The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 247 - Kyle Rudolph, Dante Hall & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: September 10, 2020

On today's show Pat and the boys chat about the NFL FINALLY being back, and give some predictions for tonight's Chiefs Texans game. Friend of the show, 2x Pro Bowler Kyle Rudolph chats about his career as a Viking and the unprecedented circumstances for this year's NFL season (12:26-32:33). Later in the episode, 2x Pro Bowler, 2x All-Pro, member of the 2000's NFL All-Decade Team, the "X-Factor" Dante Hall joins the show to preview tonight's return to the NFL. He breaks down how he got a Super Bowl ring from the Chiefs and why he things they're well equipped to repeat as Super Bowl Champion (33:59-48:59). Later is another installment of McAfee & Hawk Sports Talk, where Pat and AJ each give their Super Bowl predictions for the upcoming season (49:01-58:35). Don't forget to subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow.com as we approach one million subscribers and our biggest giveaway ever, listen to the show from Noon-3 every day on Mad Dog Radio, SiriusXM Channel 82. We appreciate you all for listening, come and laugh with us. Cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, it is Thursday, September 10th, and the NFL is back tonight! We're obviously excited, got some good conversation, good breakdown of the game, and what we're expecting from tonight and this weekend when football dives all the way back into our life. Per usual, if you like this show, feel free to tell a friend. You know, a little guerrilla warfare out there, boots on the ground, grow this thing, one person talking to one person at a time and if you don't like this show just act like it never fucking happened we can't thank you enough for allowing us to penetrate your ear holes let's get to this thing the super boost tonight we got a big ass super boost that we are hammering this

evening a fan duel patrick mahomes to throw 300 touchdowns or 300 touchdowns that'd be pretty good he might take the over 300 yards three touchdowns. Or 300 touchdowns. That'd be pretty good. He might. 300 yards, three touchdowns, and the Chiefs win. It went from plus 170 to plus 270. $50 max, make it more than double your money. That feels like something that's going to happen. And I know the number 300 sounds large. But if you

look at anything that they did last year, and if you look at the betting trends for Super Bowl winning teams, or Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, and home field advantage in the opening night, I mean, the Super Bowl winning quarterback normally wins the game. That is just how it goes. Now, I remember the Eagles a few years ago. They just shit the bed.

You remember that? Oh, yeah. And the fans were booing. The Eagles fans were so passionate. They just shit the bed. The Eagles shit the bed. And the fans were booing them on their Super Bowl banner celebration night. I mean, that is just the most Philadelphia thing of all time.

Aside, I'm not even going to bring up what they did to Santa Claus. I'm not even going to talk about my situation I had with them when it was the first game back after my suspension for an alleged event. And I got a chance to see the entire wide range of a Philadelphia Eagles fan's emotions, where I was welcomed with open arms at the beginning of the game. One Philadelphia Eagles fan actually said to me, like, hey, there's nothing wrong with having a few of these and going for a swim, and then chugged his beer. And that was an entire section cheering for me. I'm like, thank you. I had a good punt.

My first punt back, pin him at the one. I come back, that same person is yelling at me, telling me to go fuck myself. So I literally got a chance to experience, in a personal fashion, the Philadelphia Eagles fans. But aside from that, the Super Bowl champ normally wins. Now now the Patriots have lost a couple times in that thing oh yeah but if you look back like 18 years what are the stats Diggs uh reigning Super Bowl champs are 17 and 3 straight up and 13 5 and 2 against the spread in the next season's opener so it's nine and a half tonight

the Chiefs are giving nine and a half to the Texans that's a lot of points I mean that is a lot of points but if you look at the trends you look at the history and you think about what the Kansas City Chiefs have done this offseason and getting better and some would say the Texans. That's a lot of points. That is a lot of points. But if you look at the trends, you look at the history, and you think about what the Kansas City Chiefs have done this offseason and getting better, and some would say the Texans potentially got worse. Now, they signed Deshaun Watson to a long-term deal. He got a little stability at quarterback. Good for them. Something that the Dallas Cowboys couldn't do. They were in that

state with a quarterback who's going to be much more expensive now because the Deshaun Watson deal got done. They get rid of their best wide receiver who just signed a two-year deal out in Arizona and negotiated that deal himself, by the way. They add David Johnson, who David Johnson gets a chance to get back into a system that he succeeded in.

It kind of, Billy O'Brien and Bruce Aaron's system is the same, but many would say that the Texans did not get better this offseason and the Chiefs somehow did get better this offseason. They locked down everybody. They made everybody happy that they had to make happy, and it feels like the Chiefs are did get better this offseason. They locked down everybody. They made everybody happy that they had to make happy. And it feels like the Chiefs are on this arrow up still, even after riding an incredible wave through the playoffs of comebacks

and magical moments in beating the 49ers after having a loss or being down in basically every single game. It feels like the Chiefs are just hot right now. It just feels like there's nothing going to slow them down. And they had the same amount of offseason as everybody else. Normally after you win a Super Bowl, there's a lot of celebrating, I would assume. Never got to do it. I lost Super Bowl and I celebrated the hell out of it.

So there's a lot of celebrating. And you can kind of get caught up in that, oh, you don't fully get back or get the rest and get your team ready. But this year, everybody had the same exact amount of time. Everybody had the same rules. Basically, you'd be locked down in your house. You can't do anything. I mean, I feel like all those things potentially benefit a team

that was hottest at the end of the season last year. And Patrick Mahomes said openly that he had no idea how to read a defense until midway through last season. They go win a fucking Super Bowl, by the way, after that. I just don't know if he slows down. I love Deshaun Watson. I think he's magical. And it feels like nine and a half is a lot.

Oh, here it comes. Oh, no way. Chiefs, minus nine and a half. Oh! Hammer! And I'm not alone, by the way, Diggs. There is a lot of money on that. I think 70% or 60% of the money is on that thing.

Yeah, let me pull it up right now. So right now, 57% of the bets and 61% of the money is on KC. Which would mean, by the way, that I'm probably not going to win. As soon as you hear those stats, that means probably not good. Not good. But in this particular fashion, because of everything I just said, one team got better. Seems like another team potentially either stayed the same

or got worse after they lose their number one wide receiver. And are they going to be able to bring back David Johnson of the past? I'm not 100% sure about that. Feels like the Chiefs are just going to go ahead and do this thing tonight as long as the money is higher than the bets you're good there and then also brandon cooks is questionable uh the chiefs first round draft pick last year who got hurt in week 16 juan thornhill the safety was playing incredible at the end of the year he's back for them i mean i think it's i think patty mahomes is seven and oh against the spread in his last seven games how about that?

That's why they had a 9.5, by the way. It was probably supposed to be like 6.5 or something like that. And they're like, this fucking son of a bitch. Go ahead and up that thing three. 9.5 is a lot, especially on opening night. We have no idea what to expect. There'll be 17,000 fans in the Kansas City Chiefs Stadium. There'll be a much different environment.

Who knows what's going to happen before the game, during the game, after the game. But I do know, off the field I'm saying, but I do know that they're going to win by at least 9.5. I feel good about it, too. I'm going to come in tomorrow undefeated in NFL picks. Our super boost is going to hit over there as well. I mean, we're just going to come in just swimming into money

to start this whole thing early. It feels good knowing that you're going to win cash going into the game. It does. But even with cuts being questionable, doesn't it take a few games to get a chemistry between your quarterback and your number one wide receiver? You asked that to Aaron yesterday, how long it takes. Is training camp enough time?

And I think Aaron tried to answer that in a fashion that was humble. But you've got to remember, Aaron Rodgers literally throws balls into buckets. So the pocket. That's why jordan love looks so bad by the way in these videos because the drill that they're doing is an accuracy drill and he's following probably the most accurate passer in the history of the nfl i mean that is what aaron rogers is he puts a ball in a bucket from 80 yards away or 15 yards away so i think that is potentially why he didn't have to learn him like watching peyton build up the chemistry with the wide receivers was really awesome to watch.

We're talking so many reps. I mean, it was just so many, so many, so many, so many reps. Because he was throwing to a spot because he didn't have as strong of an arm whenever I was with him. I don't know if he ever was known for having a strong arm. Aside from that commercial that said 6'5", laser rocket arm. His thing was all about dropping it in a spot. But he had to know when and where the wide receiver was going to be there so that was repped out so much so so and that's

why Peyton was considered so damn good because a lot of his throws were I mean there's a lot of reasons he knew exactly what the defense was going to do he knew all that shit he ran our entire building and all that stuff but a lot of those throws he's thrown before people even break and that's why the wide receiver and the DB had no chance basically because neither of them knew the ball was going to be there until they both turned their heads and the ball was already there that took a lot i think there's different styles of quarterback play though i'm not sure everybody throws like peyton i think aaron is a guy who obviously can zip it and he can put it in there but is deshaun watson have to get his timing out i would assume but would you

play a guy on a thursday night game when you know you have another 10 days if his hamstring or whatever injury what does he have quad what is it it was quite i believe yeah yeah if he has a quad injury and it's like you're like right there and it's week one and he's your guy he's gonna be your guy chiefs it's like do you even put him in that's like the mike evans situation like mike evans has a hamstring injury down there in tampa and they're like he's questionable he's questionable it's like well you have a lot of weapons down there it's week one I mean you're playing the Saints so it's a big game it's a division game you have to win your division games that's just the way it goes but if if you have all your other weapons and you why would you why would you risk it week one why

would you blow out the hamstring and not just hey let's give you one two more weeks here of rehab because muscles by the way especially for these guys two weeks is an eternity basically to kind of get them healthy but it's all about necessity and maybe they need brandon cooks come back at 80 or whatever he's at tonight and maybe they need mike evans i don't think they do but maybe they do plus with those two guys like those those are wide receivers who have had who have had some injuries in their career so like those are the guys that you would maybe sit out a week just so that hey we got a lot of season, we've got a lot of time left here. Plenty. I would be so pumped if I'm playing Thursday night, by the way.

Yeah. The only thing that sucks is you've got to go to training camp three days earlier. But I would be so pumped to be playing. You get two bye weeks because they get an extended weekend here now to watch football, to watch all the other teams. Then they probably go back in there on Monday and then Tuesday off and then Wednesday they're back in. This is a good thing for, especially this year, because of, you know, nobody had OTAs or spring or anything like that. Because if you play to the Super Bowl like the Chiefs have,

and then you have Thursday, I mean, that's only like three days less, but the Super Bowl is February now. You got a lot shorter time to recover, get the bodies right, and get back reacclimated into, oh, we're going into season mode. But that team feels like they are locked and loaded over there. Run it back is what Patty Mahomes said. Run that thing back. They're ready.

They are ready. We never talked about this, but I believe it came out last week. And I wanted to get your opinion on the players' side of this. So players that play in the game can't go into the facility the next day unless it's for treatment or rehab or something like that. Does that mean anything to you guys? I saw Thomas Morstead said this makes no sense. Test guys on game day so they can get into the facility because the rehab or something like that. Does that mean anything to you guys? I saw Thomas Morstead said, this makes no sense. Test guys on game day so they can get into the facility

because the rehab starts the day after. Now, I don't know what teams have what, but the Toradol's wearing off too that next day. If you are on a team that is smart. Now, granted, who knows about the long-term effects people take. But if you're a team that's like, hey, we do offer Toradol to our players if they have an injury because it is an anti-inflammatory. That's all it is. term effects people but if you're a team that's like hey we do offer toradol to our players if they have an injury because it is an anti-inflammatory that's all it is it happens to be

the best one to ever exist and makes your whole body feel good but yeah the next morning like cold tub and rehab and all that is it's huge because you have to get on that as soon as because now if you delay that another day then what now you're getting pushed back this way so it's kind of you know it kind of fucks up a lot of stuff. Thomas Morris, I saw him tweet about it. Like, hey, we got to be able to figure this out. Are they testing right after the game on Sundays? I don't think so.

They should be. No, they're not testing on game days. That's why they have to be off the next day. Oh, boy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's going to be, that's potentially going to be problematic. Probably going to change. Yeah, it's probably going to be problematic.

So sorry to interrupt uh let's take a little time to talk to the dog owners out there i have two dogs obviously valerie who was rescued about a week before she was potentially going to be put down at a shelter she's the greatest dog to ever exist she's half pitbull half sharpay and she has me wrapped around her little paw and then there's chuck who's a corgi who knows uh that people really think he's cute and he has come around and i love him a lot but what those two dogs have become massive fans of is this once a month gift that shows up it's like christmas for dogs and it's called bark box I did not know about BarkBox until they came into our lives here just a couple months ago and it's a $22 monthly subscription for your pooch and you

get over $40 worth of items in there. So what are you doing? You're saving at least 18 bucks a month and you're spoiling your pooches. BarkBox is a dog obsessed company that's devoted to one goal and that's making your dogs happy. They've done that for my dogs and they'll do that for your dog or dogs as well. And if you join now, you get a free extra toy in every single box. That's $60 worth of free toys that you'll be getting this year whenever you sign up at BarkBox.com forward slash Pat. There's toys in there. There's treats in there. It's tailored for your dog and it's shipped every single month for free start now and get 60 and free toys this year unique toys usa made treats free monthly delivery 22 40 worth of stuff in there you're saving 18 bucks to begin with

and if you sign up at barkbox.com forward slash pat you get 60 in free extra toys i mean let's keep our dogs happy hey anything to make that tail wag anything to make that tail wag in bark box is doing a lot of things to make your dog's tail wag that's what we're trying to do here put a smile on their face put happiness in their heart because that's what they do to you. That was cute. Let's get back to the show. We are being joined now by a man who's a two-time, two-time pro bowler. You might remember him from winning the game down in New Orleans, a playoff game that was very vital. Very controversial, to be honest, very, very controversial catch.

We've been on that since the beginning for our people down there in New Orleans. Got to do it. But this guy's a stud, and i can't wait to chat with him ladies and gentlemen tight end for the minnesota vikings kyle rudolph just one hand pat oh okay that's on me um i got a chance to talk to aaron yesterday division rival for you but he was talking about how this new schedule, how you guys had to ramp up period. He said his arm feels better than it has for the last 10 years because kind of during the quarantine, he got to get some things right. And then there wasn't as much downtime and then uptime and ramp up time. Do you feel the same way? Cause I thought there was a chance that football was going to suck, but he was like basically pitching at the complete

opposite direction. You know, i would agree in that you know most people would assume without four pre-season games you know just no otas no minicamp uh you might not feel as prepared going into week one but you know we we had that two-week ramp up period um we probably had more training camp practices than we've ever had because you when you're in a pre-season schedule you know, it forces you the day before the game, really the day of the game, if you're not playing a whole lot of snaps and the day after the game are kind of like off days. So you think about it, we've been going six out of seven days instead of four out of seven days. Um, so, you know, coach Zimmer did a good job for us. Kind of, we did a

two quarter scrimmage down in the stadium a couple of weeks ago to, to get the feel, you know, Coach Zimmer did a good job for us. We did a two-quarter scrimmage down in the stadium a couple weeks ago to get the feel. I took 36, 38 reps, so that's probably the most I would have ever taken in a preseason game. What were your stats? What were your stats? How'd you do? Oh, I think I had one grab.

So, you know, typical preseason game, you know, you want to get in, get out, get your hands on the ball. 36 snaps, one catch is kyle rudolph no longer a part of the minnesota vikings wait a minute kyle uh so you feel good huh body feels good feels ready to rock i do yeah i feel like physically and another thing too that i know i'm talking to a couple of the guys in the locker room this week, mentally, normally, at this point, you think about it, you've been going since the middle of April, and you have that OTA mini-camp.

It's not a physical grind, but you're still in the meeting room all the time, and you're mentally thinking about football all day, every day. So guys mentally feel fresh right now, and it's like we can't believe that you know we're going to play a game it's the the middle of september early september uh because normally at this point you know you've been grinding for a long time mentally and uh i feel like guys feel really fresh heading into the week one how do you feel about primetime kirk cousins saying if i die i die that is i did not know that about kirk cousins i do not know

that he now he got attacked for that obviously and i did not know he was going to get attacked i think he said all the right things and i think his quote was potentially taken out of context and people didn't hear his entire quote and they just started attacking him because that's the world we live in right now but him just going if i die i die that is a kirk cousins that i did not know exists i'm like this guy is a savage what have you seen out of kirk cousins this year last year got a lot of weight off of his back i mean wins a prime time playoff game wins down in jerry world has success more success than he's ever had he looked better than he's ever looked what i mean did the if i die i die quote from him raise any eyebrows in the locker room and how does kirk cousinsins look this year? You know Kirk's had a good camp there's definitely that fiery side that you know we see competing

against our defense all through training camp you know he likes to mix it up with those guys you know he gets competitive gets a little fiery so you see that if I die I die come out of him at practice from time to time and you know like you, he played really well in a lot of big games for us last year down in Dallas on Sunday Night Football, obviously the playoff game in New Orleans. And we all knew the narrative, you know, that Kirk can't win big games. Kirk can't win primetime games on the road. And it's up to the 10 other guys on offense to play well and hold up our end of the bargain because he played so well in all the big games last year he gave us a chance to win every one of them isn't it hilarious though

that uh like back in the day i would assume media people and even athletes would be like no i didn't even i don't read my press clippings dude i don't know that anybody's talking about me not doing that like that was something going in i was assuming assuming to Dallas. I think Dallas was the big game that everybody was like, oh, Kirk Cousins, primetime Kirk Cousins has been birthed from Jerry World. That is what happened. But that conversation, was it ever anything that Kirk Cousins ever talked about or was it just something that was just understood? Did you ever feel anything different out of him in those games

that he knew that he was going to get judged upon immediately, or not he played well or not just on a win or a loss no and and i feel like you know like you said you have the guys that are always like oh i you know i don't read what the media says i don't hear it in today's world that's not possible like you you're gonna see it you're gonna hear it uh but i think our locker room, our offense was probably even more aware of it, like I said, because it was our responsibility as the 10 other guys on offense, defense, special teams. We all had the Kirk can't just go win the game by himself. You know, football is, you know, one of the unique sports where one person can't just take over the game and it doesn't matter what else happens around them. One person can't just take over the game and it doesn't matter what else happens around them. You need the 10 other guys on the field with you to make you look better, to make you play better,

but also to hold up their end and make sure they're getting their assignment done. So I would say the rest of our offense was kind of more aware of it and really wanted to squash that last year than he was. Well, you definitely did. And you also just called basketball a selfish sport, which I can't believe. I'm a former basketball player. I'll be the first one to just ISO everybody get out of my way. You're right, though. It takes everybody. I mean, a long snapper can ruin a game for somebody,

and then the quarterback will get joined. I mean, it is such a miniscule task, which is going to be interesting this year with special teams because young guys probably never played special teams, no preseason. I mean, that's where there's going to be a lot of eyebrows raised. Let's talk about the losses you guys had. Never want to look in the past. Hey, spaceships don't come equipped with rear view mirrors, dog.

They dip. But you guys had a great year last year. Stefanski gone. Diggs gone. How has been the adjustment? you guys got a rookie you drafted a wide receiver right who did Justin Jefferson is a stud right how has he been fitting in in the role I would assume it's nobody replaces anybody but I would assume another weapon there is good for the offense absolutely uh and you know he's a guy that came in uh in a unique situation with no offseason we didn't have the OTAs and minicamp practices that we would normally have.

But we were able to get together pre-training camp in one of those player-led deals that Brady got in trouble for having in Tampa. We did one of those in Minnesota. Oh! So that was the first time I got to see Justin. And he's a special talent. He's a first-round pick for a reason. Very explosive, good route runner. So I'm excited to see him get to go out there and play live for the first time.

Kyle, have you had a chance to go up against Mr. Ngokwe yet? And how good does it feel that you're in an organization where a guy will take like $6 million less to get out of another organization to come to yours? Don't need it, he says. He's along those lines as well. You know, I'm talking about Justin and how explosive Justin is. You know, he's the same way. You know, Yannick is super explosive, you know,

has been one of the most disruptive pass rushers in our league over the last few years. And, you know, it says a lot about our organization that somebody is willing to come here for less. But it also speaks to Rick Spielman in our front office that, you know, when they see an opportunity, they know it's our time to win now and they're willing to go out and get a player who hopefully is here for a long time. But realistically, you know, it could just be here for a year. player who hopefully is here for a long time but realistically you know it could just be here for a year so you know to give up a couple draft picks and know that you know we got a chance to win now you know it speaks volumes of rick and the way that he's always going to give our team the best opportunity to go win games man the vikings are an organization that goes for it i mean a brand

new stadium just a few years ago and we've asked every player about this because to me it is a very intriguing part of the storyline especially for veteran guys who have accomplished a lot the no fans thing i don't know what minute what are you guys doing i don't know what the rules are none none so is that just indefinitely uh as of right now it's the first two so we have two home games in the month of september uh both of which will be with with no one in attendance so you guys have been doing the 70 decibels of practice how has that been it's different you know like i said we had that that scrimmage down in the stadium where we did the two quarters and uh we did one quarter where it was as if we were the home team and you kind

of get the feel as an offense uh the the lower decibel level and then the second quarter as if we're in a way team and you get the the higher decibel level but it's it's not near you know there won't be a a home field advantage for for teams that don't have fans in the stands just because you have crowd noise um it it's basically just takes away the the silence of an empty stadium if you would listen i know every football player is supposed to try as hard as they can on every snap for the love of the game. But with your position, you're hitting people, you're getting slammed. Is there going to be any trouble for you at all to flip the switch that it's real?

I don't know. I think that makes sense when I'm asking you. I'm not sure if everybody else will understand that, but it is a little bit difficult, I think, to kind of flip that switch, especially if there's zero energy in the entire stands. Absolutely. I think football is a game, again, that's extremely unique in that you go out there and you put your body on the line

and you do things when the adrenaline's falling that you might not do in a practice or a scrimmage. I'll be curious to see you know as a team we're gonna have to kind of feed off one another's energy and and bring that energy because you're not gonna be able to get it from 65 000 fans in that environment so um you know it's it's kind of that whole you know you got to bring bring your own energy we got to feed off one another and i think it'll go a long way if you make you know, you got to bring your own energy. We got to feed off one another. And I think it'll go a long way if you make, you know, big plays early in the game to kind of create some energy. Is the Viking going to blow that horn still?

Or no? No Viking blow? Or no? I'm sure they'll have somebody. Who knows? In today's world, it'll probably be virtual. Not right. Oh, no.

He was asked for a pay raise a couple years ago. They almost kicked his ass out of town. Now they're like, he can't even blow the damn horn. He's gone. Yeah, Kyle, no. He was asked for a pay raise a couple years ago. They almost kicked his ass out of town. Now they're like, he can't even blow the damn horn. He's gone. Yeah, Kyle, another. I think he actually threatened to go be a Green Bay fan. Oh, gee. Oh, man.

Go ahead. Kyle, another elite tight end, Zach Ertz, is working on trying to stay in Philadelphia for the remainder of his career. How important is it to you to start and finish in Minnesota? Well, it's something that, you know, as a young player, as a player early on in your career, you know, you don't really think about. But then now as, you know, I've been here for 10 years, you know, you start to establish roots. My family's here. My kids go to school here. This has become home for us. And as you become entrenched in the community, that becomes

that much more important. And for me, you know, I said it last year when I signed my extension with a year left on my current contract that free agency was never appealing to me. You know, I never had a desire to go play for any other organization. The way that our organization is run from the top down, starting with our ownership and the wealth family, Rick Spielman, Rob Brzezinski, Coach Zimmer, there's no desire for me to want to go anywhere else. And I think that is evident in seeing how many guys have either stayed here or in the Ngakwe situation

come here for less money because they just want to be a part of this organization 10 years hey wow hey obviously obviously very very wealthy but that that is not that's not normal at all congratulations there's only I mean those stats those stats that they give out for the percentage of athletes that last three years four years five years ten years is a very, very, very small number. Congratulations, especially at tight end. That ain't easy. That's not easy at all.

Thank you. Does your body feel old? Body feel old? You know what? I feel good. I think it's one of the things that as you get older, you get wiser and you learn how to take care of your body. And with March Madness being canceled this year, we didn't party in Vegas like we normally do together, Pat. So, you know, you feel good going into the season.

Bingo. I mean, life feels a lot better without that type of stuff going on. Ten years ago, though, you were at Notre Dame. Obviously, Notre Dame. Lou Holtz, shout out Lou Holtz and whoever was your coach at the time and everything like that. There was a report that came out on Sports Illustrated or one sports illustrated's affiliates that notre dame pretty much saved like college football because when the big 10 and pac-12 and this is not our words okay this is being reported by people who are paid to report stuff who actually check it and all that shit so allegedly

the big 10 whenever they in the pac-12 decided to postpone the season they thought they were going to be heralded as heroes, and they thought that the ACC the next day was going to do the exact same. For some reason, I don't know if it was a conversation. And then the story goes that Notre Dame called the ACC immediately upon hearing about the Big Ten and Pac-12 and said, hey, let's work something out. Let's figure this out.

So we'll join the ACC either later or something like that. And the ACC was like, okay, we get an NBC national primetime game every single week. We have this whole thing in the future. We should definitely do that. And it potentially saved college football. At this point, with what you've done with the NFL here, with the testing and how the whole process has gone, do you think there is a safe way to go throughout this entire season that college football could definitely do and easily replicate? You know, it's harder for them just simply on the fact,

you know, for us, we have daily testing, you know, the numbers have been published with the, you know, thousands of tests that players and staff have had over the last six weeks. You know, I know most of the people in college football, I think, are maybe testing a couple times a week. You know, the thing with daily testing is, you know, you know, you compare it to, you know, virus comes in, you know, one person has it. If you have to wait two or three days to get tested, there's a greater chance for that to really get throughout the course of your team. To where as in the NFL, with us being tested every day, you know, you know, immediately if somebody somebody tests positive them and everyone that they've been around is now kept out of the building so um i do think and and the positivity

comes from you know the numbers that we've had over the last six weeks you know i think uh less than 10 people have tested positive player and staff throughout the entire nfl it's gonna take all of us it's gonna take all of us. It's going to take all of us. So, you know, being that we've done it for six weeks and it's not like everybody's been in a hotel for training camp and we've been isolated from our families, we've done this for six weeks, and I don't see why that would change now as we move forward

throughout a 17-week season and also through college football because I know they're very adamant about the testing as well. Okay. Well, Kyle, you just made me feel very good. Good luck this weekend. I hope you have a great game. I hope you do very, very well. If you could make sure Aaron Rodgers also has a good game

because he's joining us next Tuesday, so if you could tell the boys in the back end, let them come do something, but you guys get to win. That'd be very good. You know what I mean? Sounds good. Hey, you're a very, very good guy. But you guys get to win. Sounds good. You're a very, very good guy. Congrats on the extension. Congrats on 10 years. Thanks for joining us. And

you're the man. Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. Ladies and gentlemen, two-time Pro Bowler Kyle Rudolph with a hell of a push-off. Last playoff. See you, man. Appreciate you. See you. Thank you. He's a good's good dude hey you guys partying in uh vegas for march madness huh we had a good time we had a good time together yeah he had this friend or bodyguard i don't know who he was but he was he was an electric show yeah it was normally so what

happens in those types of situations is you see somebody you know and then i'll have my group of friends with me yeah and then they'll probably have a group with them. And then we go and do something. And then my friends immediately hate that group or like the group. So it's like one or the other. And that normally causes the duration of us hanging out. Does that make sense? So normally it's like a quick, like, hey, what's up? Let's have a drink.

And then we'll kind of bounce back to our part of the dance floor or the bar, wherever we're at. But that was good. Like, we got along with their group. We were together for, I think, five hours one night, six hours. Yeah, so I know a lot about him. Good guy. Good time. Good time, Kyle Rudolph.

And very, very, very good at football. Yes. I mean, he's unbelievable at football. I would like the Packers to Aaron Rodgers to have a great game this weekend because I would like him to feel good. Maybe. No, I don't want to this weekend because I would like him to feel good. Maybe. No, I don't want to say it because I got Kirk on my shirt, and I just talked to him,

and I assume there's a lot of Vikings fans watching. But you have to understand, for selfish reasons, I would like the Packers to win because I want Aaron Rodgers to be very happy on Tuesday because he's coming on the show. So you understand that. For the good of the show, I would like the Packers to win. Team Rodgers. But primetime Kirk Cousins was born last year,

and that is something that cannot go understated. Primetime Kirk Cousins was born last year, and that is something that cannot go understated. Primetime Kirk Cousins wins a playoff game in New Orleans with a packed house that is not easy to win. Not easy to win down there. And he won on Jerry World, and he was throwing the ball all over the yard last year. They could be a problem in that NFC North. They got better this offseason.

Not to mention, if he dies, he dies. He doesn't care. He'll do anything for the win. Yeah, if he... Listen, what if Kirk Cousins becomes Ryan Fitzpatrick all of a sudden? What if he starts running his face into people? Because he says, if I die, I die. How much of a disadvantage, though, do you think it is with no fans for the Vikings?

Because I just feel... I mean, with you playing in a dome, too, like... It's loud there, man. It is very loud there. As I was listening to him talking i was thinking about the viking stadium i remembered walking into that place it is gorgeous that stadium is gorgeous beautiful yeah there's more suites on the field level i think than i've ever seen including dallas because dallas has kind of like a down thing they have suites on there

they have mid-level suites and the fans were hanging out after the game and we won because it was negative 15 outside they just hang out in the stadium until it closes like four it was awesome and they had this big ass horn that they blew and then they did that yeah that's what i'm saying they can't i mean it was it was an electric environment over there and then i started thinking about whenever we would do um like our last practice for otas or one of our training camp practices would be open to the fans in the stadium though. And I would have a punt period. And it was like,

kind of like probably about how many is going to be in some place, like 17,000 people. They're probably 10,000 people there. They all got a free meal. I've got a chance to watch our practice, which are very boring, but special teams periods always happen. And I always like try to treat it like it was game.

Cause you're in the stadium, you know, you get a chance to read the wind a little bit more or whatever. And I remember like, you're just just being weird because it's like a practice you feel like you're at a practice because you can hear people talking still it's i would assume since there's a lot of money on the line a super bowl on the line very but there's going to be some ogs that have been around a long time and this is what lebron said immediately upon being asked if he's going to play without fans in the nba and he said i ain't playing without fans the

only reason i play because the younger guys like hey i'm in the NBA. And he said, I ain't playing without fans. The only reason I play. Because the younger guys are like, hey, I'm in the NFL. I'm going to get some money. Let's do this. They're going to be hyped up. But those older guys who have been around a long time, and maybe they do need a little boost from the fans to remember, oh, this is game day. OK, you need that.

There's not going to be that. We're going to see a lot of mental toughness tested by some people here on whether or not they can get up with these empty-ass stadiums. We talked before, wait until end of October and a team's like 2-6 or something like that and there's no fans in the stands still maybe. That's going to be tough to play. So sorry to interrupt.

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They have a Moscow Mule option. Try Cutwater, the clutchiest drink in the history of the game, taking care of you when you might not know how to take care of yourself. Back to the show. Joining us now, Kansas City Chiefs legend, a man known as the X Factor, I believe. No, he's's not on i just told he was on oh he's getting comfy right now he's uh trying to find a good spot in his house oh okay so he's kind of he's hitting the circle button he's been moving he's bumping out of tackles i mean he's doing everything he possibly can probably high stepping into the end zone a little bit

in an electric factory a man who changed the game on special teams as a returner for the Kansas City Chiefs for a long time. I got a chance to meet him at the draft. He was announcing one of the Kansas City Chiefs draft picks, which I assume is doing very well for their team now because that is what Veach and Andy Reid do. The Kansas City Chiefs have somehow put together a team with great draft picks great contract usage

great free agents brought in and they've been doing this for a long long time and now they are super bowl champions they're super bowl champions and hosting the nfl season kickoff this evening okay jesus ladies and gentlemen the x factor dante actor Dante oh wow you see me flexing you see me what is that right there Dante oh man he's flexing a Super Bowl ring right in our face right now on this camera stream how are you Dante you got to feel good about this Chiefs team hey the Chiefs not only win a Super Bowl not only do they have an incredible celebration the the world shuts down, but now we're back. Everybody got signed. Patrick Mahomes just said that Andy Reid can add on to the concepts that we had last year. 18 of 22 starters. It's got to feel good to be a part of the Chiefs kingdom right now.

It really does, man. And for the longest, you know, we wasn't able to feel like a winning organization, even though the organization has always been a winning organization. We just didn't have the Super Bowl and the AFC championships and things of those nature to go along with that. And now, I mean, you can proudly say I'm a Kansas City Chiefs kingdom fan or a Kansas City Chiefs native or whatever and say it with pride, man. It feels great for sure. What have you been hearing out of training camp? We just heard just heard patch oh is that the super bowl ring you just put down

is that was that the super bowl ring yeah yeah yeah oh my god did you hear that thing why now how'd you get one because you're legend hey man be careful with the questions you ask. They gave a select ambassador's rings. They still have me in the fold of the organization. They still keep me in the loop with everything. And we have an amazing ambassador program. a program so a select few guys were able to get some some of the staff got some obviously the coaches and the players so uh yeah man they took care of pretty much the essential kansas city chief staffs players and former players well i'll tell you what i would say that the x factor dante hull is essential to the kansas city chief brand especially at this point i mean dante your name is synonymous with the program but now the program is but now the organization is going to brand new heights. What have you been hearing out of training camp?

Because the only thing that we've talked about is how the hell have they figured out this salary cap to keep everybody happy and everybody paid? What have you been hearing out of training camp? I would assume things are going smooth and the team looks great? Yeah. Oh, no. It's going to be a good one.

That answer was the one we were looking for fucking bet yeah that was literally the only answer we needed right there because you remember tom kern with joined our show last week and he was at new england patriot training camp for the last what few months or whatever and he said team looks bad terrible he said terrible it was like a heartbreaker for connor oh yeah real hard he said he said he was absolutely and we're were like, oh, my God, are the Patriots going to be bad?

And even though Tom said that, nobody in the room even blinked an eye and they were like, yeah, they still got Bill Belichick to figure it out. But if they end up stinking and winning very little amount of games like Tom Curran thinks it's going to – we heard it here first from Tom Curran because the eyes in the training camp are a big deal. And now he's not on. Still not on. Right now, so I'm not really sure what's going on there.

Oh, geez. So what? It was the only answer we needed right there. He was on it, too. Well, because you think about it, the Kansas City Chiefs gave a bunch of Super Bowl rings to ambassadors. If the Colts win a Super Bowl this year, am I... Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Really? I get a Super Bowl? You're an ambassador. How could you not?

I announced a draft pick, I guess. You smashed the hammer. I hit the hammer a couple times. You hit the hammer at the play I guess. You smashed the hammer. I hit the hammer a couple times. You hit the hammer at the playoff party. I kicked the thing. I kicked the thing as an old man. Oh, yeah. I would think so, right? Yeah, for sure.

No way. Pep rally? No way. That's Nick. That's Nick, by the way. Listen to Nick back there. Why is that, Nick? You don't think there's a chance?

Not a chance. You deserve it. They won't give it to you. Oh, Nick. Were you the only Colts player on the Decade team as well? You're right. The real one. On the Pro Football Focus.

Yeah. Do you think? I don't know. That's it. Was I the only Colts player on there? I believe so. You might have been. Do you think that zoo creature gets one over you?

The orangutan would get one over me. Remember, now in my draft speech, I did allude to a story that was real. I retired alongside two greats, Joe Reitz and Robert Mathis. That next draft, just a couple months later after all three of us retired, Robert Mathis announced a pick, Joe Reitz announced a pick, and then the fucking zoo animal rang the bell. Son of a bitch. I wasn't even asked about it.

I wasn't even asked about it. So I wondered at that point, you know, am I turning heel against the Colts at this? I actually asked that question myself. I was like, ah, but they paid me a lot of money and took care of a lot of people, and I had a lot of good friends in there. And then our relationship has obviously built back since that point and since the end of my career there in Indy, which is good. What a cocky orangutan, just to say, you know what?

Yeah, I'll go up there. All right. Dante, you were about to get to a very important answer there for us, and I'm thankful that you're back on. Thank you for joining us. Sorry for the technical difficulty there. Probably on your side. The training camp feel from the team.

How has it been? Has everything just been smooth? Have they picked up right where they left off 221 days ago? That's what I've been hearing. I haven't been out, but I've talked to a good friend of mine, and he said they look amazing they're competing like crazy and i think having the ability to bring back the nucleus of a super bowl championship team is key usually a team wins the super bowl everyone goes off to get paid right uh but this particular team we brought everyone back and then we added

Clyde it was a lair we added some nice rookies on the defensive side of the ball and they've competing they're not satisfied so when you got a leader like Patrick Mahomes Chris Jones Tyrone Matthew these guys they're hungry for even more championships so I think the combination of all of that has these guys looking good, feeling good, and I think they're destined to try to repeat this season. No team ever thinks about going undefeated or anything like that, but if you have a team that's stacked like that, that has to be in the

conversation every once in a while, whether it's in the cafeteria or in the locker room. It's like, hey, there is no team that can match up. There is no team that can match up with this. This is how they have to be feeling because last year at the end of the year, they proved that whenever they figured it out. patrick mahomes said on the barbershop show that lebron had on hbo that almost caused him to sue nick saban for having a barbershop show he said that he didn't actually understand how to read a defense until halfway through the season

last year so patrick mahomes still has growth somehow exactly i would assume that that tyree kill is still going to be even featured even more with even more ridiculous shit Andy Reid has him run maybe 10 miles a game but the defense has to cover that and don't sleep don't sleep on McColl Hardeman he was a rookie last year that got crazy experience he's I think is going to be

the guy that jumps off the board I think Tyreek is going to be Tyreek Kelsey is going to be Kelsey keep your eye on McCole Hardeman and the rookie out of LSU, Clyde Ellis. McCole Hardeman, by the way, took over the return duties. It was unbelievable because Tyreek Hill

was another X-factor like you whenever he was returning. Then he stopped returning balls because he became too important to the offense or whatever. I was like, okay, thank God they're going to lose. Then they just plugged in McCole Hardeman. It's like, no, same exact fucking guy somehow. That's fucking Brett Breach Okay, thank God they're going to lose. And then they just plugged in McCall Hartman. It's like, no, same exact fucking guy somehow. How does this even? Hey, that's fucking Brett Breach and Mark Donovan and Andy Reid and his staff.

They keep getting guys, in my opinion, you know, not first rounders top ten. They're getting these guys second round, third round, fourth round. They're getting great value out of their draft picks. So they're doing a tremendous job up top as well let's talk about clyde edwards-hilaire then let's talk about it because there is high expectations i believe his over under for rush yards tonight is 52 and a half yards okay oh over 100 over i think so too because of the amount of weapons they have they can't pack the box the dude's going to potentially pop a 20 a 30 and just out of nowhere i think and i don't know enough about him and i don't know enough about rookie running backs

wait wait wait time out you don't know enough about him no i don't think what were you watching all last year i was watching the lsu game no i was watching the american conference okay thursday night football american conference specialty which is back tonight i believe two lane miami's playing the football tonight. But Joey Burrow took a lot of the shine. Justin Jefferson took a lot of the shine. Clyde was unbelievable. But now he's the guy because Damian Williams says he's out. And with a light box,

with a light box, it feels like the running back is in actually a very good position if you're a Kansas City. And the thing about this, Pat, you know this also. It takes the defense a lot longer than the offense to get on one accord. So with the defense a lot longer than the offense to to get on one accord so with the defense not having any preseason games to try to get on one accord i feel like in the beginning of each season first two or three games defenses are not as good as they're going to be down the

line because it takes a little while to get that cohesiveness so i think tonight with no um preseason games whatsoever for the defense to go out there and kind of, you know, get a makeshift look, they're going to be exposed tonight, I believe. I think it'll be a high-scoring game. And because of that reason, I think Clyde Edwards gets 100 yards right out the gate, right out the gate. Wow.

I remember that a couple years ago there was another young running back that got the ball on opening night or primetime game, and he had like 700 yards. Now he just got paid in Cleveland. But whenever you talk about a defense being on the same accord, let's dive into the analytics of that a little bit. So with Kansas City Chiefs, because there's so many weapons, Travis Kelsey, Tyreek Hill, McCole Hardman, Sammy Watkins, you name it.

You have all these weapons that can get down the field. And Tyreek Hill. And Andy Reid has this offense where he does exploit that, and he moves people down the field. They have to be in quite a deep shell, so they have to drop people out. So the box that is in front of the offensive line is nowhere near as big as it could be if it was a running team. But with the limited amount of people that you have there,

everybody has to be very disciplined in their gaps, has to be very disciplined in their gaps. And that's what you're talking about with on a court because whenever you have a light box if one person decides to zig or is forced to zig and another person zags that's an entire hole and then the back end of that defense is so far down the field i mean there's a chance that clyde edwards hilaire could really eat like really really eat tonight if he wanted to because you know you got to bring uh two safeties back you have to keep two safeties back with mccall and tyree so that's automatically gonna give you a seven man box and then with all the the things that andy reed does pre-snap someone is going to get confused

my officer coordinator said something that stuck with me forever and he's like you know the defense if you take an nfl game average what what, 60, 70, 80 plays. The defense has to be right 70, 80 times. The offense just has to be right four or five times. Meaning, if the defense is wrong one time, that's a bomb over the top. That's a big third down conversion. That's a big chunk game. The defense has to be right every single time because if not, that one time you're wrong and that offense is right, it's bombs over Baghdad.

So I think the Chiefs have the ability with that offense to be right four or five maybe six, seven times and the defense, I don't think you can play a perfect game. Look at the San Francisco 49ers. They played a perfect game 60-70 snaps and then

in the fourth quarter, they didn't play perfect snaps for four or five plays. And now we're Super Bowl champs. Well, that's, that's the thing though, about Patrick Mahomes saying that he learned how to read a defense is sometimes those defenses can miss or make a mistake in one of those and your quarterback doesn't take advantage of it. Right. And that's like those moments where you'll see wide receivers pissed off. You'll see a lot of hands up in the air. You'll see offensive coordinators on the sideline frustrated you'll see everybody come to the sideline normally i would be trotting on the field at that point to punt and everybody's pissed the crowd saw it and the quarterback missed it but patrick mahomes

it seems like he will not miss a shot he does not miss a shot that he gets and i think his growth which is only going to continue to happen, is the weapon that Andy Reid has. And I can't believe they got him all locked down for the next 12 years. It makes no sense to me. It makes no sense to me. Brought the tight end back. They brought Tyreek back.

Well, they got him locked up for three years. You had the rookie coming off a rookie contract. Then you go get this kid, Clyde Edwards. I mean, and then they were able to also bring, don't forget, Sammy Watkins back. He could have probably went and got paid. They brought Demarcus Robinson, our fourth receiver. He came back and got paid.

So I don't know how they're doing it. They got some mad scientists or some mad mathematicians, savants up in that damn front office because I thought for sure our team would be broken up and guys would go run off and get paid. Yeah, me too. And it's amazing that they have. And I can't wait to talk to you throughout the season. I hope you will join us.

Pro Bowler, nine-season vet for the Kansas City Chiefs, the man who changed the game, and now he has a Super Bowl ring because he's an ambassador, the X Factor, Dante Hall. Thank you. Yeah, Dante! Woo! So he just hammered home everything we thought. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, we're good. Over on Edwards Hilaire by a mile. They are who we thought they were. That's exactly what we just learned. They are who we thought they were. Tonight's a big night for the NFL, obviously, going back. 17,000 fans. The NFL season is kicking off.

And it feels like the man that they are putting as the face of the league, Patrick Bumps, the man who got a half a billion dollar contract, the man who is probably going to be promoted on every single NFL commercial this season going forward, if I had to guess. Baker Mayfield will still get his, you know, clean up the stadium stuff, which is great acting, by the way. I'm sure Dak Prescott will still get the yogurt and the other stuff. And I'm hoping that Lamar Jackson will pick it up in the marketing game as well

because he deserves it. But Patrick Mahomes is going to be the face of the NFL for the next five, ten years. That's just how it's going to go. That's just how it's going to be. And if the NFL gets a performance

out of Patrick Mahomes tonight that mimics anything like it did in the playoffs, goodnight, Irene. There is a problem in Houston. That could be tough for them. Especially with Bill O'Brien.

That offseason. No idea. Has there been any positive, other than the Sean Watson getting re-upped, has there been any positive? We talked to J.J. Watt. J.J. Watt was a good conversation. Yeah, Tunsell got re-upped as well.

I love Tunsell. Best lungs in football. We are on kickoff day. Nobody thought we were going to get here. Can't believe that they've all bought in and not had any positive COVID tests over whatever for however long it has been. The testing process, the practice, the training camp, everybody has kind of bought in.

And the mantra is it's going to take all of us. There's been a lot of photos on social media by players, I assume, that has been given to them by their teams or the NFL. Like, hey, it's going to take all of us. We've got to buy in. They've been able to do that. Here we are on opening day. And the best thing to do whenever a season starts is predict immediately what the last page is going to look like. So, AJ, since we are a big sports show, what we are going to do is we are going to talk about our Super Bowl winners and who will be playing in the Super

Bowl. AJ, I would like you to go first. Who will be representing the AFC, which is the American Football Conference, against the NFC, which is the National Football Conference, in the Super Bowl that will be taking place in Tampa Bay, which is a city in Florida, and it's on the water. So I went back and forth on this thing a million times when you told me we were going to be picking our Super Bowl winners right now on the day of the NFL kickoff. I tried to talk myself out of the

Kansas City Chiefs, Pat. I really did. Because I know that's the easy pick. Everyone says, well, yeah, look at the Chiefs. They're loaded on paper. Patrick Mahomes, whatever. They should be good to go. But you know what? I'm sticking with them. I'm taking the Chiefs to get to the Super Bowl. That is definitely my AFC pick. I just can't see anyone taking them out unless

someone like Patrick Mahomes goes down and he's unable to play the second half of the season. That's the only way I see something going wrong with the Kansas City Chiefs. Are you wishing COVID or an injury on Patrick Mahomes? Easy. I'm saying if he can stay healthy. Just like every other team in the

NFL that has a franchise quarterback. If your franchise quarterback is healthy, you have a chance to win. Okay, and who's in the NFC? Who's representing the NFC in the Super Bowl? The NFC, this may surprise you a little bit, but throughout my research, what I was doing, I just can't get off the Dallas Cowboys.

That boy, AJ! Big Mike! Again, I have to make a pick because I'm doing this show with you, but yeah, I'm taking Cowboys versus Chiefs. Is this obligatory Cowboy talk from A.J. Hawk? Thank you for that. Look at him.

Thank you for us doing that. What made you think that the Cowboys are going to make the Super Bowl? What made you decide that? Is that because their team is stacked? Is it because you like their schedule? Is it because the NFC East is a clusterfuck? What is exactly the reasoning for why you think the Dallas Cowboys will represent the NFC over the 49ers, over the Saints, over the Buccaneers,

over a lot of teams that are packed to the gills with talent as well? What makes you think the Dallas Cowboys, who are perpetual average football teams, what makes you think they're going to take it over the hump and make it to the Super Bowl? I'm excited for this. This is going to do well on the internet, so I like that a lot. Well, I think Dak Prescott, obviously,

is primed to have a hell of a year i think demarcus lawrence is there bradley and i they brought in another guy that can rush the passer oh by the way alden smith this dude who was a monster for a while if they can get any kind of production out of alden smith alden smith center gigantic yeah alden smith is listed as a starter right now for the dallas cowboys i've watched that guy firsthand what he could do when he was with the Niners. Like, the guy is an absolute monster. I don't know what he's like now.

I'm sure he's still pretty damn good. And, you know, with Zeke, they brought in CeeDee Lamb, too, at the receiver position. I just feel like they're stacked. And I understand the Cowboys have had one of the most talented rosters in the NFL for multiple times where they didn't make a run in the playoffs and they really, I guess, underachieved. But I feel like McCarthy has whatever it takes.

He's taken the reins a little bit. He and Jerry seem to be in sync. I feel like the Cowboys can get it done. When was the last time Aldon Smith played? It's like four years ago. 2016, I believe. Oh, my Lord. Because he ran into some problems right off the field.

He was an all-pro, though. But the life he was living off the field, if we know anything, the fact that he was able to play the way he was playing on the field while also doing whatever he was doing off the field, if he's focused in at all and still has any left in the tank, good for the Dallas Cowboys. And I do believe the big Mike, Coach Mike McCarthy, who has the resume to have success and has gotten teams to places

that they haven't been before, I think it's a good match made in heaven. I'm not going to go to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC. For me, I'm going with, are we doing it on paper? Yeah, we're doing it on paper. You know why we're doing it on paper? Because we haven't seen a fucking thing from anybody. So I'm going with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are representing the NFC. How you doing?

Keep it moving. They got Tom Brady, obviously. They got Bruce Arians, who's a guy who has won a Super Bowl before. He's been there, done that with everything. Clyde Christensen, great quarterback coach, will be able to keep that team together. Tom Moore's down there with his wealth of knowledge, beating up COVID-19 at the age of 79 or 90 maybe,

maybe 105 years old. I like the coaching staff down there. I like Tom Brady. I like Gronk. I like the defense in his second year under Todd Bowles. On paper, that team, even if Mike Evans doesn't play for the first couple weeks because of a hamstring injury, they got A.Q. Shipley on that team.

Oh, yeah. That team, on paper, looks like they are going to be dominant. Now, they have to get past the New Orleans Saints and the NFC South. That's going to be a problem. I guess the Dallas Cowboys are going to be a problem in the NFC as well, says A.J. Hawk and most media members because it moves the needle whenever you say that. But I do believe the Tampa Buccaneers are going to be in the Super Bowl that their city will be hosting, and I think that'll be the first time ever?

Yes. First time ever. And in the AFC, I had the same exact conversation you had, pal. I don't know how they have 18 to 22 starters that they've locked down for at least the next five years, all of them. I don't know how the Kansas City Chiefs have gotten better this offseason. I don't know how they have figured out to keep everybody together. I don't know how they have kept their coaching staff together.

It makes no sense what they've been doing, and they've been able to keep that competitive juice. So let's run this son of a bitch back. They got the face of the NFL right now, a quarterback. He seems determined to go and do more and accomplish more. They have the same amount of preparation time. The OTAs and everything like that getting canceled only helps them. Patrick Mahomes said he didn't learn how to read a defense

until last year, midway through the season. That team seems to be hot. I don't know how you helps them. Patrick Mahomes, he didn't learn how to read a defense until last year, midway through the season. That team seems to be hot. I don't know how you stop them. I guess you could potentially wish COVID on him. Yes, like AJ. Like AJ Hawk, I guess. It's unbelievable.

Absolutely not. I wasn't even thinking COVID, honestly, when I made that comment. Yeah. Seriously? Life changed you when you think of me?

Geez. What's the last positive test we've had in the NFL? That's not a thing. They've figured it out so far. Oh, it's not a thing. Talking it into the world. I agree with you.

I agree with you, by the way. It is not a thing. Let's just act like it's not a thing, and then it just won't be a thing. We're talking football, right? We're not talking – World. We're not talking world. We've talked COVID enough.

We're talking strictly football right now. And right now, if you have to predict the Super Bowl, which is what sports shows have to do, this is something that has to happen on the opening days. You have to predict who's going to win. You have to go strictly off right now. And right now, if you have to predict the Super Bowl, which is what sports shows have to do, this is something that has to happen on the opening days. You have to predict who's going to win. You have to go strictly off of paper, and I think the Chiefs and the Bucs are a team that's going to make a run. Now, I'll be surprised if the Patriots stink,

which a lot of people are saying they'll stink. I'll be very surprised by that. I think Lamar Jackson's going to have a great year. I think Marshall Yonda leaving is a big deal that hasn't been talked about enough in the offensive line. I think the Colts are going to be damn, damn good for them to make a run. I just think the Chiefs are going to be quite a task, and they're going to be hot tonight.

I think they win by a lot tonight, and I think they just keep that thing going. They got their eyes on the prize until something changes in a week or two when we redo this entire prediction thing. You mentioned the NFC East, and when you look at the NFC East, other than the Cowboys, well, I guess the Cowboys, there's still a lot up in the air as well, but the Eagles, we don't know. I feel like they are regressing.

It just sounds, whatever's coming out of camp, it doesn't seem like everyone has a ton of confidence in them. The Giants, I don't know what the Giants are going to be. I think they're going to be improved. I don't know what that means. They only had four wins last year. In Washington, Dwayne Haskins, that's an uphill battle. They'll be improved too, but what does that mean?

Is that five wins? Washington will be very tough to win there. I mean, everything in the NFL is eliminating distractions. I'm not sure with COVID, with a name change, with exposés coming out every other week, I don't know how easy it'll be. New head coach who has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. I don't know how. That's a lot of obstacles coach who has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. I don't know how.

That's a lot of obstacles, especially with a young quarterback who's just been named captain. That seems like that is a rebuild operation there, okay? As opposed to a reload. That feels like that is a rebuild operation. But I think they got, hey, the sun is brightest after the darkest hour. I think that's going to happen in Washington. I think there's going to be a bright sun.

I don't know if it'll be with a new owner, which I'm potentially hearing is potentially going to happen, by the way. Is Snyder going to get forced out? I don't know. Some sources have been telling me that it's potentially going to happen. But I think the NFC East is wide open for the Cowboys, if they can just figure out. And without them having this guy, I wonder is that a ho-ho-ho.

When shall she? All right, so who you got winning the Super Bowl? In yours, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs. I have the Dallas Cowboys. Oh, AJ! Who is this guy? Whoa! So you said everything about the Kansas City Chiefs

and finding it impossible to go ahead and have anybody beat them in the AFC, but you're like, you know what? Dak Prescott, Zekiel Elliott, Big Mike McCarthy, Jerry Jones, they'll slay the beast that is Kansas City Chiefs. Is that what you're saying? Yes, because I think the Super Bowl, it's a one-off. It's an outlier. It's not exactly what the full season, like whatever you did before that,

obviously it's a new year when you play that Super Bowl. Whatever you do that night for those 60 minutes, and I feel like I just know how tough it may be for the Chiefs and the momentum they'll have, and they'll be a big favorite most likely if it's Chiefs, Cowboys, and the Super Bowl. And I think the Cowboys find a way to take that underdog mentality and run with it. You're going to be either loved or hated by people on the internet.

Hated. I just want to let you know that. Both. You should be both. I have the Chiefs running it back, by the way, for anybody that's asking. I mean, I wanted to do that, but I just know how tough it may be, and I just didn't want to. It's nothing, no slight against the Chiefs.

I just know what they're going to have to do and what they have ahead of them. Can't thank you enough for choosing to listen to this show. I know there's a lot of things that can penetrate your holes. The fact that you allow us to do so is awesome. Big thanks to Kyle Rudolph, Dante Hall, and to all of you. From all of us to all of you, we'll see you manana for another Feel Good Friday. Hey, Feel Good Friday coming tomorrow.

It's going to be popping, they say. And guess what? We might have some bangers as well, little Feel Good Friday bangers to send you in the NFL and college football launch weekend in a beautiful fashion thursday september 10th this one's over a canadian gumpy please play some independent music សូវាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្វាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានូវនប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់