The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 360 - Najee Harris, Mark Madden, Eddie Olczyk and AJ Hawk

Episode Date: February 24, 2021

On today’s episode Pat and the boys dive right into the latest in Tiger Woods news. Potential first round pick, 2020 Doak Walker award winner and National Champion for the Alabama Crimson Tide running back Najee Harris joins the show to talk about the previous college season and the process heading into the NFL Draft. Pat then gets into the latest rumors in the NFL, Mark Madden joined Pat and boys to discuss the Steelers announcing they and Ben Roethlisberger have mutually agreed to bring him back as the quarterback for the 2021 season. AJ then joins the show to talk about an eye opening information about the NFL PA and one of their biggest stars. Hockey legend Eddie Olczyk joined the show to discuss the latest in the hockey world. Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow and listen every day on Mad Dog Radio, Sirius XM 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 Wednesday, February 24th. Can't thank you enough for giving us a shot here. Got a pretty good show for you, good conversation. Can't wait for you to either love it or hate it. If you love it, be a friend, tell a friend. If you hate it, act like it never happened. Let's get to it. After a scary accident yesterday morning around 7.18 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, AM Pacific Standard time. By the time of 728, the fire department was there with not the jaws

of life as originally reported. Actually, a pry bar, which is nicknamed Hell in a Tube or something like that. The fire chief, Osby, and the sheriff gave a full press conference yesterday about the scene and what they did.

They said they investigated. They didn't seem there was any intoxication, which was the media's first 10 questions, basically, because a lot of people's minds kind of went into a place yesterday when seeing this happen, where there seemed to be no skid marks. The accident seemed to be rather wild. He had had a car incident in the past that we just watched a documentary on HBO about. So I think a lot of people may be feared for the absolute worst, not only personally, but physically

for Tiger as they saw the accident and what happened yesterday during their press conference. Some things got cleared up. I guess we learned more and more that he was in a rush. He potentially had a golf tutor session happening with Drew Brees and Justin Herbert with his duties with the Genesis Invitational and Golf Digest

and his sponsors and everything like that. He suffered a shattered ankle and had two leg fractures. Out of that press conference yesterday, we learned, by the way the media was asking questions about it. Hey, listen. Now, the sheriff unbelievable spoke english and spanish yesterday was answering questions in both had a very cool calm uh sense about him the fire chief osby i believe is his name incredibly cool guy now you

gotta remember firefighters and police two very different people okay firefighters normally be loved by everybody because they're always there to save things, okay? Yeah, we're here to save building, people, cats, whatever. Cops not always on the positive side. Sometimes some bad shit happens with the cops and what they're being. So firefighters normally, like, I have an uncle that's just retired as a fire chief in Pittsburgh. Congrats on a hell of a run. Uncle Owen, my cousin Owen is a firefighter.

So, like, I understand the way they handled that media yesterday was beautiful okay but it's Tiger fucking Woods in a massive situation out of nowhere so the questions that the media were asking the chief and the sheriff were I mean you were watching these media people and why they go to school the way they frame their questions and set up their questions. And this sheriff, this fire chief, and they even had the deputy that was the first on the scene answer some questions, handled it beautifully, but they did give up information that they probably weren't supposed to because the way the media were kind of phrasing these questions. For instance, I don't remember if it was the sheriff or the first deputy on the

scene. I believe it was the first deputy on the scene who he said that he got there because a neighbor called 911 because 50 feet or 20 feet away from where he crashed. There is actually houses about, you know, up on an awning that would have heard this entire thing. So he's the first respond. He says, sir, what is your name? He says, Tiger. And he said, I immediately was like, oh, Tiger, that's Tiger Woods right there. Oh, my God. Asked him some questions if he knew where he was and everything like that.

He was the one, by the way, that relayed the message to the sheriff and everybody else that he did not believe there was any impairment from talking to him. There was no smell of anything. It did not seem like he was completely out of it. He was lucid and something else in this whole thing. But the way this media lady asked this question, I mean, a piece of art. There were reports that, because they asked, what did he say? How'd the conversation go? And they're like, well, we can't talk about that right now. And

was there anything, we're doing the investigation. So they were answering that it was Tiger. They took him to the hospital. They did not use the jaws of life and everything like that. I mean, they're trying to give away no other information because there's a full investigation going on. Anything they say right now could potentially fuck them over in the future. But the media's job is to get information out wherever they are. The way this lady framed this question, she goes, there was a report that Tiger Woods stood and walked out of his car. Is that true or not true? It's like, that was never reported.

I don't want to. But she put Deputy in a pretzel where he had to address the question that was. He goes, that was not true. He was not able to walk or whatever. So then everybody was like, oh, my God. Is Tiger Woods potentially going to be paralyzed? Is he going to have to get a leg amputated? You look at the car.

The thing was fucking just the front end was completely gone he sawed down an eight inch wide tree they said with his car hit a median jumped off of that hit a curb hit a tree sawed through the tree hit a pole spun down there and ended up down in this ravine or whatever and the whole thing so whenever these answers are coming out and he's like uh the the first thing was he had to get surgery on severe leg injury. Then it came out when numerous more questions were asked in a thoughtful way. He was like, both legs actually had severe injuries. It's like, okay, so now both legs are severe. He wasn't able to walk.

They had to extricate him from the vehicle is what they said. It's like, is Tiger Woods potentially never going to be able to walk again? This morning we're getting up there. Last night we got updates. Shattered ankle. Severe injuries to both legs. Successful surgery. I guess he has something coming up with his back.

I am someone that believes he's going to win another fucking golf tournament after this entire thing. It's going to be an amazing, amazing story. I woke up this morning just as more information continues to be, you know, kind of, I tweeted that Tiger information is rolling out right now. And a lot of the internet was like, that's a terrible way to phrase it.

I was like, I did not fucking mean it. I meant like, so I actually deleted that tweet because I didn't want people to think that I was being clever. I was not being clever. I was just talking about the information. As more and more rolls out here, feels like Tiger's probably going to golf again, if I had to guess. He's probably going to win again and I hope that this never happens again. Happy to hear he's okay. Everybody's worst

nightmares from what we've been told thus far are not true. So big shout out to Eldrick Tiger Woods. Happy you're going to be all right. I mean, you scared the shit out of us, Bob. You're one of our goats, pal. Hey, you're one of the best that we've ever seen in the sports world. Can't be losing you. Happy to hear that we're not going to do that. Ben Roethlisberger is going to be back with the Pittsburgh Steelers, allegedly. Both the Steelers came out and said that and Ben Roethlisberger's

agent came out and said that. Drew Breesethlisberger's agent came out and said that. Drew Brees, there's an interesting article on ESPN that was estimated 42-minute read, so I didn't fucking read that, but I think Ty is currently reading that while he's battling through. He'll be sending updates about the NFLPA, and Drew Brees' name gets mentioned in there,

and Drew Brees not just being talked about in that particular article, a lot of other different articles, too, about whether or not Drew Brees is going to retire uh Doovey Kleiman who's an incredible uh internet source collector just information finder in the NFL he put out a stat that Drew Brees last game his passer rating was lower than if he was to just take every single snap and throw it into the ground so his last yeah if he was to just take every single snap and throw it into the ground. So his last, yeah, if he was just to take every single snap and throw it directly into the dirt,

he would have had a higher passer rating than what he had in his last ever game. So Doovie Kleiman is potentially stating that there is maybe call that Drew Brees is like, I ain't going out like that. That can't be how I go out. But with the Saints having to move forward, potentially, if not Drew Brees is like, I ain't going out like that. That can't be how I go out. But with the Saints having to move forward potentially, if not Drew Brees, I hope this one unfolds faster than it did last year because there was a lot of questioning last year and everything that happened in the offseason with that whole thing. But now we're 38 days into this thing.

Drew Brees has not said he's going to retire. Who will be the quarterback for the Saints next year? I guess at this point we just have to assume it's Drew. But if Drew continues to string him along and they get fucked over, that would be awesome. Yeah. That would be absolutely awesome to kind of watch unfold. Cam Newton said a lot of things in the I Am Athlete podcast,

which I am a massive fan of that show. They do a great job down there. Shout out to Brandon Marshall. Ocho Fred is part of that. I think Reggie was a part of the first couple episodes on Reggie Wayne. Cam Newton came on there, and basically everything he said was clippable. I mean, everything about it. He ain't going out like that.

He knows there isn't 32 guys better than him. Bill Belichick, he absolutely loves him. It's all very good news. Connor was dancing about this as this came out because this maybe makes it easier for free agents or players to want to go do the Patriot way because they've heard from Cam Newton that Bill Belichick's cool guy. Who knows how that will play out? Who knows where Cam Newton's headed?

We'll have to talk about that. Jason Light, Bucs general manager, who has a lot on his plate right now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, potentially beginning a dynasty. He says that an extension for Tom Brady is possible. Remember, Tom Brady signed a two-year deal at the beginning of the season, $50 million. Then in the middle of the season or something,

or maybe just a couple months ago, maybe it was Super Bowl week. I don't remember exactly when it was. He said that 45, like he sees himself playing or whatever. And then we look up, who was it, Blanda played until he was 48? Played until he was 48 years old or something. We have photos of Blanda and him playing in there. And you think with Tom Brady's TB12 treatment, literally being that you can find the fountain of youth with pliability

in the way you take care of your body. I would assume at this particular point, with the way Tom played, how he played last year, how he looks, how much more healthy he looks than even his first five years in the NFL, I would assume that being the oldest quarterback to ever play in the NFL is potentially something that the TB12 treatment would like to have under their marketing plan going forward. And he's the greatest of all time already, playing the longest, winning the most.

I mean, that is something pretty cool. I assume Tom Brady would absolutely love. If he signs an extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for like 30 mil or something for a couple more years and just keeps going, everybody on earth in Tampa would be like, good move. Good move. This is good. Let's keep it down here.

Drew Brees is waiting here to retire. And everybody's like, well, this motherfucker make up his mind. I mean, isn't that a very interesting thing? Tom Brady at the age of 43 or whatever, they're like sign him to however long this, give him a five-year deal if he wants to do whatever you got to do. And what drew now the whole of 43 or whatever, they're like, sign him to however long this is. Give him a five-year deal if he wants to. Do whatever you gotta do. And with Drew now, the whole world is like, is he playing

or is he not? And the Drew Brees-Tom Brady thing is something that records are kind of going back and forth. It feels like at this point, all signs are pointing to Tom's gonna play probably four more years than Drew Brees will, which is wild to think about. 1-888-MADDOG-SENSE.

We want your phone calls. We can't wait to chat with you here on Sirius XM Channel 82, Mad Dog Sports Radio. We have Najee Harris joining us in about 11 minutes, running back of Alabama, formerly Doak Walker Award winner, going to be a first-round draft pick. Cannot wait to chat with him about his life right now, how's training going.

Who do you like better, Tua or Matt? I wonder. I'm not going to do that. I'm training going? Who do you like better, Tua or Max? I wonder. I'm not going to do that. Let's talk about winning the whole damn thing. Ladies and gentlemen, the best running back in college football this past season.

A man who's going to be a first round draft pick out of Alabama. Running back Najee Harris. What's going on, dude? What? Y'all really got me on this show? What's up with it?

So were you actually clapping there or not? Because there was no sound coming through. I thought you were on mute, and I heard that incredible voice. I was pretty pumped up about it. Were you clapping there alongside of us or what? I hear a clap. Hell yeah pumped up about it. Were you clapping there alongside of us or what? I hear a clap. Hell yeah. I like it.

Hey. Yeah, I like this energy. Y'all making me get excited. Well, hey, listen, you should be pumped up anyways. You're going to be a first-run draft pick. How you doing? Keep it moving. How's the training going?

How's the offseason going? Where's your mind at? Are you putting on weight? Are you maintaining? Where are you right now, Najee? I'm surviving right now. I'm over here in Texas. So, you know, we just got done with that storm. So I'm training, of course. I'm at my same body weight right now. I'm like 230 still. I'm training at XO's, you know. Our pro day's coming up in another month, so I'm just trying to get right, get my body right and stuff like that, but you know, same stuff, different day, you know what I'm saying?

Hey, the Combine obviously this year is going to be different than it's ever been. Najee's iPad, shout out, you were on your iPad, that's awesome. I just popped out on the screen there. The Combine not being anything this year, basically, you're going to have a lot of coaches and GMs at your pro day

and everything like that. I think in Alabama, you guys go to the pro days. Like last year, you were at the pro day, right? You watched the pro day, I'd assume. That's kind of like the Alabama thing. It's like you get height, weight, and everything. If you're going to be up next year, is that kind of how it goes? And what are you expecting out of your pro day here? What are we going to run?

Are we in an area of what we think we're going to run? And how do you feel about certain teams that have they reached out to you yet? Or you have any conversations with anybody yet? Ooh. You sound like the feds when you're asking these questions. What are you going to run?

You sound like you're the police or something. But look, I mean, yeah. I mean, of course people, you know, teams have been reaching out and stuff like that. You know, at the Pro Day, I want, you know, it's more of an excitement if people come and tune in to watch because, you know, of course I can save time,

but I want people there to watch to see what I'll be running and the drills I'll be doing and stuff like that so i mean i'm not going to give you a time i'll just say i want you to just tune in and see okay okay smart by the way smart by the way because if you give a time and you hit it they're gonna be like well he did what he thought he was gonna do if you hit a time and you're like 0.01 over there yeah is there a question about Najee? What? Have they been Zooming, calling you,

FaceTime, emails? How do they reach out to a first-round draft pick? I've never experienced that. You asking a lot of questions, man. It's a fucking talk show. That's the way fucking talk shows go, Najee. Listen, if you know how the process goes, then you should know. I'm not a first-rounder. I I was seventh rounder, almost undrafted.

For you, I'd assume, especially with. What position do you play? What position I play? Yeah. Linebacker. You ain't no damn linebacker. Whoa. 265 right now, Najee.

What was you playing at? 245, depending upon the year. Where you go? West Virginia. who was your coach at that time well rich rodriguez was and then we lost the pick because our stupid fucking kicker missed two kicks and then we went to uh he went up to michigan or whatever i had bill stewart no he went to michigan but you see i'm questioning like i'm the feds though you see that you see how kind of the the roles change and stuff like that? Najee, it's a fucking talk show. Like, that's going to happen, dude.

That's how it works. Hey, listen, this is how this whole thing works, Najee. By the way, okay, let's not do that. Let's not ask questions. Najee, watching you play football last year was awesome, dude, with no fans in there. Did that affect you at all? You went to Doak Walker and made you better almost.

Honestly, I honestly feel like no fans there. You know, for me, it don't matter either way because, you know, when I'm playing, like, everything is just – I'm just zoned out anyways, so I don't really hear nothing. But, like, whenever I'm on the sidelines, I mean, you hear the fans because they're going to talk shit, like, always. You feel me i'm like god damn it you suck no i'm in the south so like i'm a cali dude so that i really can't

like when i'm on the sidelines like i hear them talking but like i can't hear them talking because they got such a country ass accent the only thing i'm God damn it, you need to run harder. What the hell? I mean, like, did the fans affect it? I mean, like, a little bit. But, you know, when I'm on the sideline, you hear everything, especially some country-ass, you know, people in the stands. So I played at West Virginia. We were in the Big East at the time.

And, you know, played some big games. Obviously, BCS and everything like that. And there was always the bias that SEC football, it's different down here. It's different down here. It's how the whole thing is. I went to the SEC championship game last year. That was last year. Two years ago.

Last year. It was insane. I'd never seen anything like it. Colts. It's like a cult, basically, down there. Every single day. There was grown. Georgia was never seen anything like it. Cults, it's like a cult basically down there. Every single day. There was grown, Georgia was playing there. There was grown, very successful people barking at the top. 55-year-old billionaires I saw. Bark.

The SEC football is something that I thought I understood. I did not. Did you know what you were getting into whenever you came from Cali or whatever? You kind of knew, like, hey, this is a religion down here, which it really is in itself. Okay, I knew that. So, of course, we go and visit stuff like that.

So I knew that, you know, football is taken seriously there, but I did not know that like the fans would be that damn crazy um i can't even like it was just at some points for like you know like i mean like i know that's the thing of saying rotod there but goddamn like sometimes when i'm just getting food they just be like rotod nachi i'd be like bro like let me just eat my food like i understand that but goddamn like just chill out for a minute with this bro-tied stuff. Like, so, like, sometimes, like, because I just, like, I like

joking around with people, so, like, a lot of times they'll say, bro-tied, Najee? And I'll be like, well, War Eagle. Oh! I promise, bro, like, so, like, you see y'all face, like, so that, like, just seeing their face there, they be like, well, hold on now. Like, hold see y'all face, like, so that, like, just seeing their face there, they'd be like, well, hold on now.

Like, hold on now. Like, you're wearing the wrong colors then, sweetie. I mean, like, I'm just messing with you. But, like, you know, it's funny. So, like, I didn't know that, like, it was so much of, like, of the fans and stuff like that would be so crazy there. But, you know, if you're a football player, you wouldn't want no better atmosphere to play in that type of stuff. I stuff i mean it's so fun of like just just the little small games could be

even the biggest games to them so like you know for the the excitement and stuff like that there is is is a reason why i came there and the competition level of course is is the best you know they have the best competition there me personally i think the sec has the best competition uh it's the best conference, you know. At this point, I think everybody agrees with you now. I mean, that's just – it's kind of the way it is. It wasn't always like that, I don't think, personally. But as it's rolled on, the powerhouse –

and by the way, Alabama is the reason, right? I mean, just the standard that has been set there, that it feels like Saban can just put it on auto repeat every single year. Okay. You were the number one recruit in America coming out of high school, right? That's accurate. Yeah, about accurate. Shout out you dude. Shout out your high school days too, by the way, they could not stop the kid, but you, was it, as soon as Saban enters the conversation is like,

I'm definitely going Alabama. Like how does that whole thing unfold there? and why is Saban so good at getting everybody that is unbelievable to buy into like hey you're not going to be a starter immediately you're going to have to compete you're going to do this and then you're probably going to be a first round is that what he says you're just going to be a first round draft pick is that how it works oh man that's that's not how it works not at all um so really my decision ultimately going there was a shout out to Saban, but it has nothing to do with Saban. It was really the competition that attracted me. You know, like you said, I was a former high recruit and they bring in that one running back, the number one linebacker, the number one safety, the number one DN, like the number one anything in every position, like it helps me get better every day. And like, you know, they're saying iron sharpens iron. So just the competition there alone at practice is like,

sometimes it will be harder than the game. Well, I would say, yeah. Crazy, like the competition there, like think about this. Like my freshman year there, I was going up against Minka, Ronnie Harrison, Rashad Evans, freaking pain.

And these are like former first rounders, like pain. Boy, I was Anthony Everett on the DN on the side. It was, it was, it was, it's been like starters too.

It's Levi Wallace on the other side. Like it was, and it was one was uh it was they're like starters too it's um levi wallace on the other side like it was and it was one of their best defenses they had like i'm going against that every single day like for me as a running back i'm like man like what the hell like i want to serve all these people every day so like i could show them like you know even though y'all got all these big name dudes like like watch me come in and watch me like show out all of them you know what i'm saying like that is a competitor to watch me like show out all of them. You know what I'm saying? Like that is a competitor to me. So like,

that's what really attracted me and going there. You know what I'm saying? How much did your body change from when you were, you got there to when you're leaving? You said you're two 30 right now. Did you, did you come in about that or was there a transformation? I mean,

bro, I came in at like two 25, to be honest. So you're just grown ass man. As soon as you got because i did some college games last year i got to call some college games we traveled around or whatever and we talked to the strength coach the strength coach is with the players all the time so like that's if you want to really learn about the team like strength coach person talk to and

exactly it's real they're the only ones that legally are allowed to be around you or whatever a lot of these strength coaches will show pictures of all these guys like this when they were they got here and then put on like thirty five, forty pounds. It's like this is the grown ass man that's leaving now. It's nice to hear that you number one recruit in the country was two hundred and thirty pound, thirty year old, whatever you got to Alabama. That's great. Yeah, I was. Yeah, I came in there, man. I was already like I was already ready to go you know I'm saying like that but you know it didn't happen as like that you know obviously I sat behind like uh Josh Jacobs I sat behind Damian Harris and Bo Scarbo all good running backs and all of them did is doing good in the league right now um so me sitting behind them, it was a good learning experience.

I learned a lot from all of them. So, you know, for me to be the number one recruit and sit behind these people and, you know, I wanted to compete every day and just to learn from them, it was a good decision for me to go to Alabama. I would say, hey, it worked out. I would say it worked out. It worked out.

I appreciate that. Hey, it worked out. I talked to Frank Gore. He was a teammate of mine. He's still playing. He's going to play until he's 50. He deserves his own just hallway in the Hall of Fame or whatever. I was talking to him about coming out of the U,

because the U's running back room was deep. Okay? The running backs that came out of the already know that crazy and i was talking to him i was like how did you how do you manage that or whatever you know and he was like well whenever it was my time was my time to go or whatever and then whenever he was like whenever it was time to get to the league i saw all them eating and i was like i can't wait till i get my opportunity to like are you are you excited to get and play the next level to see if you're able to dominate just like you were at college or what is the is it just business as usual going to the nfl what is the mindset going into like the men's league now i'm telling you this is my mindset man like so like you said is it business as usual for me

like and you know i love conor mcgregor but like one of his quotes for conor mcgregor is like or one thing he always says like i'm not here to to participate you know i'm here to take over so like i'm not i'm not my mindset of going to nfl is not to participate you know just saying like hey look i made it to the nfl all that stuff like that like i really am trying to like dominate it you know i'm saying because like i don't want to like i said i don't i don't like just participating stuff like you know like i said me coming to alabama in my freshman year to go up against me and everybody like that like i don't want to just say oh i played against them like i want to show them like i want to dominate against them you know i'm saying like yeah so that's my

mindset of like entering the league you know i'm saying like so for me to train like i train so much just for like put myself in position to do it because you know all i could do is just play my part you know handle what i can do and what you know, all I could do is just play my part, you know, handle what I can do. And what I can handle, what I can do is just training, you know, giving everything I need to work on, you know, fixing that. And, you know, when I get my chance in the league, you know, I'm not planning to participate or just say like, you know, I'm playing.

I really just want to like dominate in any way, form or fashion. That's awesome to hear. Yeah. Mink almost got defense player of the year in that trade whenever he went over to Pittsburgh, just absolutely just absolutely dominated a lot of pittsburgh steelers fans by the way and i assume you're hearing this on twitter or any other social media but there are a lot of people that are asking for your services in their city that has to feel pretty good hey i don't control that i don't control that i ain't the one making the

decision at the end of the day you know i'm saying oh like i said i can't control that. I ain't the one making the decision at the end of the day. You know what I'm saying? Like I said, I can't control that. So the only thing I can control is me training. Whatever happens, happens. Who's called you the most? Who's called you the most? My agent. That's hilarious, Connor. What do you think?

Yeah, I feel like every other weekend we're watching you hurdle somebody. Do you watch that in film and, like, pick a guy out? Or are you just just right before you're running like, oh, shit, I got to jump right now? Um. Man, you know what it is, truthfully, it's me getting I'm tired of getting hit in my damn leg. So I'm like, God damn, this shit hurt. So I'm going to start jumping. I'm like, all right, I'm going to start jumping. So I'm like, OK, one one play like it was just pure like instinct was like the notre dame one like i thought it was like i

turned the corner i didn't really see him i thought like you know because i'm a bigger back so i thought like all right he about coming for my legs but uh it didn't work out like that i guess steve sarkisian came in there and that offense became like a pro style offense. It felt like motions. Mack Jones was able to dissect the defense. Damn the goddamn motions, bro. I'm telling you, I was tired. I used to tell Coach Sark every day in practice, like, like, come on, bro. Like I'm tired of like running out and running back in just to run out. Like I used to tell him all the time, bro, all these damn motions.

You can finish your question though. But I was a part of like me and him, me and him got the, these damn motions. You can finish your question, though. But that was the part, like, me and him got the – I told him about that part. It was funny, though. It was a practice thing. No, it's not like Sarkeesian. It sounds like you had a great relationship with him. Yeah.

That offense, what you guys were – I mean, obviously coming off of Joe Burrow's year at LSU, people were like, there's no way anybody's going to be able to duplicate what LSU with Joe Brady and Joe Burrow did at LSU. burrows year at lsu people are like there's no way anybody's going to be able to duplicate what lsu with joe brady and joe burrow did at lsu and then like the first six seven weeks or whatever you guys were a better than it was like holy sarkisian came in there and it was just a complete transformation of everything or was it just the right pieces the right time what do you think it was that made it just pop off so well you know i, I think one of them was we had a lot of returners, right?

So we had a lot of guys that know what they were doing. So when you know what you're doing, you get to play faster. So, you know, we obviously had Schmidty and Waddle. We had, like, a lot of returners on our frontal line. You know, obviously I was there returning, too. And then really the piece that everybody was like going into the season was kind of like okay we got to get this right and then what would be good

is the quarterback position because obviously we left we lost Tua and Max it was Max stepped in and we was like you know I think he's going to do I'm like I mean shit we'll see I mean like either way one way another we got to like get his back the way he's our quarterback and then god damn you feel me he did his thing he did better he did better i'm like

you know sometimes i would just see this dude like stuff like just go and do an extra film extra all that stuff just for like you know just for him to get that edge you know and then matt matt jones playing at a high level made us all play, like, even better because, you know, like I said, like, that was a certain position. Like, we was kind of – I personally was kind of like, I don't know really what to expect right now. But, you know, we had two dynamic – we had a lot of dynamic playmakers at the edge. Yeah. We had a good old line obviously you got a two heisman finalists two eyes you got a heisman winner heisman finalist doke walker award winner in the back i mean now i'm not saying

sarkeesian could have been a fucking idiot and did that but i mean that team the way the way the offense was put together though with the motions and mac being able to read and like it was just it was really awesome to watch and i think it being able to read and like it was just it was really awesome to watch and i think it's going to give you guys a massive advantage going into the nfl whenever it comes like reading what defenses are in a college defenses are so basic obviously but i think what sarkisian did not only made you guys dominate but i think it helped all you guys as well with the transition it helped us out a lot because now that i'm doing uh now i'm doing interviews obviously with the with NFL teams,

and, you know, they're saying I was at the Reese's Bowl. And, you know, I was there for a minute, and, you know, I was on the Dolphins side, Dolphins team, and they was doing their playbook. And I was like, damn, like, it's crazy. Like, everything that's here, like, that was our offense, literally, but just different names. So, like, our offensive game plan was literally an nfl game plan you know because obviously you know sark just came from the lanta falcons and you know he tried to put a lot of what he did for the falcons into the uh and to the offense we had so um you know just learning from him and then just besides

sarkisian though i had i had coach locksley, who's that Maryland head coach, and then I had Coach Dable, and he was the offensive coordinator for the Bills, but at first he was the offensive coordinator for the Patriots. So, like, my four years here, like, I was always learning from an NFL offensive coordinator or somebody in the NFL, you know what I'm saying? So, like, now that I'm entering the league, it's like, all right, nothing is new here. I literally know what to do. It's just different names.

You know what I'm saying? Do you guys have real majors down there in Alabama? Do you guys play school or no? What was your major? Play school? God damn it. I wish we could play school. I was over there working my ass off. Sometimes I wouldn't even sleep. I was stressing. School was way harder than football.

Well, yeah, it seemed like for you. What was your major? I was in consumer science and had a minor in social work. I'm big on social work. Let's go. Jerry, start clapping. Hey, get you a clap there. Get you a round of applause.

The NFL offense thing, though, I've seen plenty of talented dudes look very lost and uncomfortable their rookie year second year because they don't know the office they have no idea what's going on anytime you're thinking you're not reacting the fact that you're sitting there in that Reese's Bowl looking at the Dolphins offense like oh we just got to change the terms I know that exactly that is a I can't wait to see what you do you're not going to participate Najee you're going to take over pal what do you got Connor that's the word I ain't participating I'm trying to dominate. But, you know, hey, but look, I might make a mistake, though, but don't be like, God damn it, Najee,

what are you doing? Like those little country folks out there. It'd be like, hey, listen, listen, you know, he's a rookie. Making rookie mistakes. But if I do it twice, then you'd be like, then, you know, then say like, all right, you're kind of fucking up, Najee. Hey, by the way, we won't

say you're doing great no matter what. We'll say you're doing great no matter what. We'll say you're doing great no matter what. Pittsburgh, though, you're going to learn their accent if you go up there and play up there. You're going to love that. I mean, the Inzers have – Pittsburgh people have their own accent, their own way of talking. They have an accent in Pittsburgh?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Don, a very lazy way of speaking. All the words kind of stick together. I'm from Pittsburgh originally. A couple of us are. It's just like Najee Harris running around. Don of stick together. I'm from Pittsburgh originally. A couple of us are. It's just like, nauseous hairs running down over over here. For any Pittsburgh fan, look at that. He said that.

He said, y'all got a lazy accent. Oh, they know. Hey, you're talking about... You go to Pittsburgh now? You go to Pittsburgh, I think... Could you imagine with the watts there, and then you get this 230-pound dude from Alabama in the back.

If you gained two yards a run after what they did last year, you'd be maybe put a statue up of you in Pittsburgh. Connor, what do you have? Any fan that is him saying, I'm not saying that is the only thing I am. I'm on the show. I'm just looking. I'm just listening. What do you say? He was saying all this about y'all. You feel me? Now your face was there while I said it. I'm a the show. I'm just listening to what he's saying. He's saying all this about y'all. Your face was there while I said it.

I'm a fan of everybody. Whenever we clip it, you were sitting right there nodding your head while I said it. The whole world saw it, Connor. Yeah, you were. I was looking at these dogs jumping roping. I'm like, damn, I ain't seen that. I'm looking at these dogs. Is it really dogs

jumping rope outside? Yeah. Texas is wild. Texas is wild. Is it really dogs jumping rope outside? Yeah, yeah. Texas is wild, dude. Texas is wild. Hey, you see some crazy stuff here. Najee, a big conversation on the internet during that national championship was Jalen Waddell wanting to play, and a lot of people thought he shouldn't. Did you or Devontae or anybody go up to him and be like,

hey, man, maybe not today? Or was he going to play no matter what because he's a warrior listen listen now the whole week I was telling him not to play all right but I mean like you know I keep telling him like listen J-Dub and he ain't gotta show nothing all right we all know what you can do we all know like just take this game out for like, like, the worst thing that we want to see as a teammate is to see, like, something happen again. He was just like, all right, man. I got you. I got you.

Go on. And he suited up. I mean, like, I mean, at the end of the day, it's his decision. J-Dub, one thing is a warrior, you know what I'm saying? But, like, if you think about it, though, like, you got to feel the emotions where he's coming from. Like, we're looking at it as his teammate teammates standpoint as your health and like you know obviously you know you should look at that too but like he's got hurt like maybe the fourth i don't

know we play tennessee maybe like the fourth game fourth or fifth and you know he was rehabbing rehabbing rehabbing and like you know him just seeing us us play uh his brothers out there playing you know he is is building a fire in you as a competitor. Like, man, I want to go out there. So, you know, at the championship game, you know, he suited up. And right when you suit up, I mean, like, you feel like you're invincible kind of in a way, you know. It's like a superpower we put on your pads.

It's like, all right, it's time to go. So, I mean, like I said, he did it. And I was just like, man, like, nobody knows their body other than themselves. So, you know, he went said, he did it. I was just like, man, like, nobody knows their body other than themselves. So, you know, he went out there and he did his thing. And, like, to this day, like, I commend him. Like, goddamn, like, he went out there and did his – and he did – for what he can do, he did amazing.

By the way. And then, like, you know, he's healthy right now. So, like I said, like, he knew his body, and he knew what he can do. So, I mean, like, I know people was kind of like, man, like, I don't think you should do that. But, like, you know, nobody knows their body other than you. And, I mean, he went out there and he did his thing. I don't know my body well.

I don't know my body well. It changes a lot. You know, I go from a – No, you go like a slob. Whoa. All right, that's a show. Thank you, Naj well. It changes a lot. You know, I go from a three-technique. No, you go like a slob. Whoa. All right, that's the show. Thank you, Najee. Thank you so much.

Can't wait to watch the pro day. Can't wait to watch the pro day. I appreciate you so much, man. Ladies and gentlemen, Coke Walker Award winner, Najee Harris. Never see you again, dude. Never see you again, bud. All right.

That was awesome. Yeah. I'm a big fan. Started out terrible, but I really, I'm a big fan of his. He's going to be a stud. Take over. Now, obviously, I'm not like a football Scott.

I'm not watching every single play. 230 pounds. He's very good. You can jump over a dude that's standing up in the middle of the thing. I feel like, is the music playing yet? There it is. I don't have to add things in because the thing blew my ear out of your shirt. The best part too is he's going to go tell his buddies like, yeah, I was on the show with

this old West Virginia middle linebacker. I was excited to see how far we could go with that. I just put myself in Reed Williams' body there. I was going to start putting his stats out there. Yeah, defensive fucking player of the game. Fiesta Bowl, pal. What are we even talking about here? My roommate, he was much tougher than I.

Blew out both of his shoulders, though, because he threw his head into things. Now he's a farmer with seven degrees and a doctorate. Still got a record in that Fiesta Bowl. You got damn right he does. Most guys have tried a lot of different ways to, you know, try to last a little bit longer when making love. Yeah. Think about your baseball team.

That's a boring sport. That'll turn me off, right? Yeah, absolutely. Maybe you start listing off cities and states. Maybe you start doing the alphabet backwards. Whatever you end up doing, you need to not do it anymore. Knock it off. None of it's going to work.

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a monthly plan. Alright. Shout out to Roman. Shout out to you. Shout out to GetRoman.com forward slash Pat McAfee. Big news this morning out of Pittsburgh is that the Pittsburgh Steelers do officially want Ben Roethlisberger back, and Ben Roethlisberger wants to be back with the Pittsburgh Steelers. They're going to have to renegotiate a contract.

Mark Magno took Rooney's statement that Rooney made after conversating with Ben Roethlisberger where he said that Ben shared with him that he would like to be a part of next year and we shared with him that we would like to have him back to help us win a championship. Mark Madden tweeted out that he didn't

say that Ben's coming back. I mean, I guess he didn't, but I'm excited to hear what Mark's thoughts are on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mark has always been a big Ben Roethlisberger guy, but he's going to call it how he sees it. That's how he's been in the radio business for 30 years

at this point at the top of the world. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now. No, he's not on. Well, Jay went over to where he calls him and then went back to his corner. So I just assumed like, okay, call was completed. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, a man who was a commentator for WCW,

a man who has been nationally syndicated as a radio host and then became strictly the voice of Pittsburgh sports, basically. Everybody in the city either absolutely loves him or absolutely despises him, which is right where he wants to be tested iq of 166 ladies and gentlemen mark man yesterday i was on spitting chicklets pat the hockey podcast today i'm adding electricity to your show i am in demand and i am all the way live well i am very thankful for that i saw you i am a big spit and chiclets fan love the boys over there i saw your top five you gave you did

not have crosby at one we could talk about that for the next 20 minutes if we'd like to but i'd rather not i'd like to say your top five very respectable obviously from one of the biggest hockey minds ever to ever to exist well i think that lemieux or and gretzky are top three and whatever order you want to proclaim them can't really be argued i mean you can't argue gretzky's points you can't argue the way or change the game and got all that offense despite playing defense and certainly lemieux is the most potent offensive force to ever play the game. And then after that, I think Crosby and Gordie Howe are pretty obvious. Maybe Rocket Richard figures in. But it's funny, all the feedback I've gotten on Twitter

since I talked about that list, it's like it's a blood oath and there has to be a feud like Hatfield's and McCoy's. Because what about Messier? What about Yager? What about shutting up and letting the experts talk? You love it, though. I would assume we're going to see a lot more top fives out of Mark Madden strictly because of the interaction that you probably got to have on the internet over this yesterday.

Let's move on to football, though. That's the only thing people really want to hear me talk about ever. I know you are a very diversified collection of opinions and thoughts because of the big old brain, but let's talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers. You put out a tweet this morning. That's maybe my favorite tweet I've seen in some time. Aditi yesterday put out a tweet that Ben Roethlisberger's agent told her that the Steelers told him that they want Ben Roethlisberger back then this morning.

Rooney put out a statement via the Steelers saying, Hey, we, Ben Roethlisberger and I met yesterday morning, and we had a productive meeting. We were able to discuss a lot of things that relate to where we are and where we want to go. Ben assured me that he is committed to coming back to help us win, and I told Ben that we would like to have him back to help us win a championship.

We both understand that the next step is to work out Ben's contract situation. You put out a tweet this morning that said, our Rooney said it didn't say Ben's coming back. How do you read that and don't see that? And do you like that Ben's coming back? Art Rooney didn't say Ben's coming back. He just didn't say it. He said they have to work out the contract and the cap,

and that's what he said three weeks ago. So as far as I'm concerned, it's more likely, but it has not yet been decided. I also like it that the Steelers arrogance as personified by their president enables him to say, we want to have Ben come back to help us win a championship. They ain't won a playoff game since 2016 and they've won three in the last 10 years, but yeah, let's win a championship out of the clear frigging blue sky when Baltimore and Cleveland are in our division and they're both clearly better than us and Cleveland kicked our ass in the postseason uh just a month or so ago so

I think Ben probably is coming back and I think it's their best bet but if he does come back Pat then they've got to do everything to try to win this season if they draft the quarterback in any round ben should quit right there on the spot but by the same token ben can't be the boss anymore these three yard passes last year to get rid of the ball and never get hit if he's not willing to throw deep if he's not willing to hang in there and take risks to make plays, then he should not be playing. Pat, his average pass, his average completion last year, traveled three yards in the air. Dead people fall forward further. They need to embrace what Matt Canada wants to do,

at least what Ben can do in the context of his offense. And every run pass option can't be a pass last year they were last in the league in rushing they were first in the league in pass attempts and that is a one-way ticket to palookaville then and now all right so let's let's talk about a couple of things to use it sounds like you know that ben's coming back i mean i don't. No, no, I don't know. Like, when I read what Art Rooney said, it's like if Noah had said, well, if it doesn't rain, we won't need this boat.

I mean, you see what's likely, but he didn't say anything definite. Okay. Shout out Noah, by the way. Shout out Noah. Shout out Noah. First documented blackout, too, by the way. People forget with Noah,

he was found naked in his winery by his kids in some page in the book there that they have after saving the world but um so if ben if ben comes back okay ben let's say he's coming back let's assume he's coming back you say they got to go all in they'll save money if they do an extension they'll be able to save 14 million dollars i think spot track in uh maziano put that out there that that's probably how the extension will look what else do the steelers have to do you think to win a championship so they don't just have three playoff wins in 10 years to get there what do they have to we just talked to naji harris great running back is that what they need what what all do you think well i wrote that in the trib in my column earlier today i mean

i think they're nowhere close to a championship i don't even think they're a playoff team, far from guaranteed to even make the postseason, Pat. But I would get Najee Harris, yes. I know that a lot of people think they need to get offensive linemen, and they do. But if they go into next season with Benny Snell as the starting running back, Ben won't take him seriously. The other team won't take him seriously. Najee Harris would open the field up for Ben, open the field up for the entire offense, and you can make do on the offensive line. They have a few decent components there,

and they can figure it out otherwise. But if Benny Snell's the number one back, forget about it. They're going to finish last in rushing again and first in pass attempts again. They need Najee Harris. I think he may well be available at number 24, and if he is, the Steelers should take him. He just gave us an incredible interview, to be honest.

You would, I mean, he'd probably do very well, so you would like, and he has good personality. Now, if he plays bad, you know. Well, Pat, if he can talk, then we really need to draft him, although, like everybody else, the Steelers won't let him come on my show. Well, there's a reason. Juju's probably coming back. Wants to be Pittsburgh for life. By the way, wants his legacy to be in Pittsburgh.

Hold it, hold it. You open that can of worms. He's saying that so when he leaves, he can shrug his shoulders and sigh and say, well, I wanted to. I tried. I did my best. I love Pittsburgh. But New York, here I come come what do you have yeah my question

was actually around juju mark do you think that it's uh worth it to bring him back now that ben is confirmed to uh be the guy going forward hopefully bren's not confirmed i mean i don't know how many times i have to say well you put that quote back up please we hold on mark it has been you have a test at iq 166 now this was crafted obviously where they can't say the deal has been done we would like to have him back to help us win a championship last sentence pat read the last sentence that is all the people need to know we both understand that the next step is to work out ben's contract situation business is business okay but it seems like both sides here are on the record of saying, we're going to get this done.

It'd be bad if the Steelers come out and say this and then can't get the deal done, don't you think? I don't think they care what it looks like. I mean, they'll make it seem like it's Ben's fault if it doesn't work out. But I think it's very likely he will come back and play. I will deal from that perspective if you like. We would like you to deal from that perspective. Juju and he are a package deal.

No, they're not. Juju and Twitch are a package deal. Juju and TikTok are a package deal. He's going to get like 14, 15 million somewhere, Pat. The Steelers can't afford him. He can't afford to stay with the Steelers and they don't need him their receiving core is just fine without him you lose something if he leaves i grant that but they got washington they got deontay johnson they got chase claypool who will turn out to be just as big an ass as juju they're gonna be fine it's mapletron have a little fucking respect please what do you got dicks mark Mapletron. Have a little fucking respect, please. What do you got, Diggs? Yeah, Mapletron.

He's a joke like that Canadian division in the NFL. NHL. Yeah. Hey, by the way, Matt Murray last night, big shootout win. That kid's stomping pucks up there. I feel bad for Matt Murray. He is on a shooting gallery. But that Canadian division, that's like a minor league stuffed into a pinball machine.

It's top-heavy with stars. Those stats shouldn't even count. Mark, is there any reason to believe that new Steelers offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, isn't going to be a lapdog like Randy was for Ben? That's a good question, and he can't be. If Ben's going to run the offense, if he's going to check into a pass every play the team won't be any better i ben doesn't have the mobility to execute all the bells and whistles of a typical matt canada offense then again matt canada has never been

a coordinator in the nfl so i'm not sure what a typical offense uh as administered by him at that level will be like but uh matt Matt Canada has to be in charge, but I will believe that when I see it. That's a good point. The Steelers never pay anybody, right? Isn't that kind of like a thing? They don't really pay people? Well, they pay the star players.

I mean, they spend up to the cap. But, yeah, their coaching hires have been a bit circumspect. You know, I forget how many, but at least two of their hires have been a bit circumspect uh you know i i forget how many but at least two of their hires maybe three come to the steelers with no nfl coaching experience like when we had the big to do about signing jj watt and tj watt and derrick watt because all the watts on one team that would be so cool i said bring in mr and mrs watt the mom and dad as assistant coaches. They have as much experience as most of the Steelers' recent hires. Okay. Mr. and Mrs. Watt, by the way,

legends. Legends in their own right. And the Watt brothers have teamed up, by the way, for an incredible tag national show. It was the best tag show I've ever seen in my entire life. What is tag? I don't even know what tag is. They hosted a show, Mark. They're TV hosts.

Where was that? Prime Time. Fox. All the Watts. Tag. Ultimate tag, oh yeah. You mean where adults are playing tag? It's professional tag. Yeah, adults are playing tag. Well, gee, I can't believe I missed that. I hope I can see it on on-demand.

You'll get to see it every Sunday if JJ joins the team. You'll get to see it. All the Watts hosting a show out there. It'll be unbelievable. They could all miss the playoffs together. Now, when they do that tag show, Pat, are all three Watts hosting?

Yeah. Do they wear their rings? Oh, wait. I'm sorry. I don't have any either. I can't really. There's a lot of people that don't have rings. You have charisma, Pat, and that's what matters. All right, let's talk about the ring thing.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers feels like they're going to – you've got people that are going to be ring hunting down in Florida. I mean, players love Bruce Arians. There's no tax. The team just won. They got Tom Brady. The general manager said there's a chance for an extension on Tom Brady at this point because he wants to play a little bit longer.

Then you got the Los Angeles Rams giving up three first-rounders for Matthew Stafford. Got people going in there. How do you feel about the teams? The NBA is kind of becoming – I'm not saying the NBA and the NFL are ever going to be the exact same thing, but it feels like there's like super teams and there's teams that draft from within. How do you feel about that kind of trend in the NFL, Mark?

I don't think that could quite trend, Pat, the way it did in the NBA, because in the NBA, if you have two or three star players, you have a team. It takes more than that with the NFL. I think that the most prescient thing you said about Tampa is the no-stay tax. Oh, yeah.

I mean, if I were a player, I'd go someplace that had a good team and no-stay tax. And certainly Tampa Bay, as long as they have Brady, fills that bill. And by the way, I know you like to bet occasionally. Boy, I lost on the Chiefs. I was so dumb to bet against Brady, and I will never do it again. I feel stupid. And I'm a super genius. I shouldn't ever feel stupid.

That's kind of like the scene in The Godfather. A man of my intelligence can't be made to look ridiculous. Well, I bet, by the way, I bet that the Chiefs would win. I bet $30,000 on tails, but I hit. Oh, I bet on tails too, Pat. Thanks for the advice. Hey, I'm an influencer. I influenced you?

Yes. Okay. I do not have a 166. I do not. I am nowhere near that. That makes me feel pretty good about myself. I don't blame you. I blame myself for betting on the coin flip it's america you know yeah in america you can bet

thirty thousand dollars on a coin toss i mean that is uh yeah but then you hit that ridiculous parlay that was inspiring that was tremendous see that's what i'm talking about though i bet on that coin toss and everybody remembers that people are forgetting the twenty five thousand dollar parlay i put together i did think though and i think you I, I'll be intrigued to hear your thoughts on this. I think that marquee players, right? The reason why they're marquee players, big name players is because in big moments, they make big plays. So I thought Gronkowski, I'm like, okay, this could, I think Antonio Brown, by the way, big time, big name player, Leonard Fournette. I think this is going to happen.

And that was my parlay. I believe in that, especially in the Super Bowl. Do you kind of, it feels like you mostly hate big name players. Is that a misjudgment? Not at all. In fact, in that Super Bowl, I bet on Gronk and AB to score touchdowns. I just didn't parlay it as wisely as you or bet big enough to cover betting on Tyree Kill to be MVP. Hey, Antonio Brown, touchdown in the Super Bowl.

I hate big-name players. I don't. I just believe you have to prove yourself more than social media. I mean, I'm a big Roethlisberger fan, big Crosby fan, big Lemieux fan. But, you know, there are certain guys who, like Juju's not a big-name player. He's a big-name celebrity. He's not a big-name player. Who'd he ever be?

You know, it's just some guys are overestimated by the marks out there, and I just call them out on it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I don't think that makes me a hater in the least. Well, I mean, people would say you're a hater. And, by the way, that's a whole other conversation. I don't think that makes me a hater in the least well i mean people would say you're a hater and by the way i i that's that's a whole nother conversation i don't think so i think you're not a hater at all the people out there they're too sensitive they just want to throw rose petals at the feet of their heroes all the time and i don't buy it i am not a hater i'm the voice of truth on this show on my show i am like the ariel helwani of everything that ariel helwani

doesn't talk about you ever meet ariel helwani he's an incredible i want to i think he uh he and i in addition to you and your your great cast there i think we are the lifeblood of this program ariel believes that too i want to let you know i'll get text messages from ariel he believes that as well which There's no question. I mean, we are both, what's the word you use? Electric. Electric. It's amazing.

When Ariel is on your show, my fingertips sizzle. They sizzle, Pat. He does cut great promos. He had a luchador mask on at one point. He really brought it. I don't even like MMA. I just like Ariel. Well, okay.

So, by the way, I see you've kind of tightened the hair up a little bit. You look good today. I just want to let you know. I don't even like MMA. I just like Ariel. Well, okay. So, by the way, I see you've kind of tightened the hair up a little bit. You look good today. I just want to let you know. I look terrible. I look terrible. I didn't have time to trim my beard. You know what's weird when you get old, Pat? You're not that far off. I'm 60 now. Your hair and your nails grow at an astounding rate.

I used to need a haircut like every six weeks. Now I go in every three weeks. I'm keeping it the same length. It's just, it grows so fast. You know, it grows when you're dead. A month and a half you used to go? In between haircuts you used to go a month?

Six weeks in between haircuts, Mark? I used to, yeah. I didn't need to get a cut. It didn't grow nearly as fast. Congrats on being able to keep the hair and the nails. I want to talk about star power, though. You talked about Crosby there. Thank you.

Go ahead. Crosby, I was watching last night, right? And I was trying to explain to my wife, from Indiana, so no hockey team out here, but she's become a Pens fan. She loves the sport of hockey, has enjoyed it. Always try to watch every time the Pens are on national TV. Now, last night it was a little bit difficult because Young Rock was also on. So it was a little bit difficult, you know, at the same time there.

Yeah, real hard decision. Yeah. Okay. So I was trying to explain Sidney Crosby, though. And I was trying to – I was having a conversation with him. I think the NHL let down Sidney Crosby. I think the NHL wasted Sidney Crosby's career. And even Ovechkin, you can get to Ovechkin. Ovechkin's most known by the public that isn't hockey fans

because of what he did with the Stanley Cup as opposed to what he does on the ice. Sidney Crosby was LeBron James coming out of high school, basically. This guy is now 13 years into this or however many years into this. And there's a large majority of motherfuckers that have no idea he exists and i'm like who's fault i think it's the nhl's fault i feel like they potentially mismanaged sydney crosby their superstars careers that not enough people have enough respect or knowledge of them it's the nhl's fault it's also just a sad fact that hockey isn't nearly as popular as the other sports. I like, and I'm the biggest hockey fan ever.

It's by far my favorite game. I always say it's number six among the four major sports. It just hasn't clicked beyond its niche audience. And I don't care if it does at this point. Part of the problem is hockey is run by Canadians. Gary Bettman's their New York American lawyer front man. Okay. But hockey's run by Canadians. Gary Bettman's their New York American lawyer front man. OK, but hockey is run by Canadians and Canadians always want hockey to be a sport where grit means as much as skill. So when you turn on the NHL network or even NBC Sports, half the guys talking about it are dopes who couldn't play the game,

but were just try hard guys who keep wanting to emphasize the grit like mike milbury mike milbury would pick on crosby when he would get roughed up and he would you know get get frustrated or the team didn't stick up for him he'd talk about oh toughness matters crosby has to learn to deal better with that as opposed to just saying flat out this guy's the best player in the game, and he should be protected. But again, and Milbury's American, ironically, with a Canadian mentality. But hockey just wants to be just as much about grit and skill. And as a result, the skilled guys have never quite gotten the proper credit,

the exception being Gretzky, who they protected incredibly. If they protected Lemieux and Crosby and Ovechkin, well, they didn't need to protect Ove because he's so big and tough. But you get the idea. They just didn't do enough for their stars. You are right on the money with that. Well, and what about, and I was thinking about this because there was a time where Sid floated by the camera

and it was like straight down the line there. He had no bend to his stick, right? Back in the day, when did they make the rule that you couldn't have the fucking hook blade on that thing i used to be i used to have a lacrosse stick down there i used to be able to whip that thing and he used to go there when did they make the rule because sid is basically just a flat stick has it always been like that in the nhl yeah and that's uh one of the things that makes him legendary nobody has ever played better on the backhand. Nobody's ever used the other side of the stick better than Sidney Crosby.

They had the banana blade in the early 60s because Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita with the Blackhawks, Chicago, they kind of cracked their blade and it just kind of bent naturally. It didn't break, but it bent. And they were screwing around in practice, and they noticed how the puck jumped off that curve when they shot so they started like using torches and sticking the blades under doors and bending them and then your manufacturer started making them and then they limited the curve i think at one point to a half inch maybe now a quarter inch i'm not sure but that that's

pretty much in a nutshell the tale of the curvature of hockey sticks well and that's why he was able to do the Michigan on the backhand with that thing. Cause it was a flat stick or whatever. What do you got Nick? I hate the Michigan. Well, if he scores there, it's fucking awesome.

And maybe that actually makes a highlight. You know what I mean? It's showbiz. I mean, no, no. Oh, Sidney Crosby's do showbiz.

Is that what you're saying? Make a hockey play. He's about to put a puck in the back of the fucking net from behind the fucking net. That's a hockey play. He didn't. I mean, it was close. I mean, that thing was close and it was a little bit higher up on his stick. It's his backhand.

What do you want from the guy? He's one of the top five players ever, as I said, amidst some controversy. I don't like when anybody does that play. Mark, just rewind a little bit. You said you don't bash the big-name guys. What about all the guys on those buckos all the years you skewered, all the big-name talent they had? Hold it.

The key phrase there is big names. Who are the big names? Pittsburgh Pirates, Barry Bonds. J-Bell. Jason Kendall. Oh, you remember Kendall's pop-top touch? A.J. Burnett? Oh, my God.

Was that the guy I was drunk with? I'm a big Barry Bonds fan. Barry Bonds is the greatest baseball player ever. Yes, sir. I agree. Both heads. I never bash the Pirates. I mean, on the rare occasion when they have a winning year,

I actually acknowledge that. It doesn't happen very often. It won't happen this year. My God, they might lose a buck ten this year. All right, Mark. I appreciate you. Thanks for the electricity today, Bob. Was it good?

I've been real hard on myself lately. No. Stop being so – why? You got that little Vegas hangover? You weren't out there too long? Now you're beating yourself up? No, I don't know. I mean, I'm old. I'm obviously obviously really popular really successful and all that stuff i gotta admit i

look decent today with the you know semi-flowered shirt like the wcw days glasses look good like you said the hair looks good it's just growing too fast but even the very greatest pat lacks self confidence once in a while but i think thanks to the therapeutic experience that appearing on your show always is i think i will leave here in moments a better man you're back baby he's the best dude him refusing to believe ben is back too is hysterical do you want me to operate under that assumption? I will. I will. You think Juju gets 15 mil a year from somebody? That's what he's saying.

That's going to be tough, I think, to find. Who else? TY's out there. Chris Godwin's out there. Edelman might be out there. Tyler Brown might be out there. Allen Robinson. Galladay.

Galladay. So many. Marvin Jones also from the Lions. Juju's only 24. He's going to get paid by somebody a lot of money. $15 million a year? $15 per dude? What's the average right now for wide receivers? $15 million puts you between 10 and 15 in the league as far as pay for a wide receiver.

Hey, maybe. Hey, Juju, if you can get it, go get it. Yeah. Go do what you got to do. He loves, by the way, just. He's the best at it. Like when he puts that top five out and he saw the reaction at top five, I'm excited for Mark Madden's next 20 top fives that are about to happen.

I'm smarter than you. Here's my top five. And then as soon as somebody disagrees, he's like, all right, here we go. You asked for this, pal. I've been waiting for this. He just goes to war with people on the internet. What's going on? Players making 15, Cooper Cup, Jarvis, Tyler Lockett, Mike Williams,

Keenan Allen, Odell. So if Juju gets that, all those guys are going to ask for restructure, by the way. Immediately following this beat drop from a gentleman named Twine. Thank you, Twine. Right on time. Ooh, that rhymed.

What a sign. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a college football national champion and a Super Bowl champion. Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Hawk. A.J., what up, dude? What's going on? Hey, I saw some of Mark Madden's interview. That was good.

I enjoyed it. I'll tell you what. There are a lot of people sending tweets about Mark Madden every time he comes on the show. A lot of people get upset with me for having him on the show. But if you watch that and you don't think to yourself, that's an entertaining son of a bitch right there. I think you're doing life wrong. All right.

I think you're doing that. He looked good today. The hair was slicked back. I mean, he was feeling himself, AJ. I appreciate him coming on. Eddie Olchek will be joining us here in about 21 minutes. Obviously, hockey legend, player, coach. And I believe he had to battle against

stage four cancer just like a year or two ago. He's on the other side of it. Can't wait to talk about, you know, hockey with him. AJ, we talked about this in the first hour. It's 42 minutes, the estimated reading time for this article.

I don't know if you get a chance to see. We'll talk about it a little bit. It was about the NFLPA and Drew Brees. Basically, he stole the show there at the end because there were some alarming numbers being put out for the amount of money that Drew was potentially getting paid from the NFLPA. He said it's from the players. DeMaurice Smith said it's from Players, Inc. But anyways, this whole thing.

The NFLPA, and I'm not asking about the article in itself because it's 42 minutes i'm gonna assume you didn't read it but i don't know if you did or saw it the nflpa is something that i mean i hated whenever i was in the nfl i i fucking hated i i did not i appreciate the work that they had done you see what had happened what they did in the past you know and they show like this uh video uh it's like a propaganda video before every meeting basically like you know back in the day there was rats running around the locker room and the nflpa came in and said hey you're gonna have at least one mop in every locker room and you know they tell this propaganda of everything that they've done and helped out players and i agree that they have in the nflpa i believe serves a purpose or whatever but there's a lot

of shit that they would do and I'm like this I mean this isn't what we're looking for when you were playing how was uh your relationship with the NFL PA the Green Bay Packers relationship because I feel like a lot of guys felt the way I felt but everybody's like it's not worth the time to even fucking change it and and we when we to Aaron last year, he was like, he became an NFLPA rep, which, by the way, my first time, I was like, I did not expect you to be a rep or whatever. And he even said, like, you know, I'm trying at this point. The NFLPA is such an interesting thing.

It is a very, very interesting thing. And this article, I do believe, I'm going to read it tonight. They say estimated 42. I've never read a book in my life, so that's going to be, what, two, three hours for me to get through that fucking thing. But I'm going to give it a go. The NFL PA, anytime more information comes out about it, the more and more I'm like,

I think I was right with the way I felt about that whole thing. I think how you feel is how a lot of guys in the NFL feel. I think most players don't ever really think about the PA. They don't really think about what their role could be in the union, and that's exactly how i was especially early in my career i never thought of it i'm like okay they're gonna come in and talk to us we've seen what they have done yes they did a lot of great things for players and they continue to try to do that as well but man there's huge like communication issues i think from the top down and i know it's

not an easy gig to try to get everybody in the league like on the same page and get them invested most guys don't really care they just want their their ten thousand dollar madden check that used to come at the end of those meetings once a year but i just think the article that you're talking about yeah i saw it it's the fact i think they said drew breeze got like a total of nine million dollars over whatever span of time they're talking about and they come back and they say well no drew's agent and demore smith say like no this is from players inc like jersey merchandise sales i'm like all right i don't know man like it's it just seems like something's up especially since drew was demore's is like one of his biggest

supporters throughout the process and i skimmed through and i had ty ty has sent me a bunch of ty has read it and as we've gone to break I've tried to scroll through and Ty being like, hey, this happened, this happened. By the way, shout out to Ty. Always good to have a friend that was accepted to Harvard who can break down shit like this whenever you need it or whatever.

That's my first time, by the way, ever having that friend. My friend Reed in college, I guess he would also have been that particular person, but I was drunk every night, so I wasn't really asking him those questions.

But Ty is that guy. It seems like, now there has to be a reason this article was written, right? Like, who's writing this? Why is this happening or whatever? But the NFLPA, and I think we paid more attention to it whenever the CBA negotiations were happening,

before they happened and after they happened. And I think it's because nobody likes to talk about it because the information you're getting is from the NFL and you have to have a good relationship with the NFL and the NFLPA normally has scattered different things, so it's tough to cover. The NFLPA is very important to the well-being of future

players and everything like that. They've dropped the ball on that mightily. I think everybody has realized that. A lot of people blame the NFL, which, by the way, I think you could definitely point some fingers at the NFL for not taking care of retired players as much as they probably should, knowing for the fact with what the stats are both medically and financially for retired players the NFL should have you know said like hey we'll step up and do this but it's really the NFL PA's job and I think when I when I started asking questions in those

meetings that you're referring to where you get the Madden check at the end of you can tell they were not happy I was asking a question okay my teammates were not happy i was asking a question either it's like pat we've been here since fucking 6 30 this morning okay they always do it on your longest work day it's like a wednesday longest work day after practice and at the end of this meeting you're getting your madden check so they they set it up so nobody asks any questions right it is now granted that might not be their their intent but it seemed like that was it every single time and i would always ask a question and then the answer would be just be

like so stupid it's like all right i'm not even fucked and then when i was in the substance of abuse policy or program and i needed somebody to look out for me because i was getting like abused with this drug testing was supposed to go down i didn't get a text for like three months later and i'm like you good i'm like fuck you then they started selling boomstick shirts fanatics started selling boomstick shirts which was a marketing thing basically that was created by my twitter followers on on my social media and I'm like I started seeing these shirts pop up on the internet with like pat boomstick McAfee and it's NFL PA certified I'm like awesome how much money am I making off oh yeah you're getting like 2.5 percent of that I'm like oh fucking great okay so you just gave away basically all my shit this is a great deal hey just trying to keep the income coming or revenue i'm like oh thank you i i fucking appreciate that

thanks for making that deal for me you know so i actually did not sign to join the nflpa like the last two years of my career and i did not go to those meetings i just got fucking fed up with them like i fucked these dudes well so like let's go back to like the the money that was paid out to drew breeze does that come from the players is that your dues is that part of it they're saying it was from his jersey sales and everything like that right but they do have every time they came to those meetings i don't know how many people are there for you we had like six people were representing the union this guy does this this person does this i'm like i appreciate that. Who's paying all these motherfuckers? And why is this?

This is where. What do you do? What do you do at the end of the day? The whole. You know, there's just like I just because it is my money and I didn't have a three hour practice where I had to run my head into somebody. When we got into those meetings, I would see things and I feel like I've always kind of had an entrepreneurial spirit. I feel like I've always wanted to kind of do my thing so when I'm seeing these decisions get made like deferred bonuses you remember that and they did that player uh player performance bonus which is a bonus that

is given to the players if they outperform their contract so a lot of younger guys get this if you have more snaps than expected with your contract the player performance bonus is to be given to you to kind of make up for it normally people that are getting big player performance bonuses by the way don't have big money okay this is like uh this is for people they were like oh we're gonna defer these payments a couple years because we're looking out for you and a lot of guys were like fuck like i need this money like who's making these so i had a lot of questions but i never was a rep so i'm basically like the people you know that that don't vote you're like the people, you know, that don't vote. You're like the people that complain about politics but didn't vote.

Which, I mean, yeah, that is pretty much very similar. So I just chose not to sign up for it. But don't you think it's because it does feel like, all right, it's overwhelming to think about going in there and trying to make a change. It's probably like anything in politics or whatever. Like, all right, for me to truly make a change, what needs to happen? Like massive amounts of work, massive amounts of time.

The one thing the NFL PA definitely has going for him right now, the head of the players, part of the PA is JC Treader, who I played with in green Bay, super smart Ivy league guy, I think. And he's actually, I,

he is not in bed with the owners or anybody. He feels like he absolutely is looking out for the players. See, we need more of that. So, like, the NBA, the NBPA completely changed when Chris Paul got in there and then all the big-name players started doing it, right? Like, all the big-name players. In the NFL, it's not like that.

Like, there are some big-name guys, and I like that, and it almost gets like shunned upon the big big name guys going in there because they're like oh you're not relatable to the lower they almost pin like the successful players again you see ba doing it now kind of ba's like uh of course the vets don't want to have fucking practice they don't want these young guys to take their job but in the pa they're always like well you know if we get too many rich guys in there they don't know what it's like to be a young guy, which is true. And I can understand that they might be past it.

But if they're rich, they've been in the NFL a long time. By the way, they've probably seen the way things operate now, unless they're just the most selfish motherfuckers on earth, which they could be, I guess. I think the people that have been around, they probably have a little bit more influence maybe on the NFL as well if they're going into negotiations. And there's no offense to anybody that i was teammates with that went and become a rep you know uh not a lot of high tier guys that do it they serve and everything like that but i feel like if the nflpa was to ever really do a dent or win any of these negotiations and first of all you gotta take care of retired players because every player is going to be a retired that was one of my questions by the way that was that was one of my that was that was maybe the first moment when i was like oh i fucking hate

these people i go uh should we not maybe think about taking care of retired players you know and this is vinatieri's big thing vinatieri is an executive member right and vinatieri is like hey ask about retired players like this is a big deal and vinny was the first one to really tell me because you don't it makes sense after you're told it but vin's like, we're all going to be retired players at some point. So it's like, this is something we should care about or whatever. So I ask about it. And the one guy who wasn't Demoree Smith gives an answer. He's like, hey, we got to get ours.

Okay? They can take care of theirs. We got to get ours. And I was immediately like, well, it is ours, because we are going to be retired players or whatever. And they're like, we got to take care of ours. They got to take care of theirs. And it was like, next question.

I'm like, okay. So I i get 80 of guys going broke all right we got we got terrible um medical shit popping off we got all this stuff should we not focus about that and it's like we gotta get ours it's like oh so you aren't looking out for who you're supposed to be looking out for and i've just always now granted i'm a pretty anti-authority human always have been i don't like a pretty anti-authority human, always have been. I don't like a lot of people speaking for me, you know, and making moves. Like, that is something I've always been, so that might add into it. But man, it felt like for a long time, it was just a bunch of bullshit.

That's why I'm legitimately excited to read a 42-minute fucking article. And I want to know who wrote it, how they wrote it, why they write it, who's getting buried, who's trying to get promoted, that whole thing and this whole thing. Why'd they write it? Who's getting buried? Who's trying to get promoted? That whole thing and this whole thing. There's a great back and forth in the article between Dominic Foxworth, I believe, and a couple of owners when they were negotiating. I don't know who.

It sounds like it's first-person accounts of what happened in there. It's great watching them go back and forth. And Jerry Jones comes in and kind of cools everything off. But the only power I feel like the players truly have is if they sit out games and i know when i was there i didn't want to sit out game i don't want to strike we got locked out when i was playing it's very different but everything got figured out right as training camp was about to open because guys didn't want to miss games but don't you feel like that's the only power the players have if they truly threaten to not play i guess i mean i just for me with the

players and the owners and now that i've been a part of a lot of business conversations at this point by the way pretty fucking high-end ones too it's been hey hey my bad but it doesn't didn't they just sign a 10-year extension on the cba yeah so none of this matters that nothing's gonna happen yeah nothing could happen for another 10 years but then they had to renegotiate for the salary cap because of potential whatever's gonna happen with the salary cap and revenue splits and everything like that. Lockout, by the way, I wish that happened every

single year. And I know this is pretty, it was awesome. It was fucking awesome. It was the greatest thing of all time. But once again, that's something the NFL players should have got out in front of PR-wise and said, this is not a strike. Because a lot of people were like, oh, the spoiled players are doing it. It's like, no, we're not even allowed to fucking go to work right now. I't even know but that was one thing i

thought you know this is a poor pr decision we should probably get out in front of this a little bit to explain our side of the thing because we are getting buried and if you win the mob you win rome that is kind of how the old saying goes and every single time it feels like there's a dispute between the nfl players who fans should relate much more to than the billionaires. The fans will always side with the billionaires because they're the ones that leak information or have people on their side. And also, inevitably, they're going to be around a lot longer than each individual player is. But I feel like mismanaging the communication is one big aspect.

But also, I think I heard Demoree Smith's first speech as NFL PA president at the rookie symposium. And I might be wrong, but he was just introduced as the president, the new president, and he came from D.C. He was a lawyer, and he gave a speech, basically, about the inevitability of a potential lockout coming and the war chest we're going to create and everything. The way he described what he was going to go do to Roger Goodell, I was like, this is not how you negotiate business. At that point, I was only like 21 years old, I think, or 22 years old, so I hadn't known.

But the way he was like, hey, we're going to get every dollar from it. And that's like cool to hear. Like, I like hearing that. Like, I understand that's your mission. And it was his first speech and everything like that. But when you go and do business with people, now, the NFL is 30 billionaires because they are probably pretty stringent with their lawyers and they get everything out of there. But it felt like he was, it's going to be tough to negotiate if you're telling the person on the other side to go fuck themselves right before you're going into the room. And that's inevitably what happened with the lockout that happened.

It was like no deal was ever imminent because each side, as soon as you tell the NFL, like, hey, fuck you, we're going to go get you. And this might be naive. I assume there'll be people that watch this that are reps that are like, that's not how it works when you're negotiating with business billionaires and everything like that. It's like, okay, but there has to be a happy medium there where you're not just like,

we're going to go to war with these people. It's like, yo, we need each other here. Let's figure this out. Let's get this deal done. I guess there's two different ways of doing things. Just from day one, though, where I was like, this guy's going to negotiate with Roger Goodell and this guy's representing me. OK, here we go. Let's do this thing. And I assume he's done some good things. OK, I assume there's a litany of good things that Tamori Smith has done. But every time I ask a question, I got one

of the dumbest fucking answers I've ever heard. I'm like, I can't take this. I'm out of here. I didn't I did not sign to be a member of the i might have been the only player i think i was the only player on the colts that didn't i'm like i'm not fucking doing it keep the madden check i don't fucking need it but stop selling the fucking shirts though i sold myself the nflpa too going to see on your busiest day it's like hey don't worry we're these guys are gonna be tired they're not gonna ask any questions that mean a thing set up exactly we'll just roll right through this they won't know what hit them there's a lot of good guys by the way who have been reps and have tried their best like i i don't i'm not saying that but it just feels like at this point a lot of it's bullshit and i'm like yes

can we maybe also we you know too and i know i've said this on the show the owners and the league are always going to have the leverage because players are players and we knew like I knew going into the lockout happened after my fifth season the PA had been coming in for two years probably before that saying hey there are a lockout might happen it could happen make sure you save do this do all this they gave you different ways that you could save parts of your check and and whatever we got locked out after the Super Bowl or whenever it was March it started and I've said this before we you don't get paid during that time everybody gets some kind of stipend yes each week you're there for the off-season program but it's a time you don't get paid so you normally are not getting

paid that that your salary anyway until the next season starts we had dudes taking out loans at 40 interest rates we had guys struggling saying we got to get back to work i'm like well you weren't you knew this was coming and it's a time when you're not going to you're not getting paid anyway you're not missing game checks but players still struggled with it so the owner's like yeah we're good like we don't we're fine like we're always going to win this and by the way those reports started creeping out about players struggling and everything like that and that was probably now that i know a little bit more about the information gets leaked from people that was just billboards on a worldwide leader from the NFL to make it look like, you know what I mean? That's probably bullshit, by the way.

I mean, unless you know guys that did it. I assume, now, I will say, you know, that offseason where you don't get paid, it does seem short when you just look at that clock. But I would have been one of the statistics if I did not make that team the second year coming back after the offseason I had. And that's why in the lead into this show, in the intro, it says, what am I supposed to do? Look at something that I can definitely afford and I've always wanted and say, no. That's what I learned after my rookie year, by the way. I visited damn near every continent on planet Earth.

I was at every single gathering I could potentially be at. And by the time I got back to training camp, that 1300 bucks or 800 bucks, whatever it was at the time, I was like, all right, let's go ahead and collect that. All right, boys, get some ramen in here. All right, let's go ahead and try to, let's fucking make this team. All right, let's try to make this team.

But you're 100% right. Cause the thought was, they're like, we've got to build up this war. Make sure you get the Cobra insurance. I need Cobra insurance. That whole thing, that was a big deal. And my thought was, so we're going to miss games? Because it was going into my third year.

I was like, we're going to miss games? Is that what's the plan? We will if we have to. It's like, I don't think we're saying that. They're not even letting us go to fucking work. So I don't know if we're in control of that, pal. I don't know if that's us. Just interesting, pal. I don't know if that's us. Just interesting, man.

The NFL, the NFL, NFL PA thing is always so interesting. Yeah, there needs to be a PA, obviously, to represent the players. And they have done a bunch of great things over the years. But yeah, it's just it's a weird time right now. I feel like with the PA and the league and how they're doing everything. And I don't know. I know there's different opt out times during this 10 year period. They can renegotiate things, but I'll be,

I'll be interested to see what the money looks like when it comes to the TV deals that come in here. What over the next year is it? Yeah. 10 years, a hundred billion. For what kind of package would that be? By the way, those same, now I guess I should give the NFL PApa a little bit more credit i guess those same negotiators that told espn you're gonna pay us more than double what nbc pays for the same amount of games um you're gonna pay us 1.9 million or 1.9 billion a year and they're gonna pay us 960 million uh those same negotiators are the people talking the nflpa to i'd assume they are good negotiators you know what i mean in negotiators by the way aren't the best humans like those are not the those are humans that are trying to

potentially fuck you over completely which is by the way what somebody's going to talk to me about my naivety about we shouldn't be talking about going to war we should try to be good business partners here or whatever i understand that but that article is the parts that i saw very interesting you know especially because you're getting 0.025 percent of jersey sales or whatever and it's just like all right unless you're drew brees no no he sold a lot of jerseys yeah well you know foxworth what got 15,000 from uh the nflpa he got nine million i mean i think there's a little bit of a difference there well fox i mean dominique was the president too. Dominique was also the president for the basketball

one, I think, as well. I think he was also president for the NBPA for a bit or something like that. There's a guy that probably understands a little bit of the shit going on in that whole world. He's potentially going to be the one to tell us that we are stupid for thinking that things go the way

they go, but it's just looking at it and watching the way things unfolded with me. My personal experience was terrible, and I know I'm nowhere near the only one. Absolutely not the only one. But I think just pure indifference is what keeps anything from happening. Just because players, why would you waste your time with it? You remember there for a while they were having their meetings their annual meetings in hawaii for fucking 10 days you remember that yeah oh yeah i remember oh we got our meetings meetings all day you guys have to go to fucking honolulu to do that is that is that oh yeah well i mean we're working man what do you

want hey jordy jordy told me jordy became the rep later on. I remember he took one trip. He's like, hey, you should be like the alternate rep because I think you get the trip too, and this place is amazing. Before Eddie Olchek joins us here in about a minute and a half, let's get to Chance down there in Texas. What's going on, Chance? Yeah, Pat. What's up, AJ?

What's up, boys? How y'all doing? Hey, life is good, Chance. How are you, bub? I'm good. I'm good. Living life, you know. I was going to ask, though. What are y'all doing? Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, not out of prison, which is good news. Playing the NHL for 16 seasons. Stanley Cup champion. Head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins,

the greatest hockey team to ever play hockey in the history of hockey, in the history of ice and sticks and pucks. Ladies and gentlemen, the incredible Edzo Edielchuk. Yeah! How you doing, bub? Hey, what's up, Pat? How you doing, pal? Hey, I'm's up, Pat? How you doing, pal?

Hey, I'm sorry you had to catch the tail end of our conversation about prisons. We learned today we're a big prison show. People watch us in prison. So big day for us. Yeah. Shout out, prison. Congrats. The ratings have gone through the roof here.

That is good. I do wonder if they're counting the illegal views that are coming from the prison into our stream. I'd like to think that this is a fair society and they do count that. Let's talk about the NHL. Last night, Pittsburgh Penguins show again that they're the greatest team on ice, beat the Capitals in overtime, nasty flip of the hips. How has the NHL season started for those of us that might not have seen everything? How do we feel?

Who's the favorites aside from the Penguins? Edzo, what do we got going on? Yeah, well, I mean, it's only a 56-game schedule this year, Pat, because of, obviously, the world that we're all living in. And it's going to be interesting if the National Hockey League does get to the 56 games. I mean, Dallas had a COVID outbreak early in the season, and then we all know what happened as far as the weather down south and the Dallas Stars had to miss, I think, four or five games. So they've fallen really

behind. So we don't know if we're going to get a full complement of games, but that certainly is the plan to get a 56-game schedule. So you've got teams that have played 20 games already, so we're approaching the halfway point. And it's going to be really interesting because the way the divisional play you have the canadian division you know all the divisions in the states are a little bit different but if i look at it right now i think the three the three best teams for me are the colorado avalanche the vegas golden knights who happen to be in the same who happen to be in the same division. And then you have also the Boston Bruins. So I would look at those three teams.

Sorry, Paddy. I'm sorry. So I look at those three teams as being the teams that have a chance to get in the Stanley Cup final. But I go to the Vegas Colorado division. You have St. Louis in there too. And we know what St. Louis did a couple of years ago so I mean look at there's going to be a really good team because you get four teams

from each division it'll play you know one will play four two will play three and then you're going to have the best you know the final series in that division you're going to have a pissed off fan base you're going to have a team that's really darn good that isn't going to get to the conference finals the final four in the National Hockey League. Eddie, hey, A.J. Hawk here coming in. Hey, A.J., how are you? I join Pat the last hour of his show every day. So I was thinking about you when I watch the NHL, and I'm thinking, all right,

I don't know enough to know, like, differences and things. So I just wonder, from when you retired until now, like, how different is the game? Are you a fan of how it is now? Would you rather go back to what it was? What's it like? You know, AJ, that's a great question. I mean, I do like the openness of the game where I think it caters. And you guys know this better than anybody, I think, especially in football.

The rules cater to offense. It's really tough to be on the defensive side of the ball and have an edge, where 15 years ago in a National Hockey League, 20-plus years ago when I played, you could hook, you could hold. If you got a 2-1 lead going into third period, there was a pretty damn good chance you were going to win the game. But now it's much more free-flowing. It's catering to offense.

There's more penalties being called more consistently. I do like the game. I do like the game. I do miss the dislike. I do miss the dropping of the gloves. Not that I was a guy that dropped the gloves a lot, but I do miss that part of it. I mean, intimidation is always going to be a part of sports. I don't care what anybody says, what era it is.

But for me, I think the National Hockey League is an uh-oh. What are you doing there, Patty? What do you want? I thought you were a goalie. My son told me you're a goalie. Hey, this is your son's stick. This is actually your son's stick. I learned that I was a lefty from using your son's stick, actually.

I thought I was a righty my entire life. Turns out, sticky mitts on the left side. Hey, when you're stick handling, you got to keep your head up. All right. You got to keep your head up when you're stick handling. Not with this modern hockey. Ain't nobody coming after me, Edzo. I got my head down.

You just said it. You said it's a lot more open, Paul. Hey, if you guys don't mind, if you don't, if you don't mind me saying this, you know, being a colon cancer survivor, proud to say I'm clean and clear of colon cancer for hard to believe I'm going on my three-year anniversary. But March is colon cancer awareness month. And I would encourage everybody out there that is getting to that age, and now it is recommended at age 50. It hits all demographics. The numbers for colon cancer are sadly going through the roof over the course of the last five years,

and they finally lowered the recommended age to age 50 for people to get checked out, get a colonoscopy, and if your family's been affected by it, please go see your medical professional. And, you know, I live the worst part of it when it comes to being diagnosed with stage three colon cancer and having to take chemo for six months. And if I could help one person out there, either stay away from it or avoid that. And look, yeah, the colonoscopy, it isn't great.

It's, you know, literally, yeah, it's pretty crappy for two days to clean yourself out and go get cleaned out. But you get peace of mind. And I would rather have somebody give up two days than try to fight the battle of colon cancer. So I encourage everybody out there to make sure they're looking after themselves, your friends, your family. Don't put it off. Not that I put it off, but I happen to just turn 51 years of age and next thing you know they're telling me i had a tumor the size of my fist growing inside my colon and uh lucky enough to uh had beaten it and uh if i can help one person out there because i know you

guys have a great following uh please please make sure you look after yourself and take care of your family that's good stuff that's good stuff. That's good stuff, Edzo. We actually have a guy in our show that just got a colonoscopy the other day. He's going through it right now. And that is, why do you, is it natural? Is it genetic? Is it food that we eat? What is it potentially you think that's making the number?

Have you learned anything about why? Yeah, I think it's a lot it is uh it is food intake some some of it is uh it can be genetic uh i'm a big believer uh i can't get confirmation uh publicly but i do believe in the world that we live in everywhere we turn around uh there's there's technology all around us right like there's computers and phones and cell phones and and you know uh you know whatever i mean it's it's everywhere so i i do believe that uh it is all of the above and like i said it does not uh it does not discriminate and i would just encourage anybody out there and like just for my family i mean you know pat you know my son tommy

you mentioned him you got his stick there i mean i have four children i just became a grandfather for the first time congratulations thank you very much yeah thanks my daughter my my oldest son eddie and his wife erica gave birth to audrey marie olchek on july 7th so uh seven seven is her lucky number every time i'm at the betting the horses i play a seven, seven is our lucky number. Every time I'm at the betting, the horses, I play a seven, seven double just because of, of Audrey. But my, you know, my kids are going to have to get checked out much earlier because I had, you know, stage three colon cancer. So there's a lot there, Pat and AJ, but like I said, if we can make people aware, hopefully

we can keep them away from, you know, the really bad stuff. So be proactive. Don't sit there and go, it's not going to happen to me because I'm a perfect example that all of a sudden I woke up one day, I couldn't go number two, flat out. And next thing you know, I'm having a six and a half hour surgery, removing a tumor, as I said, the size of my fist, and then telling me I had stage three colon cancer and then six months of hell with the chemotherapy. Well, I want to let you know, our show normally ruins society. The fact that we're potentially helping it a little bit,

we appreciate you for that. You know what I mean? I do appreciate that, Edzo. Way to kick ass, by the way. It's not easy. Obviously, with Chuck Pagano here and the Chuck Strong and everything like that, we got a chance to really learn a lot more about the battles that happen. And it is

uh congrats man keep it going proud of you edzo hey proud of you edzo way to keep it going and we appreciate that message let's get back to hockey a little bit here yeah um mark madden do you know mark madness yeah sure yeah first thoughts whenever i say his name just first look at it i mean you're talking about a character I mean I knew Mark when I was playing in Pittsburgh broadcasting in Pittsburgh and then coaching in Pittsburgh I think I liked him more when I was broadcasting and playing than I was

when I coached because you know you know what happens I mean Mark's very opinionated and you know what he loves wrestling just like I do so that's what we got that's probably the main tie there I didn't know you were a wrestling fan I mean back in the main tie. I didn't know you were a wrestling fan. You were a wrestling fan? I mean, back in the day, oh yeah, I used

to go all the time. If you look really, really close, I think it was WrestleMania. I think it was, what was the year where you had Freilich in the fridge? Was that two? Was that WrestleMania two? Freilich in the fridge. Remember they were in the Royal Rumble?

They had all the football players were in there, right? Weren't they? Iilich in the fridge. Remember they were in the Royal Rumble. They had all the football players were in there. Right. Weren't they? I mean, like the fridge was there and Freilich was there. So anyways, it was in Chicago where I live. And,

uh, we, uh, we went to the old, uh, Rosemont horizon, now all state arena. And,

you know, a few connections here or there, but if you look really, really close, uh, sitting second row was a very young, I think 18 or 19 year old eddie olchek sitting second row for second row for wrestlemania which was pretty cool what a stud uh we will look

for that as somebody on the internet will find that within the next hour or so i can't wait for that um i believe whenever you meet somebody who liked wrestling growing up they get it a lot more like for instance in the sports world a lot of shit talking, you know? If you grow up watching wrestling, you get like, okay, there has to be babyface, there has to be heel, there has to be characters in this thing. The same way you described Mark Madden. I feel like that tells a lot about somebody if they liked

wrestling growing up. Hey, you know what? Do you remember a wrestler by the name of Ox Baker? Do you remember that name? No, but let me Google it. Let me know. Here. Hold on one second. I want to show you something. wrestler by the name of ox baker do you remember that name no but let me google it i mean i'll be here hold on one second here i want to show you something is ox a fucking family friend over there right there yeah so no no no no ox baker is uh he's more he's he we lost him i think a couple of years ago but so i'm walking through an airport

again ox baker is probably his prime was probably i'll say early 70s to probably the mid 80s right there's no chance i knew that here's a picture of ox baker can you see it there's ox okay all right so i'm walking through an airport okay i'm 18 or 19 years old i'm at o'hare airport i'm going down an escalator and at the bottom of the escalator there's this big massive human standing there with a briefcase and i could see his profile and i'm like holy that's ox baker i'm like this is unbelievable i watch him every sunday morning on bob loose wrestling i'm like this is unbelievable so i get down to the bottom of the escalator and i make eye contact with him and i and again i i'm like stunned i'm like ox baker he goes yeah you want a picture i'm like yeah sure he opens up his

briefcase briefcase he's got his shorts he's got tape he's got brass knuckles in there and he hands me a picture he goes ah what's your name i, it's Eddie. So if you could look really closely on there, I don't know if I'm showing it right, but it says, to Eddie, Ox. Look at that. That's cool. You watch Young Rock? You watch Young Rock last night? So this is it.

This is the vintage picture, Ox Baker. Look at him. That is a mean-looking guy. Would you want to get in a ring with him? No, I'm actually going to go try to get his top shot today. That's actually what I with him? No, I'm actually going to go try to get his top shot today. That's actually what I'm going to go try. I'm going to go try to get his top shot today. And also, I think he was into – he was like a chef.

Like, he was into cooking. I think he was in the middle of doing a cookbook, unfortunately, when he passed away. But a little insight there on the legendary Ox Baker. Well, shout-out to Ox Baker. Well, shout out Ox Baker. Last question here, Edzo. We appreciate you joining us, man. Every time I talk to you, I feel inspired and entertained and informed all at the same time, which is a great conversation. Coming up as an American hockey player.

Yeah. All right. And maybe you'll be able to debunk my theory that I have with the way the world is with the technology that you referred to in that whole thing and the ability for kids to make money right now on the internet, whether they're content creators or e-gamers or anything like that. I think you're going to see a shift in like towards sports and maybe like agendas as as kids and I think hockey is potentially going to be a sport because you have to be up at what like 6 a.m on the ice you have to be skating you have to basically get your body sharpened every single morning I think that's a sport that's potentially easier for people to say okay I'm not going to go do that I'm gonna go do something else now it's not easy to become a professional content creator,

e-game or anything like that. I'm not saying it's easy. But physically demanding on the body, the commitment that you have to have for hockey in particular is insane. It's an absolutely insane commitment. Do you think there's a chance we get to the point where, you know, American hockey players just aren't really something anymore unless it's a legacy or a generational type thing? you know american hockey players just aren't really something anymore unless it's a legacy

or a generational type thing no i i think that how far usa hockey is compact and aj uh i mean it may be from my era i mean look at i'm way older than both of you young fellows and i mean look at i i started in 1984 and i mean the percentage of national hockey league players was i think it was like just over four percent in the national hockeyockey League. Now we're almost at 32, 33% where, you know, the percentage of American born players in a National Hockey League. I think the one thing, Pat and AJ, that has been something that inspires me to try to help young people, boys and girls, every demographic, to help young people, boys and girls, every demographic, every part of the country is, how do we make it more affordable for families and for young people that want to play a great game in hockey? Because, you know, look at times are, look at the world we're living in now. I mean,

the world is upside down for all of us. And when people, you know, want to get their kids in athletics, they sit there and go, okay, well, you have football and what's the cost of that how much is the equipment well with most football programs as you guys know the the equipment comes with you know the sign up or whatever that is but for hockey i mean hockey is very much like golf i mean it is it is expensive and ice we're not even talking about ice time yet. And that's something that is somebody that has been very lucky and blessed and been involved in hockey for a long, long time is how do we make it more affordable and more opportunities for people that maybe don't have the means to be able to do that. And I have my own small foundation here in Chicago.

It's called, you know, really, really unique, the Eddie Olchek Award, where we give donations to young hockey players and organizations that maybe have fallen on difficult times and don't have the means to be able to, you know, play the game of hockey. And proud to say we've given over $100,000 to young hockey players in the state of Illinois. Let's go!

Thank you. And again, I think that's where it is, Pat. And the heart of your question is people look at it and go, you know, do I want to pay $250 for soccer or do we want to spend the $2,500 for hockey? And, look, the world we're living in now, we know where people are going. So, you know, we've got to find a way to make sure

that we can expose the game to people give them an opportunity regardless of of how much it costs and i think one like like myself look at once i grabbed the stick and put on a pair of skates besides falling all over the place like a deer on ice the first time once i mean it was in my blood i mean i it was in my blood from day one and i think anybody that watches it or does it themselves certainly has the opportunity to fall in love with the great game of hockey. We appreciate you, Eddie. We're going to donate to that, by the way.

We'd like to keep that thing going maybe for more awards and scholarships. We appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, hockey legend, Eddie Olchak. Thank you, Ed. Appreciate you, buddy. Okay, stay in touch. Let's talk before the Derby. Let's make sure we talk before the Derby.

All right? Yes. Yeah, we have to because cause you know what, you know, those damn ponies. I don't know those ponies. I don't know, but I would like to bet on them. So let's definitely talk before the Derby. All right, good. Stay safe guys. Thanks for having me. See you, AJ. Nice to meet you, man. You're the best. See you later. Edzo. Can't thank you enough for choosing to listen to the show. The fact that you allow us to penetrate your ear holes, we are eternally grateful for.

We'll be back tomorrow with another monster show. Ty is still out and about. So, Mitt, tease and piece of Ty, by the way. Everything's okay, but he got a body check. You know, see, I hope everything's all right. Can't wait for him to come back. Mitt, please play some independent music and propel these people into a beautiful Wednesday, into a damn good Thursday.

See you then. Chill. Relax. Læs mer på www.sdimedia.com សូវាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា Thank you. Kanskje vi kan se på en annen måte? Thank you.