably warrant a long-term deal and let's get this right because he is such a good guy but also let's remember good guy won't be doing anything to really screw us over again that is that's an interesting exactly that's a very interesting thing there with Dak. Do you think he signed the franchise tag when everybody thought he wasn't going to until July 15th so that he and Mike McCarthy can get to work, whether it's via Zoom calls, FaceTime stuff? Absolutely.

You know, I think this is more about, you know, not only him, but there's a lot of players within that locker room. It's a new start. Coach McCarthy brings in something that's a little different than what they've had to pass it with Jason Garrett uh they all have to get on the same page and with Corona you know there has not been a lot of face-to-face with the players it's been everything's been virtual so they're playing from behind right now and a guy like Dak he's gonna have to get his hands and his around this So, you know, sign the deal. You know you're going to be playing this year at some point. Sign the deal. Let's get into camp.

Let's get into knowing what Coach McCarthy wants, what his strengths and weaknesses are, how I fit into this game, and let's move forward. Let's get going. And I think that's the mentality. Darren, you're a three-time Super Bowl champ, All-Pro, Cowboys Ring of Honor member. I mean, Darren, you're a three-time Super Bowl champ, all-pro, Cowboys Ring of Honor member. I mean, legend through and through in the NFL. Do you see any chance that the NFL doesn't go off without a hitch? I mean, maybe there'll be no fans in the stands, but I see zero possibility that the NFL bends or breaks because of the COVID-19.

I honestly, I see them going off. Here we go. This is our season. They announced that schedule, and there was no alternatives. There was no, like, if this happens, this happens. The NFL is like, this is what we're doing, and if COVID-19 don't like it, they can get the hell out or do whatever they need to do. I think that's what the NFL is going to do.

Absolutely. Hey, Pat, I'm right there with you. It's 32 owners that have been strong-minded owners for the longest time. This season is going to go. I think the NFL is a different monster than Major League Baseball, than the NBA. They are strong-headed, and they're going to say, this season is going to start, and we're not going to bend. We're going to move forward.

Corona, you figure it out. I can really see Roger Goodell, by the way, in his basement with the M&Ms. Corona's just going to have to figure it out i can really see roger goodell by the way in his basement with the m&ms corona's just gonna have to figure it out darren does uh jamal adams have to be traded at this point because uh like pat was talking about yesterday like walking into that locker room after all this news comes out like how hard would that be and is there any chance that it would be to the Cowboys? Man, you know what, guys? I'm not sure, man. I really, you know, you always look.

I'm the biggest Jamal Adams fan out there. He's good. And I know what he said. He's probably ruffled some feathers within his own locker room. Probably has, you know, part of it. But, you know, this kid has been, you know, first of all, the Jets don't have a whole lot of talent to just be playing around with, right? They stink, yeah.

So that's one thing. And you're talking about their top, maybe top two, three guy best player on their football team outside of Sam Darnold. So, you know, this is a guy that you need to get signed. Don't play games with him. Get him signed. He's a young football player. Get him signed. Now, if they do trade him, I don't know

if it's, you know, we always say, well, you know, a player is going to go to a certain team and it never happens. It never happens that way. He ends up going somewhere else. They find another trade partner and they move on. Do the Cowboys want him? Absolutely. Are the Cowboys going to be willing to give up

what the Jets want in return? Probably not. That's not, I don't think that's going to be the case. I think the Cowboys are going to be willing to give up um what the jets want in return probably not that's not i don't think that's going to be the case i think the cowboys are going to play hardball in this situation we talked about this the other day with jamal adams wanting out in the instagram post and then he i believe just last night he said he's going to miss balling with another jet teammate so i mean he's doubling tripling down on his message that he wants out of there and obviously his agent talked to schefter and list off all these things. But the thing about the NFL is the players have no choice.

No control. None. None. A lot of people are tweeting us like, it doesn't matter. He's not going anywhere if the Jets don't want him to go. And by the way, that's 100% true. Like if the Jets don't want to move him, they don't care how miserable he is. If he wants to sit out, do whatever you got to do.

They can hold on to him as long as they want. And that is a very interesting situation for Jamal. And that is a disgruntled situation for a young man to be in. That's at his peak of his career. It's to say, the team really doesn't want me. They don't want to do a long-term deal. They're not willing to trade me. They're sitting me in this locker room.

The guys in this locker room are looking at me sideways by the fact that, yeah, I made some comments. And now I got to go out and play and get the fan base rally behind me. That's a tough situation to be in, man. Listen, I don't admire that situation for him. But at the same time, he made that bid, bro. He made that bid. Now you got to figure it out. How long did you play for the Cowboys?

13. Was that the only place you played? That's the only place I know. Wow. Clueless. That's awesome because we had Robert Mathis in here. I only played for the Colts for eight years. Robert Mathis came in 14 years.

He only played for the Colts. And I was talking to him about how that rarely happens, especially with the Cowboys. That very rarely happens. Good for you, man. Yeah. Tell you what, it was a nice run, man. And I'll tell you this.

I'll leave you guys with this. We talk about the Jones family, and I'm probably one of the hardest ones that go on the Joneses. And Troy Aikman, of course. Troy does not hold back on Jerry and Steven. A lot of mic time for Troy, too. Exactly. But that family has been special on and off the field.

It's not just myself. It's the Michael Irvins. It's the M.U.S., the Emmitt Smiths, and the Deion Sanders. The Jones family has been special on and off the field. And I would say even more so off the field in my business endeavors. They have just, they've been, you know, rock solid. And so it's hard sometimes to come on or go on any show and be negative towards them because you know what they mean, they meant to us in a lot of ways.

But at the same time, when it comes down to football and this business, this is exactly how they treat it. You have to go at them the right way because if you don't, you sit back, you're being fake. Okay, we have to get to a break here for radio. What's your podcast? Are you still doing your podcast? Yeah.

Hey, am I still doing it? Come on, Pat and Darren, what's your show, man? Every week, brother. Digs here listens every single week. He hasn't given me an update in two weeks, so that's 100% on. That's on you, Diggs. Yeah, I'll blame him. I will blame him.

But every time you talk, I enjoy the hell out of it. I appreciate you joining us. Ladies and gentlemen, Cowboys Ring of Honor member, Super Bowl champ, All-Pro Darren Woodson. Thank you. Hey, that painting is very nice. Very nice painting. Sorry to interrupt. I have to tell you about this incredibly fucking cool thing

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World-class artist. Make it happen. Can't thank you enough for choosing to listen to this show. I know there's a lot of things that could penetrate your ears. The fact that you allowed us to do so, I am forever grateful for. Shout out to the conversations that were had today too. I enjoyed a lot.

We'll be back, Mignogna. I'm going on my bachelor, bachelorette weekend. Okay, going to be golfing a little bit. Go ahead and send me motivational tweets, hello tweets, celebratory tweets, hashtag this is where I'm at, Pat tweets. golfing a little bit. Go ahead and send me motivational tweets, hello tweets, celebratory tweets, hashtag this is where I'm at, Pat tweets. Can't thank you enough.

We're back, manana. Be sure to tell a friend if you enjoyed what happened today. Cheers. Ty Schmidt, please play some independent music. សូវាប់ពីបានប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្វាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបាូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប� Thank you. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី Thank you. Bye.