The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 554 - Dan "DanZeus" Hanzus, Dana White, Shams Charania, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: December 8, 2021

On today's show, Pat, AJ, and the boys chat about everything going on around the NFL as we look ahead to week 14, a day before a massive announcement for the show and AJ's super boost for the Steelers Vikings game. Joining the program is the host of the Around The NFL podcast, the preeminent NFL power ranker, DanZues himself, Dan Hanzus. Pat and Dan chat about the power ranking process, what goes into his power rankings, where he see's certain teams as we approach the most important time of the season, which fanbases hate him the most, his relationship with Matt Money Smith, and more (24:31-48:07). Next, President of the UFC and friend of the program, Dana White joins Pat and AJ to chat about this weekend's UFC 269 PPV and what he's been up to (1:17:06-1:30:39). Later, NBA Insider for The Athletic and Stadium, Shams Charania joins the show to get us updated on everything going on in the NBA including Zion Williamson, Ben Simmons, the Pacers deciding to rebuild, if the Lakers stink, and if Kyrie is going to play this season at all (1:32:26-1:54:28). 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, December 8th, 2021. I think today is an above average show. I think you'll be done with it and you'll say, yeah, pretty good listen. We can't thank you enough for doing that and allowing us to be a part of your day-to-day. The fact that you let us penetrate your ear holes on such a regular basis, I am eternally grateful for it.

If you enjoyed today's show by the end of it, please be a friend and tell a friend. If not, just act like it never happened, all right? Just kind of came in, you listened, you didn't like it, don't tell anybody, all right? I won't say anything about you, you don't say anything about me. This is a happy family. But we wouldn't be family because you guys would be leaving without saying anything. You get it. Let's get to the show. I'll say anything. You get it.

Let's get to the show. Today's a big day because today we have Dana White on the show. Hey, big UFC card coming up. Oh, yeah. Barry Pond. Poirier's back. Here we go. Wow, the diamond Dustin Poirier. Yeah.

Here's his gloves. Yeah. Perfect. Here's his gloves. There you go. Can't wait to chat with him. He's obviously fighting against Olivier. Yeah.

Charles Olivier. Yeah, Olivier. He's got the belt. Can't wait for that chat. he's obviously fighting against olivier oh yeah charles olivier olivier he's got the belt can't wait for that chat that'll come in a third hour obviously dan zeus will be joining us for the first time every year in about 20 minutes to go through his power rankings because on wednesday everybody has their power rankings out i'm just now learning that not only does dan zeus of the nfl have his power, the official power rankings of the NFL, because it goes through the NFL social media sites. This guy is deciding which NFL teams are the best in how and where. That's a lot of pressure on Dan Zeus.

He gets it on the shins a lot. And for the first time, we're having him on. He's not the only one that does power rankings. ESPN does power rankings. That's 81 people coming together to vote on who their top teams are. Stephen A has his top five. Oh, that's right. So Stephen's A list.

Him and Jeff Saturday. Speaking of, Jeff Saturday has a top five list. That's right. Maz Yolano has a top five list. Really? Hey, Bleacher, I believe there is. Everybody's ranking these days. Jeez, what are yours?

No, no, I don't do the judging. I do the judging of the judges. That's why we have a chance to chat with one of the judges, Dan Zeus, and ask him what goes into the mind of a man who has to judge 32 NFL teams and decide who is the best right now, knowing that if you watch Man in the Arena last night, there is a team that could be at this point of the season that could look like absolute dog shit,

that could potentially travel to London and come together and be us versus the world, and then go on to break the hearts of the New England Patriots players who thought they were going to have an undefeated season being the greatest team of all time. Damn it. It's a lot of pressure. We'll talk to Dan Zeus. We'll talk about everything else happening in the NFL world

and sports world. We have Charles Barkley joining us on Friday. Hey, how's it going? That's a big deal. Can't wait to talk to Chuck. So, since we have him on the show coming up on Friday, shout out to the Bookers, by the way. Shout out to the Bookers, by the way. I started watching some basketball last night, a little late night.

Charles Barkley came on. I think it was at halftime of the Lakers-Celtics game. He said, you know, I just stink, all right? They're talking about firing Frank Vogel. AD, you're a nice guy. I like you as a person. But you stink, dude. You guys are a bad, bad club. Then he went on to say a bunch of other stuff.

I love that Chuck is still doing it at this stage of the game. Still the commanding voice of basketball and also one of the most entertaining and electrifying people. And I guess he is the person that can make NBA worth a conversation on this show in the middle of football season. Absolutely. So that's Friday. That's a big deal.

Friday I'll be in L.A. for the Staples Center. A.J. Hawk will be in studio. Wow. Geez. Yeah. Yeah. Friday I'll be in LA for Staples Center. AJ Hawk will be in studio. Wow. So we will safeguard absolutely everything. But a little house cleaning first before we get a chance to hear from Matt Boston Connor at Ty Schmidt. Rocking two

fantastic Christmas sweaters. Boys, how you doing? Doing great. You look amazing. You two are assholes. Thank you guys for doing that because the Hammer Don Don, COVID, Cowboy, Tone Diggs is here. Why are they assholes? They didn't fucking tell me I was supposed to wear a Christmas sweater today. Well, me neither.

They're doing their thing. Let's talk stable. That's what they do. They're a little tag team over there. A little tag team of trouble and toxicity. I can still hate them. You got a sweatshirt on. That's why we can't have you hate them right now.

What's going on? Can't have you hate them. It's the holiday season. It's the holiday season. It's the holiday season. That's a Christmas sweater. I mean, you never know. Yeah, that's a Christmas tank. Like, imagine Kanye would say,

Kanye would say, there's so much stuff on that hoodie. You know what I mean? I don't want to be associated with Kanye. Well, his current ex-wife. Yep, current ex-wife. Not divorced yet. Current wife ex.

Yes. Fashion icon last night. Yeah. She had a mask on, a Catwoman mask on. Congrats, Kim Kardashian. The Rock was there in person, by the way. The Rock was there in person. What are you saying?

What are you saying? There were some people on the show that said he only shows up by Zoom all the time. Oh, yeah. He's not working as hard. He's not a man of the people, but he is. No, he actually talked about, because this is People's Choice Awards, he actually talked about it. He said, thank you to everybody.

And then his first award, he won a bunch of awards, obviously. Obviously. The first award he won, he said, what's most important is my connection to you, the people. And I'm like, the People's Champion, he never fucking lied. Great. Last night, he won some Icon Award. He was amazing.

He says everything that I think you're supposed to say in positions that he says them in. And I think it's just natural to him. I think he is just the natural prototype of a person in certain situations. Congrats to Rock. Congrats. Nice job, Dewey. Hey, Young Rock was up for a People's Choice Award, by the way.

Really? What people? The worst people on the planet? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Or just people in general? Well, I wasn't asked to vote. I would have voted for Young Rock for the award. Thank you. Really? With the blue waffle guy and all that shit?

I assume if it didn't win, that's quite a statement because The Rock won everything. And if the only thing that didn't win was Young Rock that he's involved with? Young Rock was in a stacked category. By the way, every category is just every show that exists in that category. Okay. That's what I learned. That's what I learned. A lot of nominees.

A lot of nominees. What beat Young Rock? Okay. That's what I learned. That's what I learned. A lot of nominees. A lot of nominees. Let's go to any show, basically, that you can think of right now was alongside Yubber Up. Okay. There was 75 nominees in every single category. Every single one of them. It was unbelievable. They had a daytime show. I thought maybe we were up for it.

Okay. Ellen won. Yeah. 25. How does that happen? She still has a show? I thought Ellen was- So last year, she actually gave a great speech about being thankful for

like still being recognized the people not see that she was a scumbag behind the scenes allegedly I mean there were some people when you do a show for 19 years I assume there's some people that probably think you're a bad person but there was a lot of stories coming out about it I mean there's a lot of those she's still doing it

OG in the game she won an award gave a great speech, said thank you to everybody that's ever worked. She has to, based on what we've heard about Ellen. Well, she's still a People's Choice Award. Congrats, Ellen. Congrats, Elle. Anyways, we got, well, there's a lot of her people there, though.

You're talking about some of the old people that were there that maybe had something bad to say about her, which is going to happen, I think, in any relationship, especially a very successful one. I don't know. Remember Steve Harvey was getting married because he put that thing and said, do not come up to me and fucking pitch ideas while I'm walking down the hallway. Yeah. You remember, he's a bad guy.

This guy's a bad guy. Owen's a bad guy or a bad girl, lady. The thought of her fits, by the way, have always been the cleanest. Oh, yeah. Top tier. Yeah. Last night, I didn't know what she was doing. I don't know if that's like fashion forward or whatever. She had a little bit

bigger sport coat. I don't know that whole thing. Like Kyle Kuzma? Not that big, but it was a little bit. It wasn't an Ellen degenerate. It wasn't an E.D. look because normally she is the best dressed person. Anyway, she won. This is too much time on Kim and Ellen, The Rock and everything like that. What I'm saying is we have a massive

announcement coming tomorrow at noon. I've been teasing this for I think a couple months now the reason why i've been teasing it is because i didn't fully understand how the process went mostly because this is the first time that i've literally been the entire process so you know whenever you start chit-chatting and things start happening and then there's uh you know agreements that take place and then there's okay now the hows in the where's in the when's and everything okay so this is an entire another so i gave an announcement like hey we're up to something something's coming during that first stage i didn't even think about oh now we got to figure out more yeah there's like

there's like three or four more chapters but every time we knocked one off i think you saw me get excited on the microphone say hey i'm up it'm up. It's coming. Boom, boom, boom. We have completed, let's say, four out of the five or nine out of the ten at this point. Whoa. Stages. And we'll be done, I think, by big announcement coming tomorrow at noon. Okay. Eastern time.

Eastern time. Noon Eastern. That's how we're going to lead off the show, I think. Okay. I like that. Tomorrow is noon or? Oh, shit. Tomorrow we're going to lead off the show, I think. Okay. Tomorrow is noon or? Oh, shit. Tomorrow we're doing 11.

So maybe. Noon. Noon announcement. Noon announcement. We are live 11 to 2 tomorrow, though. YouTube.com forward slash the Pat McAfee show because I have to fly out to LA and I don't want to miss the game tomorrow night because tomorrow night's AJ Hawks first Super Bowl. Here we go.

And that needs to, you know, that needs, I can't wait to see AJ win for us. I've gotten the odds back that they are going to be. I like where we're at. Pretty juicy. Everybody seems to feel pretty good about it. Hopefully we'll take

a lot of money. It's a real shame that Evan Fox will not be able to bet on that one. Don't rub it in. I don't know how to feel about this one

because I do want you guys to win, but also I'm really pissed off that you guys won't let me get in on it. Well, listen, it's not just us, dude. It was like 11,000 people also voted.

I mean, there's a lot of people involved, dude. So, apologize. You're not allowed to participate in the Super Boost, but massive announcement coming tomorrow at noon. Hell yeah. How are we going to sit through that first hour? I was just going to ask you that. It's going to be awesome.

It's probably coming at 11.05. No, no, noon, noon, noon. T No no noon noon Tentatively noon Tentatively noon eastern tomorrow Massive announcement coming Dancing around it for an hour It'll also be pretty hilarious And by the way Oh my god

That kind of gives away a little something We will be live at youtube.com Forward slash the Pat McAfee show Tomorrow At noon When the announcement is happening There's been a lot of people thinking that we're maybe moving or something.

Well, you could cut the feed out a minute earlier. We'll be right back. Stick around. We ain't going anywhere. Yet. I mean, that's the next deal it has to do. There is a potential... No, we won't. I like YouTube. You know you know pigs get fed hogs get slaughtered i feel

completely okay especially with where we're at right now and what we'll announce tomorrow but we're very grateful for everybody thank you all so much thank you thank you guys now let's get to what we stink at the most uh and the reason why anybody could be watching it's time to talk a little ball okay yesterday aaron rogers talked about his toe once again. Talked about how he talked to Dr. Bob. And Dr. Bob and he decided that not to make a rash decision to do surgery immediately after a game, especially facing into a bye week.

Let's go ahead and let this thing rest for a few days, see what we got to do. If we have to have surgery, you'll still be back by Sunday. Aaron did not say that he would not get surgery in the future still. Right. That is still on the table i think for weeks down the line if he gets stepped on or starts to agitate him a little bit more they'd go in put a pin in it and i assume they would put it right next to that ring uh finger

and they said they would immobilize that thing it wouldn't be able to move so although it would still be painful it wouldn't be as painful because whenever something that's broken gets shifted that's when all the nerves ah fuck so that's what he's kind of going through his pinky toe said he would never ever sit out said this is not an option of sitting out for this thing it happened during his covid cave stay at his house away for 10 days that's right how did it happen he wouldn't tell us no he wouldn't interesting training we pressed him on that as well we assumed maybe the training was him going to take a poop or a pee middle of the night oh my god i got code but i can't see anything in this mag mansion and i get out of bed and boom toe off the goddamn table or something while i was trying to take a piss maybe that was case maybe he was

squatting on his power lift squat rack and something because he couldn't have anybody spot him yeah this guy was forced to train with nobody to help him, and he potentially broke his toe, and now we're laughing in his face. I mean, it's kind of unfair to think about. We don't know how he broke his toe. He won't tell us, so we assume it's a hilarious thing. But everybody talking about him bitching about this toe,

it's an actual story because, you know, like we ask about it as friends. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if other people didn't want it to be that big of a deal because he's missed zero time, has said he's going to miss zero time. But the fact that he could potentially still get surgery means that toe does warrant a conversation, I guess. And if he's going on Monday Night Manning in January with that toe that far in it, I mean, are you guys worried for the future as Green Bay Packer fans right now?

Well, like you said, when you watch him play, it really doesn't look like it's affecting him big time. If he was out there and he couldn't make that play like he did with Jalen Ramsey scoring rushing touches, it didn't look like it was hampering him at all. Like you said, the Packers go

as Rodgers goes. If he has a toe injury and something seriously is wrong, this could get worse and he could miss time like packers die if he does no you hate to say it but i mean we saw what jordan love did we're getting ready for our most important football offense is finally kind of starting to form into shape you need roger well so the nfc is very difficult too i mean the nfc is always going to be – I mean, the NFL is tough, but the NFC has some top-heavy teams that we don't officially know yet. I guess one team that we can say is probably dead, even though they just got a big-time win over a division rival,

Seattle Seahawks. Jamal Adams out for the season. Yeah. Done. That's a big-time acquisition that they just signed, I believe, to a longer deal not too long ago. He's a pass-rushing safety who's just a playmaker in the box has completely transformed that seattle defense from what they once were even though they don't have

a winning record they were once much much worse on the defense side of the ball carlos dunlap was also called to task to come over there jamal adams was brought in to do his thing he's out for the rest of the year it's that's probably going to affect their defense into stinking. And what happens if they lose? The Russell Wilson story continues to get loud. So now the Seattle Seahawks just beat the Niners a couple days ago. Massive win. Huge. George Kittle

displayed some athleticism that we've never seen before. But the Seattle Seahawks get this win over the Niners and maybe be able to turn it back around. The conversation about Russell's gone and Pete Carroll, what's he going to do? And how's this all? That kind of stopped for a little bit. Now Jamal Adams is one of the studs of their defense out for the rest of the season.

That is a significant blow to the Seattle Seahawks. Yeah, and they're not very good right now and they don't have their first round pick. So if Pete Carroll, you know, does want to stick around for a rebuild, which I believe he already says he doesn't want to do, they don't have first-round pick this year or next year, I don't think, because of Jamal Adams. What were you going to say, Tony? You were going to say something? Building off of the Aaron Rodgers from the Monday Night Manning,

and he said maybe potentially in January, there's only one Monday Night game in January, and that is Steelers and Browns week 17. Week 18, the Packers play the Lions, so he may be sitting out that game. Smart. So something to think about. Because it's Monday to Monday, does that kill the Sunday? You know, like, did everybody play on Sunday?

You know, if he is playing. I don't know. Because maybe it's a six-day curse, not a seven-day curse, Monday to Monday. Could be. And if he doesn't play on week 18, does the curse actually carry over to the next time he actually steps on the field? Well, and if he's not playing the next week, you'd assume they'd have a bye then for that first weekend. Right, Cardinals.

We'll see. Yeah, but he would still play, though. Week 18. So if he's not playing, you would assume, oh, maybe they're already locked into having to play the wild card weekend. Yeah. So I wonder if it would potentially. Two teams locked up.

Oh, shit. Oh, no. We're going to see the power of the Monday Night Manning curse. I mean, we got to watch the Madden curse for a long, long time. Then that got broke by a guy that we were going to talk about, Tom Brady. But the Monday Night Manning curse has not been broken yet. And I think if you're a Packer fan, there's a lot to think about. Let's make sure that pinky's okay.

That's right. All right, let's make sure that pinky toe is okay. And let's make sure this Monday Night Manning thing doesn't come at a cost of maybe losing everything because this team is starting to look really fucking good. Well, and I think part of it, you know, I mean, if you go on and get beat by the Lions on Monday night, like, you're not going to win the Super Bowl probably if you lose to the Lions. Maybe that is the thought. Maybe Peyton gives Aaron a call, says, hey, I need you for this curse.

You got the Lions the next week. The Lions is the Lions. Right. Except for when they're playing Zimmer's defense in the Vikings. Exactly. They're a much different thing. You should be able to hand the ball off every single time and we beat the Lions. So that'll be the curse breaker at the end of the season. Send us off in a good way. Boom.

That's probably what happened. Get Bakhtiari back too. Yeah, the big draft is coming back. Not this week. And then he was wondering, is that a HIPAA violation? Excuse me. Aaron Rogers comes on this show and then he was wondering, is that a HIPAA violation? Excuse me. Aaron Rogers comes on this show and talks about my injury. Is that a HIPAA violation or not? Well, I think that's doctor-patient privileges or whatever, but I

think Bakhtiari's issue would be with whatever doctor has told Aaron the updates that he gives us. That is who you are going at. I don't think... This is like the Schefter situation. Remember when Schefter put Jason Pierre Paul's hand after the firework incident out? And everybody's like,

oh, Schefter's going to get sued. Schefter's going to get sued. And he might have been implicated in that thing, but the doctor that gave it away is the one who's in real shit, right? That's right. That's what the HIPAA violation is.

It's nice to hear that there's a chance Bakhtiari, like, not this week, but pretty soon, it sounded like in his voice, although we've kind of been assuming that kind of all season.

Yeah, I've been fully expecting to have him back at some point before the playoffs start. And, you know, you look at it this week, Khalil Mack's out for the rest of the season, too. And it's not like he's always lining up on that side. But if Dave needs another week to get ready to go, give Dave another week to be ready to go. Yeah, let Boftiari get ready, especially with how that team has been playing and coming together. Let's dive into, and that's basically pretty much it. Dabo Sweeney has been in Raiders stuff. All right, Dabo.

There we go. Hey, I don't know if that Dabo Sweeney with the drip will do as well with the adults in the NFL, but he's been over there with Hunter Renfro, I believe, giving him a little bit of love. Also, the racing guy. Richard Petty. Obviously.

Hey, Petty don't play no games now. No, he doesn't. Hey, when Petty got in that car, everybody knew that those left turns were going to be turned very hard, very aggressive, very stylish. Yes. He flies. Richard Petty put that cap on. Everybody knew this was fucking no longer a game.

This is now war. That's right. That's what Richard Petty did, and we appreciate the fact he's talking to Dabo Sweeney. Dabo's probably a big fan. Dabo's like, hey, you know what, Richard Petty, whenever you got in that NASCAR dream, I used to say, hey, he fucking

runs that car quick, doesn't he? I mean, back in the moonshine days when NASCAR was created. If you do recall this, King, you know this, King, what we're talking about. NASCAR was founded because all these good old boys had these moonshine cars all souped up so they couldn't get caught by the police on these back roads. All of a sudden, everybody went to race holy shit we got nascar i always said that i always said to you richard petty i always said richard petty got the best

drip out of any of the nascar drivers damn right dabbo did that one tick talk oh and that was all tough for me to be like oh yeah all right this guy will do any song and dance to do whatever he has to do although it was very i, he did have good rhythm. And they say Dabo is an incredible athlete and everything like that. It just automatically made me think that he was not going to be an NFL coach at any point. So I feel like he loves the college game. He enjoys the college game. Now, he gave that speech about the college football playoffs earlier in the year,

and that has come full circle right back into Dabo's drip. But that is something that just because he's at a game with a shirt on and there is a lot of question marks about the future of the Raiders, maybe they are. Maybe Mark Davis, just like he was with Tom Brady at the UFC fight sitting next to him, talked to him. Maybe Mark Davis is bringing people in, trying to recruit them. Hey, look at our stadium.

Look at this house I just built. We can get you one right next to me out here. This place loves football. Maybe they are trying to recruit Dabo Swinney, or maybe he's just going out to see a foreign player. He's friends with Mike Mayock. Mike Mayock talked about Hunter Renfro coming out of Clemson when he was on the sideline with Dabo,

and now he's getting access to the field. But maybe Dabo's coming to the NFL. College coaches have not done great in the NFL. I don't know if Dabo would, but maybe Las Vegas Dabo's on the horizon. Yeah, and I think Clemson having a down year, not being in the ACC championship, and now their D coordinator taking the job at Oklahoma. So, I mean, there's a few different things that would push Dabo

maybe to make that leap. But when you see what happened with Urban and how he's kind of struggled in other college coaches who go to the NFL, wouldn't he just be like, you know what, Clemson's fun. I just need to go find another Trevor Lawrence. I'm just going to keep my dream up away from DJ Uyunga. Maybe DJ's good next year, though. Year of experience.

Maybe they're all the way back I do like the fact that Oklahoma had one down year I like the fact that there's potential thought that Dabo had one bad year he's like

I ain't doing this anymore I don't do hard times anymore we don't do hard times we don't do bad seasons anymore we only win Pitt's the ACC champion reigning. They're going to have to knock Pitt off, obviously.

Kenny Pickett's gone. Mark Whipple, offensive coordinator for the University of Pittsburgh, who basically – Going to Nebraska. He's gone. What? Nebraska. To be what?

The O.C. at Nebraska. I'm sure they paid him a fuck ton. Probably, but – He can't fucking – He can't stick it out for one more game with his Heisman candidate offensive... Like, what are we even... These college coaches, man, you know. Mark Whipple, though, isn't really like a college coach at all.

He's like old school, I think. Yeah, he's very old school. You know what I mean? Well, I guess that would make him even more so. If I can give me the bag, I'll get out of here. Hey, Alfredo Heisman, I'm not doing a bowl game. Fuck it. See you later. I'm out of here. Good luck, Kenny. He's Ben's quarterback coach, too. Where? Miami, Ohio?

Oh, yeah. So he's an NFL guy. So even more so why I would think he would coach that bowl game. That made no sense to me. But what if Dabo was to just go coach the fucking Raiders? Oh, and they would stink. Whoa! God, can you imagine?

Can you imagine? Oh, man, that'd be awesome. I hope it happens, but yikes. That's like Irvin. We don't know how he would do it. He might be good. We have no clue. But Irvin Meyer sang to Vic Fangio, I think. Vic Fangio said he talked to Irvin Meyer after the game in Irvin said,

man, it's like Alabama every week. It's like Alabama every week. Vic's like, yeah, no fucking shit. I've been on the hot seat for two years, dude. You get this big parade coming in. You get the fuck out of here. That's what the NFL coaches are thinking. Because if you listen to Chuck Pagano or any of the other NFL coaches talk about, like, you know, coming up to the adult league, it's like, hey, everybody's smart up here.

Everybody knows football. The players have probably been around football just as long as you have at this point, some of them. So you've got to really bring your A game. Would Dabo be able to do that maybe we don't know we're not hurt now that the world's opening back up so many new thrills are on the horizon okay and whether you've been in a relationship for years or just getting started we're excited to get back out there and meet new people. When the moment comes... Let's not come too quick.

Oh! Here we go. I get it. That is not what they had in their copy. Okay. They should. I think they're going in a different direction, so let's go back a sentence or two. Okay. When the moment comes, you want to be ready.

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Make sure you're ready to have confidence and control this summer. Roman Ready. Joining us now is a man who would rank the shit out of Dabo's team, if he got a chance to. The amount of pressure that is on this man's shoulders every single week to perform and deliver with his brain to rank the NFL's teams from the NFL's website and the NFL's network being tweeted out by the NFL's social media handles. One man has that job to judge all the incredible athletes around the NFL, all the incredible coaches around the NFL, all the general managers around the NFL and their scouting departments that work for the NFL. He is the man tasked by the NFL to judge the NFL for the NFL. Although there are many other rankers, there is only one ranker that represents the league that is being ranked. Ladies and gentlemen, Dan Zeus.

Sup, man? Hey, what's up? You know, I never really thought of it that way, and now that you set me up that way, there's like a crippling amount of anxiety as I head towards next week's power rankings. But I'll work through it. I'll get through it. Hey, well, we're incredibly proud.

Only one man can do it, and that's Dan Zeus. That's right. Only one man. And it is kind of interesting whenever somebody points out a high-pressure situation that you're in without you even noticing you're in it, right? That is a funny thing that has happened to me before. Like, hey, this is pretty – oh, yeah, this is, isn't it?

I should probably lock in a little bit. Yeah, I should do that. But whenever you go about ranking your teams, and we'll dive into this week's rankings that you have, is it for right now? Like if they were to play tomorrow on the street, they would win? Or is it how you think it'll end up in the end in February down there at SoFi Stadium? I would say like I don't want to give away the recipe because I don't want other people to steal it, the pretenders. But actually, it's kind of a little bit of feel, Pat. It's like it's definitely in the moment because that's what it's all about.

It's not the power standings. It's the power rankings. So I don't really factor that in. But I also do look ahead at the schedule, and I try to figure these things out and kind of put it all together in a stew. But, yeah, I try to obviously live in the moment. That's kind of where the power rankings should be. So that would be where most of it is.

But I do take a peek ahead where the team is injury-wise, the schedule upcoming, those things as well. So is it like a point system while ahead where the team is injury wise the schedule upcoming those things as well so is it like a point system while you're watching siciliano during the day like whoever shows up on the red zone the most all right so this team's playing really good this team's doing good let's add a point let's subtract a point when are the rankings officially locked in and how many times have you been like yeah well if i do this everybody's gonna fucking talk about it i'll put them down here has Has that ever happened? Well, no, I don't tend to kind of juice the power rankings for talk reasons, although that probably would be better for business.

But I do. It's something that over the course of, let's say, Sunday night, I'll sit down, you know, we record our Around the NFL podcast Sunday night, and then we record it, and then we take a little break to watch the end of Sunday night football. And then we go back into the studio and finish out that show and put it up live. And during that second half, while I'm watching the game from the office,

I'll start like formulating the initial rankings. But I only, you know, one thing I guess, like, if you're real, if you're real about the power rankings and you're not doing it with like 81 people or whatever, like you need to, you need to watch the games and I'm not a it with like 81 people or whatever like you need to you need to watch the games and i'm not a tape dog i'm not brian baldinger but like i'll have a loose rankings based on just results and what i've seen and then monday is like a long day where i watch every game yeah um let's get in the film let's get to the film let's get into the dancers cave and let's start ranking these motherfuckers exactly so then so then that that works that way so then i have a a ranking and then i watch monday night

football there's the writing process of the article for nfl.com and then finally monday night football i watch that game i figure out those two teams i look at the rankings one last time i freak out i make them maybe a couple, and then I send an email out with the final rankings to like 17 people within NFL media to begin the process of the beast of getting it out there and the whole thing. So it is a process that lasts 24 straight hours essentially. Well, we appreciate that. Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you for your time. And I just want to thank you guys and Pat specifically when Money, my Power Rankings TV show co-host was on, you know, you talked about the idea. First of all, Dan Zeus, great nickname. I've been known to give myself nicknames on the podcast and that one's like better than anything I ever came up with. You had to have been called Dan Zeus at some point in your life. Zeus is something I've gotten a lot and Dan Zeus may be here or there,

but it never, I don't know. Maybe it's just the way you say it, Pat. It's just kind of lightning bolt. And speaking of lightning bolt, so the opening credits for the Power Rankings TV show, it's been the same one for like seven years. And it's just a bunch of scientists milling around. And I don't understand that. And certainly that is not our show.

That is not my process. There are no doctors or scientists involved with the project. Hell yeah! After Money was on the show and you guys were talking about the idea of a lightning bolt and the idea of a tablet, a stone tablet with the rankings, I pitched an idea to the bosses like, what if we redo

the opening credits of the show? It's me and Money dressed as ancient Nordic warriors climbing up the side of a mountain with the skeletal remains of all the other power rankings so we get to the top and i hoist the lightning bolt and he hoists the tablet and there's this big open and then uh i was told that would be like a 10 million dollar budget they're passing a buck dude from what money told us that you deserve a little bit more cash first of all yeah and also that was a

wild moment in that conversation it was awesome it was absolutely i can't say that that was quite accurate but it was funny so we wondered in cali how you would even survive on that but the um the entire somebody can make that for you guys the internet could do that quick quick quick quick the whole it's too expensive thing is uh ah, we don't want to do it. Come on. You deserve better over there. Yeah, you deserve it. You and Mountie Smith climbing up the aggro.

Oh, my God. That would be amazing. Let's get into this week's ranking, shall we? And what are the biggest moves? And was there any moves? And how do you view the new england patriots in specific because they're like the hottest team in football if you exclude the colts i guess in this conversation yeah i mean the patriots are a team that i feel like pretty early in the season once they kind

of got out of that initial funk um i was like a little ahead i thought and saying this team is actually good keep an eye on them they. And now, like everyone else has moved on to the Patriots are great. So everybody's on that train. And I've been a little hesitant to get there, that this is a true powerhouse in the league. And to be honest with you, even after Monday's win, which is fun as it was to watch, and we all enjoyed it with the crazy weather and all that, I didn't come out of that game feeling like, okay, now I'm ready to say they're as good as the top three teams. I mean, there are three teams that I totally see and trust as Super Bowl favorites, Green Bay, Arizona, Tampa.

I have the Patriots now slotted at number four, and obviously I think they're the class of the AFC right now, but am I all the way there yet that I see them at the equal of those top three teams? Where are you at on that, Pat? Do you see the Patriots in that same level of those three other teams? The interesting thing is you have Aaron Rodgers

with one team, you have Tom fucking Brady with the other team, and then Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins, and that whole squad with how many steps, Cliff Kingsbury, they go to Chicago and make quite... Can they make you a fucking graphic at least? Can we get a graphic of your top 10? I mean, we're trying to figure this out on the fly here because it's only on the site.

We're going to make you a graphic each week. We're going to make you a graphic. We'll send it over there for you because your rankings are real. I just think whenever you talk about the Patriots, the Monday night game, you can't – I don't think we take anything out of it other than the fact we all knew Bill Belichick was going to win that game. I don't know. I hate to say it to the people.

There was many an opportunity where the Bills could have won it, even late there. But throwing into a 30-mile-an-hour win, people were saying, oh, he missed the guy. No shit. Why do you think they literally did not throw the ball on the other sideline I just think you don't you can't really calculate that game at anything but if you go back the previous weeks and then I guess you can add in the fact that Bill Belichick is still fucking Bill Belichick and he is stubborn and he is okay with doing

whatever to win hey I don't want this dude throwing the ball at all actually let's just run the thing the entire time we're going to do this. You calculate all those things together. Plus, you watch Man in the Arena, and you listen to how Tom and Willie and basically everybody was taught. Vrabes was even talking about in Brewski, how Bill Belichick

can just predict the game and everything. And now that they have a guy that can make all the plays for them in Mac Jones that they want, I just think that's a team that is tough to bet against. I think that is a team that is very tough to bet against. But the Indianapolis Colts is another squad that, after watching them dismantle the horrible Houston Texans, who Jack Easterby's still down there doing his thing.

Oh, yeah, he ain't going anywhere. Jack Easterby's still down there doing one-two step on water, you know, alongside Jesus, one fish, two fish, jackfish, bluefish, you know what I mean, doing his thing. That's an actual sermon he gave. You can find that on the internet of Jack Easterby. But they have been dominant, and that game travels into the playoffs. Is that something you think about? Like what are teams going to look like in the playoffs?

What's their style of play? Like the Bills, they can't stop the ground and pound is what everybody's thinking. And in playoff football, you have to be able to do that. Is that why they took a little bit of a drop as well? Yeah, I think it was just a bad look. And they were frustrated. You saw Micah Hyde, Jordan Poirier, they were upset with some of the questions

after Monday Night Football. You know, were you embarrassed that you knew the run was coming? They threw three passes, you still got beaten. They were like, wait a second. We give up 14 points. Like, so I don't think they necessarily have a bad defense, but I think it is telling that once that game really took shape,

they knew a run was coming. They couldn't stop. They were just losing up front. So, yeah, that's a concern, whether the Bills are physical enough. And I guess the irony is they're the team up in Western New York. You think they were the team that would be ready for this type of football. But yeah, it is the Colts, the dome team. And for me, I have them at number nine, the Colts.

And we'll see that, you know, that loss to Tampa was a tough one because I think everybody, myself included, was ready to be like, all right, this is the team right here. That is the wild card in terms of who's going to jump in and become a superpower. And they might still be. But the Bucs that took a little air out of the balloon, then they beat up on another bad team. is the wild card in terms of who's going to jump in and become a superpower. And they might still be, but the, the bucks that took a little air out of the balloon, then they beat up on another bad team. They cream, terrible teams.

They, they just destroy them. And I think what's going to be exciting for them is they got the buy, then Patriots and Cardinals. And you figure, I mean, this team feels like they're going to be able to contend against both those teams.

We ain't fucking worried about nothing. Are you kidding me? If they beat one or both those teams, they enter that legit Super Bowl favorite conversation. So I'm really excited to see them. They only have one win, obviously, against a plus 500 opponent, but you only play your schedule, and it's time now. What do you want them to do, dude?

They didn't fucking book the schedule. Yeah, I want them to beat a team above 500. Well, they tried the Bills. I mean, what do you want the Bills? If they would be a little bit better, that would be a much bigger win whenever Jonathan Taylor ran for five fucking touchdowns. I don't want to get into the full MVP conversation

because that's not your thing. But did I see you thinking like, yeah, if the Colts beat the Patriots, we're going to have to move them up to power rankings. Is that how you view every team? Is that your entire season view on things? Is the power rankings kind of driving all thought and all talk and chatter in your life? I would, well, not everything in my life, but most of it this time of year.

But yeah, we're a team. If you go and beat a team that's ahead of you, obviously, in the rankings, that means I really feel good about that other team. So yeah, that definitely plays a big role in it. And yeah, the MVP race is a lot of fun because Jonathan Taylor obviously has a big, he's a horse in that race, but Tom Brady, of course too, which is insane. The bucks at number three and Brady at 44 years old leads the league and touchdowns and yardage. So it's like,

that's as wide open as the power rankings are this year. And it's been, I wouldn't say it's a problem to try to figure out the rankings. It's a challenge. That's, that's the way to put it year, and it's been, I wouldn't say it's a problem to try to figure out the rankings. It's a challenge. That's the way to put it, to figure it out, especially outside the top five. Figuring out the six to 14 right now is literally impossible, but the MVP race is just the same. It's kind of just a weird, funky year,

and it's going to be fun to see how it all closes. The top nine MVP candidates are eight quarterbacks and Jonathan Taylor. Where's T.J. Watt? Oh, he's the defensive player of the year, but Ben Roethlisberger is pushing for him to be MVP as a whole. Now, I think if they don't make the playoffs, that's going to be a tough thing, but that team could turn around.

Where'd they land on your rankings after a big-time win? All right, so the Steelers, obviously I was down on them like everybody else. I had them all the way down to 21. Oh, shit. But I got them up to 18 now, and, you know, that puts them, you know, they're knocking on the – once you get in the top 16, you're like a fringe bubble playoff team. So, yeah, that's where I have them right now.

Do you see that? Are you not down with that? I haven't – they haven't earned my trust fully, but they're lingering on the periphery of this playoff race. Well, Dan Zeus, the interesting thing is they have Mike Tomlin. You know? And Mike Tomlin's record says that they will not have a losing record. And if you look

at all of the records that are currently had, there is going to be a 500 team that makes it into the playoffs. There's going to be somebody that's one win over 500. I guess you can't be 500 anymore in 17 games. But you get it. There's going to be a lot of... There's going to be a lot... Yeah, I guess. I guess you can't be 500 anymore, 17 games. But you get it. There's going to be a lot of – Yeah, I guess you could be 8-8-1, which the Steelers would be.

There's a chance that a 500 team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, make it in. Four losses is the top of the AFC already. That's a lot of losses this early into the season. That sounds ridiculous, but it's real. Normally, there would be at least one or two 11 you know, 11-1, 10-2 teams. There's only the Cardinals now. And in the NFC it's a little bit tighter, but the Steelers can make it. And it's, do you bet on Mike Tomlin?

Yes. Do you bet on this Ben Roethlisberger who's one for the Gipper going out, telling people he's going out? He said just yesterday, I've thrown, what, like a million times? My shoulder's actually going out. It's not the elbow, and we're seeing that. They have Najee Harris, who's top five rusher in the NFL right now. The defense is always the defense.

Why not? You know, why couldn't the Steelers go? But it just seems like sometimes they don't show up, to your point. And that's been the story of this entire season, Dan. Teams have been showing up and then not showing up at all. It's been a sporadic year. Has this been crazier than any other year you've had to do this in the past yeah i think i think when you had money on uh you had mentioned i'd been doing the power rankings for 40 years this is my third season doing it like i'm still somewhat in in the years

i've done it yes this has been much more difficult a task like the number 10 spot is funny right now because um you know, when the Vikings beat the Packers two weeks ago, like I was kind of riding for the Vikings hard as like this team, this berserker to keep an eye on that can make a lot of noise, slotted them in at number 10. They lost and then they lost to the Lions and now they're dropped way back down.

Last week, San Francisco, they had, they had gotten my trust and my interest. I said, all right, that's a top 10 team. Pop them into top 10. They go down against Seattle. So that back end of the top 10 is very interesting. And then the other spot, there's like a mystery spot in my power rankings that I just noticed it over time.

Whoever I put at number 13 is the one where I'm just like, I don't know what the fuck to do here. And I just like, I don't know if they suck. I don't know if they're good. I don't know if they have a future. I don't know if the fuck to do here. And I just saw like, I don't know if they suck. I don't know if they're good. I don't know if they have a future. I don't know if they're in the past. I'm just going to stick with 13 and see what happens. That's where this week it's the Titans.

Because I was thinking about it as I was watching Monday Night Football. I was like, who is the team? Because I grew up, Pat, a Jets fan. And it's like, so the Patriots. I don't need another Patriots dynasty in my life. Even though, of course, I try to keep things fair. Yeah, of course. But I just you know, so it's like the Titans of the team as I'm watching Monday night, if they got healthy, they make sense as a physical team that could go up against the Patriots in January and be able to punch them in the mouth and take a punch in the mouth. But they need to get healthy. And it's like if they don't, they could fall out of all the way out of the playoffs. I think the Colts

have a real good chance. I know it seems impossible still because of the tiebreaker and the standings, but I think the Titans, if they don't find a way to win some games here, they could fall all the way out of the playoffs. But if they do get healthy, if they do make the playoffs, they are a team that maybe can make some noise still. It just doesn't feel like they that way because they've been banged up for so long now. I'll be interested to see what the Tennessee Titans become because without Derrick Henry, who was 85% of their offense,

he was 85% of their offense when he got hurt or something, whether it's catching or running or decision, maybe 80%, I forget exactly the total, but it was up there. He goes out, they still go get a big win the next week with Adrian Peterson in the back, only getting like 10 yards, but a touchdown. It's like, can Vrabel, they had 80 players come through?

Yeah, it was like 81 or something like that. 81 players on their active roster. I mean, they have, what Vrabel has been able to do and win the amount of games they've been able to win down there is incredible because of the amount of turnover this season. I don't know if they have enough time to get healthy. I think the Colts are the wagon in the AFC South, but I also played for the Colts, and I'm not unbiased.

You know what I mean? Go ahead, Ty. Dan Zeus, when it comes to your Twitter mentions, which team really gives it to you on the shins the worst? Is there one fan base where you are public enemy number one? And also, is there a mandate that the Cowboys can never fall below 10 in the power rankings just to make sure that they're always relevant. The dancers, Dallas emails.

Yeah, no, I mean, with it, with the Cowboys there again, that that back end of the top 10, you know, like the Rams, for instance, I slid the you know, they beat up on the Jaguars who are terrible. And I move them up three. I'm like, oh, is that the right spot for him? But like, who should be above them? So the Cowboys, yeah, they're definitely on my radar as a team that has potential to make a run and get into that like trust tree with Green Bay, Arizona, Tampa. And I'm thinking maybe the Patriots at this point, but they're not there yet. As for like the fan bases, I don't know, like the Titans fans are pretty like surprisingly aggressive at times. And they I don't know if it's a regional thing or they don't get enough national

coverage. And since I'm the national NFL.com guy, it's like, you guys never pay attention to us, give us more respect, but I don't, I don't have anything against them, but they get pretty fired up Seahawks fans also,

but this is weird. Obviously in a weird year, they might be playing in a spoiler role. And now, especially with Jamal Adams done for the year. So you haven't heard from them as much this year because it's hard to really argue with a power rankings guy

when you lose every week like the Seahawks. So they're another team. And then the Ravens. I had the Ravens outside the top 10 a couple weeks ago, and they were on fire about it. They took it personally. It's never personal. No, strictly business. Strictly rankings here.

This is nothing personal at all, even though you just said, I grew up a Jets fan, so the Patriots, you know, I try to be fair and unbiased, which we appreciate that. I have a good journalism. I'm just being honest with you. Yeah, you grow up and I was born in 1980, so since I've been basically an adult, they've been a dominant team, and my team's been terrible.

But I understand that the Jets, you know, you just stick the Jets down there in 28 and keep moving. basically an adult they've been a dominant team and my team's been terrible but i i understand that the jets you know you just stick the jets down there in 28 and you know you know it's not like you're you come into dan's power rankings and there's the jets at number nine like hey they got a chance they're moving they could sneak through there 29 this week actually go ahead yeah dan's you're speaking to the bottom of the barrel do you have a massive discussion with yourself like where to put the lines and the jags or you just throw the lines of the bottom of the barrel, do you have a massive discussion with yourself like where to put the lines and the jags, or do you just throw the lines at the bottom

and just kind of work your way up on teams that you actually like and don't like? Good question. I think all those teams obviously are very bad, so whoever has the most brutal loss that week, typically they end up eating at a 32. And for the Lions lions they had been uh i had the texans have been bottom of the barrel for most of the season and then you know they had some games where they uh you know competed and hung around so they had moved up and the lions

now they move up with that win but for the most part it's been texans who i don't know about you guys but i get the vibe that january 10, the day after the regular season, they are going to memory hole this season. I don't even know if it's going to show up in their media guide like this, just going to disappear. And now that, of course, now Tyra Taylor is out with an injury, I just think they're going to be staying at 32. But it's not a that's not a hard conversation because the heat doesn't come from the bottom of the rankings. The heat comes from people that are looking at that top 15 typically. Yeah, the Texans understand very well. I assume

these fans at the bottom hate you if you don't give them 32. No, Dan, you're not watching the game. Our team is much worse than that team. And it's like the Lions right now looking pretty good. Third from the bottom. That's what winning does. That's what winning does.

That's what winning does. You climb up the ladder of the Dan Zeus ranking when you steal victory from the jaws of defeat whenever Mike Zimmer plays a Hail Mary-like defense. That's a 15-yard line. What is he doing? Cameron Dantzler playing 11 yards off the receiver that was wild

the other thing I like is when people are so frustrated with their team like Steelers fans I've gotten messages this year like they're not low enough on the power rankings they want to punish their teams when they get them angry and they want them as far down in the rankings as possible I guess for their pain it satiates them

to see them buried in the rankings as possible. So I guess it kind of, for their pain, it satiates them to see them buried in the rankings. That happens too. Well, and also, Yenzer's think, like, boys will see it, you get them down there a little bit low. They won't want to be that low. You know what I mean? They'll want to play better and get higher. Go ahead, Tone.

Mr. Zeus, we had an inside source within your office say that you'd been getting some razz because you hadn't been on the show yet. So now that you have, do you go dunk on them? And can you mention the names that have been doing that? Yeah, what's that all about? Fuck them, Dan Zeus. You're the guy giving out the rankings. Let's see. Probably that jerk money.

Hey, he's yoked, by the way. I know. You know why? Because he gets up every morning at five and goes surfing. He's so cool. He's so cool. You should see the guy. He comes in.

You know, you got to get in that makeup chair for the Power Ranking show. And they don't even have to touch him because he's like this golden orange from the Southern California sun. Kissed by the sun. No, I don't really need to dunk on anyone. It is great to be on the show, though. You guys do awesome work. And, you know, funny as hell. And it's very cool to be on the show.

All right. Well, Dan, you ruined it at the end. But you had a great appearance here. We can't thank you enough. Hopefully we'll get a chance to chat with you again, especially as playoff time comes nearer with these rankings being the authority on where teams stand and where they do not. We thank you, Dan.

Thank you. Hey, we got that graphic for you too. We showed money this thing. I didn't know if you look at that. See, that was the inspiration. Now we just need that budget to get to the mountaintop and then hoist that lightning bolt

at the very top as money hoists the tablet, the stone tablet. I mean, I feel like that's money right there. Yeah, well, that's money and dances. That's money and that's dances. We'll put the rankings on that's money and that's dan zeus we'll put the rankings on that graphic so we don't have to scroll through the website i mean beautiful there has to be some sort of budget over there to create a picture with your rankings on them

somewhere if not uh we will try to do it because we appreciate and respect your work sir ladies and gentlemen from the around the nfl podcast and the nfl Ranking Show. Ladies and gentlemen, Dan Zeus. Hey, Dan Zeus! Joining us now is another man that took a lot of guys in the NFL. He actually took more guys than anybody else in the history of the Green Bay Packers. And you'd ask yourself, how did it all go? God! For this guy, it's because he's a college football national champion. He's a Super Bowl champion.

He's a Ryder Cup champion. Dad of the year. Centerville, Ohio's finest. Ladies and gentlemen, Aaron James Hawk. Yeah! What's up, dude? What's up, guys? How's it going? Who was that you had?

Dan Zeus. Yeah. Dan Hanzus. Dan Hanzus tells me he's never been called Dan Zeus in the history of his life. I have to question all of his friends. I mean, immediately, right? Don't you, AJ, at that point? Yeah.

I mean, I would assume. I mean, I thought that was his real name for a while. So, yeah, it does make sense how you combine them. Like I told you, I thought you had Maz on for a second. I didn't think he was coming. No, Maz has a rankings. Jeff Saturday has a rankings. Stephen A has a rankings. ESPN has a rankings.

Bleacher Report has a ranking. Fox has a ranking. Everybody has a ranking. Mitt has rankings. Mitt has his rankings every once in a while, but not weekly. The NFL's rankings is through Danzus. And I, too, thought that was his name.

I would see it on the screen. Wait, did make this yeah yeah we created this because nobody at the nfl network will do this for the fucking guy i mean get him a graphic everybody else has 10 graphics that are put out basically dan zeus who's the authority from the nfl taking heat from nfl fans because he's representing the nfl in this ranking process and probably from some teams within the NFL fuck this guy you know he guy can't even get a grab this guy is the authority he was a great conversation too AJ did you listen to that thing I did not I just saw that he was on was I assume he was good and gave you some good info he well he told us about how his rankings go it's not a official standings it's official rankings and that was kind of interesting does that mean like most likely to win the Super Bowl is the number one team yeah i i you know he said it and it

sounded great and he had said it to people in the past who came up with power rankings well who knows not ranking like hey here's one through ten of just like the best teams but when you say power rankings it's no one's really sure what that means well that's what i was so i was trying to that was the entire conversation basically was to peel back the onion. He said it's kind of like a future where he looks at who they're playing against and how it's going to set up. The playoff picture matters a lot. Who's good right now?

He said there's been a couple teams that have poked their head up into his top ten that he kind of trusted. He said, I'm going to earn a lot of trust with these guys that they're going to go for the long haul. So I think it is for the long haul, but it's at the moment moment as well it's a fine balance that he has to do but trust is the main factor he said a lot of things have lost his trust hey if i'm a go-hopper and then they lose his trust they're out of there all of a sudden aj well this does seem to be the year that you could uh lose trust in a team i i guess i i give it more credit i didn't know that much went into it

that they look like their future schedule all of that i think that though. He said the anxiety is crippling when I told him. I don't think other people are probably putting in the time that Dan Zeus is putting in. No way. He took a shot at a pool that does 81. Yeah, he said 81 people. I don't know if they watch film. He said, I dive into the film on Mondays.

He said, you know, I set the ranking a little bit on outcomes of games and scores and stuff like that. But then on Monday, I say, all right, nobody fucking talk to me. That's right. I'm going into the film cave, and I'm watching every single game. And that's going to determine who's going where. So Dan Zeus, and then he said he puts the final rankings together, and then he has two freakouts, he says, every single time.

And then he hits send and sends it to 17 people around the NFL media, and then it's gone. And then it's out there. And then he just has to sit on his twitter waiting for the the ravens the titans and the seahawks fans to come in and absolutely bury him he said and it's it's not an easy job but not everybody's dances all right i mean that's why he gets paid the big bucks right where so he's on nfl network does he does he come out and give out his rankings on air every week yeah it's called the power ranking show it's awesome it is literally money smith

has pit they have pit vipers on and they're they're on nfl network right so on the tvs it's you got like espn you got fox sports you got mbc sports you got some other shit and then you got nfl network on our tvs out here and the way everybody else has these suits on and they're yelling even though they have access to highlights all those people they have access to highlights and they do all that then one of the tvs just turns into fucking matt money smith and dan zeus with the goddamn pit vipers on and they're going crazy and they're sitting in a very tiny studio it appears i mean it is it's electrifying it's an internet show that's on nfl network and i think that's why we appreciate it so much and after talking to money smith and after talking to dan zeus they're good dudes and and getting paid to big bucks is interesting because we did elaborate

on that a little bit as matt money smith said you know this is a guy uh roger goodell takes all the bullets for the NFL and gets paid $40 million for it. He said, Dan Hanzo kind of takes all the bullets, and he gets paid $70,000 to $85,000. Yeah, he said that on air. And I was like, we all started laughing, and he was like, too much information. So we obviously had to address that in the conversation.

He said a little bit more than that. Because $75,000, $80,000 in California, I mean, Dan, he couldn't be that electrifying. He couldn't live off 10K. He could not do that over there. So, you know, we're pumped for Dan Zeus coming on. He's a friend of the show now. He's a friend of the show, AJ.

That's awesome. Well, I remember Matt Money Smith, the tank top. He was jacked, wore the shades. Like, he was great. He surfs every morning, 5 a.m. Really? Yeah, he fucking goes out there in his little wetsuit. Yeah.

Who? Point Break. Oh, okay. Keanuetsuit. Yeah. Who? Point Break. Oh, okay. Keanu Reeves. Utah. Patrick Swayze. Give me two. No, you don't know.

Oh, like you fucking know anything about these normally. Okay. I know Point Break. Yes, I absolutely know a lot about that one. Is it a surf movie? Patrick Swayze. Keanu Reeves. Patrick Swayze.

Patrick Swayze. Definitely a surf movie. So the surf thing, because I watch so many docs about animals and stuff. Macawks. Macawk monkeys, by the way. Look into them. They're a fucking savage bunch. I don't know how they operate in the way that they do.

They still exist. The octopi one on Netflix is worth a watch for sure. But everything I've watched on sharks and shit, surfers just look like big turtles, right? Seals. Yeah, big seals or whatever it is. And isn't that what they attack? That's always been the determinant for me, and I'm not going to surf. But it looks like everybody who does it has a great time.

It looks like the surf community is an awesome one, like a fucking incredible one. I just can't find it in me to be you know shark bait actually there's a doc to a hundred foot wave and it's about like the big wave surfers and not just sharks because some of them just get absolutely pummeled by these massive rocks and rocks oh yeah hey i got a lot of respect for the way or the surf community though bro oh yeah shocker throw shockers at all of them bro ain't that right bro no come No. Come on, bro. You're Italian, and now you're going to be the surf culture? Well, first of all, I talked to a very prominent Italian this morning, and I was asked to myself, how's the guy Bagul, actually?

And I was like, the guy Bagul, pretty good. How's the Mattarella? You know what I mean? Let's talk about something that isn't Italy or Italians. AJ can't do this, I'm sure. There is big news coming out of the NFL. Jair Alexander has been, is returning to practice today.

First time since week four shoulder injury, Matt LaFleur said he will be doing individual drills. His three week window officially begins. No go yet for Bakhtiari or Zedarius Smith, but Packers corner Jair Alexander is back. That's via Bob Domofsky over there at the ESPN. Let's go. It's good news.

Obviously, adding to the arsenal that has become a much better defense than they were at the beginning of the season, adding another weapon in this playoff push late after the bye week. Got to feel good if you're a Packers fan, AJ. Oh, absolutely. People forget how elite Jair Alexander is. He's got it. Luckily, Douglas has come in.

What a great acquisition they brought him in. The guy's becoming a star already in that secondary. So, yeah, they can't wait to get Jair back, especially for a good playoff push, it seems like. It'd be perfect. Ty, pumped. Z'Darrius Smith, what? Bakhtiari, what?

What? What? Jair Alexander, Let's go. Yeah, I mean, this is a dream scenario. Our two best defensive players potentially coming back. Like AJ said, he is a true number one corner. He is unbelievable. They really have missed him.

Other guys have stepped up. You get him and Z'Darrius Smith back, now we go. Okay, so the Packers could be getting even better as we head into the home stretch here. Sunday night football against the Chicago Bears. If you do recall, the last time the Packers played, the Chicago Bears, Aaron Rohr scored touchdown, and then he told the entire city that he fucking owns you.

That's right. My entire fucking life, dude. I was in Butte County, California, and I had no idea the city existed. Still owned you then. What a moment. Jogging off, pointing. You. Hey, fuck you, actually. You. You get it.

And Chicago's doing the exact same thing and the stats prove that Aaron Rodgers is potentially the landlord of the Chicago Bears and on Sunday Night Football in Lambeau, it'll be nice to see that Aaron, after having a conversation with Justin Fields after the game, saying, hey, Justin, this is a real rivalry.

Like, hey, this is a really cool thing. Like, you should embrace this. This game has been going on a long time. We didn't know if Justin Fields would be playing. Justin Fields is in for Sunday. So Aaron Rodgers will be playing against Justin Fields on Sunday Night Football in Lambeau Field. Ian Rappaport is reporting that the Bears coach Matt Nagy told reporters just now that

rookie quarterback Justin Fields, who had ribbed injuries, has been cleared and will start Sunday versus the Packers. This rivalry is something I think Justin Fields didn't want to miss. Who knows if this is a game he would be back if it wasn't the Packers game. I'm excited for this, AJ. This is good news. Well, this is potentially setting up to be back if it wasn't the Packers game. I'm excited for this, AJ. This is good news. Well, this is potentially setting up to be like the Justin Fields coming out party for his NFL career.

Like if he could find a way to put together a hell of a performance Sunday night against the Packers, they don't even have to win. If they can keep it close and Justin Fields can kind of answer after Aaron scores, yeah, I think it's going to go a long way for him. I'm coming out, but do the Bears stink? It doesn't matter. I think it's going to go a long way for him. That's what Justin Fields could be saying on Sunday night, maybe, to the entire world. If he gets a win and they get a win, I have no idea how the Bears fans will feel about it.

I think the Bears want Justin Fields to succeed, but they want Nagy to fail. So whenever you combine that on national television, primetime against the Packers, it's probably a little bit split there. I mean, you guys want to beat the Packers, but you don't want to do too good? We want to win, but not by too much. I think no matter what, the stone is set that he's gone. Nagy's gone no matter what. End of season. They don't like to fire coaches during the season,

so they're going to wait until the end, but never know. Get them out! What if they win out? What if they win out? It's a better goodbye party. Or they get beat by five touchdowns on Sunday night and shit can Nagy right after the game. Oh, but they don't normally fire coaches.

They don't normally, but if they get really embarrassed. Never have. Justin Fields is a ball player, right? We all think. Yeah. They traded up to, honestly. No, I do. I do think he is.

But there's a lot of question marks still out there. Yeah, we do. And he's got no help around him. I mean, Dalton died out there a few times. And most of the games he played, Montgomery wasn't playing. He played good in the first time they played the Packers, the game me and Zito went to. Like, in person, he definitely looks like a guy.

And they're going to fire the coach and have a brand-new offense for him year two. He played well against the Steelers on the road, too. I mean, that's a tough place to play. They'll have to rebuild that entire thing. It's interesting. Depends who you bring in. Nagy's there right now, so, yeah, we're speaking about his job. He's not going to be there.

Hey, we apologize, Nagy. We're not the only ones. We love you, but get out. That's not love. Yeah, you're a diehard Bears fan, Z. Yeah, we love the guy, but get the fuck out. No hard feelings. Thanks for your service, man.

We appreciate you, we need you to where does naggy go does he become an offensive coordinator right hold on so this is what rapport we just talked about this take a year off take a year off take a year off and let your resume sound a lot better than it is initially right because and also what have you missed out on potentially as being a head coach as you're in your own cave take a year off go experience some things maybe around the league, talk to coaches. Doug Peterson did like an entire tour of everybody else's facilities

and what everybody's got going on. I think that's the right move personally. I mean, Gase has been gone for what, a year now, two years? Two, one. One. One year. That's going to start getting circulated again this upcoming hiring season. Not for a head coach job,

but he'll get hired as an offensive coordinator somewhere, and some fan base is going to go, what the fuck are we doing? What are we doing? And then he might be able to get back to the top. They should have him on Monday Night Mannings. Yeah, because Peyton and him. That'd be sweet, right?

And Eli could throw little jabs back and forth. It'd be good. I think that would be the perfect guess. What about Bill O'Brien? Do you think Bill O'Brien will get a, especially with how Houston is now and obviously Alabama, do you think he'll get a head coaching gig or even a couple interviews? So Bill O'Brien, he complimented Bryce Young.

He said he's the most professional young person I've ever been around or something. I wonder if Bill O'Brien wants to dive right back into the NFL head coach bullshit. You know? Yeah, I bet he does. You think so? If it's offered, he'd have a hard time turning it down. If anyone's offering him an interview for a head coaching gig, I'm guessing he's taking it.

Those coaches just love it. Fucking feed me more. He seems like the guy who would definitely get back as soon as possible. Yeah, because he's got a lot of acts to grind to. How do you think Gase is doing with this time off? I would imagine he is doing what you said Peterson was doing, trying to do some self-scout or whatever, but I bet he is dying to get back and start coaching again.

I think I know what Gase is doing, right? If that press conference is any indicator, he's probably having a pretty good time. I wish he would have taken a TV gig for a year. So we can learn about him a little bit. We know nothing about him other than, hey, your team's fucking stink, and your press conference was wild. But everybody's like, well, he's not a nice guy.

It's like, well, he loses all the time. It's hard to be a nice guy whenever you're losing all the time. I do wonder what Gase is actually like. It would be awesome. I mean, most people have a negative opinion, I guess, on how he is, but just like bizarre press conferences and everything. If he actually went on and did some stuff like on TV, I think it would be cool to see what he's really like.

It could only get better, I would imagine. Let's talk about learning about somebody and what they're really like. Have you watched any of the men in the arena? There was another episode yesterday. It was awesome. Strahan was on there. Randy Moss was on there. I had no idea that while Randy Moss was playing for the Oakland Raiders,

not his best football, he admitted it. I kind of fell apart out there or whatever. He flew on a private plane back to Minnesota during his bye week when the Patriots were playing. The Minnesota Vikings went into the hotel of the New England Patriots and said, hey, Tom, I just want to tell you, I won't play football with you, man. And they dabbed up.

They hugged. They did an entire – they did not know each other, I guess, at this time. They hugged. And then Randy left, hopped on a plane, flew back to Oakland, finished the season with the Raiders. This was week eight, I think, or whatever. Tom Brady threw like five touchdowns that night. They went on to do their thing

against the Giants, right? Or no, no, no. Before that, it was... Yeah, lost to the Broncos, I believe. Yeah, to the Broncos or the Colts. Broncos or the Colts. I forget which one it was. I think maybe the Broncos. But then the next offseason, Bill Belichick asked Tom Brady, hey, we're thinking about trading a fourth fucking rounder, by the way.

We're thinking about trading a fourth rounder for Randy Moss. And Tom Brady was like, abso-fucking-lutely, that's where that clip came from. I had no idea Randy did that. That is awesome. And Randy Moss was one of my favorite players growing up as a young who watched the NFL. I enjoyed it.

They can't jump. I enjoyed the fact that he knew he was better than everybody. He was better the fact that he knew he was better than everybody. He was better than everybody told everybody he was better than everybody. It was not scared to back it up whenever he was challenged. If he was better than everybody, he seemed like the perfect NFL wide receiver in my eyes. And I think a lot of people viewed him the same exact way. Last night, we learned a man in the arena, Tom Brady, literally told him you can run whatever fucking route you want on this play. so he literally ran this deep post drag route and that was like the first touchdown against the jets or something and then they would have three on the opening night and then it would just go on

to being great i love hearing that type of shit you know like i love randy even more and i love tom a lot more after watching this man in the arena well the fact that that worked out he takes a private jet just to go see the team when he's on his bye week, and then all of a sudden it happens and you're with the Patriots and he was dominating that year. It's a shame that it didn't get Randy the Super Bowl.

That was like, everyone thought, okay, Randy's going to get a ring now, and obviously it didn't happen, but yeah, he was, I bet Patriots fans, Connor, I'm sure he wasn't there long, but people probably still look at him as one of their favorite Patriots.

Love Randy. You still see Randy Moss jerseys when you go to Gillette and Foxborough. He was electrifying watching those highlights from last night. I mean, he was just. He was so smooth and fast and just catching balls right over the shoulder and making it look so easy. He dropped a ball or something. He dropped one.

Or Tom missed him. I forget what it was. They come back into the huddle. And Tom, the same fucking play. Ready? And then they go right back out and then they hit him on the net. I think Randy dropped one. I think this was late in the season. It might have been Super Bowl.

It was the week 17 against the Giants to go undefeated or whatever. It was a lot closer game than I remembered, by the way, them going undefeated that season. I forgot how dominant they were at the beginning and then I did not recall that the Giants had done what they had done at the end of the season to the Patriots, who were being deemed the greatest team of all time that year.

People were talking about it. Skip Bayless was in Man in the Arena last night 20 times. He was wrong every time. I mean, he might have been the guy that made Tom Brady develop this Man in the Arena mantra, honestly. Like, the Man in the Arena, right, is a big quote about those motherfuckers that aren't in there have any idea what they're doing. The naysayers, the people that talk about you,

the people that have never been in there, could never understand what you have to go through to get to this point. I don't know the exact quote, but that's kind of what it is. And Tom Brady has talked about it, I think, a couple times in his man in the arena. Oh, they're saying this, they're saying that. And then they're running clips of Skip Bay about it, I think, a couple times in his man in the arena. Oh, they're saying this. They're saying that. And then they're running clips of Skip Bayless wrong. I mean, a lot.

I was like, holy shit. This dude's been wrong a long time. I completely forgot about him in 2005, 2006, hitting homers in the hot take department. And just, he was in there through the entire thing. It was awesome. Skip goes back to 2005, 2006 when he was doing what he's doing now same exact thing when did he start like when did that become a thing where it was skip and giving his take so i don't around then i thought they i don't know it's like when that whole

genre started i guess he was on cold pizza i remember before and then basically right after that him and steven a started the studio show and there's a few other analysts who are going to take it on the shins going forward, especially after seeing that was the first time, kind of. Max, wasn't Max wrong a few times? Calvin is going to be on there, and also a friend of the show, Trent Dilfer. Oh, really? He's going to be on there a couple times. See, I thought about that while we were listening to Skip.

While I was listening to Skip last night, I was like, oh, another one. Oh, and then even in the Super Bowl, by the against the giants uh skip picked the patriots you know so he was so the entire time he was against the patriots they're dead 2006 they were dead by the way tom brady was no longer tom brady they were not dynastic i mean that conversation literally has been happening i guess since 2006 15 years later by the way he's leading the nfl in pass yards and touchdowns so i mean that is just something to think about but as they continue to play his entire thing through there i was like oh no we're gonna be in somebody's documentary oh no it's gonna happen we gotta watch it these are things we gotta think about because when you are day to day it's hard not to just live and die with every story that pops up but man listening to some of those takes from back in

the day that are now in there, awesome. It is awesome. What does it show you? It shows you that it doesn't matter if you're wrong on any of your takes. Look at where Skip is now from where he was then. I don't know. Also, the narrative that these guys don't hear this stuff.

It's like, hey, guess what? Brady remembers everything that's fucking been said about him since he was at Michigan. These, these guys don't forget this kind of shit when people go on somewhere and talk about them stinking or them being done. Like, they might not address it, but, like, they're never forgetting shit like that. That's a great, you know, chip on the shoulder builder. Oh, is that right, fucking guy? Oh, okay. Oh.

Oh. But, you know, like anything, like any take, though, if it turns out to be correct, then, yeah, you could come back and take a little victory lap if you want. But if you're wrong, they just move on and don't really talk about it. Yeah, that's the Internet, too, you know? Yeah. A lot of misses just get scrolled by. You've got to take a shot.

Like, you're going to be wrong, of course. Well, if you're a hot take taker, you know, that's why I think, I don't know. People have said I've given some hot takes, and maybe in some condescending fashions i have about some sports like soccer i mean we're gonna win that's not a hot take it's not a hot take i actually i genuinely believe it okay i want to let everybody know that but those hot take takers i gen like unless skip and it sounds like he was same exact voice same exact delivery said i mean it was unbelievable the competitive stamina of Skip Bayless, by the way.

Was Ernestine on there? I don't know who that is. It's his wife. He always tweets about Ernestine, his wife. Okay, I don't think Ernestine made it on. It was just when Skip, maybe in future episodes. I like seeing behind the scenes. I like seeing Skip in his family life.

Yeah, I like seeing him. He's got a sick collection of J's. I mean, Drip Bayless is next level. But it was the same i mean his competitive stamina to play the hits is unbelievable to me absolutely unbelievable so i i think he genuinely believes the stuff that he believes i think he his brain is naturally wired to be like okay we like as a body and as a whole just stuff that nobody else does. And that is a weapon. That is a talent. Because the amount of shit that he has to eat from people,

you know, is unbelievable. He never changes playing the same thing in that. But the hot take stuff, I think, is kind of dying down, isn't it? I think so. I think so, yeah. But I would assume that those shows are still the most watched shows on those networks. Yeah, but those networks numbers, I mean,

there's a scoreboard out here on the internet. I'm just saying it maybe, but you know that some people tweet stuff like Joe Brady to Sam Darnold to Drew Brees to Sean Payton. Like sometimes those things. What is Gumpy's hair doing? Well, Gumpy's got his, he started growing back. What do you mean?

What happened? Started growing back. He started wearing a hat every day. He decided not to wear a hat today. So you just always shave your head? Yeah. Yeah. Look at that lineup.

Yeah, it's clean. We have barber in the office, dude. Just got it done. This is like, what's his name? Grew his hair out. Nick Wright had a shaved head and now he's got long hair. It's not like that. I think it's different.

What does it like then? I think it's different than that. I think it's different than that. I think it's different than that. Yeah, yeah. A bit shocker. I mean, Nick was really, I mean, that thing came in full. His hair looks so good now. So good.

I don't even remember those days because of how good it looks. This is like Wayne Rooney. Yeah, true. Like Wayne Rooney, his looks so good. It's like, I don't even, you look at Drew Brees. Drew Brees? His hair looks so fucking good. It's like, all right, people need to relax with being scared.

Are you saying Gumpy got a hair system or something? No, that's what you said. But what I'm saying is people should not be scared to do that. Do you, whatever makes you the best you. This grew back, though. Yeah. I always wear a hat. I've worn a hat every day since I've been here.

I'm just tired of wearing one, AJ. You look awesome. I was just a little bit surprised. And that lineup is serious. He used to bick his head for a swim team up in grade 10 in Canada. With the warm and fuzzies. Minus 8 Celsius. Minus 8 Celsius this morning, boy.

It's getting cold. It's getting cold in this conversation. It's about to heat up in another. Save that beard. That's going to create some drag. Wow, that's what he's actually. The next look for Gumpy I think is going to be the best one. I can't wait. Yeah, it's got to create some drag. Well, that's what he's actually. The next look for Gumpy, I think, is going to be the best one. Oh, I can't wait.

Yeah, it's going to be a good one. He's trying to change his look so he can stay here. My bad. Continue to talk. Come on, Hawk. Love you, Gump. Come on. I love you, Gump.

Some breaking news coming out of the NFL. more specifically the New Orleans Saints football program. Alongside A.J. Hawk here, Ari Mirov of Pro Football Focus at MySportsUpdate is reporting that the Saints running back Mark Ingram has tested positive for COVID-19. He is now likely out for Sunday's game versus the Jets. Ingram is now the second Saints player to test positive this week alongside Pro Bowl defensive end Cam Jordan. So Cam Jordan, big, massive part of their defense. COVID positive, probably out against the Jets.

Mark Ingram tested positive for COVID, probably out against the Jets. Taysom Hill going to play through that mallet finger that Russell Wilson had to battle against like a Wolverine. Taysom Hill said, fuck it, I'll play. It's an interesting scenario going down in New Orleans. What a nightmare. At least they're playing the Jets, I guess is probably how everybody's looking at it. That's a Saints fan right now.

Did I miss it while you were talking? Who's the Jets quarterback this week? Zach Wilson. Zach Wilson. Yeah. Is he going to be Zach? He's back last week. All right.

I never know week to week, day to day, who's going to be in the lineup there or really anywhere else. He made some good throws last week. He made some good throws, some bad throws. You know, him getting a chance to watch some success from other people, you know, probably not that bad of a thing. He's going to take his lumps. He's going to have his opportunity, but

the Jets as a whole, what are they going to be next year versus what they are this year? I don't know. It stinks because it seems like he might just fall right into the Sam Darnold thing where it's like before he looks up and he's already had three offensive coordinators in four years. Justin Fields. Yeah.

They just stink. And I don't know. I don't think it matters how good he is as to whether or not they're going to get better. They're just not good. I have faith in Bob Sala. Don't you have faith in Bob Sala? It's not about them. Let's talk about Sean Payton, I guess, though.

Let's talk about the Saints. This team, are they mailing it in? Should they at this point? What are they doing next year? For a better draft pick, you're saying? Yeah, and they're getting a veteran quarterback in the offseason, even though they're $70 million over the salary cap. I assume Sean Payton's just like, let's just get to the fucking offseason.

Let's just get through the rest of this year and do our thing. Mark Ingram, whenever he came back alongside Alvin Kamara, was a big celebration. Now he is out due to Uncle COVID. Is it the Omicron? Oh. How do we know? Are there special Omicron tests?

I think so. That's how they have to determine who has it, who doesn't have it, right? They would have to have a certain level. I don't think over-the-counter sells specific Omicron tests. Abbott doesn't have an Omicron function? If they don't, they're working on it. I hope it's Omicron test. Abbott doesn't have an Omicron function. If they don't, they're working on it. I hope it's Omicron at this point.

Well, Omicron, it's interesting for the people that it allegedly spreads much faster, right? I mean, who knows what we do know, but if people are getting tested every single day for their job, Omicron potentially comes right to every,

like comes to like, we're potentially getting Omicron, even though we're only testing once a month around here now, because you know, everybody's got the antibodies or or the vaccination everybody's got the vaccination in here but you get it we've all kind of been through the COVID now at this point if we test once a month who knows if Omicron's already come through right Omicron's a fucking sprinter yeah yeah that's what they say Omicron's a sprinter AJ so it spreads faster than previous

strands I mean we don't know shit about fuck at this point but yeah i think i think this omicron is a quick runner actually very weak though yeah but we don't know if it is anything so what would that test positive would that make it to positive test probably for sure but you would have virtually no symptoms then probably if you're not vaccinated you have a 10 day right yeah right if you're getting tested every day and i this is you know this is going to be a wild ending to a season with a lot on the line you know like in the NBA with Canada not being able nobody yeah what if you may have a playoff game in Canada like that's a real thing that's crazy there but also in the NFL with the holidays coming up people are going to test positive and

Aaron Rodgers actually isn't the only guy that isn't vaccinated in the NFL. No. From what that is, I think. So the amount of potential positives. If you're this late into the season and you're not vaccinated and you're on a team, let's assume you're a fucking guy. Because you could be who you can afford to be. You can't get forced out if you're a guy because you're making a decision that you deem is best in your best health. So there's going to be people in teams are going to deal with a lot more from their superstar guys.

So with the holidays coming through, with the non-vaccinated guys who have to miss 10 days regardless, and Omicron is allegedly a fucking sprinter and just runs through there. I mean, I am. It could potentially really affect some teams. I mean, this could become a real thing down here late in the season. Yeah, it definitely is something I'm sure coaches are worried about. But in basketball, let's say it looks like you may have a playoff game that will be in

canada you can't just all of a sudden like okay yeah i'll get the shot and and they consider you vaccinated don't you have to be like a certain amount of days past your second shot yeah because they're talking about kairi needing he would need two but he needs three shots yeah and two weeks in between yeah not a chance You can't get it. Jump out. Oh, here we go. I'm good to go now. Joining us now is a man who just won through the COVID battle and is good on the other side, which is an absolutely majestic and amazing thing.

Happy to hear he's okay. He referenced the same doctor that our friend Aaron Rodgers did. Dr. Joe Rogan. Massive UFC coming up. UFC 269. Ladies and gentlemen, president of the UFC Dana White hey happy you're good man what's up guys how are you hey happy to hear you're okay you know there for a little bit we we are worried about you then you came out on the other side of it talk some

shit and you seem to be all the way back to normal good for you pal well I appreciate it thank you uh yeah I was you know I got i you know i told the story already i got out of the steam lost my taste and smell knew i had it so i called rogan did exactly what he did probably the most impressive thing that's happened since um since since i told the story uh you know is my sister-in-law who's 56 56 years old, smoker, lifetime smoker, diabetes, asthma, overweight. Yeah, check all the bad boxes. She's in for all of it. And, you know, we did the same.

She got tested positive on Friday, and she was really sick. Did the stuff that Rogan said to do. By Monday, they were calling me asking me if she had to keep doing it. Do I have to keep doing it because I'm 100% better? That's no bullshit. Listen, here's the thing. I make no money off this. This has nothing to do with financial, whatever.

I get nothing out of this other than the fact that if you really want to beat COVID, I'm telling you right now, do what Rogan said to do. I never felt better. I feel incredible right now. Took a nice week off, you know, doing the NAD drip, the vitamin drip. Worked out two days, two a days. And it was awesome. It was an awesome experience.

Well, we're happy happy here you're okay and i'm sure the internet and people haven't told you about you know referencing dr joe rogan who is one of the wealthiest men in the world at the moment one of the most successful men in the world who has access to people that none of us could dream of having access to did something got himself healthy he has given information to aaron rogers who also did the same thing the mvp of the nfl now the president of the ufc but i'm sure the internet will also come out and say he doesn't fucking know a goddamn thing i'm all listening to dr joe rogan which i love that you called him that by the way did you know what my response is don't do it don't sit alone in a room

for 10 fucking days and then uh when you start to die uh go to the hospital and see how that works out for you good luck hey well we're happy you're back on the other side of this thing great to see you ufc 269 this weekend gonna be a big time event at the t-mobile arena how how have you been preparing for it did you miss it whenever you were out for a week whenever you took that week off did you flirt with retirement maybe as you were enjoying that life and during the covid cave no i i did not uh yeah i'm glad to be back i'm looking for and this one's a t-mobile arena so it's sold out fans it'll be packed it'll be energetic exciting and i'm looking forward to it how's that t-mobile arena been i know once they when they built it i was excited because i knew you can have a lot of events there. I've actually never been to a fight there. I've been inside. How has that been for your partnership?

places then when we went over to T-Mobile it was a little different but I love T-Mobile now man it's a state-of-the-art facility and and you know it's bigger more people can come to the event and and we keep selling it out so it's awesome man. How do you scout the venues that you're going to head to next obviously law and jurisdiction and everything is a big part of it and who knows about the COVID but is there some arenas that you scout out because like you know that you have a massive amount of fans or do you just assume at this point, your fans will travel to wherever you have fights at? Yeah. I mean, any major city in the world. I mean, we, we, we go to major cities, smaller cities for fight nights. We, we take this thing everywhere because you know, when you watch, and I'll give you my honest, there's nothing bigger than the NFL in this country, right? It's, it's, it right? It's the biggest and the baddest sport in the country.

And my experience with it is it is awesome on television. Live? Not so much. I'm not as big of a fan going to the NFL live, but I love it on television. The UFC is awesome on television. It's even better live. So when people get the opportunity to experience the live event, we want to take this thing as many places as possible.

Okay, so this upcoming weekend, you have a massive Poirier-Oliviera fight coming up. What do you expect out of the diamond? How do you think this thing turns out? And what other fights are on the card that we should look forward to? You always put out on Instagram, this is the one I told you about. You always post that, oh, this is what I told you about. I'm like, when the fuck did he tell us about it? I feel like I missed the lead up for some of these, but I do enjoy the way you utilize social media to promote all these things.

You utilize social media to promote all these things. Yeah. So Emmett and Ige, Dan Ige and Josh Emmett are fighting. The main fight on the prelims, that fight should be an absolute war and should be a very fun one. So, I mean, Poirier and the champ, They, you know, Poirier's been waiting for this moment for a long time. Charles has been, fought everybody he could possibly fight

and finally wins the title. And this is a big fight for both of these guys. I expect that to be an absolute war too. And I don't see that going five rounds. You had a couple cards in the last month or two months, maybe. And I, I obviously we're a big time football show,

but anytime there's some fights, you can't help, but turn it on or watch it or see the highlights on it. You've had some cards that have been like really fucking stacked, right? Like, I feel like you're hitting a pretty good groove right now of fighters, understanding what maybe people want fighters buying in a little bit more to

like, Hey, I'm coming in here to get punched and to punch people. Do you have a sense of that? Or is it just, you know, good fight promotion booking coming out of this pandemic? You know,

we went through it and coming out of it. The, the, the sport is bigger, crazier than it's ever been, man. We're going to break the record this year for most pay-per-views. Hey, congrats down there.

Congrats down there. Way to go. We've sold out every event since fans could come back. Every event's been a sellout. And the list just goes on and on. Our business is off the charts right now. And, yeah, we keep stacking these cards up and putting on the absolute best fights we possibly can.

Hasbulla, is he calling the shots or what's going on? Yes, exactly. Hasbulla is running shit over here. How was that meeting? Was it awesome? It was awesome. Yeah. Yeah, he's awesome.

And I'm trying to figure out how to get him over here. I want to get him over here to an event, and maybe he could do a round of interviews with all the media too. That'd be amazing. It's amazing how many people love this guy. How could you not? I mean, I haven't met him. I've only seen him on the Internet.

But this morning I saw a full warm-up routine from Hasbulla and Leonard Furnette of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Like, this is me getting ready to go play with Tom Brady. He is beloved by everybody. Him doing interviews right next. Oh, oh, oh. That would be awesome. I can't wait to see it, Dana.

Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, Dana, is there any update on Conor McGregor? It seems like his recovery is going well and he wants to get back in the ring. Yeah, yeah, it's going good. And, you know, we're hoping to have him back training April, May, and fighting this summer. So when you see him walking in front of that TV, you know, that makes you excited, I assume?

Like, okay, this guy is itching to get back and make a deal or no? Well, I actually talked to him. So when I talked, imagine if that's what he's doing during the fights. Imagine when we talk. I mean, this guy's chomping at the bit. I was just saying the other day, he's still very passionate about fighting. You know what I mean? Yeah, he might be training like

Rocky and Rocky 3, you know, on yachts and shit, but the guy is still fired up to fight and passionate about the sport and, you know, wants to get in there and battle still do you have a deal with him is there fights left on a deal for him or is that something yeah yeah you know connor's a nightmare and the fact that if the press conference is at four o'clock and

it's airing live on espn he'll show up at 7 15 you know in that type of you know With that shit, he's a nightmare. Dealing with Conor McGregor behind the scenes and business-wise, he's a smart kid. Obviously, look at what he's done. He's easy to do business with. Last question for me before AJ's got one. Dana, I can't thank you enough for your time.

The business side is talked about a lot. And we've asked you about this. And the last time you brought it up, you actually said there's a lot of fighters that actually would like their numbers not to be promoted because where they come from, their family, they don't want everybody knowing

exactly how much money they're made. Do you find yourself dealing a lot more with the fighters directly, deals being much more friendly? Or is it when agents get... What is something potentially in the backside of the the promotion business which i know is always in the fight business has always been something how have you tried to minimize those and kind of expedite the process well you know there's so many fighters under contract here now that uh you know there's

some that i deal with personally and then the the matchmakers and our lawyer deal with others, and we deal with a lot of managers too. So it's a big mixture. But most of the fighters, and when I say most, I mean almost all of them that are making big money, don't want it out there and don't want people to know what they make. Really? They think they're going to be a target or something

if you put it out there how much they're getting? Oh, listen. You know how many family members I take care of? I got the whole fucking family on first house. I'm sure once WME came in, you got a lot more family members came in as well. 100%. Then you got the friends that you've had for a while.

You know, everybody's looking for some money, man. Yeah. Dana just sent us his plane. We're good. And let me tell you what, the narrative that we don't pay and everybody's broke, sure. They like that narrative. Go ahead, Ty. Dana, one of the last times you were on here, I asked you about the Raiders and, like, the excitement in Vegas.

And I think at the time, you know, they were, they were 4-1 or they were doing really well. Then all the Gruden shit happened. Have you noticed the atmosphere in Vegas around the Raiders changed at all as this season's continued? No, not at all. Much like the Golden Knights, it's on fire in this town. Every weekend, everybody's at the game. It's on fire in this town, man. Every weekend, everybody's at the game.

When you drive to work, everybody either has Golden Knights license plates or Raiders. This town has turned into a big sports town. What do you think about the future of the Raiders? Are you a Raiders fan now because it's kind of your town, your adopted town? You like the Patriots. You love Tom Brady. I mean, right now you're a big business man. You're doing shows in stadiums and shit. Are you torn?

How does the fanhood go in the NFL? I have a box at Raider Stadium. Oh, hey, those are expensive as fuck, by the way. Those came out very quick. That a boy, Dana. Yeah, Dana. That a boy. This guy from Boston up there.

All right. I am good friends with Mark Davis Davis and I like him very much. But I am a Patriots fan to the core. We just beat the Bills, which is fucking awesome. And now Brady's going to go in and slap the shit out of

the Bills this weekend. And life is good for me in the football world. Are you watching Man in the Arena? Am I watching what? Man in the Arena? Am I watching what? Man in the Arena. It's on ESPN. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I just watched episode one.

Oh, you're going to love it. And now, granted, you have a different relationship with Tom, and you're from that area, and you follow the Patriots a lot more. But getting to learn about him, just those elite-level motherfuckers, like you, by the way. The thing that make you guys tick as opposed to everybody else is always fascinating. That's why those documentaries do so well. When are we getting a Dana White one?

Not interested. Come on. I've heard some hilarious tales from back in the day of how you got started with some potential Irish mobsters and boxing and then moving to Las Vegas and then, you know, convincing the Fertittas, like, hey, this is a good idea, and then boom. I mean, that's worthy of a fucking doc, Dana. We need it. Let's go. They can make it when I'm dead.

All right. Can't wait for it. I can't wait for it. Hopefully we'll have a small part of it. Good luck on UFC 269 this weekend. I'm sure it'll do amazing, and thanks for spending time with us. Thanks, guys. Have a great day.

Hey, tell Dr. Joe Rogan we said hello and thanks for keeping you alive. You know what I mean, ladies and gentlemen? I will. I will. Hey, let me tell you what. If the shit goes down, make him or me your first phone call. Ladies and gentlemen, Dana White, you got it. So incredibly sorry to interrupt, but I want to let you know that learning to code might be the easiest way to change your career. That might sound crazy, but I'm being 100% serious. Coding is this word that sounds incredibly difficult, but there is a company now that is ready to teach you

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insider of the nba game ladies and gentlemen from the athletic in the stadium of the NBA game. Ladies and gentlemen, from the Athletic in the Stadium, Sean Sharadia. What up, Sean? Yo, your guy, Gumpy, that kind of has some Doc Rivers flow to it. It looks nice. I like it. I dig it. It looks smooth.

Hey, that boy, Gump. Thank you, Sean. I appreciate that. Joey Martin's a little bit gump. Sean's knows about a good lineup. Hey, that's Sean's understanding to cut his own hair. By the way, this is a more shaved face. No, I mean, you know, I'm starting to let it grow out just a little bit.

You know, a little bit. Hey, you look so professional. I mean, basketball is starting to matter. I don't know if I can get on your level. You've had a pretty thick back in the day. I don't know if I can get to that level. Yeah, I have a terrible beard, and I have to make sure i remember that whenever i'm getting lazy in the shaving department of it i gotta keep it tight but i can't go too clean because my face is not

good enough to do so so i have to have a little bit of decoration unlike aj over there who's been baby face since 85 i mean i can't do that i can't do that i tried two years ago i couldn't even recognize myself i'm like i can't i can never not have hair on my face yeah i look like that i look like a 12 year old i look like a 12 year old whenever i do it and i also look incredibly ridiculous aj over there looks like a fucking model look at that jawline i can't grow facial hair man sean's i'm jealous of your perfect facial hair it looks good you can't grow any facial hair i mean i can't just super trashy like a seventh grade hillbilly pretty much oh like mine that's like mine so i choose to go with it. He does not. We're happy to hear that you do not have a hillbilly facial hair, Sean, but you do have inside information on a league

that we don't pay close enough attention to. I watched last night Celtics-Lakers, a little bit of that game. I fell asleep during it. Lakers end up getting a win. Are they all the way back? Is LeBron all the way back? I know he beat COVID. He had 17 positives, a negative or two. He got back much sooner than you expected, I think, a week ago in what was projected. Are the Lakers all the way back or are they dead? Because Charles Barkley said they stink.

He said, I like them. I like AD. Charles Barkley said, but he said this Lakers team stinks. Is that because of what they should be, what they're going to be, or what they are now? I think it's the expectations that you have for a team like that. But LeBron James has missed half the season, right? He had the abstrain, and then he had that whole altercation with Isaiah Stewart.

He gets suspended a game. Then he has the COVID, not COVID, where it's a false positive. He has to go all the way back to L.A. from Sacramento. I already tested eight times, six, eight times, after he got back from Sacramento last week, I already tested eight times, six, eight times. And after he got back from Sacramento last week and he tested negative all of them. And so the NBA is in an interesting space now because there are guys who are fully vaccinated that have their booster shot that are still testing positive. And so I think there's been around nine or 10 positives around

the league just in the last eight to 10 ten days ever since thanksgiving the league has seen nine ten positive tests and so this is just a point where we're reaching this winter time where there's going to be positive tests people are going to start to get sick uh people around each other during holidays and lebron obviously had the back end of that so overall in this lakers conversation pat i would look at this next week to two weeks as far as how this team plays they have a pretty favorable schedule they have some home games they play memphis orlando they play teams that they're supposed to be and so if they're really this vaunted east you know western conference title contender that they've been made up to be these are the types of games that they

have to win yesterday was a good start uh but this is this next stretch is going to be i think a make or break moment for this team shams you know you can't come on here without giving us an update on zion how's his health doing his conditioning all of that are we going to see him on the court anytime soon and who photoshopped the photo yeah last time i came on here i gave an update and then two and a half hours later he had a setback so I don't know if I can give any type of declarations on his status. I think that the hope is that he's going to get ramped up again this week, but they had to bring him all the way back. They had to dial his entire rehab back last week when he had the setback with soreness.

They were trying to ramp him up. He was supposed to have his first practice last Thursday. I came on this show. I said he was going to practice, and he had soreness the previous day that just, you know, that, that clearly showed itself on Thursday. They had to dial him all the way back. So from what I'm told, the hope is that they're able to dial him all the way back into the point that he can do five on five and practice again, hopefully by the end of this week or next week. But as of right now, there just is not a timetable on Zion Woodson's return. I don't know if I can confirm this photo,

but I did speak to a few people that were at that game, and they said that he looks better and he is moving and doing a lot more than what the Internet people want to believe. See, the Internet, this is probably partially what you guys have done's fault, lot more than what the internet you know people want to believe see the internet this i mean this is probably partially what you guys have done's fault but we were very scared when we saw the doctored photo of zion we i think the entire internet was like oh no this is like a sad situation all of a sudden like this is not good because it looks like he does not care at all what the the undoctored photo though he just looks like a yoked dude yeah Now, he is working out, I assume, with the team in his rehab.

He's still doing cardio and everything, or is he completely away from the team? No, he's around. He's there. He's just doing a lot of one-on-none stuff right now. He's doing a lot of shooting around. He's doing a lot of cardio. He's doing everything to kind of put himself in the game. Okay.

Okay. This last time when he ramped up and got to doing four on fours, and he was literally on the cusp, Pat, of doing a full practice, and he has soreness in that foot. And so, again, I'm told the injury isn't considered to be long-term, but he's already missed a quarter of the season. You don't want a guy to come back and rush a guy back, especially if he might need to get back in conditioning. It's not his a secret you don't need to look at 50 photos to understand that zion's

return will not just be what he feels with that foot that foot being 100 healthy will be important but he's got to be of the basketball shape conditioning the standards that that the pelicans and that organization and the nba really at large determined. You can't just come back and not be in peak conditioning and shape. Zion. I'd just like to let you know, big fans around here. Not that you will see this big fans around here. It'll be worth it in the end,

man. Just buy in, just go for it. It's going to suck. It'll be worth it in the end. As somebody who also has massive weight fluctuation because I enjoy food at a much less explosive level than Zion or athleticism level than Zion. Just buy in, dude. It'll be worth it five years from now, 10 years from now.

We deserve to see your greatness as do you, sir. Let's move on. Ben Simmons, what is going on with him? Is he mentally healthy enough to get back on the court for the Sixers or what's going on with Ben? Yeah, I haven't heard any change as far as his mental health from everything I've been told. He's still getting his own personal treatment. He's working with the team as well. He's doing a lot of individual workouts, but Pat, my expectation remains is that he will not play another game for the Sixers and this team will eventually have to move. How is he at practice? How is he at the building every single day? How is he at the building? Is it not just incredibly awkward?

What's the NBA culture? I don't understand how this even happens. So he's there every day shooting himself, shooting on the side, and then they say, hey, Ben, we got a game tonight. Would you like to play? And he says, I don't think I'm ready for that mentally. Okay, so they go, okay, we'll wait on that.

And then he comes back the next day. And how are they talking to each other? Are they mingling with each other? Is he in a separate locker room? How is that whole thing? There's not that much dialogue, Pat. I'll be honest. Everything I've been told, it is kind of awkward.

And he's around. He goes to the team meetings. He's doing everything to make sure that he is fulfilling his team obligation. He just right now is not mentally ready to step foot on the court in Philadelphia. And, Pat, you know, it's a guy that he steps back foot in that arena, whether it's as a sixer or otherwise, he's going to get booed pretty, pretty hard. He's going to get, like, that's going to be a sight to see whenever he does make his debut in Philadelphia, whether it's as a sixer,

which, again, I just, I don't see a scenario where he plays another game with the Sixers, but that then turns the tables. Like, do they trade him? Portland has an interest in him. They've had an interest in him. Damian Lillard wants to play with Ben Simmons. I don't think that, you know, we reported the other day, it's not a secret, but you know, does Portland have what Philadelphia would want? They want star-type players. And right now, they're just not a star. You know, the Pacers, your Pacers, they are on the verge of doing a rebuild. So do you look at a guy like Domantas Sabonis or a Miles Turner and Karras Laverde, do any of those guys satisfy you?

I think those are all the questions that Daryl Morey and Philadelphia are going to have to answer the next couple months before the deadline. Ben's coming to Indiana? I think it's definitely – listen, the Pacers have had interest in Ben Simmons over the last three, four months. Now, where that stands now when you're trying to rebuild and you're trying to build – you're trying to go a little younger. You're trying to get assets.

Is Ben Simmons that type of asset that you would want? That I'm not sure about. But over the last three or four months, there has been interest from the Pacers. He fucking smacks the wood. Hey, when he's on defensive side, Indiana would love that. Oh, yeah. Oh, Indiana. High basketball IQ around here. If Ben was to come down and fuck him,

what, cuz? I can't shoot, but I'm going to lock you the fuck down. He would be beloved down here. Let's go, Ben. Come on out to Indiana. Come on. Come on. Carson Wentz came out of Philly. Come on. Come on over, dude. It'll be great. And to follow up on your point about them booing him, whenever we did SmackDown

there, I said, Michael Cole said that Ben Simmons is the best 76er in the history of the 70s. That place was so loud. That was the loudest boo I've got in every single city that we've gone to. It's tough over there. Although Joel said, he's our brother.

Let's remember that. Go ahead, AJ. Sorry about it, man. A lot happened there. Sean, do the Sixers, like, are they actively still trying to get Ben Simmons to play for them? I would imagine if they have other teams interested, they would do whatever they can to try to trade him. Right now, it doesn't look like Simmons is coming back to play for them. I think that there was definitely efforts to bring him back. And they were open to trying to get him back.

But, AJ, I just don't see, you know, I don't think that same feverish pitch that there was a month ago is still there. I think the fire's kind of been lost. We're not hearing much about Ben Simmons anymore. The team, you know, there just hasn't been much traction either way for Ben Simmons' return. It takes two to tango. Philadelphia would love to have Ben Simmons back, but Ben Simmons has shown no, as far as his mental state,

he's just not there to play. So what can Philadelphia do? I think they've exhausted everything, fines, suspensions. We've seen them withhold his money. We've seen everything. So how much more can you do? I think they've really extracted everything they can do. But as far as trading him, they have a price threshold in their mind. It's clearly a star,

an all-star type player right now. It's not a guy that they feel might be a borderline star. It's not a guy that they feel like maybe he'll help us. They can get trades right now that might help them win right now. But they know in Ben Simmons, they have a guy that's got four years left on his deal. They want to maximize him and go get another star player back, superstar player back that Ben Simmons is. I mean, everyone wants to hate on Ben Simmons, but he's a guy that's a three-time all-star, was a runner-up for defensive player of the year. It's just a difficult circumstance that they're in because he's not helping his value either by not playing. And so that's probably slowed down his trade prospects as well i mean if he was on the floor now i mean if he started the season playing for them i think it's a very realistic case you can

make that he would have already been traded so i don't want to i don't want to you know speak for pacers fans because i haven't been to a game in years and i don't follow them close enough miles turner sabonis is good. Yeah, good ball players. They're good ball players. No, they're good players. Listen, Sabonis, Miles Turner, that's why when you hear, when teams hear that Damanis Sabonis, Miles Turner, Karis LeVert,

that these guys are available potentially, I mean, this is going to have a major issue, a major player to watch for during this entire trade market before the February 10 trade deadline. All right, and I don't want to just continue to talk about non-basketball stuff because we're normally just a sports show, but it seems like in your particular sport, a lot of shit's going on around it. For instance, nobody can play in Canada that isn't vaccinated. That was news that was broke just a couple days ago, right? And you lose your pay, and you're subject to possible fine suspensions

and further discipline if unvaccinated players are not playing in Toronto. And, Pat, that's not a lot of guys. 97% of the league is vaccinated fully, but there are a pocket of about 15 to 18 players that are still not vaccinated. So this will definitely have an impact on some guys. Okay. So this seems like we're going to learn who is vaccinated, who isn't vaccinated.

Is this another push? I mean, this is Canada rules, I guess is a Canada mandate is I think it's happening in NHL. This is a, yeah, this is a Canada government mandate. I mean,

I think what the league's done is they've literally said, we are going by what the government's whether it's local federal national governments whatever they are saying is how we're gonna abide by so when you saw the new york city mandate the san francisco mandate when they said you need to have at least one shot or you need to be fully vaccinated now in new york city i think starting uh at the end of december you need to have two shots so carby Irving will not only need to have one shot, he's going to need to have two shots if and when he returns to the Nets. I think these are major, obviously major issues, but the league is literally letting the governments decide these fates.

So the government is telling them that they should suspend and fine players if they don't play in Canada? Or is the NBA potentially looking at this as another? That's an NBA possible. Like, listen, if you're missing a game, you're withholding services, which is exactly why Kyrie Irving, he's losing half of his salary. There's a part of thinking that says, hey, Kyrie Irving isn't not rendering his services. He just can't play because he's not vaccinated.

Well, the other flip side with the collective bargaining agreement, the the cba it's saying that you're able to render your services you're just not rendering your services so it's it's a technical thing but yeah i mean kyle rearing is not getting half of his pay this year because he's not rendering his services for home games but his home team is in brooklyn this one your home team is somewhere that maybe would allow you to play with mass and different mandates that they have these 15 to 18 guys have got through now canada says no we don't care about that well you need to go ahead and get your shots to get in here and the nba is like yeah you're right actually we can get these 15 to 18 motherfuckers oh yeah we can do this i mean listen it it behooved me not to say that yeah of course it's gotta help you know them try to make

their case to players to go get vaccinated there There's no question that you provide incentives. You provide, I mean, there are disciplinary actions. So get vaccinated, get your, you know, that's clearly a sign. Isn't it fascinating, Shams? I thought this with like Kyrie Irving, he is so deep entrenched in his side. Obviously the amount of money, a hundred and some million, you said the last time we were talking about. 200 million plus, given the extension.

166 million plus what this is, $200 million. I apologize for not getting that. $200 million, he's like, no, I'm not doing it. I thought in the NFL, guys who weren't vaccinated would be fed up with the bullshit of having to wake up at like 6 a.m., 6.30 and go test the day after games and like everything like that. I thought by the time the middle of the season was, guys would be like, it would be a fully vaccinated thing because they're they're like all right I'm sleeping in like the rest of my teammates get

to do I get to go to restaurants on the road I get like it's so much more that you could do if you're vaccinated on these guys have been no like the guys that are against it are like nope not doing it I would assume these 15 to 18 guys were about to learn who they are I assume they're still have you they're not changing because of the canada thing or is that maybe going to move them a little bit i mean i i think you've got to keep an eye out i mean i'm definitely going to be focused on some of these guys that aren't back say like does this change their opinion does this change their stance because like you said you're losing out on paychecks so some of these guys are going to miss out on hundreds of thousands of dollars by not being able to play in toronto so we're going to see after mid-January which guys, you know,

are willing to lose their paycheck and not play in Toronto and not play against the Raptors on the road. I mean, it's going to be very obvious. I think the hope among the teams is that these guys obviously are on the floor. You need these guys to be on the floor for you. Some of these teams, I mean, you know, Bradley Beal is one of the guys that's been vocal, you know, he was vocal in training camp. I'm not sure if he's gotten vaccinated since.

It's unclear. But he was vocal in training camp that he has not gotten the shot he's not against the vaccine he just has decided not to get the shot so if he's still not vaccinated you know they play the raptors twice on the road uh each nba season so possibly even in the playoffs if those two teams match up will bradley be able to play on the road game? Oh, no. The playoffs. It's going to be more drama. Imagine missing a road game in Toronto because you're not vaccinated. Like a play-in game. Imagine you're an elite player missing a play.

I mean, it's tough. It's a tough mandate. It's a tough circumstance. Obviously, this is the government that's put this in effect in Canada. Rules is rules, I guess. That's right. There's always going to be people that should say, at least I don't know if that should be the case,

but you can still receive the consequences from this. It's interesting. It's fascinating. Your sport is always very fascinating to all of us. Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, Sean, are the Lakers going to fire Frank Vogel? And also, why are people making up that Zion's 330 pounds when he's taking photos at an AAU tournament

and he looks pretty yoked up. Yeah, I don't buy any of those. It's not coming from me, so I'm not going with that. Journalism. As far as the Vogel situation, I haven't heard that anything is imminent, but I would

say this is a team that has a lot of expectations. They are championship or bust. I think it's obvious. And so when you're playing under those circumstances, under that pressure, under that spotlight, if things aren't going according to plan, you're either going to blame the roster or you're going to blame the coach. And this roster, they've made all their moves.

They went out and they turned over their entire roster last summer. So there's not much roster-wise that they can do right now. Maybe around the edges, the next first round pick they have available, 2027. Will they make that pick available at the trade deadline? That pick is so far out, guys. So they don't have much asset-wise. And so it becomes a question of who do you, someone eventually gets to blame. The NBA is a production business.

But listen, last night's win helped Frank Vogel. They've got to win these next couple weeks to make sure that at the end of the day, they're on the right track. Does Braun like Frank? Listen, they won a championship together. I don't think that guys are against Frank Vogel. I think the question is who's gonna bring the most out of this group and whether that's frank vogel staying the whole season it very well might be whether

it's making a change if this team is struggling but if this team takes care of business guys over the next two three weeks i think that'll shut a lot of this noise out but anytime you're 500 under 500 they're just under 500 like last week like you're under 500 you have anthony davis lebron james russell westbrook someone is getting some level of blame like at the end of the day that's where it's at it's a production business hey i'm boys gotta go play frank out there that's right hey go ahead run that motion triangle offense out there i looked pretty good last night so it's like and he looked good in in that game in indie and then you know the whole covid thing happened like he's looked good when he's on the floor the problem is he hasn't played half the season so yeah Ty go ahead Shams you mentioned

Dame Lillard I saw a lot of reports too saying that the Blazers need to blow everything up and rebuild is there a higher percentage chance that they're going to get someone like Ben Simmons or trade Dame and just be done with it I think Portland's goal right now is to rebuild and try to build a winner around Damian Lillard. From everything I've been told, they view Damian Lillard as a guy if he wants to be there, they want him there. Right now, there's been no change

on that. Damian Lillard has maintained his commitment to that organization and the organization would love for him to be there as long as possible. That's where it stands right now. I can't really speak to that other stuff i haven't reported it i haven't talked about it so you know we did a story on monday it's clear damon lillard wants this team to get better so they're going to use these next three four five months and whoever they hire is the next gm or if joe cronin who's the interim gm there now he maintains that job

they're going to have to make this team better. And I expect their focus will be on making this team better around Dave Lillard. Who just texted you? Anybody cool? No one cool, unfortunately. Last question before we let you go. Who's going to win championship, dude? Man, I wish I knew. I mean, listen, I'll give you my favorite.

Come on, Sean. I give my favorite Milwaukee. I think Miami's in it. I think Miami's in it. I think Brooklyn's in it. And I think out west, you know, Phoenix. Utah. And Golden State. But, guys, Utah's my sleeper, for real.

I really think Utah has a lot going for them right now. All right. Well, we appreciate you, Sean, so much. Yo, Pat, what's your big announcement? That's what I want to know. Nah, nah, nah, dog. Come on. Tomorrow at 11 o'clock or noon, depending upon how long I can hold Seeker for.

I'll tell you. Spill the beans. Do we leak it to Sean? Because you are an insider, huh? That's what it would be, right? Spill the beans, man. Spill the beans right now. Exclusive.

Well, this wouldn't be an exclusive. I mean, it would. It would be an exclusive for me, though, right now. All right. Well, this wouldn't be an exclusive. I mean, it would... It would be an exclusive for me, though, right now. I'll text you. Yeah, alright. Ladies and gentlemen, do we let Sean? Sean, you've done a lot for us. You break news for us like every week in the NBA world that we don't even know. We actually

after the interviews, we go to the internet and we're like, oh shit, Sean just broke some news. And we appreciate you doing that every single week. Senior Insider at the Athletic in the Stadium of the NBA. Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Schronje. Can't thank you enough for the time today on this beautiful Wednesday. We'll be back tomorrow with the first installment of the Thursday Night Football AJ Hawk Super Boost reaction conversation.

What's the boost? What's's the boost what's the game what's the plan and a massive announcement tomorrow coming and a massive thank you to all of you every single day you're the best tie please play some independent music and repel these people into a beautiful Wednesday evening and Thursday morning or whenever you're listening to this and know that I'm internally grateful. Cheers. Thank you. Outro Music Thank you. Thank you. Outro Music Thank you.