The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 591 - Tom Brady Officially Announces His Retirement, Michael Lombardi, David Bakhtiari, Adam Vinatieri, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: February 1, 2022

On today's show, Pat, AJ Hawk, and the boys chat about Tom Brady officially announcing his retirement after 22 years and chat about all the incredible moments from his career, the speculation that he might go back to New England and retire as a Patriot, and if there will ever be anyone else like him. Joining the progrum to chat about Tom Brady and all his great experiences with him is 3x Super Bowl Champion, former GM of the Cleveland Browns, Special Assistant to the Patriots, author, host of the GM Shuffle podcast, friend of the show, Michael Lombardi (12:51-33:22). Next, 5x All-Pro, 3x Pro Bowler, Left Tackle for the Green Bay Packers, David Bakhtiari joins Pat and AJ to chat about his season of recovery, what the rehab process has been like, what he thinks about the future with Aaron Rodgers, and more (1:00:12-1:18:18). Later, 4x Super Bowl Champion, 3x Pro Bowler, 3x All-Pro, the GOAT, Adam Vinatieri joins Pat and AJ to chat about his son committing to UMASS yesterday, his relationship with Tom Brady and what made him so special, and much more (1:24:03-1:45:42). 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 February 1st, 2022. Can't thank you enough for allowing us to be a part of your day here. Obviously, Tom Brady officially retired. A lot of conversation around that, especially with Michael Lombardi and Adam Vinatieri. There's other stuff going on around the NFL in which A.J. Hawk obviously stops by. The boys are on fire. And David Bakhtiari, left tackle of the Green Bay Packers, gives us a little look into the season that was for him. Disappointing and upset with his injury. Obviously, his rehab wasn't as great as he thought it was going to be. It's a cool day today, and we can't thank you enough for joining us.

If you like the show, by the end of it, please be a friend, tell a friend. If not, just act like it never happened. Here we go. It is Tom Brady has officially retired Tuesday, February 1st, 2022. What a monumental moment in sports history. We can't thank you enough for joining us here at YouTube.com forward slash the Pat McAfee show. The boys are here. The talk's stable at Ty Schmidt at Boston Connery. I cannot wait to chat with you in a little bit at Tone Diggs.

One half of the hammer died. Cowboys, a gambling show that goes live 15 minutes after this show ends every single day youtube.com forward slash hammer dad d-a-h-n i appreciate you all i can't thank you enough for watching and today is a monumental day today is a day that'll be chatted about forever in the annals of sports history the greatest champion of all time the greatest athlete of all time the greatest champion of all time, the greatest athlete of all time, the greatest winner of all time, the greatest football player of all time has officially retired. This is obviously something that the world had been anticipating over the last few days

since old Shefty in Darlington kind of cocked Tom Brady out of his own retirement is how a lot of people on the Internet are taking this. But in an eight-page screenshot note section announcement, Tom Brady thanked basically everybody in Tampa Bay. He thanked all of his teammates. He thanked all of his coaches and talked about he no longer wants to go all in on the competitive side of things. I think a big conversation about Tom Brady is he's the greatest competitor of all time because his competitive stamina has remained so high in a sport that is so grueling for so long

when he had accomplished everything you could have ever fathomed or wanted to accomplish long ago. He continued to play, reinvented himself in a new city, won a Super Bowl down there, started businesses, started opening up to people, and we all got a chance to see late in his career why the greatness from very early on in his career had happened and been able to happen for so damn long. His competitive stamina is something that will be chatted about by a lot of people, and he directly referred to in his retirement. Says he has a lot of other things he wants to go on to do, and there's still people holding out hope that this isn't a retirement, although he did say his days in the NFL are now behind him, and he said it's taken him a little bit to get to this

point. But whenever you look at all of these stats and all of the ownership of records that this dude has in the biggest league in the biggest time on the entire planet. 60 million people were watching the AFC championship the other day at its peak. Damn. 58 million people were watching the NFC championship at its peak on Sunday night. The NFL is by far in its biggest boom of all time. And the records that are held by the quarterback position and basically all facets of success in the NFL are by one Thomas Edward Patrick Brady.

Hell yeah. Pick 199. A man who has transformed both on the field and off the field. Oh yeah. Pliability must be a real, real good thing. But look at all of these records. Most pass yards ever. Most pass TDs ever.

Most completions ever. Most play most pass yards ever, most pass TDs ever, most completions ever, most playoff pass yards ever, most playoff pass TDs ever, most playoff completions ever, most wins ever, most playoff wins ever, most Super Bowl wins ever, most Super Bowl MVP ever. This guy has all of those records. Shout out to Stats Muse for bringing that one to the forefront of our twitter account this morning shout out to dirty for this incredible graphic and shout out to that man for being a joy to watch compete over the last two decades and although he was widely hated by everybody because everybody wished they had him as their quarterback and he was winning in a place

in which there are a lot of asterisks next to it and there's always going to be stories he new england he his career will probably will never be duplicated again uh and i just want to say thank you tom brady thank you tom congrats on coming to that decision i know it probably was not easy especially for a man who was addicted to competition he started three companies he referenced that in his retirement letter Congrats on coming to that decision. I know it probably was not easy, especially for a man who is addicted to competition. He started three companies. He referenced that in his retirement letter through the notes section as well. Autograph, Brady Brand, and TB12. Let's assume there's going to be more.

This guy's going to go on to make billions of dollars. Oh, yeah. He's going to be a great businessman. He's got good people around him. He has so much experience and success in everything he does. He talks about an all-in mentality. He doesn't want to do that for the nfl because he wants to address other things his family his wife who he complimented immensely for holding everything together and then let's assume the business is also going to be something this guy's going to dabble in to you know maybe

ease those competitive nerves that he might get when he gets bored in retirement so he's going to be a billionaire and there's people already alluding to things that he's trying to get into ownership in places already so we heard heard Peyton Manning's in two different investment groups that are trying to buy the Broncos. Tom Brady and Peyton are good friends. Peyton actually wrote a congratulations little quib talking about being friends and you're the best. Congratulations, pal. We've seen them working together. Tom Brady hears and sees everything Peyton's doing. He's on a hustle right now. Peyton is hustling right now. Omaha Productions, a lot of shows. He got his own whiskey. He was on Saturday Night Live. He's on Jimmy Fallon. He's out working right now. Peyton's working

for some reason. He's on two different investment groups. I think these guys are legitimately trying to get to ownership of teams, which would be fucking awesome. So I would assume Tom's going to be in that front as well as we kind of watch this entire story unfold. He said he's going to take it day by day. There's rumors circulating up in New England because he did not reference New England at all. No. And although this was a retirement letter, I think in his eyes he was saying goodbye and thank you to Tampa Bay because he had already done that to New England just two years ago. I did see your tweet at Boston, Connor.

I feel like you feel the same way, but there's a lot of pissed off assholes that they were not referencing this retirement eight-page note script thing. And now there's rumors maybe he's coming back. Maybe he's doing his thing. As a New England Patriot fan who got to celebrate a lot, a lot, because of what this man and his teammates accomplished. And that's one other thing about Tom Brady

that doesn't get talked about enough. All of his teammates say he's like the best teammate of all time. Like he invests in relationships. He tries to put other people over. He tries to make literally every opportunity for everybody that he possibly can that he played alongside, which is so much time investment alongside the film study and the body study and the

body work and everything like that he was the ultimate team guy so i think him and his team were able to provide a lot of happiness yes for massachusetts in the new england area uh not a happy day though reading those notes am i reading that accurately from the new englander folks from new england absolutely i really don't understand it just because, you know, like you just said, all those records he holds, basically most of them were,

you know, set in new England and then raised when he got to Tampa, I could give a shit. I mean, really the joy of not having to live through seeing him play for Tampa Bay far outweighs him, not referencing new England and the Patriots. And also like he just said,

thank you. You assume his number is going to get retired this year in New England. Another speech will probably come then where he's going to say thank you again. I'm sure he probably has that type of thought. My hope now, as you mentioned ownership, though, is maybe Bob Kraft says, you know what, Tom? You are the reason, a huge reason. We have this Patriot place.

We have these banners. The valuations and the billions. Way up there. Jon Bon Jovi's here. Jon Bon Jovi's always there. You know, Jonathan Kraft got to live through this as well with Bob. Because when Brady got there, I think Jonathan Kraft was only like 25 or something. He's not doing anything.

I mean, and if he is. He's an intern. Exactly. And he's probably, you know, he'll get the team passed down. But why not shell out half a percent? Why not give Tom a little bit of the cake? A little bit of half a percent, by the way. That sounds small.

That is so much money. Yeah. And now he's in the ownership. I believe Warwick Dunn was given some ownership by the Falcons owner, Arthur Blank, whenever he retired. I think. I'm not 100% sure. owner arthur blank whenever he retired i think i'm not 100 sure so i'm not sure uh if there's a precedent or not strictly because my brain is saying yes but i'm not 100 sure if it's true or not digs is looking at uh not positive i do have a little hope tom birdie maybe comes up

becomes the offensive coordinator in new england you know why that's what he's open for sure work on your bill yeah work on your bill let's get back into desk watching. Yeah. Spending 25, 30 hours in a span of 25, 30 hours in the office. Living the cold. Watching film. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's what he should do. Hey, what a run.

Congratulations. Unreal. Realistically, though, do you think some of these, if not all of these networks, are going to be like, we will give you $50 million to call a game once a week, maybe once a month. You and Shadowline, if you guys want to make any documentary series or content here for our streaming platform, here is all of our money because our ideas have run completely dry. And if we were to pitch you the ideas that we would like to make, there's no way we could get enough money to even pay you to do that so why don't you just create some stuff and we'll run it on our streaming platform that's pretty much what will probably happen do it in your basement he did with facebook already right yeah he's already done with facebook he did with espn plus already so he's got

relationships in those grounds and he's tom fucking brady yeah i assume his next avenue of media, if he wants it to be, is going to be very, very large. Seems like an incredibly well-spoken guy. And Tony Romo got a lot of credit for predicting what the New England plays were going to be when Tom was there. Yeah, 2018. Let's assume that Tom could probably accurately. Has a pretty good grasp.

Of what most people are. I assume he knows football pretty good. I mean, listening to Peyton and Eli now great at Peyton would miss on so many predictions

on what the next play was, but watching him get upset about bad decisions being made, knowing what he hasn't played in a while, knowing exactly what play was supposed

to happen against that defense. Now think about what Tom Brady would be able to do in that entire thing. We might get dueling. What if we get dueling Brady, Manning, Omaha, TB12 production, Shadow?

I mean, what if we have a dueling, who's the smartest football brain of all time type thing? Or will they work together, which is also definitely on the table? Work done is a minority owner. It wasn't said if it was given to him or he purchased it, but he is a minority owner. So this has happened in the past. So there is a precedent for this for former

players getting... George House, if you want to throw that in there. What's that? Partial owner. He actually became an owner. Well, yeah, Al Davis as well, but I'm talking about in the modern NFL. That was back whenever there were six teams. It was like Jackie Moon, right? With the Tropics. Oh, yeah. I don't want to knock it,

but I'm talking in the modern NFL era. There has been. This is the modern world. Yeah, exactly. Shout out to that guy in the parking lot in Pittsburgh at 2 a.m. with a ponytail who was asking me for my phone number and other things. I mean, you're staying in the hotel. I got to have it.

Have a good contact. Sorry, I've valeted before. I don't think anybody's ever actually needed my phone number. Well, I need it, so hand it over. I'm sorry. Welcome to the modern world. That was an actual conversation between me and a ponytailed 45-year-old man in a

parking lot at about 2.30 a.m. in Pittsburgh. That guy was a man. That guy, I don't think that guy legally could hold any other jobs. Definitely not. Joining us now is man that guy i don't think that guy legally could hold any other jobs definitely not definitely not joining us now is and keep him locked in a garage yeah don't come out during the daytime okay you stay in here he was i felt like he was a nice guy to us he felt like he had some empathy but there felt like there was maybe some demons in there anyways yeah i assume a lot of demons i'm not

giving you my phone number, too. Come on. I'm just trying to park my car here, dude. What are we even? He didn't want to do it, though. No. Anyways, joining us now is a man who knows more about Tommy Brady than any of us in this room or on this microphone. A guy who got to work alongside Tom whenever he was in New England. I believe he still keeps in contact with him.

Can't wait to hear his thoughts on the eight screenshots that were released this morning by Tom, none of which containing the New England Patriots. Come on. Ladies and gentlemen, former general manager, coaching consultant, media guy, has a podcast, has a book, has done TED Talks,

literally been there, done that with everything. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Lombardi. Yeah, Lombardi! Good to be back. Good be here thank you wow you look good thanks buddy yeah thank you you know you gotta put the fork down pat you know it's a big thing if you get grandchildren you gotta you gotta you want to live longer so you gotta put the fork down it worked well you gotta keep now i gotta keep it off well you look great look great. The grandkids are probably very thankful. They can't wait to see old Grandpa. You know, their fodder's fodder.

How's the family? Live forever. I'm excited for that as well. Let's get right into it. Tom Brady this morning announces his retirement, says his NFL days are behind him. He no longer wants to be the all-in competitive competitor that he has been for all these 20-plus years of great success,

both with the New England Patriots in the last year and a half, two years in Tampa Bay. Your thoughts on Tom Brady being the greatest competitor, greatest athlete, greatest football player, greatest champion of all time, and how long do you think he saw this coming? Do you think this was beginning of the season, middle of the season, a year ago? Just from your relationship with him, what are your thoughts on that as well? I think when he went to Tampa, he signed initially a two-year contract. And I think his continuation of playing is all in. And so he doesn't start at the middle of the mountain to climb it. He starts at the base camp.

And I don't know this for a fact, but I have a sense that he probably had a conversation with his family and said, look, I want to go two more years and I've got to give myself up for two more years. And when Brady gives himself up, it doesn't start in July when camp, it starts in February when he comes back from the family vacation in Costa Rica. And then he starts this 12 hour a day journey into getting his body to where it is now, which is somewhat remarkable considering his age. I thought his movement this year was better than it ever been in his career. So the total commitment, I think once he made that two years, I think that was always in the back of his mind.

And certainly the disappointment of the year fueled the fire, but I don't think that had anything to do with it. I think this was all about, I said, I was going to go for two, two's over. That's it. I'm done. So whenever you think about Tom Brady as the competitor, and you just talked about him going 12 hours a day immediately upon returning from Costa Rica on the family vacation, in which we have seen photos in the past from, he apologized to Jason Light, the general manager, in the middle of him thanking him, saying,

I know I was demanding at times. And then he told to Bruce Arians in his message, like, hey, I know I was demanding at times. That top level athlete, human, business person, whatever, that top level person is going to have strict accountability. They're going to have expectations. They have thoughts that they want to be heard. Has Tom always been like that? And do you think the relationship between he and Bill kind of got blown out of proportion

whenever you talk about two guys who probably have a pretty similar mindset and things? Yeah, they're both perfectionists. They strive for perfection, knowing that they can't ever get there. But they raise the level of everyone's play around them and they demand it. And then they're the example that people follow. I mean, it's one thing to yell and say, hey, we got to get going, guys. We got to play better. We got to do more. We got to work harder. But when you're watching the guy who's a goat, who's done it time and time again, work harder than everybody, stay after practice to work on his quarterback drops that

he's dropped a thousand times in his million times in his career is somewhat important. And I think ultimately, when you see this, you know, that perfection that he wants, he wants it from coaches, he wants it from players, he wants it from the trainer, the guy who tapes his ankle. That's just part of his everyday life. And Belichick wants the same thing. So it was the perfect, to me, it was the perfect relationship. I mean, this book that I'm writing now about the Hall of Fame and about, and it has a chapter called What If. What if Brady didn't get drafted by the Patriots? Would he have been as successful?

I don't think there's a doubt he would have been successful. I mean, he's a better athlete than people give him credit for. He's drafted in the 18th round by the Montreal Expos, a power-hitting left-hander, catcher. You know, he was the team captain at Michigan. I think that pitcher from the Combine heard him more than helped him. He would have gone somewhere, but I think that pitcher from the Combine heard him more than helped him. He would have gone somewhere, but I think the combination of two perfectionists chasing a dream certainly helped. You think Bill Belichick's pissed off that he didn't thank anybody in New England and there

was eight posts? Or what do you think that is all about? I think that that eight post is the second chapter of his life. I think this is, he wrote one book in New England. He thanked all those people in New England graciously. And now this is a chapter that he ends in Tampa Bay. And I think those people deserve the recognition. I think the relationship is strong. I think the Kraft relationship is strong with Brady. I think Belichick's relationship is strong. There's mutual respect.

How couldn't they be? I mean, to get all the things that Tom was complaining about to Bruce or complaining about to the players or demanding of Jason Light, all stems from his education as a player within the system of New England. You can't escape that. You know, Tom didn't show up in 1999 on the campus in Foxborough when he told Robert Kraft, this would be the greatest draft pick you ever made in your life. And that proved to be correct that that he was ever going to you know he was already a made product he evolved like all of us evolved in life and that evolution he took with him to tampa so it

was really respectful to the patriots what he was doing demanding of those people in tampa what do you think happens next for uh tom brady obviously talked about his companies the autograph.io brady brand and tb12 he's going to be successful in whatever. There's already people talking about him getting into ownership maybe. Is he going to try to follow Peyton Manning, who's currently a part of two investment groups that could potentially buy the Denver Broncos? I think it would be a crime if Brady didn't take his intellect,

his understanding of how to build culture, his demanding perfection, his chasing these competitive dreams that he shares, not back to the football field and run a team and run a team. I mean, look, you know, he may not know how to set up a video projector on the road at Texas A&M, but he can learn it. Right. And so he understands what it takes to win football games at the highest level. He understands what it takes to play well. I think he would do a disservice if some owner didn't want to include him in their team. And I think that's something that he should take seriously. Call him president, call him general, whatever you want to call him.

I think he would love to do that. And I think he understands, like very few, how to build culture. Whenever, by the way, there's been something happening over here. I mean, with the amount of incredible headspace you have and with how handsome you look, we wanted to match it. But then we realized like, oh, this could potentially become. So you look amazing. No, no, no, no, no. Because we're going to have to move.

OK. All right. I did it. There you go. No, no, no. Let's go sideways. Turn us on this sideways. go sideways turn us on this sideways let's turn us on this let's go there we go how'd that look how's that better oh wow everything

you're saying though i i really appreciate because you got a chance to spend time with tom brady i feel like a lot what was your interactions with him and is he consistent is that also a big part that never gets talked about is like just just consistently day to day, you know exactly what you're going to get from Tom Brady? Or is he a fiery guy some days relax as you read room change environments? What do you think? No, I think he's as consistent as can be. I mean, he has a routine that he sticks to. And that's what makes him so great. And he's going to come into work and he's going to prepare and then through that preparation, and he doesn't cheat it. He doesn't skip a detail. He works on it every single day. And what I admired about him was whether you were playing a bad Buffalo team

or a really good Baltimore Raven team, the preparation he did was exactly the same. And it was exactly the same for Belichick and Josh McDaniels and everybody, Billy O'Brien, anybody who was in that building. You know, they didn't take it lightly. And I think that that was something to really admire. And you watch, you know, there's a tendency that you read the paper. Hey, we're playing this team. They're not very good.

OK, maybe I won't work as hard. They actually worked harder. That was great for me to observe. I thought it was fascinating. And to me, there is a there is a certain level of athlete that combines talent with great passion Michael Jordan you know Larry Bird those guys this is what Brady is Brady is a guy who's never going to get satisfied he truly believes he he's still pissed off that he's 199th pick in the draft he when he was waiting in that draft in 99 he was actually thinking he was going to get picked in the second

or third round he left the house and cried I mean he really believed that he thought he was going to get picked there and he and he didn't blame lloyd carr for it he didn't blame the drew hansen situation i mean he led the team back in the citrus bowl he led the team back in this in the orange bowl he did things on tape that people ignored and i think he understood that and you said and fueled this fire there's no way he just turns it off you You know, we've all seen it before. I mean, there's no way. I'll be excited to see what this next step is. It's going to be awesome regardless.

I think he's got to be involved in something competitively, Pat. I think the fire that burns inside of him. I mean, look, when the Bengals left Kansas City Stadium last Sunday and they heard the greatest sound of all, the sound of silence of the visiting stadium. There's no better sound than that in the world, right? And that sound, you miss. I mean, that's one of the things, you know, as I, on the outside, look into the league

today, that sound is what I miss. You know, playing a big game on the road and the sound of silence, having those people throw snowballs at you, having them give you the finger, curse you, but you just know you won. And to me, I think that's hard to replace. As a Stafford said, you know, sometimes it's nice just to snatch the soul out of somebody, you know? And it's like, everybody's like, oh, Stafford's a savage.

It's like, that's a great way to depict what it does. That sound you just talked about right there, that whole, that uttering disbelief about what just happened and there's nothing they could do about it at that point it is a magical and then the celebration in the locker room the dancing on the grave of whoever you i mean there's just there's so many of those moments that it only take place for like two minutes a minute in the locker room that's like four minutes five minutes six minutes however long depending upon the game whatever it is chasing those is very fascinating and we've watched a lot of greats in the past not be able to find it and

they've tried their best and it feels like tom brady is just so goddamn smart there's no chance of that taking place go ahead connor yeah lombardi after the uh bucks patriots game brady actually said in his post game that uh the fans in new england and gillette will be able to see a lot more of him when it's all said and done do you think it's possible Kraft has already had that conversation with Tom about possibly coming on uh into the organization as like a president like you were just saying you know it could be I mean I don't know that for a fact I know that Robert as his son Jonathan is is the vice chair or he's in place there as well and you know these franchises are worth so much money that I don't know if you just let somebody walk in as an owner part of it, you know, because of the value of these teams. But look, I think Tom would be a tremendous asset at any organization.

I just think that fire has to go. And like Pat said, you can't put that out. It's hard to quench that. I mean, Peyton has that fire, as Pat knows. You guys know him really well but i think it more with payton he can find satisfaction in other areas uh and certainly would be a benefit to any organization as well for me brady i mean if he doesn't wake up with uh you know he's a little bit like batman he's got to come down the path bowl with a villain he's got

to find somebody he's going to go after every day it's the the Riddler. It's the Joker. Who is it? But we're going to go get him. I'm not wearing hockey pads. Hey, Batman's pretty badass, dude. Oh, yeah. Great depiction there. You think Batman's the most chip-on-the-shoulder superhero? That's what I just heard. It feels like you've given that depiction before. You've given that description before. I mean, Bruce Wayne has to have

that competitive same fiber that Brady has. I mean, you wake up in the morning. I mean, you're just going after some villain. I mean, you've got to go find it, right? I've got all the toys I need. I'm just going to go make sure I make the world a safer place. I mean, I just think Brady has an insatiable appetite to compete, and you just don't turn that fire off.

Go ahead, Ty. Michael, I know you said that Brady, when he went into Tampa, basically said you think he was more along the lines of, hey, two years and I'm done. Do you think they, like, are they caught off guard a little bit today? Because it doesn't really seem like they have a succession plan in place. Does this mean that Bruce Arians is probably done and Tampa's basically starting from scratch now? I think, you know, they had to pay close attention to it. I mean, I was watching the game against the Rams,

and when you flashed to the press box in his family, you kind of got the sense there was a celebration in that press box. It wasn't, you know, they were losing big at that time, but it almost felt like a celebration to me there. In fact, my son, who coaches at the Patriots, he thought the same thing too. He said, like, you think this could be it for Tom? And then the word started to leak out. You know, I can't believe the Bucs were caught off guard.

I mean, they drafted Kyle Trask in the fourth round. Not that they think Kyle Trask is going to be Tom Brady, but obviously they wanted somebody behind Blaine Gabbert to train and watch Brady. I think this is going to change the whole direction. They've got some cap issues they've got to work through. And then Bruce, I mean, look, does Bruce want to keep doing this at this point, or do they hang on to Todd Bowles and say, look, Todd, don't go anywhere. You'll be the next head coach here, or Brian Lefkowitz,

whichever one they want to pick. They can't let a good coach get out of there for the sake of one more season. Byron Lefkowitz. Whatever. You got it. That's one of your best things going. And I know you don't mean it, but what was the other day? The Oshovsky.

Dan Oshovsky. That's why, oh, yeah, Dan, I can't even get his name right. And my wife's Polish. I can't even get his name. You know, that's right. So, look, that's why we nicknamed everybody in the draft. So I would just have nicknames for everybody, you know, and then we would communicate that way.

I mean, I could still do that with Belichick today. We had nicknames for everybody. It's just a hell of a lot easier, you know, and it works. I'll get it eventually, but I'm deaf in one ear. So I don't hear it as well as you might think. Oh, really? How long has that been? Is that because you're getting yelled at?

For my whole entire life. Yeah, it was from Al Davis yelling at me for 10 years. No, no, no. Oh, those days. You know, it was from Al Davis yelling at me for 10 years. No, no, no. Oh, those days. You know, it's funny. I had an Al Davis memory the other day when during the conference – no, the divisional championship game. I kept looking at my phone because there were so many teams that were messing up

when to run, what to do. I mean, like this past weekend, Andy Reid's decision to throw it first and 10 from the 15. I mean, I looked at my phone. I thought Al Davis was going to call me. What are we doing? Why would he do that? You know,? It just never goes away, Pat. Hey, Sean McVay with those two challenges. He's pumped. They won and we can just move on and not even talk about it. Yeah. Yeah.

Thank God we won. All right. Let's just, man, good for Matt. How about these fans? How about these players? Yeah, let's move on here. That is. Looking at. Can you explain it? He's got this job. I mean, people on Twitter were tweeting that were at the game were saying he's not going to win it. Like, what was he looking at? That's somebody in his ear, I think. And that person has to, you know, get. Get out of his ear.

Yeah. I think so. Maybe for the Super Bowl. Go ahead, Tone. Well, not about Tom, but is there a coaching hire that you like or dislike so far in the hiring season? You know, I think. Look, I think everybody deserves a fair chance. I love Josh McDaniels. I think, I know he disappointed the Indianapolis fans.

I think he spent a long time after he got fired in Denver trying to figure out how to improve himself. And I think he did. And I think he's a brilliant, brilliant coach. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish there. Lomba, real quick. He runs an organization. Real quick, follow up on that. How come everybody out of that building

stinks as their own head coach? I wrote about it in the Daily Coach on Monday. I think a lot of it, Pat, is the fact that it's harder to train people. It's harder to retrain people than it is to train people. When Josh went to Denver when he was 33 years old, he was too young to be a head coach. And then he inherited a bunch of people. The Belichickian way is hard to get people to buy into. We had a hard time with it in Cleveland in 1991 to 92. And we got to the point in 93 where we said, okay, no more. The great Tom Peters,

this business management guru that Bill Walsh made me read about, he had coined the phrase, train, don't retrain. And we decided to do that. And that's what we did moving forward. And Bill, when he became the head coach in New England, that's why he has so many young coaches around him because they train. These guys that lead Bill, they think they can change the culture by just retraining the coaches. And that doesn't happen i think they that that's part of the biggest reason and then they obviously aren't authentic old dog new tricks i like old dog new tricks who old dog it's like an old dog new tricks type thing yeah like for example if you're a defense there was one defensive coach and i won't name his name who was a veteran coach there you know he would only watch the last three games to get ready for his preparation well Well, for Belichick, the last three games could be completely meaningless

because they don't do anything that we do defensively. So why watch those three games? Whereas this coach, I only watch the last three games. That's hard to change. Look, I think all these guys that have gotten jobs so far, Ibraflus with their general manager partnership, I think they've got to work towards really understanding how to build a team. The thing I think we're missing a little bit is how to build.

It's not about acquiring talent. It's about building a team. I concur completely. I'm excited to see if Josh McDaniels has success out there in Las Vegas with Ziegler. We were talking about this off air. You know, Mark Davis gave an incredible joke at the press conference. He said, I like to trade car. David, not Derek.

I like to think of Josh McDaniel sitting next to him. He just got out of New England with Kraft and Bill where nothing is ever said and just going, what the fuck is going on? What is going on here? How do you think that relationship goes? Obviously, you know the Davis family well. You know Josh McDaniels and Ziegler fresh out of New England. How do you think that relationship goes obviously you know the davis family well you know josh mcdaniels and ziggler fresh out of new england how do you think that entire thing goes behind the scenes i think that it's probably going to go really well and i think one of the

things mark davis said he's been observing new england for a long time first of all his father was a complete complete nut about game management situational football what to do when to do it and he trained bill parcells on it. Parcells, when he was out of work as the head coach of the Air Force, when he resigned, spent a lot of time on the telephone. He was scouting a little bit with the Raiders, but he was also talking to Al Davis. And through that communication, that became this kind of how to understand game management really well. And so Mark Davis has learned this from his father. And when he watches Josh or talks to Josh about game management, when to run, when to throw, when to get the clock going, who's the

opponent, who is it? I think he'll fall absolutely head over heels. And he would know that on first intent from the nine with 37 seconds to go, we're not going to spike this goddamn ball. Okay. So we know that going in. And so I think that's going to endear him to, to Josh and build on their relationship because that's the one thing, you know al was so so important about that really he he wanted head coaches to understand that he taught it too he really did a long time teaching it okay so uh as we wrap up this incredible conversation we thank you by the way man every time you come on we love it we absolutely love it um what do you think is one thing that's not going to be said about Tom today that should be?

Like, what do you think is not going to be said about Tom in today's congratulations? I mean, show this graphic. Dirty made this graphic from StatMuse tweet. All of this is going to get talked about from the football perspective, obviously. Most passionate, like every most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most,

for every stat that matters. You know, completions, touchdowns, playoff wins, MVPs, Super Bowl, like most, most, most, most, most, just for everything. So this is going to get talked about ad nauseum today. What do you think is one thing that won't get said enough about Tom in this entire celebration process? The fact that he's one of the most humble people you could ever possibly meet and the fact that he is truly genuine

and that when he considers, he understands how to be a friend to somebody. And just because he's a celebrity, he doesn't let that get in the way of being a friend. And I think that he doesn't see himself any different than that kid that first went to Foxborough in 1999. There's no mantles for all his trophies. He's genuine, he's authentic, and most of all,

he's the most humble human being I've ever been around. That's unbelievable. I'm excited to learn more about him as the years unfold in the retirement of the greatest of all time. Thank you for stopping by and chatting with us, ladies and gentlemen, Michael Lombardi. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. And Connor, his quarterback for 20-some years years just called it a day today yeah and uh he

has since posted on his ig story thank you to the patriots and thank you to pat's nation retweeting a quote from robert craft about his retirement it's a glorious day to see the greatest of all time say hey you know what there's a new chapter to come right yeah absolutely i know there's probably still going to be some people this son of a bitch you didn't even write us a letter you know why the hell is he only just saying thank you you know there'll be some people like that i personally really don't care i'm just glad i don't have to watch him in tampa bay anymore yeah and we had that is a great point we had a conversation about that in the hour one there and i guess I could see how that's possible. But what did I tell you whenever you went down to Tampa?

That people are only going to remember him in Tampa. Yeah. Well, and you said the different thing is obviously there was six Super Bowls in New England as opposed to what happened with Peyton where he went to Denver. He retired. You don't ever see him in a Colts jersey unless it's a throwback clip. That is the only time you see it. He is in a Broncos jersey almost all the time because that's when he broke the records that's when he became the most this that's when he did whatever it is different because of the six super

bowls but i could see how the patriots people got a little bit upset early saying oh what about oh you're saying we ain't a part of this whole thing i think tom was thinking two years ago he gave an entire thank you to new england then he just did an entire documentary series called Man in the Arena thanking New England. So he just wanted to let Tampa know, like, although you're a small piece of the puzzle here in the entire story, I do have special appreciation for these people. Absolutely.

I mean, you won the Super Bowl. I feel like no matter what, you won the Super Bowl. That team's immortalized. Well, he said he wants to be invited to the next boat parade. That's right. He said, I want to be invited back to the next boat parade. This place has been awesome. Matt Tone Diggs is here.

One half of the Hammer Cowboys. Hammer Down is a podcast, a gambling podcast that goes live 15 minutes after this show ends at youtube.com forward slash hammer. And joining us now, I can't wait to hear what this man has to say about it. The greatest football player of all time. The greatest winner of all time. What? Maybe the greatest competitor of all time.

What? The greatest 199th pick of all time. What? The greatest quarterback in New England Patriot history. What? He is, for sure. I mean, that is a stat right there. He's the greatest quarterback in NFL history, but yeah, you can say. He's certainly a stat.

He's the greatest quarterback in the history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What? Because if you're the greatest quarterback of all time, ipso facto, every place you go, you are the greatest quarterback in the history of that franchise. Shots fired at Mike Glennon, though. Geez. Big bad, Brad. Geez. Big bad Brad.

Brad Johnson. Oh, my God. What if Tom Brady becomes a trick shot artist? Like big bad Brad 14. That might drive him insane. No, I've seen him throw the ball and hit the moon once. Yeah, true. True, yeah.

He's not going to do something he can't be the best at. And Brad Johnson. Big bad Brad, yeah. Big bad Brad 14 is going to be tough to top. He'll do seven trick shots back to back toback-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. First take. So whenever people say, well, what take is that? I mean, that might have been 4,000th,

but you are watching him hit back-to-back-to-back. Little twisty duty. Oh, yeah. Little spin-a-rooney. Twist shot. Twist shot. Head butter-ooski. Oh, yeah.

I mean, he does it all. He's un-fucking-believable, Big Bad Brad. Every trick in the bag. With that being said, no offense, Big Bad Brad 14. I love watching your stuff, and I enjoyed you on the field. Tom Brady, greatest quarterback in the history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And to join us now to chat about it, ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Hawk. Hey, A.J.!

A.J., sorry about that little big bad brad 14 rant we did not mean any disrespect to he or anybody else in that conversation there but tom brady officially retiring his nfl days are behind him your thoughts when he woke up and read that this morning and uh do you think he hates schefter and darlington or no i don't know because this didn't have like the crazy rollout like we thought like didn't we think have we seen a video yet from tom or is it just this four-page instagram post and then a follow-up to uh say hey sorry new england i love you guys too yeah what happened do you think he said you know people think we're gonna do some big production what if i just put a photo out there

and just fuck it on my notes section just screenshot it and put it out like how does that happen i wonder how that is. And that's awesome. I mean, it's got, it's Tom Brady. So, I mean, it's huge. It's absolutely huge. It's the greatest football player of all time. He's retiring just in a boom, a post.

Here we go. How's it, how you doing? Keep it moving. And now in an IG story, he is thanking the Patriots and Pats Nation for the entire thing, even though he did that two years ago. I didn't expect this to be the way to go about doing things, but maybe this was the plan all along. Whenever I figure it out, I'm just going to tell people.

What are you going to do? I'm just going to post it. That's awesome. If he's that married to the social media game, I fucking love him. I'm very, very thankful because we as social media people are very, very pumped that that is how he chose to do that. Well, and that would make sense if Lombardi said he's the most humble guy he's ever met in his life. But also, I just, I can't imagine, he didn't anticipate it happening like this.

And then he said, you know, he didn't want it to outweigh the games on this weekend. And at this point, it's just like, all right, I can't, they kind of forced me to this point. I can't just not say anything for a week now or whatever I have to do. I don't think this is how he planned a lot of people on the internet are saying that he was forced into kind of doing this earlier unexpectedly but then he has to understand also that if there's any word that he's definitely like somebody's going to talk about that he's tom brady in the world that we're in and he acknowledged that on the let's go podcast you know we're in this information area where everybody wants to be first you got to be first you got to be first and he acknowledged that that is the existence we're in and people

can act like it's not wish that it isn't but that is the reality of the situation in which we live if somebody gets a piece of information they most definitely want to have it be first and they're paid for it to be first yes the accumulation i think it's a shame i think it sucks because who cares if it's first like it's gonna boom boom, boom, boom. All of them are going to have it. I understand how it works, but I know you don't. I know I don't, but their bosses do care who put it out first, I guess. Well, and that's the interesting thing because the nature of Twitter, if you're the first one out on anything, you're better off.

You have to live on Twitter to be good at Twitter because you have to be in there before anybody else. You have to hit early. If you hit late, you're dead. Everybody else has already done it. So then whenever you add that with scoop game where there's everybody else around it,

I think that's just a natural recipe for nightmare situations that happen. But when you talk about personal relationships and what happens afterwards and plans, it's just, it's a very, I'm happy. We are not scoops. I'm happy. We are not scoopers like very very i'm happy we are not scoopsers yeah i'm

happy we are not scoopers like very very happy we are not in that game that would be very difficult it's like that clip of was it last week of chefty when he's they cut from him on camera and he's like all right him i'm on there doing live hit i'll call you back soon or something like he's on his phone or sending a voice memo back to somebody yeah and how about whenever a fuck he wraps for it goes oh shit in the middle of an interview. Oh, I got to go. I'm so sorry. In the middle of Conor asking a question. No, no. He ignored me. That was a much, much different story.

Yeah, he actually went back-to-back on those days. On our show, he wasn't paying attention to our question. And the show the next day on sports radio. Yeah, Ibraflus got hired. Yeah, oh, shit, on FCC regulated. He said, no, I said, oh, shoot. I said, oh, shoot. Whatever the case, Tom Brady retiring is big news.

That's another team that needs a quarterback, maybe. That means that Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger are probably going in together. So I don't know how Ben... Oh, no, Ben. That's Tom's weekend. That's a whole thing. Hey, shout out to Ben.

Shout out to Ben. Honestly, shout out to Ben on the football field, but that's Tom Brady's weekend. We all know. Hit that thing with that Wayne train. Who's coming out last? Whose teams are playing in the Hall of Fame game? More fans who are going to be in Canton. Will it be more black and gold?

Oh, yeah. Oh, you're thinking you guys are going to kind of hijack that in time? There will be a lot of Bucs fans there. More Bucs than Patriots, you think? Yeah. I'm not sure about that, but there will 1,000% be more Steelers fans. It's going to be a party. Everyone's going to be celebrated.

Okay, so if that's Tom Brady's weekend, he played for two different teams, won them a combined seven Super Bowls. You think there's no chance that just measly old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, representing Ben Roethlisberger, there's no chance that there's going to be more fans for Tom at, representing Ben Roethlisberger. There's no chance that there's going to be more fans for Tom at that than Ben Roethlisberger? Yeah, I genuinely think that. I mean, any time.

Hey, that says a lot there. I mean, this is Steelers Nation. Yeah. Two-hour drive. Yeah, much closer. You go to any stadium during any game, there's – Tom Brady took you guys to six parades in like 12 years. Yeah.

Jesus. I mean, you guys. Is Brett Michaels inducting both of them, you think? Well, Brett Michaels. John Bon Jovi. Come on. Thank you. Jesus Christ.

Oh, who is it, Connor? John Bon Jovi, dude. John Bon Jovi. John Bon Jovi. Hopefully Bon Jovi puts Brett Michaels through a table if he's there. Thank you. So Tom will win the weekend. That would be like the putting over of Tom.

If it means Brett goes down, that's fine with me. Hey, Brett Michaels would sacrifice his body for the good of Ben Roethlisberger having a Hall of Fame weekend. I don't think that's something he would... What if it's Steelers-Bucks? What if the game is Steelers-Bucks? Are Patriots fans going to be pissed? Oh, the Hall of Fame game?

No, I hope it's not the Patriots. I mean, you've said it's the worst experience for any guy who's on the team. Yeah, but this is all that you're doing here. You're missing the point. Oh, for Brady? Yeah, you're missing the entire. I would assume they'll do Patriots just because Bill, then Bill will be there. Oh, it'll be Patriots box probably.

And so now the Steelers aren't even in the Hall of Fame game. And that's why they're in it this year. They're just going to say, hey, Ben, next year. Hey, sorry about it, Ben. What if Ben doesn't make? Oh, yeah. That's fine. They're in it this year. He's just going to say, hey, Ben, next year. Hey, sorry about it, Ben. What if Ben doesn't make? Oh, no. This is five years from now, man. What if Ben doesn't make?

No. You guys are ready to build Phillip Rivers' statue. What if Ben says no? What if Ben's like, not this year? Got to be next year. And then the next year is airing after one year. Oh, no. Who's got more Super Bowls?

We'll see, man. Season D for Ben Roethlisberger. That's true, actually. Also, Adrian Peterson and Gronk could be going. And if they're done this year, it could be just the greatest Hall of Fame class of all time. Jeez, you're right. Celebrate everybody. 100% right.

But there's one person coming out last. That's right. Yeah, sure. And that guy is very pliable. Yep. Walking right out there, Tom Brady. Congrats to everybody going in. We think it's going to be

congrats five years from now. We were just talking about hypothetical dramatic situations that could come five years from now. And by the way, we'll be talking points on every single show. Are the New England Patriots fans embarrassed or upset that they are not included in the Hall of Fame game ceremonies?

That'll be an entire thing. More on the other side of the bridge. There's going to be 50 to 100 Jordan or Brady going forward probably until the end of time, actually. AJ, let's hear your thoughts on that. What's the question? Greatest competitor of all time, brady or michael jordan great question you ask pat so i don't really i don't know any of them up close and personal i haven't

got to watch them compete i've watched them as a fan just like you probably have too both of them i'd say i have a hard time edging one of them out they both seem ultra competitive yeah i agree and i don't think there's a score that you can give on the competitive level. Yeah, but AJ's lying. He played against Brady. Yeah. Yeah, but he doesn't know him on a personal level. He doesn't see his day-to-day.

He doesn't see what he does in the morning, his routine, his go-through. What does Michael Jordan do as well? Let's see. He's probably going through a lot of stuff. I'd assume he's playing like 72 holes of golf. Right. And then he's going out and just beating the dog shit out of somebody for 82 games straight, 60 minutes at a time.

Tom definitely goes down, though, as the most beloved teammate of all time. I feel like for being as great of a quarterback as he is, you don't really hear anything bad about him from any former teammates or coaches. They speak very glowingly of Tom. And you, sorry there, I didn't know you had more there, but you're not putting somebody down to lift somebody else up when you said that, by the way. Not even close.

No, no, you were just lifting up Tom. You weren't necessarily saying that Michael Jordan wasn't the most beloved teammate of all time. That's not what you were doing. No, it didn't have anything to do with Jordan. I'm just saying, I was thinking of Tom. Because if you think of how great Tom is and for how long he has done it like I know personal stories from many guys that I played with that I'm friends with that

all have crazy like interactions with Tom when they were on the Patriots or whatever just how how he is and you hear it from everybody like what is it uh Harrison was talking about how he goes in there and Tom introduced himself to him and all that stuff. Tom does that to everybody. He reaches out if guys get cut. Like, he's a – yeah, man. I don't know if we're going to see anybody else like him come through again. I agree.

The humility Lombardi said in the last hour, Michael Lombardi said, what won't get said enough is how good of a teammate he is and how humble he was. He was incredibly humble. Although he was a star, you would have never known it. And that's interesting because all anybody used to paint him as was the prima donna diva cheating bastard from every other city in the afc looking up at new england look at this guy gets special treatment he's this he's that he's all this and then you start hearing behind the scenes stories he was like no they actually felt that they were the blue collar ones and everybody else was all the things that you're

saying they were just super quiet and locked up about it. And they just won forever. That's vastly different than I think what all of us expected. Growing up in Pittsburgh, everybody in Pittsburgh hated New England. Hate Cleveland, also hate New England. Went to West Virginia. Everybody there hated New England unless you came from Boston in which there wasn't a lot of people there. Everybody's from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio.

Everybody hated New England. I come to Indianapolis. These motherfuckers hate New England over here. Literally everywhere I have been, and I assume in a lot of places you have been, NFC's a little bit different, I guess, because they don't have to run into this thing every single year. But everybody has hated Tom Brady and the Patriots. And then now I'm learning about them, and I'm like, I feel like a lot of the people I know actually would be fans of this team.

I feel like they love the Blue Colts. When you say hate him, though, when you say hate him, because he has been so good for so long, isn't that a big – it's a jealousy slash hate type thing. Yeah, when you're at the top of the mountain, obviously everybody has a chance to take a peek at you and hate you for it. Right? And not everybody gets to see you.

Like the Yankees. Didn't people hate the Yankees when they're rolling because they spend so much money? They're big, high-profile dudes. So people go, oh, I don't like the Yankees at all because they're so good. Well, and there's a lot of asterisks, I think, with both of those teams.

Now that we're talking about that, have been thrusted in there. Whenever you are a dynasty, a winning dynasty in which there is supposed to be level playing field for everybody, how are you winning all the time and everybody else isn't? You have to be level playing field for everybody. How are you winning all the time and everybody else isn't? You have to be cheating is a natural thought by every other fan base, every other coaching staff who would definitely employ the same methods

if they would have thought of them for sure without even questioning it if they would have done it. Maybe some have. Okay, sorry about some coaches going to. I heard, I think it was McAfee say, that all coaches would have done what Bill in New England was doing. I would have never allowed that with my program. Okay, I'm sure there's some of them.

But a majority of the coaches that I have encountered would have done the exact same shit if they thought of to do that. Now, there will always be asterisks next to it, and I think that is why people naturally hated him but then as you learn about tom it's not just like his former teammates telling stories about like yo this guy is fucking the guy and then he watched a documentary it's like this dude works like 12 hours a fucking day like blue collar mindset never feels like he's uh given the respect he deserves and just hates everybody it feels like to to kind of get on his thing it's like i feel like the more and more we learn about him the more and more people would like him in this entire retirement thing there's a lot more people on tom brady's side saying hey you guys

kind of ruined this guy's moment and i don't think a lot of people would have said that years ago like two years ago three years ago i don't think that would have been said by anybody you know i think with tom in tampa bay and i know like aside from patriots fans patriots fans feel they all feel different ways about tom what he's done in tampa bay but i know people that aren't diehard patriots fans have been huge tom brady fans while he's in tampa and they don't want him to hang it up like i know from all age ranges people like man i don't want him to leave like i love watching what he is doing i think i think a lot of older people like a lot of people my parents age will tell me how they just love watching Tom.

I want to see him play until he's 50. So I think him going to the Bucs even gained him a lot more fans now. They don't have to hate the Patriots. I think so too. And that's what you said there about older folks wanting to watch him play more. I don't think that's a narrative that's been around long from even those older folks. I think that has evolved mightily.

Go ahead, Connor. Well, it felt pretty aware when Brady left New England. long from even those older folks like i think that has evolved mightily well go ahead connor well it felt pretty aware like when brady left new england a lot of people started liking him whether it's like even people didn't like him in new england like it was clear that it was more so new england they hated than brady as the individual because like when the bucks went to the super bowl you know they do those polls who in america's rooting for and everyone was rooting for the buccaneers do you think that recognition came from the people once they he left they were like i don't hate him i guess as much yeah it's kind of a weird feeling and then he goes on howard stern for like an hour and a half and tells and sounds like a human

then he does these documentaries where his teammates are kind of going through his entire career and you're learning more about the early days it's like holy hell this entire i think we've had this guy wrong all the time. Yeah, to your point, like the last pick that he threw against the Titans or whatever was one of the happiest moments of my entire sports career. And then he went to Tampa, and I was like, oh, this guy's not bad. And then this morning when he retired, I was like, oh, I respect this guy now. It was kind of nice to replace all that hate with respect in your heart.

Hey, thank you, Tom. Thank you, Tom. You've respected him before? I feel like people still always respected the hell out of it, but they hated how good they were. I don't think so. I don't think there was any respect for him. Is it because people think he's cheating?

If people really think the deflate gate thing, if they're hung up on that, that's crazy to me. What do you mean? I don't care if he deflated. If it was half filled up, I don't care. He still has to throw the ball. Yeah, and they won by 50. Yeah, and that helped us more than anything

because we ended up winning against Seattle. Then there's that gap year, and then he gets suspended in 2016, and then he's pissed from that, and then we won the Super Bowl that year. Even though all that shit happened, it ended up helping. Rod gave another ring. Yeah, in Spygate. Spygate was in 2006. Because of that, in 2007, they talked about this in Man in the Arena.

Tom Brady said the whole team was like, oh, you guys don't – you thought that was because of Spygate? And so they went 18-0 and lost in the Super Bowl. Yeah, they found little ways. None of these people think we're working hard. They're just saying we're cheating. Yeah. So fuck everybody.

And then they just go undefeated. They were blowing the fucking doors off a team. Oh, yeah. Being that teammate, by the way, though, and I don't want to say lifting everybody, but when he became a free agent, I assumed every team wanted him. I honestly assumed that. I was very loud speaking into this microphone.

So now there's, what, 28 teams that are going to be calling Tom Brady, going into that whole thing. Who's going to be calling Tom Brady going into that whole thing I who's going to be on the move what team is going to have a brand new look next year with Tom Brady and then we we get into his free agency and then there's like hasn't been as much action and Tom Brady's free agency or whatever I'm like who's fucking running these teams this guy and I guess it was only a two-year plan but as soon as he gets in your building, everybody gets better. Everybody becomes the same type of mindset person with, hey, I don't want to be the reason why we lose.

We got a guy who can definitely win. So that goes through equipment managers. That goes through trainers. That goes through every player in the building, every coach in the building. Heightened expectations immediately happen when somebody like Tom walks in. And from the sounds of it, he's like very hands-on. He'll be alongside you, like trying to even help that entire thing. I assumed everybody would want him.

That was not the case. But it worked out for Tampa, I think. I think it worked out for Tampa. Where does Tampa go from here? That's my question. What do they look like next year? Back to the dump. Are they dead in the water?

No starters signed. Free agents everywhere. Not a lot of time. They're over the salary cap. Their coach is going to retire. Because they got to start over. Feels like they're dead. It does.

Hey. Went home. Hey, that wasn't. I think they're folding down there right now, I do believe, if I had to guess. That entire division, wide open. Wide open. Why? Saints 71 million over the salary cap. Tampa has zero of their starters back. Last year they were, now some on defense aside, last year was a big thing that they had all 22 starters back,

and then A.B. chimed in. Signed A.B. They signed A.B. Everything obviously went down the way it went down there. Now it's just they got no quarterback. Everybody else is either an unrestricted free agent or restricted free agent. Tom Brady, I mean, that is a wild scene down there. Byron Lefkowitz, I guess, is not going to Jacksonville. After he was going to Jacksonville,

Todd Bowles has not gotten a head coaching job anywhere else, and he re-signed a deal to potentially be next. So maybe there won't be as much turnover from the coaching staff as we expected, but that whole team is going to look much, much different than Carolina. Yes. Sam Darnold's division to lose. Well, and then Atlanta, Matt Ryan's still getting paid another $33 million. Oh, yeah.

Tepper's going to shell out a lot. Panther's going to trade everything for Deshaun Watson. Everything. I don't know how they're going to do that. What about Russell? I don't know how. There's a lot. I mean, maybe Russell.

Okay, well, that's a whole different conversation. That's a whole different conversation. The Deshaun Watson stuff, I don't know how that happens. I mean, maybe if all gets settled and figured out and there's more. Is something coming in February? Doesn't he have like a deposition in February or something? We're in February. There was a deposition last week.

Yeah, I think the. But he, I thought he is speaking with somebody. Man, I have no idea. Taking the stand. I don't know. Maybe. Anyways, maybe though. Maybe bring him back to Carolina.

That's how it's going. And then maybe it is Russell Wilson. If Russell Wilson gets there, that means Russell and Sierra would have to agree to that, right? Yeah. That would have to be something they concur to. Team three would have to all come together. Well, I wonder if that's like a council voting. Do they vote it, write it down, and then the tribe has spoken type thing?

Or is it a yay, nay? Is there an aye? How many votes does Russ get? Does he count as like six votes? Probably three. Three. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who's going to want to play

for Rule and Ben McAdoofus, though. What'd you call the coach? McAdoofus. What's his name? Ben McAdoofus. McAdoofus? He set up to come join us the first day of Radio Row.

We're going to see all these people. We're going to see all these people. Yes. I got a text from somebody that wasn't necessarily thrilled about our coverage or their coverage just moments ago. Well, they're a clan, so. Who could that have been? I don't know.

It was our coverage the other day. Yeah. Just run through the clubs from today and yesterday and last week. What are we supposed to do? You know. Got to cover it. Got to do it. Who am I?

Who did you go after? Do better. Nobody, actually. I don't think I ever go after anybody, to be honest with you. Stone but fair. Stone but fair. I honestly compliment Boomer Sison. Yeah.

I don't think any of us really go after anybody. Did Boomer text you? You guys go after people. Boomer did not text me. We will probably meet at Radio Yeah, right down. I don't think any of us really go after anybody. Did Bumer text you? You guys go after people. Bumer did not text me. We will probably meet at Radio Row, I assume. He did not text me. Bumer did not text me. Bumer is a guy who played the game.

You know, he's not a... Yeah, gotcha. Hey, you two? I am hoping for you guys to meet your comeuppance. I know some people. It's going to be a long line of people just smacking you. Maybe you guys just sit there and put your faces like this, and people just walk up, and you guys have those.

You hold on to that thing, and you guys have those slap things. I think you guys should be able to slap back. I don't think you guys should just get slapped, but I do believe there should be one of those moments. You know what I mean? I'm genuinely trying to think of who. I was going to say, Stern Buffer, I think, is a pretty accurate

way. Just those two? No, no, no. Ursa should probably punch me in the teeth, but aside from that, I don't know. A cult organization. Alright, well, let's get to a break. Before we get too far into this, Carl wants, I don't think he's going to be a radio row.

Plus, he knows. He's not allowed on radio. We need to get AB. into this, Carl wants, I don't think he's going to be at Radio Row. Plus, he knows. He's not allowed on Radio Row. We need to get AB. Hold on, I think somebody reached out about having maybe AB on the show. Book it. Let's do it. Moment of silence for myself. Thank you.

Thank you. One of the greatest football players. Greatest of all time. Yeah. Well, and speaking of those Hall of Fames, he'll definitely be at Big Ben and Tom Brady's. And what are the what are the chances like

I would assume you look at his records and we have not done that. Antonio Brown has quite a case to go to the Hall of Fame as well. They were showing

his quite a case. Yeah. From like 2014 or 13 to 18. He had like 150 more catches than everybody. So, Hall of Fame class of 2027

will be Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Tom Brady, Gronkowski, Adrian Peterson. Wow. Andrew Whitworth, maybe, if he retires after the Super Bowl. Holy hell.

What a lineup. Hey, I'm ready for those speeches. Oh, yeah. I'm ready for the speeches. Maybe A.Q. Shipley. Maybe. He'll get in on that. Yeah. As a coach and player.

A.J., is that the year you're going to go in? Yep. Me and A.Q. are going in together. Big 10, Hall of Famers. So sorry to interrupt, but I want to let you know that if you're not gambling with FanDuel, you're wrong. Okay? FanDuel Sportsbook is available in seven states, I believe, at this point. Six, seven, eight.

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Let's get back to the show. Joining us now is an all-pro left tackle from the Green Bay Packers. Didn't see him this year because of an injury that was with Stan last year. How's he doing? What's the future look like? How is the Aaron Rodgers situation affecting you? Ladies and gentlemen, David Bocciaro. Yeah! Hey, man.

How you doing, guys? Hey, great to see you. I want to let you know, when AJ texted me and said, Samuel Takatari can join us today i really got pumped i got excited thank you for joining us today man where are you are you still in green bay there no i left green bay i'm actually uh back in southern california i'm currently at a practice sports performance this is a little mural there's there's our little guy for a Rodgers Tuesday up there. Aw. Aaron. Yeah, yeah. So, we're out here just doing some rehab. Is this where we see the workouts of you and Aaron and them with balls and everything? This is the place you guys all do your work at?

Yeah. Yeah, those are like the kind of senior citizen kind of little workouts we got going that we – that's our little secret off-season that we do. Okay. Well, let's talk about, you know, last season and the offseason. Your injury, was it rehabilitation that happened? Was there a slip-up? Was there much more injury than was being reported?

What do you think happened? And how pissed off were you all year not being able to play? I assume that was a very difficult thing to deal with. Yeah, no, I don't know the way to mince it. it i mean i'd like to make a joke about it because that's usually how my defense mechanism it sucked i wasn't a fan at all um sitting sitting back not being able to do much i mean i'm not gonna i can't blame anyone there's no one to blame i mean it's it's the car it was the hand that i was dealt and i just got to just get through it hey i saw something where you said you got this knee drained 15 times during this season.

Is that right? All in one season or over the course of your lifetime? No, yeah. No, I was, I was just talking about just trying to get back out. I mean, my knee, my knee got down to, I don't know how, I mean, I could say these numbers. People have no idea really what we're talking about, but I think, you know, people that in the field. Don't talk COVID. Don't talk COVID. You're talking CC talk what we're talking about, but I think, you know, people that in the field. Don't talk COVID.

Don't talk COVID. You're talking CC talk. You're talking CCs here, not COVID. Yeah, yeah. No, we're talking, yeah, cubic centimeters. Yeah, so, I mean, I was pretty much all year, especially like, you know, post scope. I probably didn't get below 60 CCs at fluid.

I was in between 60 to, I mean, the most we drained was 96 what should it be at it should be at zero i mean i think your knee naturally holds between i don't know 10 to 15 of uh just synovial fluid just to keep it kind of lubricated and post-op big guys i would have totally been fine playing with anywhere from 25 to 30 35 um but i was sitting at about 60 was probably usually the lowest maybe maybe in the high fifth or mid mid 50s to follow up on this this is basically whenever you see people have any knee for knee problem we'll talk about it where they can kind of jiggle a a gel that feels like is inside the knee. That gel, that CCs of shit, whatever, synovial fluid, puts massive amounts of pressure on everything inside of the body

because it's not supposed to be there. So the more swelling it is, it's not just an indicator that it's hurt, but it's also putting more pain and more stress on every single piece of the knee, which is why he's saying you can play it at like 25-30 as opposed to anything above that am i breaking that down accurately i had knee issues as well yeah i mean yeah i mean you might have phd for all we know it's not snowy fluid it's technically called fusion i think it's the proper name of the whatever that fluid that's in there why was that happening you think was that uh

was something not clicking was something not healing right was there an infection what do you think it was causing all that through the season every every acl injury is like when you hear a guy tears acl it isn't just that and sometimes it is sometimes just strictly isolated acl and that's it i had uh two other things that were in there and i mean long story short it's my body's way of telling me that it's not ready yet. And that's the most unfortunate thing when you try and do everything you can to make it work. It's just your, I said,

it was the hand that I was dealt. And like, uh, for the, when I went back out there, so I did, I, you know,

you said I didn't play last year. I played 27 snaps. No, no, no, no, not as much as we would hope. Cause we love watching.

Love watching. No, but I was just talking about actually today. I mean, I, no, no. Not as much as we would hope because we love watching you play. Love watching you play. I was just talking about actually today. I probably went in that game. I probably had close to... I was probably in the mid-50s. Maybe close to 60 cc's of fluid in that Detroit game. God, so it's tough to move, obviously. A lot of pain happening there.

We missed you in the divisional round, I think. Obviously, everybody in Green Bay missed you all season. Aaron talked about you a lot. Obviously wearing the socks and the whole thing, wanting you to be there, feel a part of the team. That type of isolation is difficult. So I would assume that not only the rehab

isolation and the COVID protocols and not being able to recover as fast as you had wanted or you thought was going to happen, plus now you're leading down a future that is uncertain. The mental toughness that you're going to learn through this last season and now is going to catapult you to another 10-15. It's a good thing. It's a good thing.

Yeah, if that's what it takes. I mean, I'm sure I'll go through this to 10-15. What do you think about next year and the guy that's behind you? I mean, there's a lot of personal conversations that have to happen. How do you feel about all of that? Are you a part of the recruiting process back home to Green Bay, you think? Maybe.

I don't know. No one's made that explicit. You know, it's interesting. I don't, I mean, I think AJ, and I mean, you guys, you guys hang out with him every Tuesday, you know. The only person who's really going to know is him. And even when he knows,

it's funny when I when I see reports everything come out how close I am with him I'm really curious Mike who who are they referencing I would love one time or maybe a couple times if someone just actually put a name on it like call him out and let's just really see if it's actually real because there's so many times I'm here I'm like where did this come from and there's times I'll sit with Aaron and he's like who the hell is this close friend we'll just laugh about it he'll just sit back and just to like see see you know the twitterverse and all these other social media platforms just go crazy it's like

what i i don't get it i don't get where people talk about their you know uh source and i'm like just put the name on it then i don't see what's so hard about that what do you think think? So I know, like you said, Aaron's the only one that's going to know. I know from my personal experience, I've told him to his face, okay, I don't think you're going to retire. I think you're too good and you know how good you are. And I think if you come back, Green Bay gives you the best chance to win another Super Bowl. What are your thoughts on that?

I think exactly what you think. I also have a little more bias because uh i'm gonna be there too unless there's something i don't know uh so yeah of course i'd like when i when i i mean he's pretty much one of my best friends in the when i play football and also outside like i would love to have him around it would suck uh not seeing him every day i mean i've worked with him for about nine years now i'd love to go on a decade um I don't really know where he'd be. I agree with you. I can't see him retiring. He's too competitive, even though he does say that there's that possibility. I can't fathom it. But then again, I don't think we all could have

fathomed Tom Brady retiring, and here we are. On an Instagram post out of nowhere. But I think Tom Brady retiring, by the way, probably leads us even more to think what you two are saying about the competitive drive. And I don't think he's going to retire with Tom Brady saying, I don't know, maybe, maybe it doesn't even factor. And maybe he's running his own race. You guys know him a lot better than I do. I love the fact, though, that both of you, whenever Bach, I don't get a chance to talk to you that much. But AJ, whenever something happens or a source says something about it, Aaron, I don't get a chance to talk to you that much, but AJ, whenever something happens or a source says something about Aaron,

I'll send it to AJ. And the exact response that you just gave is what he, I like that all the people around him are like, who the fuck thinks this is? You all want to know who thinks they know what's going on because I don't think any of you actually do. Like, I don't think AJ has a clue what's going to happen. I don't think Bach has a clue what's going to happen. I don't think Bach has a clue what's going to happen.

I don't think his representation has a clue what's going to happen. I think Aaron is legitimately the only one that's going through the process of figuring out what he's going to do. So whenever reports happen, I don't want to say I try AJ, but AJ has the same. I'm like, oh, somebody else fucking knows the inside scoop. AJ, what's the deal? And he's like, I want to know who that is.

Who thinks that they have enough confidence in what Aaron rogers is going to do to say that publicly so you saying that again really is hysterical to me and i'm excited to see the journey of how he makes that decision it could be in that room right there with you could be in there i you know i will say one thing about him is he's extremely calculated i think that's why i always laugh when i see reports and stuff come out like they're trying to be the first person to say what he was thinking. This is a guy who he's always almost prided himself on

this monk-type philosophy of he'd rather listen double his amount of listening over than just talking too much. He wants to really make sure and calculate exactly what he's going to say or his action that he's going to do.

So I don't think he's just – he takes a lot of time before he makes really his decisions. He's very calculated. So that's why when I hear these things come out kind of out of left field, I'm like, I mean, that's just such – I don't even want to use the words. It's bullshit. Yeah, well, that's a good word to describe it. It feels like the more of that is happening in the world that we live in right now, including the whole Tom Brady may be retiring.

He is retiring. He's not retiring. He's now retired. It's a crazy time to be alive, Buck. We're lucky you're joining us here. Ty Schmidt has a question. David, hopefully you get well soon. Obviously missed you quite a bit this year.

Outside of the rehab like is there anything you can do whether it's like you know talking with the guys who are gonna have to try to replace you or watching film like is there anything you could do to get better so this doesn't feel like just a lost year and like the prime of your career uh one what is exactly the question you're saying? Did you do anything? Were you around? Yeah, outside of the rehab. Were you around?

Did I learn anything from this year, like taking it off, other than obviously not playing? Definitely. That's the question you're asking? And did you do anything this year to kind of like that wouldn't normally – were you coaching at all? Were you watching film? Was there anything else that you added alongside the rehab, I think?

I'm not hurt. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it definitely pushed me i think the biggest thing that how from this experience i grew from was not only personally like just patience but uh being able to articulate certain techniques and movements because normally i'm a big visual learner i love to also express through my actions i'm like hey this is how i want to look this out what i want done. So at certain points in the rehab process,

I wasn't even really able to get in certain stances or do certain movements. So to articulate that to Yash, the other tackles, Elton, that was definitely a growing experience for me, for sure. But yeah, other than that i mean yeah i really had to take a kind of a backseat watch film give the guys tips that i see you know and it really helped express how i look at the game and try to have them see the game how i also see the game to help uh elevate them because i think this is a really uh service level point for most uh football players especially like talking about offense linemen a lot of guys see the game in a very narrow vision

and i think when you really and how i was taught from and i'll give credit to like the older guys in my room like josh sitting in tj lang brian blogger they helped me see the game open up your filter so it's wide open so you're looking looking at everything, not just your, I'm a tackle, this is what I need to do, and the age-old philosophy that all tackles say, tackles block ends and occasionally outside linebackers. God. How did they open up your vision? How did they get that point across, or how did you learn that?

A big thing is understanding, one, don't lock in on just your job. Understand the entire concept, whether it's a pass protection or run game so start thinking like a center and i think what the center mechanics need to go through understand defensive uh adjustments blitzes uh alignments i mean to the point where i when i mean if you when i when i play when i'm in the huddle, I don't even look at Aaron. I just use one ear, I listen to whatever the play call is, and I get enough of seeing him,

so I don't really need to look at him anymore. But I can just always stare at the defense, and I can just look at their communication. And when you've mastered, like, your play call, you know your sack guy, you know everything,

so it's really just kind of a reminder of what's going on for our play. I can really start diagnosing exactly what they're going to do, because at the end of the day, it's more the adjustments that the defense is going to present you. And if you can stop any way they're trying to blow up the play, you're going to make yourself extremely successful. So it's this whole idea of working smarter and harder

and really seeing everything. And I think when you get to this level, when you're playing against the best of the best, both of you guys know this, playing in the NFL, the margin for error is so small, and the difference between a good player and a great player isn't that big. It's just maximizing all the little details. Do you think that is why, as soon as you came back for Detroit, it was just like, I mean, right down, not that the offense wasn't like that with Aaron,

but it's not just your physical ability as well. I assume you're having a conversation with a guard about what you're seeing and what's going on, and that helps everybody down the line. It's an entire lifted thing. Is that why the O-line is normally the tightest group, you think? Yeah. I mean, it's the only group that's judged as a collective unit. You know, a wide receiver usually, no one's talking about the wide receiver room.

So if one guy's successful, we're all successful. It's really, you know, one guy can catapult that singular room, same quarterback. I mean, there's a lot of positions for us. It's when you talk about offense lines, you're usually like the unit, how's the unit playing the whole year? You know, occasionally you'll get a singular guy, but at the end of the day, we are about the five. And it is, guy, but at the end of the day, we are about the five.

And it is, you know, at the end of the day, the most important thing is making sure you're not the weakest link and making sure all five chains are strong. Because when you have a strong offensive line, that's the foundation of football. I mean, that's what I say. When you, true, you know, people who love football love snappers, holders, kickers, and trenches.

There you go. Yeah, bingo that's what i've been saying this entire time box you're a high football iq people that's what they've been saying i agree completely that's why the super bowl matchup is so interesting because joey burrow is it him holding on to the ball too long is it a mixture of great pass rush they got aaron donald and the boys over there i mean that is the offensive line matters when it matters that that is that is basically all the conversations leading up to everything about the glitz and the glamour and this and that and the run game and the pass game.

It matters in the end. Who are the big dogs in front? It always is going to be the case. It's always going to be the situation. And you guys never get talked about because none of you want to be talked about, which is very fascinating as well. Go ahead, Tony. David, have you had a chance yet to clip the film of trent williams going in motion uh full

full head of speed to clear guys out and sent that to the floor yet smart that no i haven't uh i did see that on twitter and i thought that was awesome uh he's he's a he's a freak dude i mean a good dude i've met him i got I've got a chance to know him. I've got nothing but respect for him. I really appreciate how he approaches and attacks the game. And, I mean, he's a rare breed. I would love to do that. But I think at first I need to make sure I can get back in my position

and do what I do, and then I can really start asking for the ball and get the touchdown that Aaron owes me and go in motion. How many beers are we chugging this offseason, huh? How many beers? Are we going to any Bucs games? I may or may not have brought a case or two spot of cow back to California to enjoy, and yeah, beers will be had. I have a couple spotty cows back there in California.

Why work on your knee? Why 60 CCs in the knee? 12 ounce in me. Why? Hey, we appreciate you, man. Have a great rehab.

No, I appreciate you guys. Thank you. And then, uh, by the way, uh, if Aaron,

you know, I don't know how he is in the off season with this whole thing. Um, but Aaron Rogers, Tuesday's in season, maybe David Bakhti, our Tuesday's off season. I don't know how he is in the offseason with this whole thing. But Aaron Rodgers Tuesday is in season. Maybe David Bakhtiari Tuesday is offseason. I don't know. I feel like we get a lot of shade kind of going my way.

I don't really get a chance to kind of back myself up. And I told him once I can get in front of the camera, there will be some quips and responses going back in his end. Some receipts. This whole giraffe thing I think is getting a little bit blown out of proportion. And I think he's got – I think having this limelight and these conversations on Tuesday, you've got to get to go to his head a little bit.

I'm kind of the butt end of the joke. So I think it might be time I kind of have my way back. All right, receipts. Hey, anytime. Yeah, anytime. Throw it out there. Let me know. If not, throw it right back.

Cool. Hey, receipts are always cash, pal. You do whatever you've got to do. There is a lot of things said about you. I mean, normally glowingly – I thought the giraffe was a compliment you think no that's because you got an awkwardly long neck or what it was is that what is that why he calls you the drive i i really think what it is is i have an extremely high cut like body where i have i'm all legs and i pretty much no torso i mean i i know I have the longest legs on the team,

and I'm definitely not the tallest person. So I think he enjoys seeing me kind of hop around. And I don't know, it just kind of came on top of his mind. And now I'm just like, I mean, I get blown up with all these just Twitters or just like the emoji of a giraffe. I'm like, God damn it. Aaron, you feel it, dude? Yeah, well, at least he appreciates, I think, at the end of the day,

how important you are and i assume all green bay packer nation go pack go realize that this year can't wait to see you back on the field and back on the show ladies and gentlemen all pro left tackle for the packers david box let's talk about rating shall we aj yeah please do i don't know about this. Okay, so the AFC matchup between the Chiefs and the Bengals peaked at 60 million viewers. Okay? 60.9, so let's just call that a 61 million viewers. They averaged 47.85 million. You've got to remember, that was a three-score game early in that thing.

They averaged 48 million people watching while it was a complete blowout. And I would assume that 60 million was the last quarter. Hey, holy shit, is Joey Burrow and the Bengals about to do what they did? Anyways, peaked at 61 million. That is so many millions. And then the 49ers Rams game averaged 50.42

million, peaking at 55.21 million. This is via Ari Mirov at MySportsUpdate, Pro Football Focus. The NFL is King Kong in the business game of the media platforms. They are crushing it. Numbers are only going up. Obviously, the Super Bowl will have multiple hundreds of millions of people watching worldwide. That means the valuation of every team

has to be going through the goddamn roof at the moment. And there is now officially a team up for sale. The Denver Broncos have announced that they are taking offers and they are up for sale. First NFL team in a long time that has been completely up for sale. There's new money in the world in the tech industry in which people literally shit out billions of dollars. Yeah.

They eat and shit billions of dollars. Yeah. Billions are so much money. It is so many millions and millions are so much money. There is so much Fugue's money out there, real money out there, whatever the case by people. And there's going to be a lot of people wanting to get into business with the people that are spiking at $60.1 million during a game that was in the afternoon that was a complete blowout.

And people with other audiences that are needed are only going down. They're only going up. This is insane. Ian Rappaport says it's going to be $4 billion something. If that was $20 billion, would we be surprised? I don't think I'd be surprised at all, I don't think, AJ. Does this, like, okay, are the numbers for the viewership, is it going to plateau at some point,

or will we just continue to go up and up every year? And what does it mean, you know? Yeah, what does it mean? What does it mean? How do they track it? How do they track if a game's on at a bar and there's 800 people there? Like, how do they do all of that? Well, and also. and also streaming illegal streaming go i mean there is a litany of excuses

on like yeah all these numbers might be fugace this might be bullshit but they're all judged i think by the same ones so we know that we know they're more than all the other everything else on there well that's what i'm saying if you're all wrong you're all right right and if they're all wrong the exact same way then we can judge them accordingly it's only if some people are self-reporting numbers and others have third party people reporting numbers and then there's a spin on impressions and numbers and then there's you know all the other things you're talking about numbers are hilarious whenever they are told and explained on the internet because you have no idea how that number is got to it's just like a given back in

the day oh they had 700 million viewers and everybody's like wow that's really good oh who said it well nielsen said it well what does nielsen do well they actually tap into the black boxes uh like one for every thousand homes and see what they're watching and then they have an algorithm that puts together how many homes probably have it with the entire black box situation. And that's how they decide when and who is watching. It's like, well, what if that one person is an anomaly? And what if the other 999 are doing something and that happens on a regular basis? They figured it out.

Oh, okay. Well, we just trust them. Congrats. There we go. That makes sense. But if they're all being judged by the exact same, the NFL is only getting more expensive, it feels like. And the Denver Broncos are now officially for sale. 100%. But if they're all being judged by the exact same, the NFL is only getting more expensive, it feels like. And the Denver Broncos are now officially for sale.

So congrats to whatever big pocket having, whoever it is, gets into the NFL. Congratulations. Welcome to the show. Welcome, Jeff Bezos, to the Denver Broncos. Welcome to all the teams he could buy. He could buy all of them. The whole league. Just buy the league, Jeff.

He'd buy the whole team. Every single team. Turn it into the XFL like you're Dwayne Johnson. You're the head coach of every squad.. He could buy all of them. The whole league. Just buy the league, Jeff. He'd buy the whole team. Every single team. Turn it into the XFL like you're Dwayne Johnson. Yeah. You're the head coach of every squad. It's just different practice squads basically every day. Jeff Bezos could do that with his money that he made last quarter. Yeah.

Unbelievable. Why wouldn't he, though? Like, if Amazon's getting, like, and why doesn't he just say, like, fuck $4 billion, I don't want to, like, bid for that. I'll give you $10 billion, and I'm going to take the Broncos. Like, why doesn't he do that? It's a drop in the that. I'll give you $10 billion, and I'm going to take the Broncos. Why doesn't he do that? It's a drop in the bucket. He'll never see it.

If he doesn't want to run it and wants to just keep going to space, he can do that. And sit on yachts all yoked up. Yeah, exactly. Shredded. Maybe it will be Bezos. Maybe it'll be somebody else. Peyton Manning is a part of two different investment firms. There's groups, I guess, that have bundled money for ownership groups.

Venture capitalist folks, I think, are are getting involved business folks are getting involved Peyton and John Elway are in two different groups who are all bidding to potentially get the rights I don't know how much bidding there would be if some came but you know yeah say hey by the way this is what we're doing and I'm building a dome over the entire city actually it's gonna be called the Bronco dome that's gonna cost another 30 billion but who gives a fuck no matter it's unbelievable to think about the business must be good speaking of business must be good uh AJ Vinatieri said I'm going to the University of Massachusetts hell yeah I'm going to Zoo Mass go Minuteman I'm going to Dude Mass hell yeah I'm gonna go be a Minut I'm going to be a scholarship punter for UMass.

And I got a chance to run into his dad and he last night at the reveal of that decision being made. And I thought to myself, I miss this man in my life on a regular basis. We got a chance to chat in the restaurant, catch up a little bit. And then this morning we wake up, Tom Brady's retired. It's like, hey, it feels like we have the perfect human to come on and chat about all things happening in the world of sport right now. Ladies and gentlemen, first ballot Hall of Famer, all-time leading scorer in NFL history, Adam Vinatieri.

Thanks for having me on, guys. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Hey, great seeing you two days in a row. How about this? This is awesome. Yeah, great. Hey, man, all I want to do is apologize a little bit. The high school kids in my bar did the piss out of you last night.

Had to take a bunch of pictures. I apologize. Don't worry about it. That's a completely cool. I was lucky to be there. Excited to be there. I'm so happy for your kid, AJ. Let's talk about that real quick before we dive into Tom Brady's retirement and everything else you have going on. He went to UMass. And I think the thing that I love most about it, he's making his decision. He had offers from LSU, South Dakota State. I think there was a couple others that made offers for him to be a punter at their school.

I think from learning from talking to you last night, he was pissed off if anybody thought that he was going to maybe use his daddy's money or his daddy's name to do anything. I think he legitimately wanted to prove himself, and I think that's why he's going to UMass, because he wants to just go in there and start early, wants to play. I love his work ethic.

I fucking love that dude. You have to be incredibly proud of AJ, and you've got to be pumped for the whole situation. No, I definitely am. He's busted his butt the last couple years trying to get himself in the right situation where he could potentially earn himself a scholarship. And little did I know, it's been a long time since I was in college. I didn't know how how the scholarship power five school stuff worked. He spent a lot of time, you know, going to some of these big schools and got a lot of P.W.O. preferred walk on offers from them.

I think he got seven or eight different scholarship opportunities but when we went out to UMass he went out there he he liked the facilities liked the fact that coach Brown's back there now and they're going to turn that organization around they're in an independent league still so they kind of pick and choose who they play but a lot of big stadiums end of the, they're playing at Texas A&M, so that should be – he should pun a lot, maybe, probably. He didn't say that out loud, but, yeah, no, he was super excited. I mean, like he was just a giddy kid thinking – and you're absolutely right. He said, Dad, scholarships aren't the end of the world, but for me, it shows me that they

want me, and I've worked my butt off to get that. And at the end of the day, UMass was the perfect situation. He's got a great opportunity to step right in there and compete for the starting job right away, and that was important to him, too. I told him, I said, there's worse things than redshirting and sitting behind somebody for a year and learning and getting used to the organization and the campus and all that but he was adamant about wanting to step out there and play right away so looks like I'll be traveling a lot this year

yeah I can't wait to watch Uncle Pat didn't redshirt either there's some learning curve that comes to that too and I think mentally he'll be ready to fucking go through it all I'm excited for it he's planning on joining the business school there and uh that's always a little bit of a challenge they've got a pretty tough curriculum out there so i told him i said man make sure you if they're offering tutors just let them help you out don't have don't have school

be such a stressor that it affects you on the field i said do put in all the time that you need to to make sure you can, when you're on the field, be focusing on football, and when you're off the field, be focusing on school, and you'll be fine. Hey, that's good business, by the way. Go ahead, AJ. That's smart. Yeah, Vinny, quick, I want to know, what's it like watching your son kick? I can imagine.

Are you more nervous watching him than when you were out there doing it? I put myself in those shoes as a parent. I don't want my kid anywhere near a football field as the kicker, just strictly because I think I'd have a heart attack and I would fight all the fans every time he missed a kick. You're absolutely right. I tell you, you know, I mean, obviously when we're out on the field, I trust myself, you know, and he's done a great job. He's worked his butt off, but sure. you know, when he goes out there for a game winner at the end of the game or a very pivotal point of the game, absolutely, I get butterflies.

I'm sitting there, come on, kid, let's make this thing, you know. I'm 100% nervous about it and excited about it. And, yeah, you know, it's a lot of fun. I can't believe I've got a kid that's already heading off to college. But, yeah yeah it's it's exciting and and i'll probably be that dude up in the crowd with uh with the umass uh you know whatever number he's gonna be uh jersey if anybody talks any shit and they're gonna have to deal with me probably i'm massachusetts they got that nickname masshole for a reason so i guess i'm

gonna be one of those too hey that's a perfect pivot actually you spent a lot of time being a mass hole obviously with New England teammates with Tom Brady we've learned more and more about Tom these last couple years and you've always spoke glowingly about him and I believe he's done the same about you what was your relationship like and are you surprised at all that he's hanging it up on a Tuesday via social media posts I think we all kind of expected this day to be differently but that's like the humility of Tom Brady is what some people are saying yeah you know Tom's such a great guy I mean everybody knows all the stuff that he's done on the field his competitive nature his you know all that stuff

but but he's just a great guy too you know I think I think him being a six-round draft choice starting off and having to work his way to becoming who he is made him a very a very hard-working humble guy and that's never changed I mean he's he's uh he's as good now as he ever was um you know I mean I just I just I can't say enough good stuff about the man he he's such a great worker he's a great friend um a little surprised. I mean, obviously, he can still play. I think he could play another year or two. But, you know, when your kids and your family get a little bit older and you want to spend a little more time and, you know, the one thing about Tom, what does he have to prove? Absolutely nothing at this point. He holds damn near every record that there ever is and will be. And he probably will hold him for

a very, very long time. So it's one one of those things I think it's probably a very tough decision and you probably have to think about it for a long time because you know him like some of us he's played such a long time that you know life without football is going to be substantially different even though I'm sure he'll have a role in it some way shape or another you know You look at a guy like Peyton, he was done playing, but you see his mug on TV as much now as you ever did when he was. Brady might be the same way. You never know. What was it like when you're kicking with Bill Belichick as the head coach?

Do you ever feel like he's just peering over your shoulder and making you nervous? Like, hey, man, I cannot miss anything. Well, for sure. I think, honestly bigger the bigger stress even above bill belichick was probably bill parcells my rookie year i come in he's the head coach and he notoriously hated rookie kickers and um he would always try to do some crazy stuff he'd put the old you know the little whammy on the ground in front of me or he'd stand in my way for my

steps or he would purposely distract things I remember one time and in uh training camp he's like all right fellas everybody Vinatieri get out there 52 yard field goal you make it no conditioning today you miss it we're doing double conditioning and every single guy on my team's like bro you better make this I'm gonna rip your arms off put a little extra pressure on you thank god I made it that day I think think I gained an extra friend or two on the team my rookie year that time. But, yeah, you know, I honestly think, and I know Pat and I, we've talked about it a hundred times. You practice.

When you practice, you go out there and put as much pressure, as much stress as you can during practice. I know Tom McMahon used to throw bags, you know, across our faces when we're kicking as a distraction and stuff like that. I think if you can practice at a high intensity, when you step on the field game time feels the same, and then you can really just focus in on your job and kind of tunnel vision in and, you know, it's not as big of a deal, but I think some of the great, the best coaches definitely, you know, putting and kicking is about 85% mental. So if you can put that extra stress on your guys and they can succeed, you got a good one. Yeah. And everybody hears me talk

about the indoor facility in Cincinnati being lacking or whatever. And I think people automatically assume that I just only worked inside or whatever it was like, you forced me not to like that was, I mean, if it's snowing today, we're going to go out and kick in the snow. If it's raining, we're going to go out. This is a rep that we can get out there. It was miserable some days. And I would much rather be inside, but there wasn't any room there. That's for the extra work. And those practice reps that you used to take, I mean, you were genuinely, genuinely pissed we missed in practice.

And that changed how I practiced, by the way. I want to let you know, like me getting to watch you practice changed how I practiced by the way I want to let you know like me getting to watch you practice changed how I practice and there was there was times where you're already certified hall of famer at this point maybe even when we were having the perfect season uh the perfect season run there we were going you weren't missing in practice either a lot of people think like just in the games you were perfect that entire year till we missed the one in Tennessee bad laces uh wind was tough that's probably operational air but it's on you for the record, and that sucks, obviously, to be a part of there.

But I think you weren't missing in practice either, though. And then you'd, like, miss in practice, and it was like, God damn, we just lost the Super Bowl almost. That type of mental being able to get in there is something that I don't think a lot of people could do, and I was very lucky to watch you do that, and I think that helped me out immensely. This kid in Cincinnati, Evan McPherson, dude, he's got it. Hey, he's fucking got it. He's so young too. Normally it takes a little bit to

get it, but it feels like mentally he is in practice. It's game reps. And then in games, it's just, Hey, we're just doing the same shit we're doing in practice here. He's very talented right now. Have you seen him? I've been very, very impressed with him. A little bit of history. I know Shane Graham, who was the coach down in Florida when he was there. Shane and I have discussed a little bit about him, and he's just like he's the real deal, you know, physically gifted.

I mean, got a cannon of a leg. But mentally, he's really, really tuned in, too. I mean, anybody can miss a kick. I get that. But this guy just seems like he walks out there nothing bothers him he's just super focused and damn he just puts him right down the middle of the pipe it doesn't matter what the distance or what the what the situation in the game is and you know what 12 for 12 on uh kicks in the playoffs i mean damn that's that's real that that's super impressive no matter if it's your first, if it's your 15th year in the league, but doing that as a rookie, that's awesome. He's coming

after your records, too. I don't know, he saw his ball and he's coming after you. I mean, that's obviously a sign of respect, but he's got a lot of Vinny fuck you in him, too, which I like. I like that. You know what? I think the best ones honestly have a little chip on their shoulder or a little swag or a little fuck you in them, whatever.

So I really, I like that about him. I think he's going to be super good for a long time. Now the ongoing discussion is going to be, is it him or is it Tucker or this or that? You know, I just get to sit back and watch and laugh. Yeah, and then they get, whenever you go into the Hall of Fame, then the conversation will be who's the next to go in there. Because that AFC North, by the way, they got Boswell who's hitting the shit out of the ball right now. There's a lot of guys out there. And before the boys have a question for you,

Vinny, we can't thank you enough for your time here. Um, what do you think it is when you would go out for those kicks? What do you think it is about like being cool and calm? Because you're legitimately, there's an argument to be said, the most clutch athlete in the history of sports.

And I understand that there's other people who have said the most clutch athlete in the history of sports and i understand there's other people who have clutch moments and clutch situations but if you just go back and look at like stats and percentages and the amount of opportunities you had and you came through for people it's just the conversation can be had so you won't say it i'll say it everybody else can fuck off but in those moments are you are you super relaxed and casual is it just like practice like what do you think goes through your head in those moments that you have so much success because this is something i assume a lot of people would like to know and hear about well i don't think i don't think i'm relaxed i don't think that's the right term i'm i'm

laser focused if you if by a Pagano laser focus. How's your family? How's your family? But I honestly think, you know, you just try to block out the external things. I know you and I have talked about it a million times. I know you at times would like to jaw to the guys on the other side and have a conversation with them. And you're looking at me like, man, this guy's looking through me kind of thing. And I guess just for me, you know, you know, it's just such it's it's a it's like a golf swing.

Right. And I know you guys got a little bet going. I can't wait to see who wins that golf bet. That's going to be awesome. It's going to be me, Vinny. Thank you. You know it. All right.

Yeah. Vinny knows. It's like that. You know, the more reputations and the more you can look at, make it look identical every single time is kind of the key. And then with repetition builds confidence. And then once you get to the point where you don't even have to think anymore, your body just takes over, I think that's kind of when you can really just focus in.

I wish I played a position I was on the field for 50 or 60 plays because you could have a bad one or something happens and you go, eh, you know what, that's just one play. But you're on an island when you're putting and kicking and you have to be spot on every time. And, you know, I don't know, you know, I look at it this way too. Like I've always enjoyed being in a position in sports that's in the center of everything, you know. Soccer, center midfield. Why? Because I wanted to be around the ball the whole time, you know, caught in baseball. And just because I wanted to have the ball either in my hand or at my foot. Quarterback in high school, quarterback.

High school. Exactly right. So I just I think I think some guys like that. I think other guys don't. I mean, I remember Jeff Saturday always saying, man, I wish I was a kicker every single day except for Sunday. I don't need that pressure. I don't want to do it on Sunday. But every other day I wish it was me. So, you know, you have to, I guess as a kicker, you have to embrace that and accept that and be okay with that.

Because if you're not, you better find a different job because if you can't handle the pressure. And it seems like, you know, like this last weekend, every game came down to a kick. I mean, dang, kickers, they deserve every penny they get. That's for sure. You're right, especially now with the 33-yard extra points. But it always comes down to the kick when it matters. And I said this about the offensive line last hour with Bakhtiari. It's like in the biggest game, the offensive line matters.

Like when it matters, it matters. And that's the same thing with kicking, especially if you look through this entire playoffs, it's like you can downgrade it all year and there's going to be guys that are going to miss. There's 32 teams. I think there's probably only like 10 NFL guys in each season. I think there's only like, you know what I mean? Like legit. And there might be some guys that aren't NFL guys that are NFL guys, but aren't having an NFL like season. I think there's only like 10 dudes each year that are really like the guys it's a tough thing to do you doing it for 20 plus years is

fucking unbelievable Connor go ahead yeah Adam reliving the early Patriot days when you were there and Tom Brady's man in the arena doc has been pretty sweet did he ask you to go on that and also how accurate was Mike Vrabel when he said that you guys just used to talk shit nonstop to each other every day?

The Vrabel comments are absolutely right. The amount of verbal jousting in that locker room was absolutely ridiculous. And it got to the point, Vrabel was the king of it, but we had Rodney Harrison and a bunch of those guys. The fun thing is they would like to screw with us kickers a little bit, and then they realize when we're putting like taping up their lockers or hanging voodoo dolls and stuff in their lockers and stuff, they're like, you know what, these guys have way too much free time. We better not fuck with them.

Guys alone. But, yeah, no, that locker room was something special. Willie McGinnis and some of those guys. I mean to tell you what, if you had thin skin, you'd get run right out of the building there. So it was crazy. What was the other part of the question about Brady? Well, just why weren't y'all men in the arena?

I was kind of waiting for your episode at some point. Me too, man. They didn't ask. Hey, you and Castle both, dude. You and Castle both. You got highlighted in there a lot, though. It was cool to see young Vinny in there. And then the story behind those teams.

Those kicks are going to be forever run on every highlight reel the NFL has for the next thousand years that the NFL is going to go, hey, hey, Peyton's going to own the goddamn Broncos. It's going to be the Manning, I know the the i don't know the whole family i figured pat with that new contract that you signed you'd have at least a majority there and that too wouldn't you well i'll tell you what i guess there is some banks i could potentially go to these big banks now i got a down payment i guess for quite alone hey 60 million viewers for that afternoon game on sunday it's only the money's. I mean, the NFL business is good, dude.

It ain't never slowing down. And I can't wait to see AJ in the goddamn league. And I'm going to follow him to that, whatever team he goes to. Like, I'm a Minutemen fan now. Let's go, Minutemen. Hey, go, men. Here we go. Let's go, men.

Minutes. Minutes. He's fucking guys. Let's go, dude. All right, go ahead, Tone. Vinny, Pat just talked about you taking him outside, kicking in different elements. We're supposed to get a foot of snow here in the next couple of days.

Are you going to take AJ outside, maybe recreate your kick against the Raiders and maybe get some experience in the snow tomorrow? I'm telling you, if his back's not too tired from fucking shoveling my driveway, he better start putting some work in, dang it. For as much as I've traveled all over this country, going, buying flights and doing all this stuff, he's got to put a little work in first

before he gets to go out and kick the ball around. Holly, was it interesting? Was everybody in awe when they met you, I assume, like a lot of the football guys? Has it been nice to kind of get out there and see the rest of the football world? You know, it was cool. I had a great time going around in the small world.

For instance, University of Miami, Mario Cristobal, I played with him in Amsterdam, right? And the Ohio State head coach, he's a Massachusetts guy. He was like, hey, you know, I've got to tell you a story where when you guys won that first Super Bowl, me and my brother or cousin, I remember, we were on our way down and we got stranded halfway down we so it was kind of cool because I got to fanboy some of these big stadiums and go man I can't believe look at these things this would be so incredible to

play in a stadium like you know going to the big house in Michigan and watching them play I was like dude I played in a lot of really awesome games, and this is badass. Stepping out on the field in front of 110, 120,000 fans. I mean, that's just awesome. So it was a win-win because I got to meet a lot of people that my paths have crossed through the NFL and whatever. And then I got to kind of reap some of the rewards of being around some of those facilities. And it blows my mind. You know, NCAA big-time football money is incredible. The training rooms, I walked in and I was like, hey, do you guys have a flow tank?

And they're like, yeah, we've got three of them over there. We've got two cryo tanks over here. I'm like, are you shitting me? I mean, like anything and everything that you could imagine in some of these big schools, I was just like, it blew my mind. Hey in some of these big schools, I just like it. I blew my mind. Hey, they weren't profitable, though. They weren't profitable, though.

No, they weren't profitable at NCAA. Go ahead, AJ. Benny, what about the name, image, and likeness stuff? Do you ask these coaches about it? Do you see how it's changing recruiting? Like, what's your son think? You know, I didn't ask too much about it because, realistically, punters and kickers don't reap that reward too terribly much. If you're the five-star quarterback in Alabama that's the Heisman Trophy winner, you're going to see six, seven, eight, whatever the heck it is, a lot of money.

Some snot-nosed 18-year-old punter, probably not so much. Now, he might get a little bit since it's Massachusetts, but you know, I think the NCAA, with all due respect, I think there's a lot of things that are screwed up in the NCAA. No! Vinny, you don't know. I'm trying to be politically correct, but there's a lot of stuff that needs to be changed in there. If they want some of my opinion, have them give me a call, Pat.

You can personally give them my number if they need some help fixing some of that stuff. Oh, they don't listen to me either pal i burned this bridge a long time ago saying a lot of the stuff that you've said and uh we can't thank you enough for joining us man go ahead ty yeah vinnie when you played as long as you did and then you were done like i mean you're in incredible shape right now it looks like you just eat weights like how long did it take you to like actually feel good again? I can't imagine how sore you are every day. I mean, Pat obviously had like the surgeries and everything in his knees. Like how long does it take until you actually just like feel normal again?

This is the new normal. I don't think I, I, I'm not sure I'll ever feel completely normal. My, my career ending knee surgery, you know, I can, I can do my day to day stuff and I can lift I can do some stuff but I feel it every day so it's just one of those things hey man it's just part of the deal you know I was tired of that COVID year I sat around I drank a little bit and I got kind of fat

and I said alright I'm done with that shit I'm going to get back in shape so I got a nice gym at home I work my butt off in there and I got an 18 year old kid that thinks he's tougher than me. And so that kind of motivates me and drives me a little bit to, to he's going to pass me, but it's not going to be for a little while still. That's awesome. YouTube battling it out on the field and in a gym is amazing. I saw you snapping balls to him just like hundreds and hundreds. I'm sure he will say thank you plenty of times, either in the future or now. But the scholarship's the first step.

Let's keep it going, AJ. Thank you for joining us, Vinny. Congrats to Tom Brady, obviously. And to you for enjoying the hell out of retirement. Ladies and gentlemen, first ballot Hall of Famer on the way, Adam Vinatieri. Can't thank you enough for allowing us to be a part of your day-to-day. Tomorrow's another big show, then Super Bowl week. We got a lot of plans popping off.

Can't thank you all enough. You're the best humans on earth. Hashtag end of pod squad. Let us know where you're at. Maybe win some merch. All right, Ty, play some independent music and propel these people into a beautiful Tuesday night. We will see you manana with hopefully more big conversations. Cheers. Thank you. សូវាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបា Go, go. Thank you. Outro Music