The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 226 - Golf Legend David Feherty, Packers RB Aaron Jones, & Legend, AJ Hawk Stop By For A Great Conversation. Let's. Go.

Episode Date: July 16, 2020

On today’s show, Pat is joined by former professional golfer on the European and PGA Tour, 1989 Ryder Cup Champion, current golf broadcaster, host of the TV show “Feherty,” which will be airing it’s 10th season soon, the legend from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, David Feherty. Pat and David chat about how his career as a broadcaster and Tiger’s career have been about the same length so he’s gotten to ride the Tiger wave, whether or not Tiger has a chance to win this weekend at The Memorial, what he thinks about the next generation of golfers, and why he thinks golf is the greatest sport in the world. David also tells Pat and the boys a couple of hilarious stories from his time as a professional (1:43-19:40). Next is another installment of McAfee & Hawk Sports talk as AJ is officially back from Lake Tahoe. Pat and AJ discuss everything going on with different players having to sign the franchise tag, where the Cowboys are at with Dak Prescott’s longterm extension, and how the Chiefs have money to pay everyone. Pat and AJ also describe what it’s like to be in a pile or scrum in an NFL game, and Pat chats about what went into recovering his own onside kick against the Texans, plus Pat, AJ, and the boys get into a heated discussion about whether or not meatball sub’s are good sandwiches (22:01-1:44:51). Later, 2019 NFL rushing touchdown co-leader, one of the most underrated players in the NFL, current Running Back for the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Jones joins the program. Pat and Aaron chat about why the Packers seem to be disrespected so much by the media, what Aaron is focused on going into a contract year, what he has heard about the return to play and whether or not he thinks they’ll be in camp by July 28th, his thoughts on the Packers drafting a RB in the 2nd round, why he doesn’t really care about the Madden ratings, and why he thinks he and Aaron Rodgers may be primed to have their best years yet (1:44:53-1:59:36). 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 merch. If you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to the Youtube channel (youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow) as we’re approaching 1 million subscribers and are gearing up for a MASSIVE giveaway. We appreciate you all for letting us penetrate your ears. Come and laugh with us, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

hello it is thursday july 16th and this is the pat mcphie show 2.0 podcast i can't thank you enough for allowing us to penetrate your ears got some great conversations today i think you're gonna say you know what happy i picked that show to listen to if you do enjoy this show be sure to tell a friend if you don't enjoy the show just act like it never fucking happened. Okay. Just easy rules here. Um, this Washington football team named to be determined shit. That's going to come out either today or tomorrow allegedly is bonkers. Okay. Everybody's been saying that the NBC sports in Washington has been saying that a writer for ABC7, which I believe is in D.C. Or a reporter for ABC7, which I believe is in D.C.

Said that other people in the area who have gotten little pieces of information about the news that's about to come out about Washington team named TBD team over there. It's going to be bonk. I mean, this is going to be bonkers from what everybody's saying. There's been some rumors that have started floating around the Internet internet and I've read them and I'm like, there's no way they can be true. And then I go and check with those people's tweets and they're like, oh yeah, it's bad. It could be true. So we'll keep our eyes peeled to that, obviously. If something pops up, you can go check out youtube.com forward slash the Pat McAfee show. I'm sure we will react to it as it happens because this is mighty big news from what

I've been told. And other than that, sit back, relax, and enjoy some good conversation. You're the greatest. All right, Ty, let's get to this thing. Joining us now is a legend. He's an analyst for the nbc sports and emmy nominated host on golf channel he's been doing pga tour live tournament broadcast for the past 25 years what david's self-titled ferrity series also is scheduled to resume in its 10th

season on july 27th with the show airing monday at 9 p.m. Eastern time on the Golf Channel. Ladies and gentlemen, golf legend David Faraday. Oh, dear. Hey, you know, just talking about manscaping there, I've spent so much time trying to keep six feet between me and the refrigerator and it hasn't worked. And my body looks like a ruptured sofa. And manscaping is difficult. You know, when you've got so many lumps and like soft

creases and bulges, but you know, I'm making an attempt at it. Well, you're a bag of potatoes at this point, David, we all are you got this lawnmower 3.0. It's It's smooth. It's like butter coming. It's like hot butter coming right off. It'd be no problem even if you got a beat up body over there. Yeah, I got one. It's really good. Hey, it actually is very good. I'm happy this is how our conversation started. I've learned a lot about you. I want to ask you this one simple question. I've gotten into golf

here a little bit more as I've gotten older and things like that. What makes golf the best sport on earth do you think? I mean, what is it? Is it the intensity? Is it the precision? Is it how you have to be good for so long? What do you think makes golf the best sport on earth? I think it's because it's so addictive. It's as much of a drug as it is a sport and you say you see people all the time and say you know golf it's so slow and it's not interesting and whatever and then when you get them to try it you know it's too difficult but then they hit that one shot that comes out of the middle of the club face and soars up into the air it holds against the blue sky for a little bit and it comes down it might even spin a little bit it's like you know

it's i don't know uh it's like no other sport when you know being able to control an object over such long distances gives you such a sense of achievement for 25 years you've been covering uh the gulf here and that is you don't look like it by the way you look like you've been covering for about five ten years you look amazing dav look amazing, David. I feel like that. But for 25 years, that's basically the same exact length as Tiger Woods' career here, 24 years. So you've gotten a chance to kind of watch the Tiger kind of take golf to its peak in popularity there for a while, and then kind of he disappears, and now he kind of comes back. He's playing in a tournament this weekend, obviously.

Anytime Tiger's playing, the tournament this weekend obviously anytime tiger's playing it's crazy 24 years and i would assume there's a heightened excitement around everybody at the golf course including yourself and the other golfers there is and it shows itself even in the logistics of the golf tournament they have to hire more security staff more parking attend that to have more parking space there are more cops there are more parking. They tend to have to have more parking space. There are more cops. There are more spectators. They generate more money for the local area charities. It's incredible the effect that he's had over the last 25 years. The PGA Tour have raised over $3 billion, I think, in charitable giving since its inception. And it wouldn't surprise me if Tiger Woods hasn't been responsible for about a billion of it by himself.

So Tiger is, there's obviously the conversation of who's the GOAT in every single sport. And Mike Greenberg from ESPN's Get Up put up this poll on his Twitter the other day, and he was like, who's most likely to catch their, you know, the previous GOAT? LeBron to MJ, he needs three more championships. Patrick Mahomes to Tom Brady, this was obviously after Patrick Mahomes signed a half billion dollar deal. He needs five more championships. And then Tiger to Jack, Tiger only needs three more. Now he didn't win this poll because we live in a recency bias world, but Tiger getting three more championships.

Is that very attainable and doable, you think, for Tiger, especially with the way he seems to be golfing now? He looked incredible at the match, too. It looked like he was controlling the ball everywhere it needed to go. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's very doable. I wouldn't describe it as that, but it's certainly doable. The only mistakes I've ever made in the 25 years I've been covering him is when I've underestimated him. And I would say of that group that you just showed me, he's definitely favorite because

he gets four chances a year. The other guys really only get one. He's just watching him go that match to look. I had no idea his legs were that tiny. He's got tiny little legs. I had no idea. I thought a man that hits a ball that far and is that explosive you have big legs but the match too like when i was watching that and i have like an amateur golf eye when you're watching him like control and shape his shots you have to be

thinking like okay tiger seems to be all the way back because we've gotten pump faked the last couple years a few times like okay tiger's back and then something would happen and tiger's back and then he wins one and then he kind of disappears for a little bit, then quarantine hits, and then he's back. What is it in your eyes that you think, like, you know what, Tiger's back? Like, did you watch that match too and go, okay, it looks like our guy is back on top of his game? Well, the injury has forced him to play a little more within himself.

And along with that, there are these youngsters that he has dragged up, if you like, from, he set the bar so high that, you know, players like Ricky Fowler and Dustin Johnson and, you know, now we've got Justin Thomas, we've got Colin Murakawa, Victor Hovland, Matthew Wolfe. They all, you know, look at that bar and they think, well, I can get there. So the competition at the top has got a good deal closer. And, you know, Tiger is responsible for that. But he's playing more within himself. You can see he's trying, you know, to keep his body in shape. So, yeah, I mean, you can see a lot of great Tiger Woods golf from now on.

I think, you know, as long as he can stay healthy, I mean, he's got great chances because it's still the same rules apply. You know, if Tiger Woods plays well, he wins. He wins. You know, even today, if he plays well, he wins. And that's always been the case, you know, since he came out on the pga tour let's talk about that young crew because obviously last weekend justin thomas and morikawa won after it uh extra holes uh justin thomas was up three going into the final three and in the game of golf things can happen like that all you need is one two bad shots and everybody else is back in the game but i couldn't watch it on damn television i mean you guys have a golf channel dave put it put it on the golf channel why couldn't i see that because i felt like the news that i was

getting on the internet i'm like hey this is great for golf two young guys going at it right now but nobody could watch it why was that am i an idiot it's that's frustrating and i don't know the reason why uh you know i'm not on that side of the business thank god you wouldn't be you'd probably be watching cricket yeah um yeah i mean i'd like to see it on the golf channel i'd like to see everything on golf channel i work for them the golf channel seems to be great content i i remember going back the big break used to be like one of my favorite shows it'd be on late night ferrity going into its 10th season that has to feel pretty damn good to be a show host here all by yourself with your last name going on 10 years what should people look forward to coming up july 27th wow you know we've had such a break i'm not even sure who's going to

be on you know come july 27th but uh 10 years yeah it's been an amazing trip and you're talking about golf channel programming you know there's the live golf is one thing it's always going to be popular but some of the documentaries um you know samuel jackson you know about uh you know black players in the game and they're you know being excluded from it so for so many years on the pga um there's uh the arnold uh documentary there's jack there's i mean they're just fascinating you know such uh programming and really you know i i deal with uh live golf a lot in my job and i tend not to watch it when i'm off work but i do watch the uh the other I love it. I think I got this at 2, 3 a.m. It's called the Unduffable.

Turns out, son of a bitch. Unduffable? Yeah, duffs all the time. Duffs all the time. Yeah, it looks like something you'd beat sheep into a vine with. You're from Northern Ireland? I think you're the first person i've ever talked to from northern ireland yes yeah that's that's where i'm from we have a special relationship with sheep

there uh the young golfers the young golfers you got brooks obviously dustin johnson uh in the last what week or two hasn't been in contention so i guess he's out of conversation but it does feel like there is that young group that is kind of primed to take on is there any golfers that are like kind of young phenom like golfers that we don't know about yet that hasn't like hit maybe teenagers or something that could kind of get in i guess more kawa could potentially be that guy you know um i uh i've had my finger off the pulse for so long. But, you know, guys, not that I know of, but the talent is so phenomenal. And we see it every year. There are names that pop up and you think to yourself,

well, who the hell is that? Where did he come from? I mean, they're coming off that college conveyor belt. And nobody chokes anymore. You know, have you seen that? We had Justin this weekend. belt and they're not nobody chokes anymore have you you know have you have you seen that we had justin uh this weekend but you can't really call it a choke uh well i suppose you can actually kind of yeah i think it was up three okay forget that last bit yeah yeah yeah okay i'm just saying

probably could i guess but it does feel like every the game of golf it feels like everybody's hitting shots that people i've never heard of are making these miraculous shots, and then you're like, you're right. The name will come out of nowhere. It's like, well, I had no idea that guy even existed, and he just played golf better than every human on earth. What do you got to say? Talk about the college conveyor belt and a guy that's really coming on right now.

What has been the tour player's reaction and the analyst's reaction to Bryson DeChambeau's body transformation and now him just absolutely bombing the ball every weekend. Faraday every other sport Faraday there'll be a lot of questions there'll be a lot of questions he said he drank nine protein shakes a day or whatever it is paying off he's hitting that thing a mile every time. Yeah I know I mean he's gone from I mean he looks like a silverback it's Bryson is one of those those people that he'll take it to the 200%. Whatever he does, he just gets headfirst into it, whether it's physics, math, the science part of it, the psychological part of it, the physical part of it. I just afraid that he might explode into like a horror movie.

I'm just afraid that he might explode into a horror movie. They say you're not supposed to swing out of your shoes. He is swinging out of it. He looks like a long drive guy trying to get to every single time he swings at that thing. Yeah, I agree. He generates so much leverage, and he's got the bulk behind it now as well. He does. He looks like one of the guys, you know, in the log drive championship, but he's got tremendous technique as well.

It's really, it's pretty frightening. It wouldn't surprise me if Bryson, you know, because he's so intense and so motivated, you know, if he does get to number one in the world. There are so many golf courses around that are just beautiful, right? Everybody talks about Augusta, and then there's St. Andrews, and then you've got Pebble Beach. What is your favorite course each year to kind of cover? What is your favorite place to go to? What place seems to create more magical moments in your eyes than everywhere else?

Well, for me, I think of the – I've been lucky enough to cover the Open Championship, the Open in Britain now for the last four years. And, you know, I played well in that event, you know, on a few occasions. And any time we go back to St. Andrews or Birkdale or Royal Troon or any of those open roster golf courses, it always gives me – I mean, my favourite would be St. Andrews. It's like playing in a graveyard um and uh i had uh maybe my finest moment in golf there you know captain the irish side that won the what was what was the three-man world championship uh they called it the dunhill

cup uh back in 1990 uh in a blind hangover we We celebrated winning the semifinals and I threw up twice on the golf course. I was given some kind of puccine by one of the caddies which made me blind for about 20 seconds and ended up winning in a playoff. That, for me, was a huge high point in my career and a low point in my psychological life. You've got to feel pretty good about the mental toughness there, though, to battle through blinding and puking to go on and win in a playoff. I mean, that is not – I assume the other person was very sober that you were battling against.

Very sober and very annoyed. Yeah. was very sober that you were battling against? Very sober and very annoyed. Oh my God. Go ahead. David, so they're playing at the same course basically back-to-back weekends. Does it give an advantage to the guys that played last week? Or does that not even matter

since there's so many practice rounds during the week leading up to this for the guys that didn't play last week? No, I think it does. The more you play a golf course, the more comfortable you get on it. It is an unusual situation where they're playing the same golf course twice in a row. I can't think of another time where they've done that.

But I would definitely give an edge to the guys that have played this last week it's a tremendous preparation for you know one of the biggest tournaments of the year oh you said Tiger's not going to win right there is that what you just said no I wouldn't go as far as to say that yeah I think he'll be in the shake-up that's for sure how is the place what do you think about the no fans I feel like golf is a socially distant sport. We're having this conversation. Baseball, very much a socially distant sport. Everybody seems to be far away from each other, especially if you sit. Golf, whenever the initial conversation was happening with golf coming back,

everybody was like, yeah, it feels like a socially distant sport. And then with the no fans, it feels like it's a much different atmosphere. How would you have reacted as a golfer if there was literally nobody there to really cheer or watch, aside from the extreme amount of security there seems to be friends of the course that seem to be getting in there what is that how much different is that for the golfers you think it's got to be kind of weird um that's for sure the first tournament back was here uh i'm in the dfw area and uh at colonial and it's kind of strange because you know normally when you play the worst that you play the closer you get to the crowd you know if you don't want to get hit by phil mickelson

don't stand 300 yards away on the left because phil will be gunning for you and now he'll tell you that himself so uh yeah i mean it's it's like playing in a vacuum, I would imagine, and more difficult because you don't get the adrenaline, you don't get the rush, you know, that you have if you make a big putt or hit a fantastic shot. There's not much of a reward to it, an emotional reward. So, yeah, I mean, it's got to be tough for the guys. Fortunately, they're still playing for a fortune. A fortune, yeah, I mean, it's going to be tough for the guys. Fortunately, there's still a plan for a fortune.

A fortune, yeah, a lot of money. $1.1 million. Shout out to Morikawa going and getting hot there winning the playoff. What about those two back-to-back putts made on that second playoff hole? What a gut-sack moment there. We have to get to a break for radio. Will you stick around for the YouTube show, Dave? Sure.

All right, let's go to a break on radio. We'll be back to close out hour one on the other side. This is the Pat McAfee Show, Wednesday, July 15th. And we're out. Okay, welcome back. Hey, David, great fucking conversation here. Are you in your office right now? Is that the office where we're calling from?

Yeah, I'm in the office. What gets done there? Is that where you guys are calling? Are you golf from there or is that or you guys or what's going on i i haven't called any golf gods you know forever christ uh i'll be lucky if i can remember what the hell goes on the whole time we start but we did just get the us open and the usga package you know nbc got it from fox so we should have uh a bit of golf, you know, some great golf, actually, towards the end of the season. Those are –

Ron, I have – my foundation, we've got a Zoom call at 10 o'clock. Nine o'clock my time. No. Oh, yeah, 10 o'clock. Yeah. Go do your thing. What's the foundation for? It's for Wounded Military, Troops First Foundation.

I've had it for 12 years now, since the first time I went to Iraq to entertain the troops. You know, I came back, and I had to be an American. I wasn't an American at that point. I came back and it's the first thing I applied for. Oh, that's amazing. How do people help here with the Troops First Foundation? Well, you can go to troopsfirstfoundation.org

and find out all about it. Well, we appreciate you doing that. Thanks for taking care of the troops. Thanks for the conversation. And can't wait to watch tiger win this weekend, even though he didn't play last week, ladies and gentlemen, check out the 10th season of Faraday,

which is debuting on July 27th on the golf channel. Ladies and gentlemen, David Faraday. Thank you. Have a good one. So sorry to interrupt. Just want to let you know that this show is brought to you by the greatest home security system to ever be invented what's the number one sign of a bad

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Hello, McAfee and Hawk Sports Talk. I am Pat McAfee, sitting over my shoulder on a throne, and next to me from Wisconsin, the very skinny-looking A.J. Hawk. Yeah! Is that a compliment, you calling me skinny-looking? Should I take it that way? Yeah, I think you should, man. You look like you're in the best shape of your life, super fit, ready to run a marathon.

Good job. Ready to run a marathon, yeah to run a marathon yeah good luck with that one i couldn't run a marathon on an elliptical so i don't think that's gonna happen but yeah i do feel sometimes i feel skinny i don't i guess i'm not like a power lifter i work out but i don't i don't really lift for bulk i'm almost 240 pounds so if that's skinny then hey i'll take it almost the um almost 240 pounds how has the you said you were working out in a lake last week. Now you're in like a village in Wisconsin, right? You're in like one of those things on the lake.

Have you been able to maintain the workout schedule here, or is that why you're kind of dissipating and disappearing in front of our eyes? I might be disappearing because I just secured my – like an Anytime Fitness weekly pass yesterday. So I was able to get head out there this morning. I've been a lot of improvised workouts. Like when I was in Tahoe last week, I get up every morning, 530, get in the lake, pushups like the old school Rocky type workout. I have bands that I'm doing stuff with.

So it's not the typical type workouts that I get, but it's a good change up. I think everyone needs to change it up every once in a while so So you don't get too used to what you're doing and you don't get bored, I guess, in your workouts. Is there anything more offensive to you than when somebody says you look like you have no muscles? Cause that's what I was trying to do. Um, I guess I don't get offended very often, but if someone was dead serious and they said that, maybe I would be a bit of, I don't know if I'd be offended. I would just be motivated. Like, all right, cool. I'm going to be 300 pounds now,

and I'm going to get on all the juice. Oh, AJ, you take a couple weeks off. You look like a little bitch over there. Okay. Nice to see you've stopped working out. That's very nice of you. I've said that sometimes. I've told my wife that.

I told her, I said, you know, I see all these big old linemen losing a bunch of weight. I said, what if I just got down to like 180? She said, first off, there's no chance you'd get to 180. If you get to 180, I'm leaving you. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Jeez.

It's not about how you look on the outside, by the way. It's how you are on the inside. And I think that's why the Hawk family does so well over there, because it's good inside souls. I like that your wife, though, is like, listen, you want to be a scrawny little scrub. That's okay. Just get the hell out of the house. Get the hell out of the house. Yeah, she didn't marry that guy.

I mean, she's fine with it. She has no issues with people that are 180 pounds, but when you're naturally like 230, you probably shouldn't get down to 180. I'm naturally like 225, 230 as well. It's weird, because I think if I was to get lazy, I'd go 300, 350, which I almost was, I guess, this past fall. But those guys that go super thin, like Yonda. What Yonda was able to accomplish,

and I think he's still trying to get down even more. And then Fanica, what he was able to do whenever he retired. And Joe Thomas now, who's like a shredded machine. I'm very impressed by that. But how long does it last? At what point do you just tap out and say, you know what, I'm going Charles Barkley. Iley i'm fucking out well it seems like those guys that lose all that weight like a joe thomas you look at him we watched him on what the titan games is

that what it was called he won by like that much hey he got a w which is all that matters but boy he was this close victor cruz i watched him lose to a cirque du soleil uh aerial artist the other day tough look for victor cruz and for the nfl because Rock was like, Cirque du Soleil versus the NFL here. And I'm like, all right, fucking Victor, let's go. This is for all of us. And that Cirque du Soleil guy

did not get tired. That son of a bitch was ready to go. But Joe Thomas got a big W for us. You're right. Yeah, I mean, I just think that becomes

their lifestyle. Like Joe probably, with how skinny he is and he's shredded, he's probably thinking like, wow, I'll never go back to what I was. He seems like he's more comfortable now, I guess. Well well he was on a gravy train with biscuit wheels yep is that what he said that's his saying yeah oh i didn't know that is that like is that

something i should have known yeah very popular saying yeah be with joe or did somebody is that like a lot of big guys that got small? I'm not sure. Joe brought it into my life. It's Joe Thomas' quote in my eyes, but it might not be his. That Tomahawk show he does with Andrew Hawkins was very good. Very, very good. I enjoyed a lot. I've known Hawk for a while.

I think he's awesome. So is Joe. It makes sense why they're a good pairing, I think. Good conversations. Good conversations. Good push. Now, Twitter put them right in the middle of the twitter sports super bowl uh radio row thing which is very nice though yeah what's that mean what is it i don't get it you know twitter was like here you go we'll give you an entire setup for your fucking show i'm like well i'm like 45 times bigger than both of them not a single message to me from twitter fuck off here's Here's the broom closet, though. Wait, you mean, oh, they, like, Twitter

put a setup for them at Radio Row and not, like, wasn't it for, is it on, like, Uninterrupted or whatever platform it's on? Well, I don't know. This was last Super Bowl, I guess. They had a big old setup there on Twitter Sports. So, people know they're good and Twitter loves them. I just wish, you know,

maybe a little bit of respect from the little chirp-chirp birdie app to me. You know, I put a lot of hours on there, and I feel like I've been rather loyal. Let's move on. Speaking of putting a lot of hours in and being very loyal to a team, Dak Prescott, there is two hours and 51 minutes left until Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys can work an extension.

If not, he will be under the franchise tag for the next season, earning himself $31.4 million guaranteed with the potential chance, I guess, to re-up after this season or get franchise tagged again. He is now the third quarterback in the history of franchise tags and the NFL to play on the franchise tag if that happens, obviously, after 4 o'clock. Drew Brees did it with the San Diego Chargers. He leaves town. Kirk Cousins does it with the Washington Redskins twice.

He leaves town. So history says that Dak Prescott will play this franchise tag, maybe get it again even, but not end up being a Dallas Cowboy long term. If you're Dak, how do you feel? Are you pumped about $31.4 million guaranteed? Because if I'm looking at that piece of paper, I'm like, fucking A, here we go. Yeah, he's got to be a bit torn, I would imagine.

I'm sure you're excited, okay, I'm going to be the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for another year. I make $31 million guaranteed. But he doesn't feel like he has that long-term security that he wants from the team. Okay, you think I'm your guy? You're willing to pay me 31 mil for one year. Don't you think you should give me five, six-year extension

and give me big-time money down the road? That's where he's got to be thinking. So if he doesn't do it today, though, he will become a free agent when the league year starts next March, right? No, after the season they can negotiate. There's another window after the season before free agency to work a long-term deal. I actually had that happen after I got franchise tagged. The day before free agency, we worked a five-year deal or four-year deal.

So I never hit the market, but I was franchise tagged the year before. So they could still potentially do that. But I guess a five-year deal was offered to Dak Prescott numerous times. But Dak wants a four-year deal. Cowboys want a five-year deal was offered to Dak Prescott numerous times, but Dak wants a four-year deal. Cowboys want a five-year deal. And we've been told by everybody around the Cowboys and that knows the organization that that is literally the only holdup is a one-year difference. So that's very interesting to me because it feels like it's much bigger than just a one-year difference there. $33 to $35 million was offered with over $100 million guaranteed.

So if you look at that, if they know that the Cowboys want a five-year deal, that means three years of that deal was guaranteed. The other two were not. Locks them in for five years as opposed to what Dak wants for four. So everybody's assuming he's not going to sign that deal and they're not going to get a deal done. But it's interesting because he could potentially get 37.4 or something next year if he gets franchise tagged or 37.9 if he gets franchise tagged again.

I don't see them running into this situation next free agency. There's no way that they end up franchise tagging him again. You would think they'd get the deal done. I think that they're trying to see if he and Mike McCarthy are going to work. I honestly believe that. Now granted, they made him a $100 million guarantee already, so maybe I'm wrong in thinking that. But I assume there are some questions like,

how are Dak and Coach McCarthy going to get along? What's he going to look like there? And by the way, with McCarthy's history with quarterbacks, if Dak has his best fucking year this year, that money's only going to go up. So they could have paid him last year. They chose not to. Now they're franchise tagging him. And next year, if they're going to pay him it might go up even more

with what mccarthy will be able to do with that offense we assume he'll be better than clapper clap on smile clap on clap off jason garrett i just feel like we could do that can i ask you guys a question so like he's if he plays on the franchise tag this year, it's $31.4 million. But say he tears his shoulder up this season or something like that. Lloyd's of London. So is it worth trying to do a four-year deal versus a five-year deal where you're going to have $100 million guaranteed? Just that one year is worth turning down all that money? probably has 100 million dollar insurance policy if i had to guess

and that is probably only if it's a career ender it's not like hey he missed one season it's like you can never play football again my lloyds of london or whatever it was i had to get my leg basically sawed off but it couldn't be my own doing and it had to be an accident and had to be around football so i kind of got scammed into paying a lot of money but i felt really comfortable knowing that if somebody ran onto a football field with maybe a saw attached to their elbow and took my fucking kicking leg off and i couldn't get a long-term deal i would have got i think like 30 million dollars or something like that so that was nice to know in the back of my head that if that leg got sawed off and i could never kick a ball again i would have got $30 million.

And I'm happy I paid $50,000, $60,000 for that insurance policy just because everybody said it was the right thing to do. And I was like, reading through this, I don't think it is, but I got somewhere to be, so I'm not going to fucking battle about this. Just take my money. Let's move forward. Well, don't you think there must be something weird in the language of the contract for Dak not to accept it.

If he's going to get between 33 and 35 a year with 100 or more guaranteed, you would think like on face value, yeah, he's going to sign it. Why wouldn't he take that? So there's got to be something in the wording or that they could cut him loose after two years and not like owe him anything else. There's something in the language that he doesn't feel comfortable about because I feel like that money would get it done. $33 million to $35 million.

Patrick Mahomes getting what, $45 million a year? Mm-hmm. Okay, so it's $10 million less than what you just saw somebody sign for who has an MVP and a Super Bowl championship. Who's second? Who's second place in average per year? Is it Aaron or Russell Wilson getting $34 million or $35 million? What is it?

Russell, I believe. Russell, I think. But also Patrick's not getting that 45 until like year three or four. But if you look at the overall deal, right? If you look at the overall deal. So that's probably where Dak's team is at. Like we need 35 to 40 as opposed to 33 to 35. We'll take $5 to $6 million less than Patrick Mahomes,

but we can't be doing that we gotta set the table i guess his agent too is a guy that says hey we're gonna get all the money like i guess that's his agent is uh let's get all of them not that every agent isn't but i guess this guy is a hard nose we want all the money that you could possibly get but the cowboys have paid so many people i don't know how they would even have enough money to pay them potentially if you look around at that team they've've re-upped, I think, seven players within the last year or two. There's a lot of money owed to a lot of people.

It's just like the Chiefs. How did the Chiefs pull off this stone-cold Chris Jones deal? Nobody knows. Nobody has a clue. And they have a couple offensive linemen coming up here in like a year or two that they're going to have to keep around. Tyron Matthews is going to come up. Travis Kelsey is going to come up. Tyreek Hill is going to come up tyreek hill's going to come up there's going to be a lot

of decisions to be made down the road on contracts and renegotiations but if you're the chiefs you're like hey for at least the next couple years we got a fucking squad squad at this point but we have very very little room in the salary cap hey pat when it says like i don't know i'm not 100 clear what this means when it says right there for ch Jones, so $60 million is guaranteed for injury. We hear that a lot. What does that mean? If he gets hurt this year and he can never play again, he still gets $60 million? Yeah, I don't know.

This language has just come out recently. Because Patrick Mahomes, the guarantee was for injury. I was like, well, what is the full guarantee? I would like to hear what the full guarantee is as opposed to just what the guarantee for injury is. And it's like almost the guarantee for injury has become like the new rollout for the contracts. And I don't know what that means either. Can we find out when that money is guaranteed? What if there isn't an injury? What money is guaranteed?

What if there's poor performance? Then what is expected? What's the guarantee? Those are numbers I want to hear. But it feels like the media's new rollout is well the guarantee for injury is this it's like okay so that's like a lloyd to london already built into the contract then like if he can't play or if he gets hurt one year what is i don't really understand a lot of the lingo language that they're putting out either yeah i don't i wonder i assume the teams have some kind of insurance

policy on these big contracts don't they like a patrick mahomes contract don't know. I assume the teams have some kind of insurance policy on these big contracts, don't they? Like a Patrick Mahomes contract. Do you think the Chiefs have some kind of insurance to where if Patrick Mahomes is hurt after two years, the insurance pays the rest of his deal or something? That would make a lot of sense. And now that I think about it, I can't believe that I haven't thought that that probably happens because it was like whenever you go to the Scramble Golf Tournaments or Celebrity Golf Tournaments and there's a car for the par three that's just insurance like the car dealership

just gets an insurance deal out for whatever it is and then the insurance pays it if it hits and I always thought these car companies were like such nice people look at these are offering up a Jeep right here if I put this 145 into the pit they're like no no we don't that's insurance will be paying for that we put up like maybe 2 000 bucks make 1500 bucks donation but aside from that it's insurance paying it i would assume that nfl teams would do the exact same thing what's up i have the uh definition of injury guarantee from nfl.com if a player is released but is currently unable to perform football duties i doesn't pass physical as a result of the team activities the player is entitled to any money in his contract protected against injury an injury only guarantee is the most common in terms of partially guaranteed money what if he gets cut

and they don't like him let alone if he can't pass the physical what if he somehow in their eyes doesn't live up to the expectation level do they still owe him that money or is it strictly an injury thing that's why i don't love the way the media has been rolling out these contracts you know i i don't love the way it doesn doing it. I think it's confusing, isn't it? It's already confusing enough, but when you say the overall guarantee and then we keep hearing this injury guarantee. There's no overall guarantee being said, though.

I want to know what Patrick Mahomes' overall guarantee is. They've only said the 100. If he gets cut tomorrow, what does he get? What is guaranteed to him? This is from Sports Illustrated. They say if a player has guaranteed money for injury and they're healthy then the money guaranteed for injury is lost when the player is cut yeah that's what i'm saying so we need to know what the guaranteed money is we haven't been told what guaranteed money is for anybody because i said what's

patrick mahomes guarantee going to be that has to be like 200 million guarantee or whatever because that was the number they were aiming for going into this offseason everybody was saying oh patrick mahomes gonna get 200 million guaranteed 200 million guaranteed you look at sather cap say no chance now they get this extendo deal half a billion dollars and all they kept saying was the injury guarantee is 140 million it's like well what's the actual i would like to hear what the fucking actual guarantee is and i would assume at this point patrick mahomes and the chiefs don't want people to know what the actual guarantee is. And we've moved past it. Hey, here's the injury guarantee.

Now there's really no upside to letting out what the actual guarantee is. I feel like we missed it already for the Patrick Mahomes deal. Who knows if we'll do that for the Dak deal. On the opposite side of that, do you think that agents are trying to figure out what that guarantee is, like Dak's, so that they can negotiate theirs? They can study the contracts. All the contracts are put out there. I don't know if his full contract is out there yet or not, but a guy like Andrew Brandt I'm sure could tell you that. Did you ever get any contracts?

He signed you to a long deal, didn't he, Andrew? Andrew was there when I signed my rookie deal, yeah. He said you came in, you just got done with a workout, like classic A.J. Hawk, like I'm going to work harder than everybody. I'm coming in to sign my rookie contract. Fifth overall, sweating and in sweats. Here you go. Thanks a lot, Andrew.

See you later. He told us that story. But was there any – did you have any interesting negotiations with anybody? Did you re-up with the Packers? How many times? Yeah, I re-upped right after the Super Bowl, right before the lockout happened. I signed a new, like, four- or five-year deal with them.

And I took a couple pay cuts with them in the couple years after that oh so they were like hey aj by the way what we said uh and what we need now we need to potentially renumber i got it i get it so i knew it was coming i understood i didn't take it personal and see for me my first after the franchise tag the deal that i was being uh like negotiated or whatever i wanted it to be at a price and this is going to sound very interesting to people because you would assume that everybody just wants as much money as possible i wanted to be at a price where if i had like two three bad games that i wasn't potentially just going to be like hey this guy's cap casualty for now because there are some kickers and punters that come in and they like set the bar for how much money they make well i'll tell you what you just have one little drought

there will be a cap casualty conversation in our position see you get out so like finding that number where it's like you're comfortable you're making enough money where you feel like your uh your worth is being respected but also let's not get too much because boy there's either a renegotiation or a cut coming those things really bite people in the ass in my position. I didn't know that you had to renegotiate with the Packers a few times. It's like Tom Brady. It's all Tom Brady used to do. What's up, Tom?

Looking at the Mahomes deal at sporttrack.com, which has breakdown all the deals. In 2022, if he's released, it's $31 million against the cap to them, dead cap hit. Every single year after that, it's $2 million or less to the team if they cut him after that. What's all the money going into 2022 in that cap hit? So $5 million this upcoming season, $25 million the year after. 2022 is $32 million. So that's $62 million right there, right?

If I just did the math real quick. So that's $62 million. I, right? If I just did the math real quick. So that's $62 million. I don't know if that's a guarantee, but I'm just saying if they cut him any year after that, it's only $2 million dead cap. How do they work that out? How is it only $2 million in dead cap? Well, that's what... I don't know. I'm excited to see if this is one of those classic NFL contracts.

Half a billion dollars. $4 million guaranteed. That's how contracts always used to be yelling they used to be yeah they took most of that out what's that they definitely used to be that way where all the non-likely to be earned incentives were in there now that doesn't happen as much but they can still finagle it a little bit that's an interesting little sport track thing there that digs just pulled up there that makes no sense how they negotiated that deal andy reed and veach every when we talked to chris ballard who just got voted amongst all the other executives as the most trusted executive or something like that the indianapolis coach gm front of the show he talked about i asked him i was like who who do you look around at at gm's or you go uh i could learn something from that

person whatever he said veach is a wizard when it comes to contracts and drafting and everything like that so you put him and reed together i assume it's probably helping out a bit well they hey you're getting blurry i want to let you know what i'm almost getting seasick over here every like seven to eight seconds you get blurry over there yeah i don't know what's going on with that um but doesn't it seem like patrick mahomes he is like it's a fair deal they say in a negotiation you want both sides to feel like they reached a fair agreement like they both feel somewhat happy or satisfied with it seems like with patrick mahomes seems very happy with his supposed 500 million dollars and the chief seemed like they okay we structured this thing we made it work to where

we can still fill out the rest of our roster. Anytime you see the player incredibly happy about the deal that they just signed. And then you hear people talking about how the player got ripped off somehow. That's probably a sign of like, okay, a deal is happy on both sides here. Like the $502 million price tag on that deal. I don't care how much you think it's potentially going to lose out on because they did such a long-term deal. Let's say they lose out on $50 million potentially, which is a lot of money, a massive amount of money. But if you look at the deal and being able to sign for $500 million in the middle of a pandemic and a quarantine, I think that is a good deal.

If I am going from no money to $500 million over the next 10 years, I don't know how to say this. I understand that the stats and math and people can on paper what you say if that's a good deal or a bad deal. But if somebody is agreeing to pay you $502 million and you don't come from a bazillion dollars and it's to do something that you're very good at and a lot of other people do it for a lot less and you'll be at the top of them that's a good deal in my eyes like that is like 502 million dollar deal is a good deal now granted this thing could be loaded with incentives that aren't attainable like you talked about how old school contracts used to be but god damn him getting a 502 million dollar offer that chiefs being able to keep their guy for long term. I mean, it does feel like this is a win-win.

But all these people, I think, who are bad at or maybe have never been a part of an actual negotiation and maybe coming to an agreement from a business standpoint, and their jobs are just to talk about things, but they don't actually do said things. In a negotiation, in a business arrangement like both sides have to give some things up so what did patrick mahomes gave up patrick mahomes gave up his future rights six seven eight nine years from now who he might be three four times super bowl champion at that time and the salary cap might be different which i assume a renegotiation would be very fair at that point if the salary cap was there but that's what he gives up and what do the chiefs give up

the chiefs give up a half a billion dollars over the next 10 years so it's like there is there has to be given taken those things and i think that gets forgotten about where they're like this person should win this uh negotiation outright or this person should win the negotiation all right it's like that's not how business works like that is just not how things go about it and i think that i, I asked Ian Rappaport yesterday, if the Cowboys could have got a Patrick Mahomes Chiefs-like deal done with Dak Prescott, would they have done it? And he said they would have done it yesterday if they could.

I'm like, is that something Dak would have turned down then if they offer him $350 million over the next 10 years? Like, is Dak going to turn that down? That's an interesting, that seems like Ian Rappaport said they would do that if they keep from the price that they're saying they offered just extend that thing 10 years would that have got the deal done i don't know what's holding them up like honestly what is holding up dak in the cowboys like has jerry said anything more publicly about this everybody said it's the five-year verse four-year five-year verse four-year dak prescott wants a four-year deal

cowboys want a five-year deal one One year seems like, I don't know, that seems like something in business that you could figure out. But let's say they doubled it to a 10-year deal, and it was worth $370 million, $37 million average. Would Dak have taken that? I would assume, right? I mean, $370 million on a piece of paper, that's going to be hard to say no to.

Well, and it'd probably be like the same deal with Mahomes, too. He feels like if he's going to play well enough, then he's going to be able to say no to. Well, and it'd probably be like the same deal with Mahomes, too. He feels like if he's going to play well enough, then he's going to be able to renegotiate that when he originally wanted to, like why he wanted a four-year instead of a five-year deal. I just think people forget about business as a lot of relationships, you know what I mean? And if you're just going in with war, war, war,

that's inevitably going to be a problem, as it was for Drew Brees and the San Diego Chargers and Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins. It's like that is not a good way to figure things out that's why I'll be very impressed if the NFL and the NFLPA get this guidelines and health and safety and money thing finished in 13 days which by the way Aaron Jones running back for the Green Bay Packers said he's been on a couple zoom calls with the NFLPA and he was optimistic that they'll be in camp and ready to go so that's a lot different than anything we've heard from anybody but boy i'm hoping so i am too and it seems like the oakley the mask that covers your mouth and everything that seems like a real

thing that people legit think is going to be worn who right now these are the same people that say in business a bad deal for somebody to get a 500 but these people have never been a part of something before there's no way that thing maybe the punters and kickers will be strapped up with those maybe yeah punters and kickers can wear them you shouldn't have an issue if you're a punter kicker but everybody else first off just wearing a visor over the top part of your mask is very difficult for some people i know when i looked it just it would take a lot of time for me to get used to that let alone having extended down to where it's covering my mouth and nose. Oh, they're like, oh, there's little air holes there. Okay, well, cool.

Then COVID can spit out through these air holes. You know what? I forget who tweeted it. I think it was Andrew Brandt that tweeted it. The Oakley mask thing could be quite a topic of discussion when it comes to the rollback into football because the players are like, hey, player safety will not be compromised. Then the NFL is going to be like, like okay we got these masks from oakley that'll help out everything and really

get us to be able to do this and the players are gonna be like we're not fucking wearing those and they're like well i thought it was for safety and then if they really wanted to that could become a grandstand moment for both sides there and like i've said here a couple times already today 13 days until training camp is supposed to happen that is not a lot of time to get these things figured out could the players come back and be like yeah well breathing is also pretty big for player safety yeah but then well covid though you don't want to breathe in you gotta remember that will become now i'm hoping that roger goodell knows that he's not going to be a part of another cba negotiation 10 years from

now and it feels like roger goodell is potentially trying to change his image and trying to do things a little bit differently and maybe that makes the nfl nflpa agreement here in the next 13 days easier but if this is anything like the cba negotiations the past two or anything else when it comes to nfl and nflpa there's going to be a lot of conversation for the next 13 days and unless they're both willing to kind of go to work together like the nhl and the nhlpa were it was a lot of conversation for the next 13 days and unless they're both willing to kind of go to work together like the nhl and the nhlpa were it was a spirit of cooperation pierre mcguire says by both sides unless that is the case which has not always been the case in these type of conversation they do not have a lot of time there's no time that's the thing and i think the mask thing if it does like let's say the nfl takes a like, hey, every helmet is going to have this mask on, this

new Oakley mask we've shown, we've done studies, it'll cut down the transmission rate 30%, whatever they claim it will do. I don't think it's something the players would take a stand and sit out for. Okay, now this is a sticky point. You would think, okay, obviously I want to play

football this year. If I have to wear this mask for us to play football, or if I don't wear it, we're not going to have a season this year. I would imagine eventually the players will give in. Aaron Jones said, I just want to play football. And I think he echoes the sentiments of a lot of people. Now granted, he's going into a contract year, so this is a very important year for Aaron Jones. But he said that he's planning on July 28th, checking in training camp, and he just wants to play football.

So that's a good message that's getting out there as opposed to like the normal in this situation. It's like, no, we're not doing this, this, this, and this. It feels like, like Pierre Maguire said with the NHL, a spirit of cooperation. But boy, oh boy, there's going to be some shit that pops off in the next 13 days. The good news is for all that stuff though they can kind of roll out a guideline to get back to work and there isn't pads or helmets until like three weeks later so they have 13 days to figure some stuff out and then if they can agree to that how we get back into this then we do the ota style then the strength and conditioning then the unpadded

practice and the padded practices and we'll figure that as we go TBD, that's probably the right move to get back into it. Let's figure this out first. And then we'll figure that out as we go, because then guys will be able to see it a little bit. They'll be able to try it out maybe in the locker room, or they'll ask guys to maybe wear a door and some walkthroughs. Like, how do you feel about it? And they'll be able to get a real sense of it. But there's going to be little things like that. As small as that Oakley mask is, that could become a massive conversation. As small as the timing of practice can be, that can become a massive conversation.

What about where guys are staying? How many people can stay in places? I mean, there is a lot of things that have to get figured out, and I just hope they can figure it out. I hope they make it happen. What about just drinking water? You know how we've talked about, like, we hate when guys sit there and act like they're in the middle of the Sahara desert and they're dying and they just open their mouth and trainers

come and squirt water into their mouth yeah exactly with your hands and your hips like that that's not going to be allowed like the new protocols you're going to have to everyone i guess maybe have their own water bottle is that going to be another thing they gotta like there's so many tiny details they have to work out i feel like well and then the trainers too they have to have masks on equipment managers they have to have masks on. Equipment managers, they have to have masks on. Like, what? Are we getting tested every day we're going in there? Like, the NHL or not?

Like, there is. Hey, but the MLS made it happen. Hey, the MLS made it happen. The NHL's making it happen. The NBA's made it happen. And as they keep getting that bubble penetrated, which is going to be tough, I think, with humans down there and needs and wants and, you wants and distractions and being locked in.

Do you know how the perimeter of the bubble works? Is there an imaginary line with guards, or how do they do it? No guards, I don't think. I think there's just an imaginary line. I mean, because the bubble is so large, there's golf courses, there's fishing ponds, there's numerous hotels. Water park. So the NBA just took over everything, though. There's no normal people anywhere. Well, in the animal kingdom animal kingdom there are people and i don't know how many trees

away that is that could be where they're trying to get the thoughts in through to be honest with park disney world is open to the public so there's a lot of things i don't know how i don't know how to be honest i don't know how for 30 35 days at least at minimum 35 40 days at minimum they're going to be able to keep that thing uh clean but they only two people tested positive down there i guess they tested everybody will those numbers remain hopefully because i think that is a a case study for a lot of other sports on what's going to happen the mlb is interesting though i think the mlb is much more similar to what the nfl could be as opposed to any other sport because the NHL is going into hub cities. The NBA is in a hub, in a bubble.

The MLS is in a bubble. The MLB is working in their own stadiums. They'll be traveling around. I think they'll probably have eyes on how that works out too while training camp happens. So where is baseball at right now? Are guys at the facilities? What are we doing?

Stadiums. They're at their individual stadiums. Like Toronto Blue Jays players were told if you leave the stadium it could be a 750 000 fine in jail time i mean fucking lock it up boy stay in here swing the bat don't look at anybody don't even think about looking at anybody yeah don't spit don't take a shower in here don't do anything that's another like okay so can nfl players spit on the field that's the thing baseball in their protocol said no spitting bro those bear crawls that used to have to happen on fields and you're doing a bear doing up downs anymore hey that's a great thing you can't do any up downs right in the middle of the field but there's nothing like just like yo i puked on this field

what yesterday now we're doing bear crawls i couldn't even fathom the amount of spit and tobacco and sweat that's on here and i'm just bear crawling on this turf that has obviously been cleaned out i mean of course not only are your hands burning because the turf is so hot but then you start you and you're tired and your legs are burning but then once that starts creeping in like what am i touching right now then it's just like a misery of that entire thing but boy there's gonna be a lot of changes a lot of changes have to can't do you know the good thing something that may come from this pat maybe we'll just get rid of mouthpieces in the nba and in the nfl since it seems like every nba player wears a mouthpiece now nfl players hopefully because of all this a

new protocol hey that that really transmits a lot of stuff we do let's just take mouthpieces out of it get all that saliva that you don't even have to worry about that. You have to be the only NFL analyst in the history of NFL or football saying, hey, just ban the mouthpiece. Just fucking get rid of it. It's a problem. If you want to be safe, ban that mouthpiece. You'll be safe on multiple different levels because of that.

Go on. What's the other level aside from COVID? Well, A, COVID, less transmission of COVID. B, your brain health is going to be so much better because that's garbage science that the mouthpiece will protect you from concussions. So it's a twofer, as they say. I didn't wear a mouthpiece.

Felt like a real G. What'd you have, just one of those basic little tiny ones? No, I didn't wear them. I stopped wearing mouthpieces when I was 19. It was the greatest decision I ever made in my life. Wow. Wow. Those refs didn't care to check your mouth

to see if you had a mouthpiece in wow it's crazy in college you mean in nfl nfl you don't have to wear a mouthpiece there's like 40 of people wear mouthpieces i'm pretty sure you have to wear a mouthpiece a lot of your tongue aaron wears a single strap with no mouthpiece there's plenty quarterbacks aaron freaking rogers i always thought you had to at least appear as if you were trying to wear a mouthpiece. Like some guys would just leave it in the house. They made them wear the stupid knee pads. The dumbest rule ever.

Hey, I never had to do that. Shout out to the NFL's rule saying kickers and punters don't have to wear anything on your legs. I was very thankful because I got massive legs, obviously. They show them off. Let's not hide them with little stupid pads that aren't going to do anything. Yeah, they claim those little knee pads were to cut down on concussions when people's knee, if their knee hits somebody's head. Also, you're not required to wear a mouthpiece in the NFL.

It is advised due to the ability levels and strengths of NFL players, so when quarterbacks are sacked, they may clinch their teeth together and knock them out. I didn't know that. Knock your teeth out. Not saying knock yourself out. Knock your teeth out not not saying knock your knock yourself out knock your teeth out either yeah i think i'd much rather knock my teeth out than my brain go blank absolutely so let's go

back to your garbage science thing you're saying mouthpieces because the ufc i think they force them to wear mouthpieces as well so they don't get their teeth knocked out because they're getting punched directly in the mouth pat that's why yeah but i was told the mouthpiece is it saves my jaw from biting into each other and potentially causing a concussion hey jake bite your tongue off that makes sense hey that science does make sense when you see it when you see it in writing and they show the diagrams they say oh all this it dissipates all that energy when you clench your teeth i'm like yeah it makes sense doesn't work but it makes sense on paper what you're saying because you're saying that with the mouthpiece makes you actually open your jaw up a little bit more which gives you a bigger button and maybe a little bit of a looser little

uh little pull there maybe and it makes it a lot more difficult to breathe difficult to talk you're taking that thing in and out of your your mouth the whole time sticking in your your your face mask or you have the big dangly deal with the lip guard on top of it. I don't know. I think if you want to wear a mouthpiece, great. Do it. But don't feel like you have to. Hey. Listen to that, kids.

That's a Super Bowl champion linebacker. AJ Hawke. Fifth overall pick. Mouthpiece helps you not get your teeth knocked out. It 100% helps with that. You got a good grill. I got small little teeth. It's because your jaw takes up half your face.

Is that because you lost some of your teeth from helmets flying around because you never wore a mouthpiece? It's because I chipped off a decent amount of them when my teeth would bite together when I'd hit people. They crunch together. Okay, that is exactly... I had like three years worth of root canals when I got done. Jesus.

We're still out here. We're still out here campaigning, though. Fuck it. I don't need it. I thought I bit my. Definitely campaigning hard. I thought I bit the tip of my tongue off one time. Ooh.

College. I forget who we were playing. It was freezing. Absolutely freezing outside, though. And I didn't wear a mouthpiece in college or whatever. And my hands had gone numb at this point. I think it we were playing. It was freezing, absolutely freezing outside, though, and I didn't wear a mouthpiece in college or whatever. And my hands had gone numb at this point. I think it was third quarter. I kick off.

Since it's so cold, isn't a touchback. Returner comes out, okay? Ball gets bumped out. I go dive in because I think I can get it, okay? Somebody hits me, top of head, helmet. I get in scrum, okay? I end up not with the ball by the way. Okay.

So everything could go wrong, does go wrong. And I, I feel like a little pain in my, on my tongue or whatever. And I go to grab it and I can't feel anything. I thought I had no tongue. Like I thought I lost my fucking tongue.

So I was like, Oh my God. Like I get to the sideline, I go to my friend. I'm like, do I have a tongue? And they're like, Oh,

you're bleeding. My tongue was bleeding. I had an entire, like a, have a tongue and they're like oh you're bleeding my tongue was bleeding had an entire like uh like a couple teeth marks all the way around it yeah I thought I lost a son of a bitch it swole up a little bit I couldn't breathe and I was like you know I'm gonna start wearing a mouthpiece next game and then I just never got into it I never ever got into it but I I thought I lost my damn tongue couldn't feel it's a scary it's scary but the question what scares me is that part you said when you went diving in and someone hit the top of your head and jammed it down.

Like, how did your brain feel? What's that? How did your brain feel when you got hit on the very top of your head as you're diving into a pile? I thought I lost my tongue. To be honest, the brain wasn't even the brain, didn't he? I didn't even think about potential broken neck or paralyzed or anything like that. The only thing I thought of is I can't talk.

I'm going to be talking like this for the rest of my life. Like I'm the kid from fucking Christmas story on the field. As I was jogging off. That's all I thought of was that kid with the big thing stuck on his. I'm like, Oh my God. Oh my God. Is this my life now?

It was not thankfully, but that was tough. My thing did swell up though. So I was talking with a little bit of a list, like three, four days. That's all right. Looked good on film, I bet.

I think I kind of fell in. It was, you know, I went for it, which I think people appreciate. The effort. There was one. Those scrums. I mean, I've only been in a couple of them at this point now. One against, I think, the Cowboys. There was one I got in there.

And I actually, I came in late. So on film, full scrum. After a kickoff, same thing, fumble, full scrum. I come in late to the pile, but I start working my arm in, and I get my hand on the ball. So I was like, oh, shit. Like, I came in late, and I did it strictly for, I don't want to say, like, comedic purposes. For film the next day.

Yeah, but I was like, I think, like like i want to be in one of these i've never been in one of these let's see how it goes so i come diving in late and i start like moving my hand around the pile and i get my hand on the ball and i'm like fuck now what am i supposed to do right like so there's like two people potentially laying down in between us and i have a ball and all of a sudden i start getting like punched like i start feeling my arm getting punched i'm like i should not be in here. But my hands are... I thought there was a chance I was going to be able to win that thing. And all of a sudden, out of the bottom of the pile,

number one, Pat McAfee comes up with the ball. But instead, somebody took my fingers in there and started bending them back. And I was like, get me out. I pulled out. And I got up. They obviously kept the ball. It was nasty in there.

It was disgusting. I got bruised on my arm. I thought they were going the ball. It was nasty in there. It was disgusting. I got bruised on my arm. I thought they were going to try to break my fingers in there, but I almost got it. I felt like I almost got the ball. Were you the guy that was doing the finger breaking in those scrums? I would assume that was you. No, I never really had to do a whole lot of that,

but I've been in a ton of those scrums. I mean, how you describe it is perfect, especially if you can get near the ball. If you get your hand on the ball, like, okay, don't think it's like an innocent okay cool I'm free I'm gonna I'm gonna grab the tip and start to rip this thing out no the second that somebody sees your hand on the ball you're gonna be getting elbows dug into your kidneys you're gonna get everything possible things jammed into your orifices that you don't even know who where it's coming from like it's true they always talk about oh it's crazy under those scrums

yeah especially when there's o and d alignment down there because you know how they like to go back and forth all game you get down there and those scrums you start seeing what's being said and what's done and like wait what is this why do i have like two feels like knives in my back dudes are drilling elbows down trying to kind of split your spine in half like man i don't know you have to you have to second guess it next time you want to jump in there and try to go after the ball i had never there was a chance i think i could have gotten another one and i uh i opted out dog i was I'm like, man, I don't know. You have to second guess it next time you want to jump in there and try to go after the ball. I had never. There was a chance I think I could have gotten another one, and I opted out, Doug.

I think that one's already long gone. But the fact that I got. Why did they change the rule? Why did you change the rule that I can't stand outside the pile and pull guys from their legs and pull them off? I think people started fighting a lot, I believe. Did someone get hurt, though? Did one person get hurt bad or something? I think it was whenever they started with the um the horse collar shit remember they started

enforcing the horse collar very very hard because people were getting tackled by horse collar and their knees were coming out it's amazing that the horse collar was ever allowed like i played in the nfl when the horse collar was allowed roy williams snagged that thing just i mean people's knees just had to get blown out for that but i think the world how did they not ban that earlier yes well there's a lot there was a lot of science back then hey science didn't exist you know it was just like uh don't worry your mouthpiece don't worry about it you won't have to do anything type mindset in there but the horse call i think whenever it started they try to make the game safer player safety i think that's when it happened they were like we can't and you weren't even allowed to dive in the pile anymore remember like because you're taught as a football player if there is a scrum you get your

ass in there like you you are in there you never know what's going to happen nobody knows whose ball it is the more we have in there the better than they have then all of a sudden one day it just stopped they're like don't you're not allowed in there anymore it's a 15 personal personal foul if you get in there late unsportsmanlike conduct and then people started pulling people out they're like well if i'm not allowed in, I'm going to get people out. Then they made another rule, not allowed to pull anybody out of the pile anymore. The pile became a little bit different over the years, but it still gets nasty down there.

It's just not as big. It's not as big now. Do you think that also because the players know there's like 18 cameras on the pile that they can't be shoving fingers up orifices and stuff like that anymore? They'll get caught on camera. No, I don't think players care about that. Hey, the ball, the ball, the ball.

Any team you go to, rule number one is the ball. We either keep it or we steal it. That's what we're trying to do. The ball is the game. And in those scrums, it's legit. Anybody can end up with this because those refs have no idea sometimes those refs call it early for somebody and i'm like how the fuck do they know how because you see a ref like just look down this way it's like how

how do you know that's who's bald is because i think they were told to maybe make a quicker call too so people would stop fighting under there because kind of give up a little bit help a scrum hurt us in the super bowl that onside kick ambush i guess it was a little bit of scrum allegedly people on our team said that they heard them say blue ball or whatever for the colts the ref one of the refs said blue ball in that scrum and then obviously everybody knows saints ended up with it they score and then the game turned around quickly who was it was the college, was it Clemson-Ohio State when some guys

on Clemson's defense made a tackle, and both of them checked the oil of the running back and jammed their fingers right up his ass? Oh, yeah, yeah. They did like... Yeah, yeah. They did a... That was right out in the open. They didn't care. That wasn't even a scrum. That wasn't like so.

Players don't care. Just playing ball. Just trying to finger it out. Just playing ball. Did you ever end up with a ball game? Were you a guy at the bottom of the scrum that had the ball numerous occasions? Yeah, I had.

And it feels like an eternity if you do have the ball and you're under there and they know. A lot of times when you're in the scrum, you can't find the ball and you don't know who has it. So if I had the, like, whenever I had the ball in the scrum, I'm trying to not let anybody know I have this thing. Like, I'm trying to fake like i'm going for a ball too and sitting on top of it and just like man get me out of here i have the ref call me like i'm gonna fake like i'm reaching for something or fake like i'm elbowing some of my team i'm as i'm winking at my buddy i

got it you have to man because those dudes are monsters there's always o lineman and o lineman they're so big and strong they could just rip my arms off and take the ball from me if the ref doesn't get in there in time. Well, especially at the weight you're at now. Ooh, look at this. Yeah, there's the butthole finger. Let me go ahead and check that out real quick. Christian Wilkins, he's hilarious, man.

Hey, sometimes you just got to check the oil. You know what I mean? See what's going on, Donner. Big mask guy. Probably with a little ankle twist there as well. Yeah, a little Kurt Angle. A little ankle break on that thing when I did the onside kick to myself

I thought I was going to get killed I thought that was going to be a scrum on top of me it should have been I agree and if you see me if you watch the video back I lay there and you actually see me with the ball go oh no oh no because I thought it was just going to be two helmets

directly into spleen on my back as soon as like as soon as i laid there and turns out didn't even get touched didn't even get touched i was so pumped i was like okay i don't have to piss blood and we got a ball and i didn't even get touched let's get out of here thank god when i watch that i get scared for you even though i've seen the outcome i get scared for you. Even though I've seen the outcome, I get scared for you. I'm like, oh, this dude's going to get annihilated. You executed it beautifully. That's very, very difficult to do. But the fact that you didn't get two to three helmets all over your back and neck. You see me whenever I lay down.

Literally, I go, oh, my God, it's about to come. But let's just hang on here. Let's just hang on here. And then nothing happened. And then my teammates picking me up. And I come out of like in disbelief i'm like we did it we did it oh what a moment yeah because i'm not tough enough to take that they didn't even touch me though the guy did like two hands on my back i was like thank you what a gentleman how mad are those how mad is the special teams coach in Houston for his front line guys that bailed early on?

Did you – so they cut to him in the clip, and he goes very, very openly, fuck me. They show the clip. They show me get tagged down, and then they cut to him on the sideline, and he very clearly – I do a bow, obviously, once I stand up. They very clearly goes, fuck me obviously once i stand up they very clearly goes fuck me and it was i felt terrible guy's a good guy the guy was a very good guy i felt very very bad about it very very i've played i've played that that front line right in front of

the ball on kickoff return and they always like they'll drill it into your head and do not leave early they're gonna take advantage of i assume you saw those frontline guys leave early in weeks before that so we kicked an onside kick to the right and we've kicked one to the left so they actually had their hands team out and had nobody in the middle so they actually had nobody in the middle in either a week prior to that or two weeks prior to that yeah so they got nobody near in front so they got everybody lined up to call on your own here or yeah to go middle yeah this was uh this was very much a check with me here. So if you look to the right there, they were getting ready for an onside,

potentially the right. This was the year that we were just kicking surprise onside kicks all the time. It was awesome. And to be honest, because we were doing that, everybody had their hands team out for us every single kickoff. This is what the rules are now for kickoff return because they actually studied our film on how many injuries happen because it's more like a punt return because the kickoff return is running with the

kickoff team as opposed to setting up way back there and going that's what we faced all year that's why my touchback percentage i think was the highest in the history because there was nobody to set a block so if i just got that thing one yard in the end zone it was going to be a touchback because they knew that nobody was able to block anybody because they had their hands team out there but we kicked one right we kicked one left so they had nobody in the middle of the field and actually like a week or two before that because we kicked one right and to the left i told tom mcmahon and chuck i was like hey if there's nobody in the middle can i just kick it to myself and they were like nobody's gonna do that obviously but if that happens yeah like almost like shit talking like if they do that you can do it right and i'm like okay so we hit the first

kickoff and i go over to tom mcmahon and i'm like hey there's nobody in the fucking middle there's nobody in the middle i'm gonna do it or whatever he goes if you call it you better get it and if you don't just go ahead and walk right off the field and i was like you got it so the next time came out there i looked at it and i had a sign for our two guys i would hit my thought of my hamstrings if i tap my hamstrings twice just stay the hell out because they would roll in for the coverage they just stayed out there the whole time and boom wide open i mean it was just uh it was a pretty cool little moment so did they know though you're the guys the kickoff team with you they knew you were kicking in the middle right right to yourself were they going to come in as reinforcements and try to

knock guys off and not let them hit you kind of but it wouldn't have happened like in the huddle or whatever beforehand we call the whatever the call is it was probably uh maybe deep right or whatever it was and in the huddle i say hey if i hit my hamstrings here just stay the fuck out because there's one guy on the right and there's's one guy on the left who are leading the run. I think it was Colt Anderson, the Montanimal, and I think it was Boom, maybe? Or Luchez Purifor. I forget who it was on the other side.

And basically, I told him, like, hey, if I hit my hamstrings, just stay the hell out. And boom, boom, hamstring hit. They just stay out there. And then they come running in afterwards, obviously. But, yeah, I come to the sideline, and Tom McMahon's losing his mind, obviously. He's pumped up about it chuck's like are you kidding me and then we have a guy named david thornton who's like the player personnel guy player development guy

he plays i remember him as a player cool dude one of the best dudes i've ever been around he works out i think five times a day just absolute monster hasn't done legs in probably 10 years but he comes up to me and goes stay humble stay humble stay humble and i say it's going to be fucking hard dt and i take my helmet off and that's the way when the camera goes i mean it was it was that's a cool moment that's prime time television too you know so that type of stuff is it doesn't happen a lot you don't really know they did that in rugby last week. Were they chirping on the other side? No, it was very frustrating. I mean, we were a problem for kickoff return.

I mean, we were a problem. We were kicking so many onside kicks that people were scared to death. I mean, that's a turnover. That's an interception right there. We were running fake punts. We were running onside kicks. I think I had like five, six turnovers, if you count them as that way, in one season.

Two possessions to start the game. Bingo. Here we go. We're off and running. I think I had like five, six turnovers, if you count them as that way, in one season. Quick two possessions to start the game. Bingo. Here we go. We're off and running. I mean, it was a lot of fun. And when you have a coach like Tom and like Chuck that are like, hey, let's go for it, it's so awesome. Because all those things, if they don't work out, boy,

you're setting your team up in a terrible position. And you've got to really hope everybody's on the same page. There's a good chance if you don't get that that uh your defense the whole defense is pretty mad at you the whole staff the defensive staff is really mad the offensive staff is mad as well and the chances of you getting that onside are probably like seven percent to for you to kick it onside and get it yourself maybe less than that honestly it's probably less it's probably less than that the colleges colleges pull it off more because they don't have as much speed.

The reason why that's tough is because of the amount of speed in the NFL. Guys, you have to measure, okay, that guy is 22 yards off the line of scrimmage right now. This ball has to travel at least 10 yards. Can he get 12 yards before I can get to 10.5 yards? That is the math equation that you have to do and in NFL there's so much speed it's like you're I don't know uh I think somebody did it last year I believe maybe I don't know you have to kick a perfect ball though oh yeah young ho young ho and young ho did one young ho might have got it I don't know but yeah I never kicked

it that good by the way in practice I mean that thing just stopped right at 10 yards for me basically in practice it was like I was sprinting, and it was like hopping up next to me, and I was like grabbing, and I was like, oh, yeah, no problem here, no problem at all. And then the one in the game just died perfectly. Jason Sanders. Jason Sanders for Miami. Dolphins, yeah.

Good for him. Well, with their setup there, though, the Texans, when they left nobody in the middle, the players, sure, you can try to blame the players, but it's on the coach there when you if that's your setup like I played front line and I know I've had people surprise on side me where I left a step or two early you know it happened because for 85 other kickoff returns I left a little bit early I started to leave a little bit early and then you get comfortable doing that and then boom someone bunts one at you oh we're just watching that too what just you

we're what hey oh yeah hey the right guard up here on the front line right here aj hawk fifth overall fifth overall pick right here they got him in here just like so he can earn his stripes or whatever he hates it look at him look at you you are three feet away from the ball and he's already turning if we need one right there's the guy you need to go to. Yeah, you guys will single him out real fast. I know you will. I remember my freshman year in college, we were playing against Miami. It was a national championship.

And I was like, all right, first kickoff of the game. I'm on front line right in front of the ball. I'm like, I'm not going to leave early, man. I got to stay with it. I'm not leaving early. All of a sudden, I sit there. I watch the kickoff. This is the start of the game.

I watch him kick it off. I'm like, okay, cool. It's deep. I turn around. I the game i watch him kick it off like okay cool it's deep i turn around i take off i sprint back however many 40 yards and i turn around and the guy i'm supposed to block is like 30 yards past me already back in the ball carrier and so i was like all right i left about i was about 80 yards deep then when when the kicker would get to the ball the rest of the game because i was like these guys are too fast i can't keep i can't get back there and then we turn around after that first kickoff i'm talking to my buddies and they were like, did you get your guys? They're like, hell no.

I didn't even see my guys. So all of us just had to leave early. Hey, those special teams guys, you got some freak athletes on there, especially down at the U or whatever, the guys that maybe couldn't make the starting, the backups there that were just freak athletes. They're running like a 4-2-5 right past you, and they're super physical. Jeez, man, why isn't this guy the best football player I've ever seen?

It happens. After I made a couple of tackles, and we kicked a couple of onside kicks, Tom McMahon, every single week, was scared that they were going to send a guy. So I kick off, guy doesn doesn't turn just comes right at me basically like to get me rattled or whatever you know so like opening kickoff tom would be like whatever he like let's go baby and then he's like eyes up after you kick by the way eyes up after you kick because it was always a fear that i would kick one i'd have my head down still and as soon as i lift up my head there's a guy there potentially to take me out and uh there was a couple times i

thought a guy was going to come kill me i olayed a guy one potentially to take me out and uh there was a couple times i thought a guy was going to come kill me iolade a guy one time felt really athletic about that and then there was one guy that just danced with me and i was very thankful because he could have i mean he could have if he really you guys they don't have to do that anymore are you had to go pick off the kicker no they change that rule because it wasn't just the kicker that was getting picked off like we did it to the broncos i felt terrible about it they had a stud on special teams and he was making every single play for their kickoff team their punt team everything so we just had a guy as soon as the kickoff happened okay you just get him from line of scrimmage all the way down and it ended up being a big collision guy got hurt

i think for the game or whatever so it didn't get hurt like for the rest of the season but i think for like the quarter or whatever and we thought for the rest of the year then somebody was going to send one back at us like because we did that so now it's like hey hey fucking baseball what's that it's like baseball when you hit their guy like hey someone's getting all right one of us is getting hit next inning and then the special teams that's its own individual war going on between special teams coordinators the special teams coordinators are always absolutely crazy, roller coasters of emotion throughout the week, and especially on game day.

They drank 87 Red Bulls and 40 cups of coffee before and during the game, and they just run up and down trying to herd cattle and try to get 11 guys on the field. Yeah, that's – Mitt's like, that is an accurate statement. That is what my father's been like for 20 years now. That is exactly what it is. It's awesome, though. That's every special team.

That's why special teams coaches are awesome because they're always like good, fun dudes, but they're all crazy and they all have a weird manic energy. Love ball. Oh, and they know how to bring all these guys together. It's such a tough job. You're coaching a bunch of guys who don't want to be there, who think they should be starting on offense or defense, and you've got to make them go run 80 yards down the field

and try to O-lay guys or try to take on a blocker and then make a tackle. All of it, it's real tough. It is. Honestly, I give those guys a ton of credit. They're special teams coaches that are good. I give them a lot of credit. You said those guys all think they should be starting their entire lives they've been starting their entire lives they've been stars it's like now i need you to pass that for a punt it's like i'm not on

fucking punt team i'm i'm the guy it's like well right now there's about four other guys that are all older and richer and better than you so you want to pass that here or do you want to get out of here and it's like well now we got to teach them how to properly do a pass set in their 21st year of football potentially it's like it is an insane thing the fact that it even happens is wild let's pivot the defense though let's talk about defense we talked about the Kansas City Chiefs Kansas City Chiefs are primed for a dynasty we all know that everybody's talking about it including the players on their team the way they're setting up contracts they want to do it Patrick Mahomes released a video the day he signed this massive deal and said we're preparing for a dynasty year.

That's what we're trying to create. They're paying everybody. Boom. In a couple years, two of their offensive linemen are going to be up that are very important to their offensive line. And I think their offensive line is kind of an underappreciated part of that entire Kansas City Chiefs team because they're able to have open backfield. They're able to not even have to chip some players now granted their offense opens up the defense a lot but if

they have one or two weak offensive linemen does that change the entire Kansas City Chiefs completely and how do they pay everybody that they're going to potentially need going forward so what Mitchell Schwartz they're going to have to pay him next year, I think, one of their O-linemen? It is. Mitchell Schwartz is in 2022. Okay. As well as Eric Fisher. If there's one or two weak links, you know that. Like, you know from watching special teams.

Like, say you saw me in the front line. You're like, all right, we need an onside. We're going after this dude. He's leaving early. You do the same thing if you're a D coordinator, if you're a defensive guy, especially if you're trying to rush a passer like Patrick Mahomes. You're thinking, what's the easiest way we can get to him? Well, there's no easy path, but we're going to go after whoever their weak link is.

So if they have a weak link, especially a guy like Pat Mahomes, I want to get pressure on him from the middle. I want to try to push the pocket, make him not ever feel comfortable, have to look over top of people, do all that. So you need to find a way, like if you can see between their two guards and their center, if you can find some kind of weak link between those three guys and just work it all game long and always make Pat Mahomes uncomfortable. So if you do, like, you need to – the best thing that the Chiefs could have is have, like, a cohesive unit that is together for a long time.

They play, they start a ton of games together, and they know each other well, and they don't even have to communicate. That's the ideal world when you're talking offensive linemen. know each other well they don't even have to communicate that's the ideal world when you're talking offensive lineman the the thought of the defense isn't allowed to play a lot of games though can't play a lot of stunts uh with the way the kansas city chiefs offense is though right because if you bring an extra man that means somebody's open and patrick mahomes i believe is very you don't have time you don't have time to run your little game to get to mahomes because he's gonna see it boom get to it it before you can even get to him.

So it's almost like they need good, I don't want to say one-on-one blockers, but they're going to face four probably every time and that's it. Their five need to beat those four for that offense to operate, right? Yeah, pretty much. You do, and you're going to have to bring more than four at times. That's for sure. Four, five, and six guys you'll bring. You just got to pick and choose when that happens. So, yeah, I don't know.

I mean, when you think about it, though, it all comes down – a lot of it comes down to third down. People have their different theories, like, oh, well, you have to win first down if you want a chance to win third down. Okay, that makes sense. Yes, it does. But when do guys get paid? Guys get paid on third down, whether you're an outside rusher, whether you're a lockdown corner, if you're a left tackle, if you're a left tackle, if you're a quarterback.

What's your third down completion percentage? How do you keep drives alive? Are you a steady, reliable tight end that converts a bunch of third downs for your offense? That's so gigantic. And you know on third down a lot of times what you're going to get. That's when teams play matchup coverage, and they may bring an extra blitz. They're going to man blitz, zone blitz a little bit,

but usually man blitz, it's always third and medium, third and short. You've got to find a way to get pressure and have big guys like Chris Jones on their defensive side and get his hands up and get in the throwing lane so there's no easy little balls underneath. The slot receiver role really came to be because of third down success rate. I mean, if you look back. And you can't hit them anymore.

You used to be able to hit them and beat the hell out of them. They couldn't come across the middle. Now they get all the free access they want. Soft. Game's gone soft. Not my football. Not my football. That's not my football.

It's fun to watch. Game's fun to watch, I guess. You want to score points. I like seeing them score points, so I understand the rule. Hey, me too, by the way. Like, I know that it's terrible for defensive coordinators and defensive players. Like, the rules are you can't do this, you can't do that, can't touch here, you can't slow him down,

he can't get in the way. And I understand that, but boy, I enjoy seeing some awesome offensive plays happen. Betting that over. That's just a shame. I mean, think of Edelman in the Super Bowl. Edelman, Super Bowl MVP, and absolutely was on fire. Like, they couldn't cover the dude.

They're trying to cover him with backers, corner, nickel, safety, whoever you put. It doesn't matter. The dude's just so good in the slot, and Tom Brady has so much trust in him. We will see. Does Cam Newton have the same amount of trust in Julian Edelman as Tom did? Okay, let's talk about Cam Newton. Did you see that video that Odell Beckham Jr. put out on his YouTube

with him, Victor Cruz, Todd Gurley, and Cam Newton chit-chatting around an interestingly lit table? I did not actually see the video. I saw a screenshot of it, but I not actually see the video i saw like a screenshot of it but i didn't see the whole video so cam newton talked about how he was self-aware enough that when he heard the patriots were interested to ask the question like are me and bill belichick going to be able to work and i think that's very interesting because a lot of people this morning on tv were talking about how that you see that's already a question that he shouldn't be asking because now he's trying

to act as if him and Bill are on the same level and it'll work if you just do your job. And I understand. I agree with all that. But anybody who doesn't think that the head coach and the starting quarterback have to have a good relationship or be on the same page, I don't think they fully understand the way a locker room operates. Bill and Cam are

going to have to be able to get along. And I think with this new Bill Belichick, I think they're going to be able to get along and i think with this new bill belichick i think they're gonna be able to he's got his dog doing the draft he's doing subway commercials he's winning emmys he very much understands that cam is a different player he said we'll we'll uh strategize around his strengths i think i think they're going to get along very well but i like the fact that cam newton was like me and belichick i don't know if this is the right move here if i was a patriots fan or i was someone out there like you said we're saying oh he shouldn't even be asking that i'd go the opposite way i'd say absolutely not i'm excited i'm glad that cam has that awareness that he's saying like yeah this is

the patriots we all know about like the vaunted patriot way and you know people talk about how it may not be fun in my whole life like i want to have fun and put out good content. Can this work? I think it's awesome that he's actually thinking that far ahead. He's not just an egomaniac that says, what do you mean I'm so good? Of course, Bill's got to like me. That's what it is, right?

No, Cam's actually thinking about it. He said 86 days he was unemployed, and he was asking his agent about teams. I assume the same teams that we were asking. The Jags don't want them? The Jags don't want them? No. Miami doesn't want them? No. Buffalo doesn't want them? No. Chargers don't were asking like the jags don't want them the jags don't want no miami doesn't want no buffalo don't want no chargers don't want no bears don't want like these are things we were asking i assume cam was potentially doing the same thing to his agent and he said his agent would be like no they're not interested or whatever like all the

teams so cam has this i mean he's got a list he's got a list. He's got a list over there. He crossed off everybody but the Patriots. Boy, I'm happy I called that guy. Billy Madison. What do you think about Big Bill Belichick in the Subway commercial? Is he the next Jared Fogle of Subway? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, What the fuck? Is he the face of Subway is all I'm asking. What is your problem?

My problem? You're the guy. You took it that way. I'm strictly asking about the brand of Subway, not in the subs. I'm not asking about what I do. There's been a lot of other people since Fogle has been incarcerated. I know, but none of them have caught on as the face of Subway. Charlie Puth had a shot.

Paulo Anton, I don't know. Justin Tuck. You ever heard of them? Aren't the Watt brothers on there? Yeah. Are they? Yeah, they are. Did you say they're Fogle-like?

No. Only Bill Belichick. Wow. Same outfit as Fogle Fogel-like? No. Only Bill Belichick. Wow. Same outfit as Fogel. Because none of them have stuck. No one's stuck as the face of Subway yet. So I'm wondering if this is the new face. I like that Bill Belichick has become this guy, though.

I love it. You know, a man who has obviously only focused on football for, what, the last 70 years of his life. The fact that now he's starting to open up and like show a little like i like this a lot that that nfl top 100 show i love that show like i enjoyed listening to his brain he was kind of like marking out a little bit to old historic football like it was cool to hear him the do your job documentary where he sits down and chats as opposed to what he does on uh the press conferences then even this little thing his dog the interviews he's been doing i

mean it's like we've seen a brand new bill belichick at this point just like we've seen a new roger goodell it's this is a whole different bill belichick 2.0 for the patriots dynasty 2.0 continued with a cam newton at your quarterback we could see the best bill belichick of all time still just like we could still see the best Bill Belichick of all time still, just like we could still see the best Cam Newton we've ever seen before. The opportunities are legitimately endless at this point. Oh, they are. When I saw these pictures of Bill Belichick doing a subway commercial,

I just instantly said to myself, they had to pay this dude like $5 or $10 million. So much fucking money. It had to be one of those deals where he's like, well, it's too good to turn down, I guess. I'm like, I got to do it. Normally turn down, I guess, huh, Lenton? I gotta do it. Normally, I eat Firehouse subs

that are founded by firemen because their sandwiches are a little bit better and they got all the hot sauces, but if these motherfuckers are gonna pay me $10, $15 million to eat a sub that I don't really wanna eat anyways,

I will do that on a park bench wearing khakis whenever, however the hell they would like us to. Did anyone else think it was on the set of, like, Forrest Gump? I honestly thought it was, like, this is the next Forrest Gump movie.

And I was so excited. It was somewhere in Boston, wasn't it, Connor? Oh, yeah, I believe that's Beacon Street. Nailed it. They already got their money's worth. Yeah, by the way, 100%. Right in the Wilbur Theater over there in Boston? I don't know if it's by the Wilbur.

It also might be on Newberry. Who knows? I'm not sure. Subway took a massive hit obviously when the whole uh you know their entire franchise uh guy who's from indiana which isn't good oh jeez did the whole thing yeah oh yeah and they try to bring them back to five dollar foot long but you have to spend fifteen dollars to get five dollars first you knowway has been in quite a, what's that, purgatory? They've been in quite a purgatory since the situation. Maybe Bill Belichick,

just like he did to the Patriots organization, takes him over to top Subways back. Here we are. BLT, BMT, meatball, spicy Italian. Belichick does seem like a meatball sub guy. He feels like the meatballs would just fall out and get all over his shirt. How do people like meatball subs? I still, it makes no sense to me.

Throw some pepperonis on those, too. One of the best subs of all time. No, wait. It's not a sub, though. You're getting like. What do you mean? Not from sub. You are talking about sub.

Nick's favorite sub. Meatball subs all time. No, meatball subs are just terrible. You get one bite. Oh, let me get this bite of bread. Okay, thank you so much. Let me get this bite of meatball. This is because you don get one bite. Oh, let me get this bite of bread. Okay, thank you so much. Let me get this bite of meatball. This is because you don't like sauce.

This is all it is. I don't like sauce. You're right, but I don't like not having a fucking meat in my sandwich either. If I wanted a bread sandwich with some meat, I would do that. Bread with sauce is like the third best sandwich of all time. He's not wrong. Yeah, like, I mean, think about how many people enjoy bread with sauce. I love sauce.

So add a meatball in there. Best sandwich of all time. We'll dump our bread right in the sauce. Just eat it. You don't count it. That's not a sandwich. What you're talking about is a pre-meal hors d'oeuvre type thing. Yeah, depending.

So now you make that pre-meal hors d'oeuvre type thing into a sandwich. No. What you're making is something that's a waste of time, waste of energy, and a fucking terrible bite every other bite. No. Meatball subs. Worst subs of all't fuck don't want it. Can't have it. It's not even a sub It's a waste of time and space. No Can't have it you're right man. I would never order a meatball sub mean either What do you do? Why not? Just get the meatballs by themselves And you put them in a bowl and then order whatever sub you want on the side and then maybe put the bread on like a like a

cracker that's what you should do because that's what a fucking sandwich tastes like every other bite anyways it's it just is no and then it gets saucy it trips off the back it's all it's the worst yourself italian i like the italian now the italian sub is one i can get around you know why every taste every single bite has a taste of oh, this is a sandwich. This isn't just stale ass bread with terrible marinara sauce on it looking for meatball meat.

Stop getting your meatball subs at Subway. That's the first problem. Italians know meatball. That's how this whole conversation started is Subway meatball sandwich. What about like meatball Ogie from someplace? Meatball Ogie. The Ogie, then that bread's probably too big anyways. You might as well just go ahead and eat a piece of toast and then have a piece of meat

every once in a while. But they're loading it up with meatballs. No. And it's fresh bread. I mean, it's a brand new bread. Because the way the bread is, you can't do it because then the meatball rolls around anyways. It's a waste.

Squeeze tighter. It's the worst sandwich of all time. Squeeze tighter. It shouldn't even be an option at places if they want to be a legitimate sandwich place. Leave that out. So, Conor, are you going to eat a meatball sub from Subway now that Bill Belichick endorses it? Every single meal. That's my plan.

Bill Belichick's not eating a meatball sub, Bear. It looks like he's eating a Philly cheesesteak. Which, by the way, good sub. It might be an Italian. Is that a real sandwich or is that a prop sandwich? It looks like roast beef. Hey, can you zoom in on that picture on the right seat? That is dark.

Oh, yeah, I'll pull one out. He's got to pull it out. Zoom in on that guy. Kind of looks like roast beef. I mean, any sandwich now from Subway is, you know, it's fair game just because Bill's the head sponsor. By the way, roast beef sandwich? An actual sandwich because there is meat in every single bite, basically. Meatball sandwich?

Not really. It's a bread sandwich with every once in a while a side of meat bread with sauce unbelievable probably one of the best you know secondary sandwiches out there i want ham on the bmt there for a while the bigger meatier tastier oh it's like an italian on steroids over there black forest oh yeah oh yeah hey how did this production crew get the green light to film a commercial in boston to belichick anything belichick needs to do, it gets cleared. He didn't have a mask on because it would be tough to eat any sub with a mask

on. He did in one of the pictures though. When he's walking, he had one hanging off his ear that he obviously had on before he got in that seat. I've seen a lot of people on camera have a mask on and then shots of them off camera not having masks on. It's all about the optics

have you done the show in a full mask before we're socially distance here you know did for a day yeah our office is basically built to be socially distanced which is very nice perfect I know you guys you guys definitely when you leave the studio you you stay six feet apart, too. Yeah, well, we go out the door one at a time. It's like wedding meal serving. Like, table one will go. They go out.

Table two goes out. And then we have the X's on the floor like the stores. I know. I've been there. I was actually there right before the COVID situation kind of hit. I don't. I'd rather meet up for COVID than a meatball sub. Shame on you.

They're so bad. Delicious. I'm happy I got that off my chest. I thought about that yesterday. Wow. I was watching him eat a sub that wasn't a meatball sub. I said, thank fucking God that Bill Belichick has a little bit of couth. That might be an Italian.

Yeah, it might be. That's like turkey ham. There's definitely a turkey ham situation. I know he loves turkey. There's a piece of bacon in there couth. That might be an Italian. Yeah, it might be. That's like turkey ham. There's definitely a turkey ham situation. I know he loves turkey. There's a piece of bacon in there maybe. There's quite the grip on the sub there too. Well, that's normal size for Bill Belichick. That's twice, Connor.

One more time, we're going to have an issue. What did he say? He keeps talking about Big Ben gripping penis-shaped food items. All I said was Belichick's got the Roethlisberger salami stranglehold on his sandwich. It's not a bad thing. It's a good grip. You go to Pepe's in the strip,

you get a Roethlisberger. That is the show. It's a good grip. From all of us to all of you, we can't thank you enough. Oh, wait, wait, wait. Listen. We've been talking about this for weeks.

AJ took it to the golf course last week to train and warm up at the driving range he was dialed in you saw him everybody saw the picture he had his wireless earbuds in from raycon because they have a noise isolating fit where he couldn't hear any of the bullshit from any of the other competitors. Now, the 19 people that lost to AJ, they refused to eliminate the distractions like Ray J did with his Raycon wireless earbuds, and that is why AJ is a Super Bowl champion, because he listens with Raycon.

Isn't that right, AJ? Yes, that is correct. And I actually got my two oldest kids a pair of Raycons as well because they've been asking about it and they are in love. They love these things. You know what's good about the Raycon E25 Everyday Earbuds is they come in a lot of fun and cool colors, which I assume your kids enjoy.

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They will have your size as well. They got AJ's kid's sizes in there while matching up with that big ass ear that he has on those heads. This is all true there's like they send you 30 different ear hole sizes it seems like i got a whole you have a whole list of it you could try them out for days how do they make any money sending all those ear hole things and they are half the price of other premium wireless brands good question i don't know man they just want they just want to put out great products i guess it was co-founded by ray j and celebrities like snoop D-O-double-G, Cardi B, Melissa Etheridge, Brandy and J.R. Smith are obsessed with Raycons you can add A.J. Hawk to that list of celebrities that are obsessed the compact carrying case can charge earbuds four times on a single charge and unlike the other

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and they give away, they give you all those options for your ears. I mean, it is. How do they do it? They can't be making any money. But hey, that's on them. We get to enjoy the benefits of it. 15% off buyraycon.com forward slash sports talk. AJ, anything before we go that you have to say to anybody?

No, I think I'm good except for I am on board 100% with the meatball sub thing. I'm glad you brought that up. I've never voiced that myself, but you reminded me of my feelings towards that. I hate them. It's just sloppy and soggy bread, and like you said, no bite. Every four bites, you get

a little bit of a meatball, and you might grab the whole meatball in one bite. You might get a little sliver of it, but you're going to have a ton of bread, and then all of a sudden the meatballs fall out out the back we don't have time for your sub to be deucing out meatballs at the back end what do you guys eat your stuff with what the blood mariner a little dirty geez no but i'd like to just enjoy my sandwich without wings you cry about wings when you get a little sauce on your hands hold it i don't get my hands because i get them dry and then i dip them in the sauce because that is the cheat code whenever you're getting wings delivered so they don't get all disgusting in the box.

Still gets on your hands. No, no. I actually do the – for the flat one, I saw that the internet started showing that. I've been doing that for years. No big deal. Professional wing eater and then the thing. But no, it's a stupid sub. It's a great sub.

It's a stupid sub. Great sub out there. What's that? Best sub out there. Listen sub it's a stupid sub great sub out there what's that best sub out there listen it's easy to make it's delicious did you hear what just shouldn't be a sub or not be a sub filling why shouldn't it be a sub it's in a sub sandwich it's a meatball sub what do you mean it shouldn't be a sub you can have bread or you can have meatballs i don't think you should combine them i don't think so either because the shape of the meatball by the way is not meant to be in a sandwich.

That's why it's so despicable. It's rolling around on a stupid bread. If you flatten it out and make it a patty of meatball. That's what I'm saying. That's why you don't go to those stooges at Subway. You go somewhere where they slice it diagonally and then they stack your meatball. No, no, no. But I don't like the round top.

But Donato's does do it right. But I think they should slice the middle and just give me the middle. I would like the top and the bottom of the meatball out of my fucking sandwich. Are we going to throw them out? Yeah, I don't care. Get them away from me. I'm paying to eat. I'm paying to eat some meat.

Not to the meatballs. You elitist. I can't handle it. Yeah. Oh, I've hated this since I was dead broke. Just throw it out. You should have seen the middle. I fucking hated it.

I actually went into something. What do you want to do? Just gather them all up in a garbage bag, dump them off for the poor to eat? No. Leave them in the pasta. Put the meatball in do? Just gather them all up in a garbage bag, dump them off for the poor to eat? No. Leave them in the pasta. Put the meatball in the fucking pasta. Don't make it a full-time sandwich. Get it out of here.

Listen, you can't have the stumps of the meatballs just laying around everywhere. If you want to have a good sandwich, have the stumps of the meatball laying around everywhere. I'm tired of it. I would assume that the YouTube comment section Is on my side because they're civilized with big brains Me and AJ are right You guys are all wrong There's people on Twitter trying to cancel you right now

What? Meatball subs I don't care, see you later to that group Forever Cool glasses Cool meatball sub Hot dog by the way is a sub It is not a sandwich

Or anything like that It is actually a sub Because the bread is connected You see if the bread was not connected It would be a sandwich Since the bread is connected A Hot Dog is a sub Very much more so than a Meatball Sub

Which is barely a fucking sub It's a terrible sandwich Wow I did not know that. How about a meatball sub on a hot dog bun? Even worse. Well, that's even worse because then it squeezes the meatball out, and then it's like impossible. I mean, there's nothing good about a meatball sub.

I go to a place where there's only meatball subs. I know I hate the people that are running the event. Meatball sandwich. These people stink. These people don't care if I have any enjoyment with my taste buds. Rudy's used to work there. Favorite sandwich place of all time. Never served it.

Wouldn't do it. Wouldn't do it. Can't do it. We're out. See you later. Get pasta. I see meatballs back there, though, sir. No, we're out.

That's for the pasta where meatballs are supposed to be. I think next time, Pat, you need to go to a Subway, have Zito film this, and tell them, hey, just cut the middle out of your meatballs. I don't care what you do with the top and bottoms, but just cut the middle. You're going to have to cut about 600 meatballs just to give me enough meat to put on this so-called meatball sub, but it's going to taste great. It's not going to flop out the back and get all soggy. Do we want to fix the meatball sub or not, Mr. Subway?

Mr. Subway, what are we doing? Are we trying to fix this or not? Maybe they brought we want to fix the meatball sub or not, Mr. Subway? Mr. Subway, what are we doing? Are we trying to fix this or not? Maybe they brought Bill in to fix the meatball sub. Bill Belichick is definitely strategizing on how to fix that trash sandwich and make it better for the rest of the world. There's nothing to fix, boys. This is the meatball sub we're talking about.

And think about, the meatball sandwich might be pretty revolutionary. That's a cheeseburger. Connor, I think for next show, Pat, I think Connor should get a double meat meatball sub and he should eat it on air and show us how cleanly he can do this. I'll do that immediately. Get the sandwich

how it's supposed to be. I don't want a double meat. I want a single meatball sandwich so that you have to eat that trash bread bite every other bite with that thing. And then when it starts rolling out the backside like deer turds falling out of a thing, I want it all to happen. Can I do this too? I love it.

Zito's trying to get free food out of me. We got you, bub. We'll make that happen. I thought about that yesterday, so I'm happy that came up. I did not expect you all to be such meatball lovers. I did not know people actually liked that sandwich. I didn't see how it was possible. Meatball sub's the best.

Meatball sub is not a Rust Belt sandwich. It's always the sub of the day. It's not a Rust Belt sandwich. It's a waste of space and a waste of money. Rust Belt people don't do that. Oh my goodness. I'm actually starting to wonder if you guys are elitist because you're just okay with buying a sandwich that is, what, one-third filled with meat that it's supposed to be filled with? I'd never do it from Subway. Ever. No, you can't. I'd eat a bullet

before I got a Subway meatball sub. It's like going to that drive-thru Italian food place. it from Subway. Ever. No, he can't. I'd eat a bullet before I got to Subway. I can't do it from Subway. It's like going to that drive-thru Italian food place. You can't do that either. Hey, Fazoli's is pretty good. There you go. It's not. Try a meatball sub from Fazoli's.

Change your fucking life. Pretty good. He's right. Pretty good. Out here in the Midwest, the Italians just never made their way out here. Right? So the Italians are a tribal group. Right? They're only going here in the Midwest, the Italians just never made their way out here. Right? So that is, the Italians are a tribal group. Right?

They're only going to stay around each other. And there hasn't been many that have made their way out to Midwest. And this was a slap in my face because I grew up around too many of them. So like food was always an opportunity. And then you come out to Indiana and it's like, no, no, there's no Italians out here. So I'm like, what Italian food do you guys eat? And they're like, Olive Garden. I'm like, okay, I love Olive Garden. I get it. Is there anything else? They're like, Faz there's no italians out here so i'm like what italian food you guys eat they're like olive garden i'm like okay i love all garden i get it there's anything else like fazoli's and i

drive by fazoli's and it is a drive-through italian place and i'm like listen i'm irish i am not going to disrespect the italians by even going to this so one year passes two years pass then finally it's the only thing open i go to it it was fucking delicious it was very very good piping hot bread sticks oh it was very good drive-thru Italian. I can remember going to Fazoli's. Huh? Fazoli's is legit, man. I don't think you can knock it.

You'll find something like that. You guys have clearly never sat down for Sunday sauce. Well, that's what I'm saying, though. You have to get past that. Can't do it. Won't do it. Yeah, you have to do it, though. Have to do it.

I see it. Fazoli's. I say, how you doing? Keep it moving. I mean, I respect they're just conning everyone out here in the Midwest who has no idea, but it's genius. Well, Nick loves it, and he's an Italian man. I, unlike Diggs, will accept what I can get when it comes to this.

Well, that's because you're more Italian than Diggs. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. That's a good point. Italian off. Italian off. Normally, I would say don't divide us like that, but he didn't really stick up for the meatball sub that much, so I Oh, shit. That's a good point. Italian off. Italian off. Normally, I would say don't divide us like that, but he didn't really stick up for the meatball sub that much,

so I'm kind of. He's very quiet because he hates it too because he knows. He knows. Don't you, Diggs? Love the meatball sub. What are you, scared to pick a side? You're scared to pick a side on a meatball sub conversation? I cannot talk down on a meatball in any fashion.

It's tough to eat, though. It is tough to eat. A sandwich is supposed to be convenient to eat. That's what a sandwich is. Bang, we're putting it in here. Let's keep it moving. This is a sandwich. You think back to the beginning of sandwiches.

It's because they had a meal. They put it into one. It's easy, convenient, and fast to eat. Then you get the meatball sub it's the direct opposite of that and you're getting bites that have absolutely nothing in them it is a disgrace to sandwiches

the meatball sub I was seven years old when I had my first one I tried my second one at 12 and never again yep see that that's a guy that knows what he likes and what he doesn't like

and what he likes is good stuff and what he doesn't like is terrible things like the fucking meatballs. No. That's the show. AJ, thanks for everything today. Good to see you on Wednesday. Thank you.

Thank you. on YouTube Live It's McAfee and Hock It's McAfee and Hock Sports Talk AJ used to tackle quarterbacks And he's a Rust Belt kinda guy That's the butter of the decade for the 2010s Kicking Pierce Missiles to the sky It's McAfee and Hawk. It's McAfee and Hawk Sports Talk. It's McAfee and Hawk Sports Talk. Joining us now is a man who said he has a mountain on his shoulder because 50 NFL personnel didn't vote him into the top 10 running backs in the NFL. Then, just a couple days later later madden came out and gave

him a 90 rating which is higher than aaron rodgers i don't know if he feels disrespected or respected as a chip on his shoulder or just taking a dumpy or a grumpy for a little bit ladies and gentlemen running back for the green bay packers stud aaron jones thank you for having me what's going on aaron how you feeling man i'm feeling good How you feeling man? I'm feeling good, thank you And what about you? I'm feeling great, thanks for asking You know I feel alive, I feel good I thought you blew off our show

I was going to have to cancel you from my life forever I'm happy that didn't happen No, no, no, I wouldn't do that I wouldn't do that Hey, good man Good man Aaron, hell yeah First of all, how's the off season going?

Obviously insane times What are the Zoom calls like? Have they been difficult to adjust to? How about workouts and everything like that? Actually, they've been pretty good. Our coaches keep it entertaining, telling jokes in it. And it's just like being in a regular meeting. So from that aspect, you get everything you need.

You're just missing the chemistry part that you would have during OTAs and things like that. But training is going well. I'm enjoying it, and I'm going to be ready when I step back on the field. Everybody says the game shape is a lot different than conditioning when you can run sprints, but it feels like everybody's tired the first day of training camp, regardless of OTAs, regardless of there being a normal setup.

That first couple days of training camp kind of kicks everybody in the taint, it feels like. So is it almost like you're trying to stay in shape as much as possible, knowing that whenever training camp starts, you're probably going to be tired and exhausted anyways? Definitely. I mean, I always say that game shape is a different kind of shape or football shape is a different kind of shape than anything else, whether it be basketball as well when you you condition it and you play basketball it's gonna be the same so uh it's gonna take it takes a couple days to get adjusted to but

um i've been running running a lot so i feel like i'll be ready uh contract year is always a big year for players i mean it is people can act like it's just another year but for players we know that this is business time now. Hey, this is going to have to be my best self. With the way the old offseason has gone, with the lack of chemistry and being able to be around each other, how have you been able to stay focused? Like, hey, I have

to have a massive year here regardless of what's going on around me. Just know it's in store for me. I'm always betting on myself and I want to be a lifelong Packer. Don't say that. Don't say that. Don't say what you just said.

If that's what you really want, don't say it. Aaron said it to us night of the draft, and then obviously what happened happened. So I don't want to be the curse here, so don't say that. But I'm sorry. Go back to it. All right. You know what I mean?

You get it. You get it. what I mean? You get it. You get it. You get it. You get it. No, but just knowing that my play on the field controls a lot of things. So just going out there and handling business. What was it about last year that really made you take off? Was it being featured a little bit more?

Was it the offensive system? What was it that made you kind of explode onto the scene last year? I think it was both. The previous two years, I really wasn't getting featured as much or getting that feature role. And when Coach LaFleur came in, he made me the starter. And I knew with that, he told me he liked to get the backs involved out of the backfield and get the ball in their hands.

So I knew the opportunity would come, and I just had to make the most of it. What do you think about Aaron Rodgers getting an 89 Madden rating? What a joke, dude. What a freak. That's a big joke. I mean, look at his stats. I mean, we went 13-3 last year, and just look at his track record. I mean, that doesn't make any sense to me. No to any of the other guys but he's my guy he's never

wanted me i agree completely by the way now patrick mahomes is uh has a year that is unheard of and lamar jackson's captivating but when you start looking at the other quarterbacks and any time you look at those madden ratings you're being being graded on a 0 to 100 scale for the first time in all aspects. Awareness, sprinting, arm strength, you get speed. You're 0 to 100. And I think that's why a lot of people are like, why do players care so much about their Madden rating and stuff like that? It's like, well, I'm literally being told by somebody that doesn't know football exactly how I am in every single aspect of the game. And now millions and millions of people are only going to know me by those ratings. You can see by why players get upset about it.

Let's not talk about Aaron Rodgers and his 89 and your 90 on Madden. Let's talk about the 50 personnel not putting you in the top 10 running backs in the league. You said you got a mountain on your shoulder because of it. Why is it? Do you think it's because last year you kind a mountain on your shoulder because of it. Why is it? Do you think it's because last year you kind of exploded on the scene? They don't know enough about you? You think they're just disrespectful to Aaron Jones and Green Bay? I mean, I have no clue. I just gonna go let the play on the field do the talking. I mean, my first two years, I led the league in yards per carry. And So I think people knew who I was.

It's just added fuel to the fire. I got left out of the Pro Bowl. No all-pro selection. Not even one vote. So it's just added fuel to the fire. The mountain on my shoulder is getting bigger and bigger. You and Aaron Rodgers seem to be in potentially the same headspace, which could be a very big

problem for the NFC North. Diggs, what do you got? Aaron, it has been reported by Pat that players are supposed to report on July 28th. Have you heard anything about that? Is the NFL PA? Is the NFL telling anything about players about what's going on as far as reporting

and stuff like that? We're supposed to report the 28th. I've been in a couple of Zoom meetings with the NFLPA, and they're just kind of going over the guidelines and what to expect, who can be in the building, when. But as far as I know, I'm reporting the 28th, and I'll be ready to go. And I expect the NFLPA, they have our backs, and they've been doing a great job.

So I expect them to get it right with the NFL and the Packers. Listen, if they put that thing as a bubble, okay, and you guys got to go into lockdown, I mean, that sucks for you guys, but we need the NFL. So the NBA players are getting Postmates delivered, trying to bring in thoughts and things. We need to shut that bubble down in Orlando, okay? We need the NBA.

It sucks for you guys in there. So I call on everybody else to not show up. But have the guidelines, have they told you? Like, are you guys going to be locked down in there? Have they even got to that point? Because publicly, we've only heard that there's some conversations happening. Have you guys been informed on what the guidelines could potentially look like? that there's some conversations happening.

Have you guys been informed on what the guidelines could potentially look like? We haven't been informed on that part, like whether we'll have to just stay in the house or stay in, like, one hotel or what it may be. We haven't been informed on that yet, so I'm kind of interested to see. I mean, I think I wouldn't mind being in a bubble, actually. I mean, as long as I get to play football. And I think that's what training camp is. Now, training camp gets a bad rap, obviously, because it's miserable.

It's a long time. There's no games that matter. So it's a tough thing for a lot of people. But that aspect of escaping and getting together with your team and kind of building the camaraderie, I think there's not a lot like that, especially coming after this sports hiatus and this quarantine. I think training camp is going to be a bit different for players this year and almost like an appreciation of it as opposed to I hate it, which is the normal mindset towards it. I definitely think it will be appreciated.

I mean, after all the time we've had off, like no TAs, just you don't get that chemistry. You don't get the camaraderie with the guys. You're not used to – you don't get that when you're not around them. So I think it was taken for granted before, so people definitely use that time and come together, and I think it will be a lot of fun. Are you an Adidas guy?

Yes, sir. When did that happen, recently? No, sir. So I've been with Adidas since my rookie year. Yes, sir. When did that happen? Recently? No, sir. So I've been with Adidas since my rookie year. Oh, I didn't know that. Hey, Adidas needs to show you a little bit more love, too. We need Aaron Jones. You know what I mean?

We need a little bit more of a push there, Adidas. Let's do this. Yes, sir. So you and Aaron Rodgers, both Adidas guys, both feel probably a little bit slighted, and both probably about to have the best years of your career next year. Is that accurate? I think that's very accurate. Hey, we like that a lot!

Ladies and gentlemen, do you have anything for Aaron? No, I just was curious, when a guy gets drafted in the second round, so they're obviously kind of putting a lot of chips into that basket, how do you react to something like that? Are you of the mindset where it's like's like hey the more competition in the running back room

the better uh i just think of it as the more competition in the running back room the better i mean at one point i was third on the depth chart and i was just worried worrying about myself so i continue to worry about myself i make sure my guys know what they're doing and put them in the best role to succeed but i i really just worry about myself and because that's all i can control is myself hey that's an interesting position for you to be in as the third guy at one point now you're going into contract year you're going to be the featured guy which happened last year but now they bring in a young guy and it's always this interesting thing where it's like yeah the outside almost expects the veteran to be this like another coach like hey

you need a mentor you need to be a coach and every older player that I've ever seen even those who aren't considered to be great mentors they're like nice they'll answer every single question like they'll try to help out but hey it's not my job to coach you okay like that's the coach's job I'm also trying to get ready for a season but for you this has to be a whole new place now like you're like the guy in the room now who has to answer the questions as opposed to the person that's asking the questions. Have you thought about that position at all and how you'll handle it?

I actually have now. It's kind of weird because now I'm the veteran. Really, in our room, we didn't have a vet. So it was kind of like we were learning on the fly, doing everything on the fly, and now I'm the vet. Like you said, a young guy coming in. And I'm going to do everything to make sure he's right and ready. When the time comes, if he needs to step on the field,

he knows what he's doing. But like you said, I'm focused on myself. It's a contract year, and I'm worried about myself. It's a weird balance. It is a weird – It's very weird. It is a very weird balance because if somehow it comes out later that you didn't bend over backwards for the younger player,

then they're like, oh, he's selfish. It's like, yeah, but I'm also trying to be the best me at the same time. It's a very weird expectation that gets put on veteran players whenever young players come in at the same position. I'm pumped to see how you handle it because you're a good dude. I think somebody just came. Hey, how's it going back there? How are you?

How are you? It was my mom. Hey, mom. Hey, mom. Your son's about to get very wealthy in about 365 days from now. Congratulations. And that's my dad. Hey, what's up, dad?

How's it going, dad? My dad said you're his favorite. Oh, you're my favorite, sir. You're my... I appreciate you, man. I appreciate... Hey, I like the Jones family a lot there. I feel like I need to come visit.

Where are you guys at? Down in Texas? Yes, sir. El Paso, Texas. You're welcome. Anytime. We'll show you a good time. Hey, high altitude down there.

Ball flies a long way down there, right? Isn't El Paso pretty? Yes, sir. Oh, yeah. Kick the hell out of some balls down there. Well, good luck this year. Can't wait to see what you double down with after an incredible year last year. And the fact that the 50 personnel disrespected you, I like that.

Add a little fuel to the fire on there. Oh, yes, sir. Thank you. And thank you for having me. I'm a huge fan of this show and a huge fan of you. So thank you. Aaron. Aaron.

Aaron. We like you, ladies and gentlemen. Aaron Jones. Aaron Jones. Aaron, hold on. In those top ten running backs, I want to ask who you think you're better than because that's setting you up to be in a terrible position. But who are some running backs around the league that you watch

and that you're like, I like the way they operate or maybe I can take some things from their game and maybe add it to mine? Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook. I feel like those are kind of some of the guys that are similar to me. They do it all. They catch it out the backfield. They can run. Joe Mixon as well.

He catches pretty well out of the backfield. Those guys are explosive when they get the ball in their hands. That's what I look to be is the home run hitter. Every time I get the ball in my hands, I want to do something special with it. 2,300 yards last year. Nothing to sneeze at. Ladies and gentlemen, going into his contract here for the Green Bay Packers, co-leader of rushing touchdowns

last year, Aaron Jones. Thank you, Aaron. Cheers, man. The whole family came out. No problem. Thank you. Cool family down in El Paso. Hey, El Paso, ball flies down there. It's like Denver. Very elevated. Ball goes a long, long, long way.

There was somebody that went to UTEP, University of Texas, El Paso, who was a kicker punter that was just bombing balls. I was like, this guy is a machine. Then you look at the elevation. It's like, oh, it's pretty high up there, I think. I still respect it. Let's not get crazy. I like Aaron Jones a lot. i'm happy he's a good guy going into a contract year too that is a very weird thing like ben rothensberger they there was a entire narrative that he wasn't a good leader or veteran or whatever it's like okay man

like listen this is a business okay i will try to answer as many questions as i possibly can but i have to worry about my ass too trying to figure it out. No matter what year it is, I have to figure it out. It's a tough expectation to fill because a lot of people just expect that veteran to go ahead and hand over every single thing they've learned in their 15-year, 10-year career, 6-year career, and it's like, well, hold on now. There is a little business that has to be in on this thing, and am I supposed to be the coach now?

Not the other? It was, it's a very weird thing, especially with how the media covers it, depending upon who it is. Especially because he's a veteran, but he's only 25 years old. Yeah, like Aaron Rodgers, for instance. However him and Jordan Love's relationship goes this year,

there'll be people that are like, oh, he could have taught Jordan Love more. He wasn't as nice to Jordan Love. It's like, you ever think, or maybe he was over, like he said he's going to do this. It's not Jordan Love's fault, obviously. And I think he's come out and said he can't wait to work with him

and he'll answer any question that he has and all that, which is the right move. But man, when it's a Wednesday or a Thursday and it's like third down day and Aaron's got a lot to focus on, if he's not answering every single one of Jordan Love's questions and somehow that gets out,

the media will be like, Aaron Rodgers trying to run Jordan Love out of the building. It's like, well, maybe he's just trying to do his job to his ability and saying hey follow what i'm doing let's go ahead and get it it's it's a very weird thing that the media expect of people for to teach their potential replacements especially in a business whenever they're trying to get better as well it's very very weird can't thank you enough for listening to today's

show obviously the guests are fantastic but it's really you that makes this whole thing go round. If you like this show, please, please tell a friend. Hashtag end of pod squad will be determined by tomorrow's show. Got to pick two $500 winners. If you want to use the hashtag EndapodSquad and say what's up and tweet it to me, you could be entered in it, but do it fast because those names are coming

motherfucking quick. We'll be back, Mignogna, with a whole new episode. We think you will enjoy it. Send you into the weekend in a beautiful fashion. We can't thank you enough for rocking with us, fucking with us, laughing with us. Ladies and gentlemen, Ty Schmidt. Please play some independent music. ស្រាប់ប់ប្រាប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប�ាប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប�ាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា you