The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 824 - Thoughts & Prayers For Damar Hamlin; Aaron Rodgers, Ian Rapoport, Damar Hamlin's Marketing Agent/Friend Jordon Rooney, AQ Shipley, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: January 3, 2023

On today’s show, Pat, AQ Shipley, AJ Hawk, and the boys chat about last night’s scary situation in Cincinnati that saw Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin be given CPR on the field after going into Cardiac arrest, as the entire NFL community sends their thoughts and prayers to him and his family as we wait to hear news. Joining the program to chat about the situation, how the NFL handled it, and any updates they may have are NFL Network Senior Insider, Ian Rapoport (25:36-43:18), and Damar Hamlin’s marketing agent and friend, Jordon Rooney (1:05:27-1:13:53). Also joining the show to give his thoughts on the Damar Hamlin situation, his thoughts on this Packers team that now controls their own destiny, and how special of a year this has been is the back-to-back and 4x MVP, Super Bowl Champion/MVP, Quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers (1:26:58-2:02:32). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, beautiful people. It is overreaction. Aaron Rodgers, Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023. This sports show starts right now. Football! It is certainly what we chat about, and today we will try our best to chat about the sport that we all love. The sport that just had one of the biggest weekends that it's ever had. But obviously, none of that means anything now at this particular point because there is a man from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who went to the University of Pittsburgh, who's 24 years old, who plays safety for the Buffalo Bills,

who last night in a routine tackle on Monday Night Football in a massive game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills, both vying for potential number one seeds of the AFC. Home field advantage through the playoffs. This Monday night football was going to be the perfect cherry on top of a cake of football that happened all weekend that was fantastic. As you can hear, I lost my voice Saturday night while screaming at the Peach Bowl for four hours on the sideline alongside the toxic table at Boston Connor at Ty Schmidt.

One half of the hammer died. Cowboys turn digs is here. And another man that's joining us like he had been joining us all season on Tuesday was on the sideline at the Fiesta Bowl, Mr. A.Q. Shipley. Now, A.Q. played 12 years in the NFL, Super Bowl champion player and coach. His career was ended suddenly with a spinal contusion out of nowhere. We understand that the game of football is a dangerous one. Everybody knows that when you sign up to go on the field,

and obviously me, punters, kickers, other positions, much less likely to have any type of physical shoulder or head or anything like that. Knees, hips, probably going to be something every once in a while. But when it comes to actual injuries, everybody that signs up for the NFL knows that they're going to get hurt. a routine tackle last night we watched a man not only faint out of nowhere smack his head off the back of the turf that we've seen five six times this season that has put somebody completely out of consciousness so we saw one of the most dangerous plays we thought we could see somebody lost their power to stand lost all all motorized function, and then they also got the double whammy of their head, bang, off of the field turf. So none of us had a clue what the hell was going on. We knew it looked ugly. Why'd that person lose all motor control

after being able to stand up? That hit wasn't that big of a hit. His head really wasn't in it. Why did he go unconscious? Then, boom, if he did get a concussion somehow there that we didn't see because maybe it was a weird button, him hitting it off the ground now, that's two concussions within 15 seconds. We're talking about massive ordeal. Then one thing, one minute led to two minutes, which led to the stadium being eerily quiet. Then they go to a commercial break. They come back. Joe Buck, commercial break. They come back.

Joe Buck, not optimistic when they come back. Still see the ambulance on the field. Still see the players gathering. They do a couple close-up shots. I believe number 99 for the Buffalo Bills, close friends with Mr. Harlan. He was one of the first players out there. I don't know. This is just from watching.

He was one of the first players out there. I don't know. This is just from watching. He was one of the first players out there, and as soon as you saw him, you see him jump and scream something. They caught it on camera. Then he starts seeing Stephon Diggs crying, Josh Allen crying, Joe Burrow crying, the whole team starting to cry.

White is in somebody's chest. Tredavious White is in offensive lineman's chest like this. You could see that this was being treated as something vastly different than anything we could have guessed it was. Then they go to another commercial break, and the whole world is wondering what happened, what could have happened. Twitter starts to speculate. Fans that were in the stadium, Paycor Stadium, they start putting out videos of what they're seeing, and we're starting to get glimpses of obvious CPR taking place. We come back to the game. Joe Buck says, I'm just going to explain what I've seen for the last nine minutes they've been performing CPR.

I think there was even a mention about how hard they were doing the CPR on Harlan's chest. And at that moment, whenever we got almost, I don't want to say matter-of-factly told, everybody's worst fear came right to the tip of their tongue. everybody's worst fear came right to the tip of their tongue. Did we just watch a guy die on Monday Night Football playing the sport that we love in what appears to be a routine tackle? And for that, we were heartbroken. I was fucking shook. I was getting text messages from so many different players that were just like, hey, man, this got me fucked up.

I'm like, yeah, man, me too. Pretty fucked up you're watching this because you immediately go to, that could have been any of my friends that I played football alongside, both in the NFL, college, and even high school almost. That hit happens, no shit, 60 times a game, 50 times a game. So for that to happen, you immediately put everything into perspective. This Harlan guy was doing everything right, flying to the ball, making a tackle, making a play in a massive game. And now we're being told pretty much, Hamlin, I'm sorry. Now we're being told that this dude is pretty much going to die here. It was a wild, it was a wild

emotional journey for all of us. And with the world that we live in, we were able to get reports from people throughout the evening. Obviously, I watched all the way through Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Clark was on there. And I thought they, for the situation it was, I thought they handled it very, very well. I was watching at home, just thinking like, if I was in that situation, how would, I don't think I would have been able to, I was watching at home just thinking like if I was in that situation, I don't think I would have been able to. I was speechless. I was up to like 2, 3 a.m. now. Is that because I'm coming from the Rose Bowl and my time clock's fucked? Maybe, but I don't think it had anything to do with just the thoughts running through my mind about the sport that we love. Then through

the night, we hear that DeMar Hamlin is maybe a little bit stable. Vital's back, we're hearing now. And then we're hearing that he's in critical condition. Then Jordan Rooney, I believe, J-O-R-D-O-N Rooney from Pittsburgh is his marketing guy. He puts out a tweet that's like, hey, seemingly optimistic, seemingly positive. He was on Good Morning America or the Today Show this morning, seemingly optimistic. Behind the scenes, there's a lot of sources telling us like he has, there's a lot of reports coming out that seem to be optimistic. I don't know what optimistic means though.

I don't know how long you can be, have CPR happening on your body, how long you can not have air going to your brain. We have no idea what a good outcome is, but it's seemingly positive information coming out, but we have no idea what's real and what's not. So, DeMar Hamlin will be chatted about by everybody today. Everybody on earth is praying for this dude positive thoughts positive vibes trying to send over to the university of cincinnati medical center uh we'll have rapaport joining us in 10 minutes in 20 seconds to see what he has what updates he has happening to him but this is a scary situation had me shook still has me fucked up and obviously i'm not the only one the whole world the whole monday night football prime time on the biggest day on espn right that was it was being talked about as the

biggest day on espn especially after the weekend that it was it was scary as a man who was forced to retire out of nowhere for a spinal contusion we understand that injuries can happen. That one, what was it? Cardio Cordis? Cordis or Corditis? It was Cordis, I think. Cordis, yeah. I forget the name. Colosio or something. Colodio? I think it was one team, maybe Colosio Cordis. It is normally in hockey and baseball. And I heard about this as a kid because Tone Diggs and I's gym teacher, jack uh was his name son played hockey in michigan for b league hockey up in michigan and one of his teammates and i remember this in like fifth grade mr jack had to miss some time because he had to go to a funeral in michigan kid took a hockey puck right to his chest they at the time i think whenever we're in fifth grade didn't know as

much about colossio cordis i believe is what it uh Zito just told me Comosio Cordes was just told in my ear so he passed away heard about that knew that it existed happens in baseball I guess as well can't happen but they call it a phenomenon that very rarely takes place I don't know how it hasn't happened in the NFL more I think we're very lucky for that. But nobody thinks about that whenever you're getting on a field for a big game. No family that travels in to watch it is thinking about that. No players are thinking about that. And I think that's why we're all fucked up last night.

I think, honestly. I believe that was the case. That was the scariest scene I've ever seen on a football field. I mean, I'm on a plane flying here, and I'm watching this thing, and I'm just like you guys were guys were i mean i had no words i was prayers thoughts everything going out and just hoping for something good to come out of this but i mean the longer that went and the more this thing dragged on it's like they yeah it was just it was so tough i mean i can't i can't imagine what what his family's going through right now. It's so tough.

Yeah, it's obviously unexpected. It comes out of nowhere. It puts life into perspective very quickly. And if you think about the Buffalo Bills team at locker room, I have no idea. I have no clue how McDermott will now face. And obviously, we will hear about Hamlin's status here in about eight minutes. Who knows if Rappaport knows anything? There's been a lot of people reporting things.

A lot of things being reported, and then a lot of people hearing what people are hearing, and then piecing reports together. They're also reporting things. So we don't know what's real, what isn't. Don't love it, by the way. No. Don't love that at all. I think we all spent the evening kind of surfing,

seeing if we can get updates, watching. It was a moment we'll remember. That was a moment that we will remember for the rest of our lives. But Coach McDermott now going forward, so he's obviously being a coach involves being a psychologist. He's going to have to be a PTSD expert because that is a very traumatic thing that happened feet in front of his entire team to one of their brothers, one of their family members. I don't know how the Buffalo Bills are. Week 17, too, big games happening right in front.

I have no idea how they rally. I assume they'll be able to do so because they're a great organization. And what we're hearing, allegedly, once again, we have no idea what's real. Seems like there is more optimistic reports coming out about Tamar Hamlin right now than what it was maybe 12 hours ago, which is great news. But that was a banana's evening, and I have no idea how I would have acted in the moment. I have no clue what would have happened.

No, and to your point, that's why it's so tough, because a lot of times when, and again, nothing like this has, I mean, you guys would probably, but I don't think this has ever happened. I've never witnessed something like that in a football game, ever. You know, like it may have happened, you know, way back when where something happens with a guy's heart or whatever, but most of the time when people are speculating, it's, oh, whether or not he got a concussion or it's neck stuff.

It's like then last night this happens, and you have all these people. I mean, we're talking life and death here. So, like, the speculation, and it's impossible to really know who knows what because a lot of people who aren't medical professionals are the ones that are kind of giving their opinions. And I think Ryan Clark mentioned it with Scott Van Pelt. Like you just kind of forget, you know. I mean, and again, for you guys, like it would make sense why it kind of –

because like you said, Pat, like, you know, I've made a tackle like that before. Yeah, I don't tackle people as anywhere near as much as everybody else that was a pretty oh yeah happens all the time yes so maybe not even just me but like as soon as that happened i just thought like i think i saw that tackle happen maybe 10 times in my head to like 10 of my friends like boom boom boom boom and it's like that could have happened at any that's basically what they're saying about commotio Cordes is like, this could have happened. It happens very rarely.

That could have happened out of nowhere. And it's like, this dude's 24. Yeah. Incredible shape. Right. Doing everything right. Yeah. Right?

Raising money. Yeah, absolutely. Sure. His toy drive. Yeah. From McKee's Rocks in Pittsburgh, which we got nothing but love for. And I think that's up over $3 million now. Original goal was for $2,500.

So the world and Bill's Mafia came together to support this guy who we didn't know a lot about. I don't think a lot of people did. Last night, a lot of people learned a lot about him. And the only thing we hope to learn is that he's going to be back. But there was moments there last night where it was like this dude just passed away on it was last night was one of the craziest that was one of the craziest nights of all time yeah in uh in the sports world for sure it was chilling like just to watch and i mean i'm with ty i think we all are like never seen that in football in any other sport but we also talked about too like the way that the way that Taylor and McDermott like handled that whole entire situation.

I don't know if you could have handled it better because, you know, obviously for the Bills, they're very emotional. The Bengals, they're very emotional. And I think, you know, you mentioned kind of in the moment, you almost see McDermott realize like, okay, I need to like. There's a lot going on. Not only be the leader of this team, but kind of bring everybody together. And then, you know, the way that they kind of met and had a conversation about like hey obviously this is not something that we can

just warm up in five minutes and get back on the field and go into the locker rooms and the phone call like it felt like the both taylor and mcdermott handled it as best as they could yeah some great leadership being displayed by both of them. And obviously, Zach Taylor, I think, is doing a lot of like, hey, man, what are you? And I think that was big. Unbelievable. I think that's a big moment for both teams to see that. Obviously, the Bengals going out there and consoling the Bills also. So fucking cool.

And I think that was the overwhelming narrative of all the texts last night from all the former players that were texting me. I got a text from a couple of guys I haven't talked to on a text, I don't think, ever last night from all the former players that were texting me i got a text from a couple guys i haven't talked to on a text i don't think ever last night like dude could you imagine and i'm like no and i think that's why it was all such in mcdermott and taylor the way they handled it obviously for the good of their their team for the good of their men there was a lot of heat coming down on the NFL last night for not just canceling the game, canceling the game, canceling the game. And then there was a report about five minutes to warm up, let's get back out there.

Troy Vincent, vice president of the NFL, former player of the NFL, now works for the NFL, and he is a very vocal part of the NFL when it's new rules or when things are happening because he is a former player. So they have the NFL basically have, hey, will you please tell the players, because you're a former player, why this is happening, how it's happening. He's in a position of power. Troy Vincent is everywhere Goodell is, pretty much. Combine, he's with Goodell.

Draft, he's with Goodell. Super Bowl, he's with Goodell. He is a, any rule change, Troy Vincent's face is on uh Super Bowl he's with Goodell he is a any rule change Troy Vincent's face is on the video he's the guy he's he's a very powerful what I'm saying is I know Goodell is just the name everybody thinks is power he is he's the commissioner he's overall but Troy Vincent very powerful in this whole thing he came out and said we never said five minute brief and then we're going to play again and i assume that that decision was made by somebody on the field who might be loosely

associated with the nfl maybe they're maybe they do have a position of the nfl and they told somebody that because we saw burrow throw we saw stefan diggs kind of try to rally the boys while crying what a position i have no idea how that whole grieving process that we were watching live with what they assumed probably happened, just like all of us, is crazy to think about in judging them alongside like a sane person because I don't think they were in a sane situation at all. But the NFL came out and was like, we never said that. So somebody spoke out of line

certainly said that because why is joe warming up why stefan diggs talking to the team then the booth right they get a heads up from lisa who lisa i think did an incredible job last night they get a heads up probably of why joe burrow's warming up why stefan digs she probably gets hey somebody told them five minutes and then kind of figure it out and then let's get back out there. So then that's either reported by Joe or Troy or by Suze, Booger, and Schefter, who also everybody was put into a tough, tough position. So I'm not going to judge anybody for anything. That's a very difficult situation.

There was a couple times where Suze asked Booger, how do they get back ready to play a game? And this is early. This is before we knew everything that we knew at the end. So I think that is a valuable piece of the conversation of all of them. When were these things said? What do we know at the time? Because the way that developed, it got real quick. It went real far real quick. Susie asked Booger, how do you think they get back ready to play a game? And Booger was like, we're not talking to...

Booger was like, I need to hear that my teammate is alive. Yeah, great. Before, basically. Great answer by Boog. Susie then asked Schefter. So I was like, oh, Susie's being told by somebody in her ear,

like, hey, we're going to play again, so let's try to figure that out. Let's get a take on that. I don't think that was her. I think that was somebody like, hey, for the good of the show, let's try to figure out how these guys are going to be able to get out there. Then we go back, and then that was when Taylor and McDermott decided to go back to the locker rooms.

Yes. And I wonder how that conversation went. And I also wonder, the NFL sitting there trying to figure out what the fuck to do as well, that's a fascinating story that I'm sure we'll never hear. They're watching a primetime game, obviously. Are they all together?

Probably at their own houses. Goodell's probably watching at his house. Troy Vincent's probably at his house. Whoever else is a powerful person's at their house. And then Dawn Aponte was there at the stadium. She was the direct report from the NFL to the game. Her phone was the one being used by Zach Taylor and Coach McDermott whenever they were having the obvious conversation, probably with Goodell.

Even though the reporters, nobody wanted to say that was probably Goodell. Probably was Goodell, even though the reporters, nobody wanted to say that was probably Goodell, probably was Goodell. It seemed like they were talking through what to do because it was an anomaly of a situation we haven't seen before. They ended up canceling the game or postponing the game. Buffalo goes back to Buffalo. A lot of people are getting very loud at the NFL, like cancel the game already, cancel the game already. And I can understand that completely. But I think the NFL, whenever they were talking to the game already and I can understand that completely but I think the NFL whenever they were talking to McDermott and Taylor whenever they were back in there I don't think anybody had the understanding that they were going to go play again like I know publicly we didn't know that the game was canceled Lisa Salter said that Stefan Diggs was in a towel yeah already pretty much getting ready to go to the hospital to go see so I don't think the locker

rooms thought they were going to play ever again. So publicly there was like, cancel the game, cancel the game, cancel the game. And I felt the same exact way. But if we kind of look back, I don't think the NFL at any point was thinking about what we have to tell everybody else. We got to figure out what we got to tell the teams that are involved in this. Now they're talking about what the next steps are, how it's going to work out. There was a lot to sort through in real time.

All the while, one of our guys might have just passed away. So I understood why people were saying NFL cancel the game, but I think there was so much that they were trying to sort out pretty quickly, and I think the teams knew before we did that that game was canceled, which is obviously the most important part. But also the whole world was worried as fuck about how everything was going. So interesting situation last night. Game gets postponed or canceled.

We don't know the proper terming yet. They're trying to figure that out right now. But a lot happened very quickly there. And obviously I understand why everybody's pissed because of how much they care about everything, but I don't think those teams, once they got back in the locker room, had any expectation of playing a game. I think that was probably wrong.

I think you're right. It feels like the NFL's first worry was obviously DeMar, and then obviously, how are the teams doing and figuring out the teams and the best way to deal with them and make sure they're all right, and then way down the list, all right, we'll let the public know that this game's not happening the best way to deal with them and make sure they're all right. And then like way down the list. All right, we'll let the public know that this game is not happening tonight or whatever. I would like to make it clear, though, that I do not believe every human at the NFL cared about the more Hamlin.

Right. Just like we saw a couple of tweets from people who have covered the NFL. You don't. These aren't humans. These are objects for us to watch, bet on, have a good time. I think that's why this show has had success. If you'd like to call it, we have had success, which I think by all measuring sticks, it would be considered as such. We don't fully understand

why. Big thing, though, is that humans, humans, humans, humans, humans, humans, humans, humans, humans, humans humans lucky humans to play in the nfl very fortunate have worked very hard to get there have committed and sacrificed a lot of things to get to the nfl but we get it you played in high school you love the sport we you love it more than the nfl guys we get it now granted you would you would go do something that maybe a guy makes in the NFL, says, you know what, I'm going to run five miles instead of going to this event or this event.

So guys have earned their way into the NFL. Let's make sure that is. But also, these are all humans. Egos, emotions, fatigue, all those things happen. I feel like that's pretty much the backbone of our program. Whenever we talk about everything, it's like, hey, they're not just Madden numbers. Like, sometimes guys wake up, and you know what? They couldn't sleep.

Tired as fuck. So that 77 they normally are, already a 73, let alone let's talk about the ankle now that they have. Okay, so that's 71, but you're expecting them to be their Madden rating every time. And I think that's just the first step of just being like not real humans, right? Because you played them on a video game. You've seen them on TV. They're these superheroes. And there's a lot of people who live their entire life that way.

There's a lot of people who have made a lot of money just viewing people as objects and as portions of society that are only there for our entertainment, not being humans. So that happened. as portions of society that are only there for our entertainment, not being human. So that happened. So you saying the NFL cared about DeMar Hamlin first for anything else, I think that is an accurate assessment. But we can also assume that there was probably some people that were like, we got to figure out this game,

which goes even more so into the powers at the NFL having to be like, I got to deal with this team, this this team and also inner conversations that are happening these people are not good humans but let's assume they're good uh negotiators or things like that so there's a lot fucking going on hap and i do think at the top they did care about fuck did one of our players just yeah on the field and i think that's inevitably what took place. And also, shout out to the people who were out there immediately and doing the CPR and stuff like that. And I heard this morning, I believe it was from Tom Pelosaro,

they run drills for this I think once or twice a year at each stadium with the CPR and the defibrillators and stuff like that. And they have a special doctor on site if a player stops breathing and stuff like that. And if the optimism is correct or whatever that all works out like at least they have something like that in place um in this type of situation because they were out there quick and man it was yeah like i can't imagine like if like if one of us were to pass out here and we got to watch one of us do cpr on someone for nine minutes like not how you

recover not even 70 70 000 that week that fucking month prime time and like it's the ripple effect to tony's point like obviously you know those two two teams have ptsd from it but you guys just mentioned you've seen this tackle hundreds and hundreds of times literally all the All the NFL players, you wonder how they're feeling about it. X player. There's not a lot of things that really, well, that's not true. There are things that bring all players together. Seeing one of our guys do something that we have all done pretty much. I mean, I was a punter and I've had that type of situation, that type of tackle.

And then bad thing happens. Everybody became a Buffalo Bill list. Everybody that's ever played felt like they were a member of the Bills. Like, hey, that's one of our guys. Bengals even did that. It was cool to watch. That's one of those moments where tragedy seemingly the, I don't want to say the upside of it, but funerals,

normally whenever you go see one of your friends that passed away you're catching up with a lot of people that you haven't seen in a long time and it's a tragedy but there's some good that comes from it i feel like last night the tragedy that i saw some good is like the nfl player bond is still as strong as it's ever been i think in in 2022 or 2023 now, Happy New Year, you would assume that this is a lot more isolated and everybody's kind of an independent person. Feels like the whole

NFL community was a Buffalo Bill last night. Let's get to a man who's part of the NFL community. He's the senior insider for the league itself, the network they own, and the website they own. Host of the weekly wrap-up of the Rap Sheet and Friends,

us being the friends, he being Rap Sheet. Ladies and gentlemen, host of the Insiders, Ian Rappaport. Hey, Rap Sheet! Ian, we have tried to talk about this here for the first 28 minutes, 26 minutes, as well as we possibly can with all the information, how we felt while watching it. And me, AQ, I assume you, and everybody that's been in the information, how we felt while watching it. And me, AQ, I assume you and everybody that's been in the NFL, shook, tough to find the right words to even put into how you felt, what happened out there.

What do we know as of right now? Because we have heard, and you are actual journalist, actual insider, so I don't know what all you will be able to say, what you won't be able to say. A couple reports that we have gotten from around the league is that there's some optimism coming out of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for DeMar Hamlin's future. Is that what you have heard as well? And are we way too early to report on anything, I guess, with this modern age of everybody has a report, Ian?

It is the modern age of everyone has a report. And I think there's a lot of things that I think we've learned over the past 12 hours or so, which have been, honestly, guys, pretty shaking. Yes, pretty emotional. You know, I mean, we're all we're all just sitting there watching the game and then something happens that clearly changes it and the focus comes off the game. And I'm getting calls and texts from coaches or general managers and people involved in the game like you guys. And the sentiment is very clear. How can they play?

And I've never been through that. I can't remember too many similar situations in the NFL where everyone seemed to be on the same page. Like it doesn't feel right to go out and play football. It wasn't like, oh, well, if they don't play, then the playoff seeds, like I didn't feel right to go out and play football wasn't like oh well if they don't play then the playoff seeds like i didn't get any of that last night which was which was good um which i think was probably a good sign for the nfl community in general i don't want to interrupt you because you're in the middle of something and you too are a human and you deserve to be heard on that point right there well where did the five-minute thing come from? Because Troy Vinson comes out and says that's not real at all.

And we know Dawn Aponte was there. It was her phone being used. We've been told. Who knows if that's real or not. That's right. Taylor and McDermott talking to Roger. Is that Roger Goodell? It was either Roger or similarly, almost know, almost similarly high-ranking league executive.

Yeah, I mean, I know Roger Goodell was on the phone with several of the people on the ground last night. Okay, so that's Roger Goodell that Sean McDermott and Zach Taylor are talking to on Don Apati's phone. What happened with the five-minute? We saw Joey Burrow start throwing some footballs again. We saw Stephon Diggs yelling and motivating the team which tough that's all going forward i don't know how you do that anyway going forward gonna be tough i mean that's just very very difficult and then the teams go off that phone call happens my breakdown of it i might be wrong i'd like to hear more from you the internet and everybody was like cancel the damn game

and i i think so too i think as soon as they went in the locker room the nfl didn't expect or the players didn't expect to go back onto the field was that decision made with the bills and the bangles much earlier than it was made public and how do you think that five minute warm-up thing came to be if you just had to guess not that you know yeah we'll start with the five-minute warm-up part because I was on the conference call last night with Troy Vincent, and he seemed really frustrated. Called it insensitive. I don't know where that came from.

It was said, I believe it was Joe Buck, several times on the broadcast last night. I wish I knew how the message got from whoever he got it from to him. He is very good good he is very professional yeah we're talking about one of the greatest of all time there he's not just gonna yeah he's not just gonna shoot right yeah so someone with a lot of say so someone important i assume but don't really know must have said to him the protocol is when there's a stoppage, there's five minutes. But I don't really know.

And the NFL seemed extremely, and Troy Vincent specifically, extremely upset about that. And, you know, I was watching like you guys, Diggs was kind of trying to, you know, talk to him and trying to rally the team and Burrow was warming up. And, you know, we heard the five minutes on the broadcast and no one seemed to move at all. So I don't know. I mean, except for Burrow, there really wasn't anyone who looked like they were getting ready to play at all,

so I don't know if that five minutes was communicated actually on the field because, like you're saying, as soon as they went in the locker room, I think everyone knew they're probably not coming out. That seemed to be the way that it was going, and it seemed to be necessary. I just don't know how the message got to Joe Buck, and it was, I believe

it was repeated on a couple different platforms as well, like the Spanish broadcast, I believe, a couple different places. And when they sent it back to Susie Schefter in Boog, Susie was obviously told either from the same person that told joe or internally like hey joe just said this we got to get it because she asked boog about getting ready to get back to play and then boog was like

kind of and then she asked schaefter again and as somebody that has now done some TV, okay, in numerous places, that was clearly like her asking that question was coming from somebody. And then when Boog didn't answer, it was like, hey, we have to get this back to the game because that's going to happen. So it was just like a natural belief, it seemed like, by everybody. The five-minute thing was real. With the world we're in, though, it can spread. There was a Bears guy, Brendan something, got like 14 million impressions on his tweet about the five-minute thing

and being upset about it, and that thing kind of went. There was a lot of that. There was a lot of that. It's interesting. I got a call from a source, a contact, someone I really just earlier today. And, you know, I feel like we, I don't know, but I feel like we at Ediful Media and the network try to be extremely careful in these situations. And I think people being careful and not saying something they don't know for 100% fact is a good thing in this situation. And this person, you know, the advice to me was you don't have to tweet.

And I have tweeted official statements and not very much, but there's not a lot of hot takes right now that I think people care about. It's all about how is DeMar Hamlin and what do we truly, really know? And you asked at the beginning, what is his condition? Um, I've heard various things. Um, I've heard things from people I trust, but unless I'm getting it from directly from the family or his agent who works with him and is with the family, I just don't know that it's, it's good to say anything because I don't know what it actually means and how it actually helps people. Yeah. it's been a tough morning for all of us. And you say not having to tweet.

It was like that's what last night I put a tweet out because I thought it was a double concussion. Yeah. And I'm like this is because he was out, fainted kind of, so it didn't look like a concussion. And we haven't really seen that before. I don't remember that reaction ever. No, and then his head. You know, we're not even talking about his head, the contact on the field, because obviously cardiac is much, much, much more severe.

But I thought there was a chance old buddy had two concussions. So I put a tweet out basically saying, like, is that what we do? Does anybody have any? Ask him. Yeah, in the building. I was, like, is that what we do? Does anybody have any asking? I was, yeah, in the building, I was like hoping to get answers. And then as it continues to unfold, I'm like, I feel like I should give an update to this tweet because it's not right. But also I am not the person that should be talking. No, like it was, uh, it was a very today. I didn't know what the

fuck we're going to do today. Like, I don't want to, well, I mean, I would just say that, you know, I would just say this, like, just, and I don't know if this is sort of too selfish or not, but, you know, I'm last night. I'm on the couch, and you're right. Things happen so quickly, and it went from being a game, which was awesome, and I was so excited to, okay, everything changed, and, okay, this is not a normal injury, and you have to step back and breathe and think about what this actually means, and I knew I would have to go on TV and talk about it, and I honestly couldn't think of anything to say. I felt awful, you know, for the people you know,

and you don't know what's happening, and I don't have any of the right words. I just, you know, and I don't know. All right. So let's try. I do appreciate the fact that you said you've gotten reports, people you trust, people you don't trust, and you want to say nothing there.

I think that's the right play. Last night, there's a lot of takes happening, a lot of reports. I know this. I know this. People I've never seen before are being put on television

to kind of talk about it. And it's like, I saw a lot of that. It's like, is this okay? I appreciate everybody trying their best to inform us on the situation. Until we learn more, let's continue to do that. Hopefully optimistic, though. Hopefully.

But what does that even mean? Right. What does that even mean? Like, what's optimistic at this point? We don't even know what expectation is. So, crazy situation happening in the NFL. Now, let's talk have you heard from the nfl because allegedly it was like makeup game is gonna how how how does that happen

week 17 we only have one week it was on monday night too like if this was a sunday game and they get good news about tomorrow hamlin you can maybe have a game on Tuesday, right, going into the final week and be able to figure out what are you hearing for that? Is it all just dependent upon what news we get from DeMar Hamlin in the hospital and then they'll make the decision? Or are they actively doing that right

now? And what do you expect? Well, I would say the teams involved, and that's obviously more than the Bengals and Bills, more than you know more than the bangles and bills truly do not know because some are asking me um what what is it going to be like do you have any idea what the league is going to do um they have not they have not publicly really or very privately talked about what they're going to do i know the focus and last night again i was on this conference call and they're very clear this is not going to do. I know the focus, and last night, again, I was on this conference call,

and they were very clear this is not going to be about football. It's not going to be about how we're going to play the game. It was not going to be about any of that. And I think there's a real question of, like, would the players play? Yeah, I don't think so. If they said, and I'm just looking, and I don't know this, but I'm just saying logistically for any makeup game situation, it's a Monday night, week 18 is this weekend.

Logistically, the only way they could maybe do it would be like a Wednesday, and I don't know that if the players would do it. I don't know if the team would do it. I don't know if the league would do it. I just, there's so much that we don't know and i don't you know if there was let's say they said all right we're not going to play it i believe it would be not a tie but a void contest yeah like a like a void um and that would have ramifications but i don't know that anyone is really concerned with the ramifications that much because there's so many more important things here.

Agree. I think all hinges upon Hamlin's health, and hopefully we'll hear something. Hopefully he'll be okay. And I don't – once again, we are not doctors. We've never seen this before. Never. So we don't even know what expectation is on the other side. So hopefully everything's okay.

There was people suggesting that maybe they'll cancel the Pro Bowl, push a week back, have that game. Then you go championship game in the Super Bowl. I don't know how they had it. I don't think that – I don't know how. I don't know. Obviously, DeMar, his health is going to be a direct factor on how the bills are going to do. You know what I mean?

Yeah. I mean, you would imagine if there's some good news somewhat soon. And I don't know how soon news will be. And what is good news? I don't even know. And this is part of the problem. We all are discussing this situation and we've never been through it. The NFL's never been through it.

There's been variations of games being postponed, but really nothing quite like this. I don't even know what the playbook would be. And the season is short. There's not a lot of time. Like there are some things they could theoretically do. I just don't know how much appetite there is to push, sort of get everyone on the field quickly to handle something like playoffs.

Avoid the game. Yeah. So I don't want to, I don't want to like just make a decision. I thought about this last night as I was watching it all and it became like 1.30, 2 o'clock, and there was no real more updates going. You automatically start naturally thinking about the next steps. And it's like the timing of the season, the magnitude of it, like what just took place. Yeah. I have no idea how you get a team to want to play on a Tuesday or a Wednesday

with Week 18 coming on Sunday. Especially if you don't know how he is. And then playoffs, yeah, you just lost very traumatic experiences. Yeah. very traumatic experiences. So let alone the mental anxieties, everything that's going on there. Let's also think about just logistically, body-wise,

this late into a season, how sore and hurt everybody is. Then you get the shortest week of the season, and then you get the shortest week of the season, and then you have playoffs. I just assume voiding the game is going to be the answer. And then what would you just go? Win percentage, I guess, is how they would go off of that because people are like, can't do that. Never been done before. It's like, also, never happened before.

I mean, I don't know how to compare this situation to the past, but I do know that during the really two years of COVID, there were a lot of things that happened in the NFL that we had never seen before. And you're like, well, they can't do this because they can't play on a Wednesday. But what we found is that people are generally pretty flexible and all the things you didn't know that they could do, people were like, you know what, we'll figure it out and do it because it's important. So all these things like, you know, could they avoid a game? If that is the best situation, if that avoids putting players on the field

when we simply do not know the status of, like, one of their good friends and someone who seems to be a very awesome person. I think we all can deal with a void or a no contest or whatever it's called. If that's what the league decides, because all of this stuff is more important than like, well, maybe this team plays this seed when they should be playing. Yes. Agreed.

And I think Connor has the last question for you and we appreciate you so much for stopping by and trying to share your knowledge of what the NFL has done in the past. But once again, this is an anomaly of a situation that none of us could have seen coming and devastating for sure. Connor, go ahead. news because you know if they don't get anything this week could they possibly move the bills week 18 game or maybe even void that one and just have them play on the monday night of wild card weekend because of the fact that you know the schedules have been messed up um i i have not heard that particular scenario um you know and i don't it's it's so tough because you know we all want answers right away and you know i sort of woke this morning, maybe checking my phone as quickly as possible, thinking maybe there would be something on there that would provide an answer. in a state where we may not know something for 24 hours. I mean, just generally, medically, when a person is in the state, sometimes they say it's best to not alter any state at all, just to leave him.

So we may not know. If we don't know something this weekend, I mean, I honestly don't know. My assumption is they would figure out a way to move on, but that's easy for me to say because I'm not the one putting my body on the line while the status of one of my friends is still unclear. It's really difficult. There's going to be a lot of people thinking about a lot of things this offseason with their family.

For sure. You know what I mean? There's going to be a lot of conversations happening by a lot of football players, I think, this offseason about what took place and what we now know can happen, which is the worst thing of all time. We'll have Jordan Rooney joining us at 1.30 Eastern time. He is marketing agent and friend of Damar Hamlin. So maybe we'll have an update in 45 minutes. He's been there.

I believe he's been there and he's been with the family. So we shall see. Ian, we can't thank you enough for joining us on this incredibly emotional day around the NFL. You're the man. Thank you, guys. Ladies and gentlemen, Ian Rapci. Ian Rapci. Joining us now is a man who's a

college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, Ryder Cup champion, COVID survivor, A.J. Hall. A.J., me and A.Q. just chatted about a little bit there. We did it in the first hour as well. We appreciate you joining us. This is not an easy thing to talk about for anybody, let alone former players who have seen a lot of their friends make the same exact hit or maybe even made the same exact hit hundreds and hundreds of times. Life gets put into perspective very quickly. What are your thoughts on Mr. Hamlin,

and what went through your head immediately upon seeing him, and where do we go from here, AJ? Well, I mean, so I actually didn't get to see it live. I had basketball practice until 9.30, and then so I had a couple hours without my phone. And I went and checked my phone right as we're walking out. And I'm like, man, what's going on? I see the dude's name trending.

And then I finally get to see the clip. I had texts from different people and my wife and different teammates that I played with in the past. And I watched it. Like, I don't know what I would have thought real time. Like, you watched it in real time, I know, and saw the whole thing happen. So I already knew before I saw the video that hey this is serious but anytime you see like it's the player's reaction like I remember I called a game one

time a high school game in Georgia or Florida I believe a couple years two three years ago and there was a kid on the sideline that all of a sudden passed out or fainted or whatever and they start doing chest compressions on this dude and I was in the booth calling the game and I'm like I couldn't tell I'm like this is the scariest situation i've ever seen they they did cpr for like three or four minutes and then got him on a gurney and got an ambulance and out of there and the kid's okay but i remember watching that's the first time i've seen anybody like close to me getting cpr and having people scramble and do all that so i think that's what we were seeing those players last night for nine minutes seeing a guy like unresponsive, continue to work on them.

There's no chance they could ever come back and play that game last night. Yeah, I don't think so either. And I think the, and obviously the conversation was, why hasn't the NFL canceled the game yet? Why has the NFL canceled the game yet? Because the public announcement of the game being postponed or canceled, I think came long after both the Bengals and Bills players and team knew they weren't playing. I think when they go back to the locker room, there's a conversation between McDermott and Taylor where they're talking on the field with the ref, who I thought, great job handling the whole thing.

The ref, I think, was a massive part of it. From what I've been told, sources have told me, his microphone and ear thing was also being... There was... On the field while they were talking, there was a full... I guess he was potentially a part... New York was a part of the convo. I think Palacero mentioned that this morning.

I thought I heard that. I heard it a couple of times. If it hasn't been reported, I'm not going to be the one to say it definitely happened. But what we have heard from numerous people is that like New York was involved in a convo on the field whenever they decided to go into the locker rooms. And then obviously New York was involved in the call between McDermott and Taylor using Don Apatis found found Don, NFL on-field rep for every Monday Night Football game, direct correspondent to the NFL.

So I think the NFL should have told the world when they decided that a game was not taking place, and it would have probably been, what, 30 minutes earlier than the world finding out about it, actually, what they ended up doing it. But there's so much going on. I don't know how. I was watching Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Clark talk about it. And obviously, unless I lose my voice from yelling into a microphone at the Peach Bowl for four and a half hours, I can't.

But I can normally talk, you know. I feel normally pretty good in any conversation. I feel normal. I was watching him last night i'm like i have no idea how i would handle this situation no clue let alone the nfl that's trying to take it all in so i just think that was a pr problem from the nfl as opposed to actual problem but these next couple steps i don't know how you even wednesday going into a week 18 having a game i don't they gotta

avoid the game this has to be and then what happens next week we're assuming we're going to get some news about hamlin right we're hoping that's what we're hoping we're some yeah we're hoping but i don't i mean there's no guarantee that's for sure yeah they don't have to tell us anything legit this is much different than just football this isn't like hey his it's a neck injury or some crazy something else. No, they don't have to tell us anything. But we're hopeful that we will learn sooner than later. And obviously we have Jordan Rooney, who is the marketing agent for DeMar Hamlin from Pittsburgh,

joining us in 20 minutes. I think he was on the Today Show or Good Morning America this morning. I do not know which one. I think he was on the Today Show or Good Morning America this morning. I do not know which one. He put a tweet out yesterday speaking as friend, family, agent of DeMar Hamlin. Here's where he is and everything like that. So maybe we'll get an update.

But let's optimistically hope we get an update. Okay? Let's do that. That is not on any, what would that be like? Any source opinion. We are just hoping that we get optimistic news. Let's just hope that we get that. I think they play next week's game if they get that. But this one, it does not matter.

This game does not matter. And I assume that's what the NFL is thinking as well, even though there's a lot of reports coming out. They're thinking about canceling the Pro Bowl. They're thinking about delaying things back a week. They're thinking about doing this. It's like, I guess, but a player having that situation happen, if the league was to be like, hey, we're moving the cones up,

which would be exactly what this would be like for game-wise. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're moving the end zone to here. We're still doing our practices. I don't think they can do – I don't think that's something that would benefit the NFL long-term, personally, AJ. I don't think so. Yeah, I don't know.

I wonder what their options are, like how many different things they might be spitballing. But, yeah, just – I don't know. Has anything like this happened before in the NFL? I don't think so no i mean everybody's talking about how and ian brought it up how covid had to have wednesday games because of covid and everything like that we're all living in that world you know i feel like we all kind of knew what was taking place how was did we though i don't know i guess there's. Find out this week. Now is not the time for that.

No. But if we're going to COVID, what are you smiling about? I don't know. What are you guys talking about? You know. You know. What are you going to find out later this week? You know.

We don't know. We don't know. We don't know yet. Everything is. I'm in the dark. I wish I knew. You got a light on over there. Okay.

We know you do. You okay? We know you do. You know we know you do. But in COVID, it was like, hey, anything could happen because we're in this year. We're just happy football is taking place. The fact that it happens on the field, AQ, that changes some things, you think, for the future? What do you think that this does to the game going forward? You think they're going to – honestly, I have no idea how this doesn't happen more often. Yeah.

After what we're hearing. You think they're going to – honestly, I have no idea how this doesn't happen more often after what we're hearing. Did get a message from somebody that said once they were retired from playing, they had a little bit of a heart issue. And I don't want to put the person's name on this because I don't know if the person wants me to put their name on it. But somebody who is pretty notable told me when they're older – they are older. So this isn't recent history. This is when they stopped playing like maybe a year into life after football, they were starting to have some pains in their chest. Wasn't a heart attack, but pains in their chest. So they go get tested. They do a stress check. Then they even get dye shot into the blood to kind of watch what's going on.

into the blood to kind of watch what's going on dude finds out he had cardiomyopathy which means some part of his heart was either enlarged and there's more blood and that doctor basically said like hey you were rolling the dice playing football for as long as you were no regular physical could find that i think that would heighten the chances of the is how it's being discussed yeah there's a lot of people wondering like will an undiagnosed heart condition also come through all these tests that are taking place because if not if that if he's seemingly incredibly healthy young great at what he, and that hit causes that situation, I think there's going to be a lot of potential fears and conversation around football going forward personally, I think that.

I agree. I mean, there's a lot of hits to the chest. I mean, think about offensive and defensive line play, right? It's every single play you're punching in the chest, right? And so you said it was one in a million? What's that? The commotion. I believe I read it's that like less than 30 uh cases a year yeah so I mean that's a way more rare way more than one in a million yeah one in a million one in a million sounds crazy yeah

there's like one in a billion yeah one in a billion like one in a million a lot of tackles yeah the amount of plays a lot of hits in football so I don't say a million, a lot of tackles. Yeah, the amount of plays. A lot of hits in football. So I don't want to say a million can count up quick, but a million can happen whenever you're talking about thousands of people, a lot of games and practices. I don't know how – honestly, after watching it, scary, hope he's okay. Jeez Louise. But it's like how does this not happen more often? You know, like that's the immediate, oh oh my God, is this something that happens?

If it happens, it usually happens in baseball, right? Hockey, a liner back of the pitcher or something. Lacrosse, any... If it is what people allegedly say, it's got to be like your heart, the rhythm has to be exact, certain. It's so rare. Man, it sucks.

Well, we're speculating that that's what it is. We don't know. We have no idea. That's another thing that Rappaport saying like a lot of speculation coming from people and even doctors i think there were some cardio doctors on twitter last night seemingly high up in their field heart doctors and they were breaking down it appears as if this is boom boom boom boom boom so there's reasons for us to speculate because it is kind of out of nowhere but what if it's what if it's not like yeah yeah what if it's not we have no idea what it is well and that's what you mentioned earlier with mcdermott and i feel like that's almost with

every coach now is like the psychology of the players because you can tell them hey this happens you know one in 10 million or whatever the hell it would be but that doesn't matter to them now they just witnessed it in front of their face at the highest level. Anybody can, you know, this can happen to anybody realistically. Guys are still going to play. Let's not, like, guys are still going to play football. People love the sport. People love the business of it.

You know, you're making a living for your family. But that's certainly an added, that can happen. Yeah. And there's another question we asked in the first hour aj haven't really got it allegedly we'll learn more in 15 minutes with jordan rooney joining us the marketing agent of demar hamlin out of pittsburgh pennsylvania allegedly there's some optimism coming for the stages steps that have happened allegedly alleged this is 100 we do not know this is just we are reporting what is being talked about we are talking about what is being talked Allegedly. Allegedly. This is 100%. We do not know.

This is just, we are reporting what is being talked about. We are talking about what is being talked about. There's allegedly some, what does that mean? Because I think optimistic for me last night is he's alive. Yeah. Right. What is the, what is. Yeah.

I mean, what is optimistic? What does that mean? What is optimistic news? That's right. I think at this point it has to be that, right? It's just a lot, right? I mean, they were administering CPR for nine minutes. Like, I don't think anyone is – and when we haven't heard anything, like, yeah, I don't think – you know, I think it would be crazy to think optimism is, oh, he's going to be ready to go by the time the playoffs start.

Like, I think it is like, hey, this guy is fucking fighting for his life right now. I think it is like, hey, this guy's fucking fighting for his life right now, and any positive news that's not in that direction is what the baseline has to be. Yeah, I concur. I don't know. This conversation in 14 minutes is a big one. Oh, yeah. We have no idea what.

He's in the middle of it, too. Exactly. So close, like very close to Damar. And the doctors that are working with Damar are the only people, right, that have an ability, and I don't know how doctors do it. Doctors have to somehow deal with very traumatic situations, very sad situations every day in some positions, and then just not be a human too, right?

Like just go to the next one. Yeah, the empathy that you have to deal with. Go to the next one. But we're not going to hear from any of the doctors because the doctors aren't going to speak. So everything we're hearing is coming through the lens of somebody who is emotionally connected to this, right? Exactly, yeah.

And like optimism in a situation like this, you never know what that next minute or hour brings. who is emotionally connected to this, right? Exactly, yeah. And like optimism in a situation like this, you never know what that next minute or hour brings. Hopefully we do hear from his doctors eventually because that's when we know if someone's been in a long stay in the hospital or something, a lot of times at the end, won't they have a couple doctors that have been handling him come up and do a little press conference? Yeah, and I think that's why the person called me

and told me the story about the cardiomyopathy like when the doctor finally speaks there's a chance that we're also going to hear that this was taken and if because if that doesn't happen and it was just a completely healthy human that that's a place to i mean that's alarming yeah more terrifying that that that's a place to. I mean, that's alarming. Even more terrifying. That is, you know, AJ? Yeah, I mean, that 24-year-old kid. And, yeah, something that, like, I don't know. I don't know where they go from here. Pat, you mentioned similar instances have happened in the NHL,

and I was looking back through it. I know four instances since, like, 1999. And in three of those instances, it was found after the fact that guys had prior conditions of irregular heartbeats that were undiagnosed until it happened. Then they were made aware. And those three, unfortunately, weren't able to play again. But they were able to achieve normal lives outside the rink and live through the treatment, through doctors, through surgery, et cetera, so on and so forth. So alive is great optimism from where we were last night. Right.

Living normal life. Yeah, good quality of life. That is playing again, right? There's so many levels to optimism, and we're not hearing anything. Okay, so we'll have Jordan Rooney join us in about 10 minutes. Okay, so we'll have Jordan Rooney join us in about 10 minutes. Our hearts, prayers, thoughts, vibes, all go to the University Medical Center to hopefully – it's fucking insane that that happened last night.

Let's try to chat about other stuff. Like you said, too, week 17. How much football has been played up to this point how many times have we seen that tackle happen this year and then all of a sudden it's just like because i feel especially that's a strike zone too exactly like as a fan like you understand how dangerous the game is and people who play but in the back like you're you're never thinking that someone's going to die in the football field ever like. You understand it's dangerous, but then something like that happens, and it's just like, geez, it's insane.

Question for you guys that have been in the locker room. Do DBs wear a lot smaller shoulder pads than everyone else? I don't know. I don't think so. I think it's fitted. I mean, you get fitted for yourself. I mean, obviously. Everybody wears small shoulder pads.

Exactly. Trying to wear smaller. Yeah, that's right. Trying to wear as little as possible. But I think it has to get past that too, right? Vinny Terry, he's retired now, I guess, maybe. We don't know. I saw him last week.

He might be. He is jocked. Yeah. He had Dick's Sporting Goods 8-year-old shoulder pads that he has been wearing since South Dakota State days. So they were the smallest, most run-down shoulder pads. Remember Bennett? Michael Bennett.

Marty B's brother? Yeah, Michael Bennett. Tiny little one. He was almost wearing like a skeleton. Yeah, the skeleton. The pad. Yeah, the skelly pad. The skelly thing, yeah. I mean, it was... Vinny's looked like he got them from the Hall of Fame every week, though.

Like, went out, grabbed them out of the black and white television thing, put them on. They were tiny little things. He had to make a tackle a couple times. He was like throwing his shoulder around. Felt good. He loved everything about it. But yeah, guys are trying to wear small ones. Just a standard play yeah like just a standard tackle that's what's scary that's the scariest thing about it hey that's the that's the strike zone too like i i just mentioned it

take you here off record because i thought about that yeah that's where the nfl and football was telling everybody hey completely, completely safe. Just whatever you got to do, just do it through the strike zone right here. Will this change anything now? One of the most devastating plays in the history of the NFL. Is this going to change stuff? I don't know. There's so much to speculate on.

There's so much. This is not something. What's Raj doing? Has Raj said anything yet? Troy Vincent came out and spoke. He had a Zoom call last night that ian rapaport was on troy vincent vice president troy vincent is a man who has pull and say in the nfl former player he's always i've seen him with goodell everywhere goodell has been you might not know who troy vincent is but if you see goodell you can normally look around the camera and Troy Vincent will be somewhere in the area.

He said that the five-minute thing was not real. That's not from us. That was not. We never said that. So whoever said that, people ran with that, obviously, because that's the NFL picking up the drill and moving it forward whenever there's a guy going through cardiac arrest. How are you going to do that? You're not a – that's not – you're not a – this is a human. You're not humans, okay?

Like, for a moment, just have some sense of empathy for your players. That became the narrative. And then when they didn't cancel the game for an hour publicly, it's like that five- minute thing was still in everybody's mind. And then no update was happening and boom, it keeps going. It's like the NFL, somebody in the NFL should add a little bit of a grasp. Like, Hey, can you just tell us whether I know you're talking to McDermott, you're talking to Taylor, you're talking to the locker room, you're on that phone, you're letting them know games probably not

happen but i we believe as a pr department as as the anybody department of the nfl if you're not gonna play the game we should we should we should say that we should also say the five minute thing didn't come from us that came that came from somebody on the field who's not us like i think there were some certain misses last night by the NFL in that department. But once again, this has never happened before. Like, this is very traumatic, very serious. I think there's a lot of holy shit happening. But you're right.

Roger Goodell has not spoke yet. I think we'd all expect him to. But I assume he's in the middle of trying to figure out what the fuck to do as well. Because he, too, human, you know? Yeah. Like, there's another maybe last night did you see towards the end there or not towards the end but i guess when they were it was still they claimed it was up in the air whether they'd play again they were showing

them uh underneath uh the stadium talking like the coaches and whoever else with the nfl and they said we've seen some players walk around and you knew what the game wasn't gonna happen like they said digs was in a towel. They already showered. Like the players are telling you, no, we're not going out there. Yeah, and I think that is my biggest takeaway of everybody that was very pissed about the NFL not announcing it. It's like I think the teams were very much under the understanding. Exactly, yeah.

That this game's not happening. Like I think the teams were told. I don't think they would have gone. The teams, you're telling me they would have gone? There's no way. The players knew. You saw what happened on the field. They were absolutely spooked.

It had to be awful. PR fuck-up, though, by the NFL last night. I think communications fuck-up last night for the NFL, but also they're probably from the standpoint, like, until we have a matter of fact, we're not going to say anything. You know, there's so much to juggle. Well, and I read last night, I don't know if this was just like conjecture,

but that someone said that they didn't publicly cancel it because they didn't want there to be gridlock and traffic and stuff like that, and they wanted to make sure that the ambulance would get to the hospital and avoid them canceling the game and all the fans getting out there and just creating a big gridlock where there would be an issue with the ambulance getting to the hospital. The Buffalo Bills have tweeted, DeMar Hamlin spent last night in the intensive care unit

and remains there today in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. We are grateful and thankful for the outpouring of support we have received thus far. That was at 123 Eastern. It is currently 125 Eastern. So I guess that's, that would be the biggest update that would go public. Yeah. The Bills team. Do they know more behind the scenes, you think, AJ? I'm sure they do, but I'm, hopefully they're just being cautiously optimistic. That's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping so as well. All right, let's take a four-minute break.

Jordan Rooney will join us on the other side. We have to figure out his number. We have to figure out how to get a hold of him. And then we have a conversation with marketing agent and family friend of DeMar Hamlin, Jordan Rooney, hopefully on an update on the situation. We will try our absolute best. This ain't easy for this Jordan guy, either. No, definitely not. Very difficult. This is not easy. Feel for him.

I think we'll ask him. He probably felt obligated to say something. For sure. Last night he put a tweet out, obviously, that was a lot of speculation happening. This is what I know. And then all of a sudden that came like boom, boom, boom.

And I didn't want to like, this guy's from Pittsburgh. He did follow us. So I sent a message like, hey, man, if you want to, I understand this is a very difficult time for everybody. If you'd like to come on and chat, that'd be cool. He said he'd love to. Joining us is a marketing agent and family friend of DeMar Hamlin. He is the founder of Jaster Athletes.

Jaster Athletes, there's a new way to market athletes. I think that's all very important because I believe that is probably how the relationship with DeMar Hamlin, also a Pittsburgh guy, was formed. He has been asked to speak on a couple of different shows, us being one of them. He is taking time out of this incredibly traumatic era of his life and his friend's life to join us. I'm very thankful. Ladies and gentlemen, Jordan Rooney. Hey, Jordan.

Jordan. What's up, guys? Hey, J-O-R-D-O-N. We're Jordan. Jordan. What's up, guys? Hey, J-O-R-D-O-N. We calling you Jordan? It's different. Jordan or is it Jordan? It's Jordan, but if you want to give me a nickname, that's fine, Pat. All right, Jordan. We appreciate you for joining us. Let's dive right into it. Obviously, we are incredibly sorry that you and Damar and Damar's family and friends and

teams are going through this. And on the other side of that, we are sending all of our positive thoughts, vibes, prayers, and love your way. Let's just get right into it here. Last night, whenever that hit takes place, routine tackle in the NFL takes place. He stands up, he falls, smacks his head off the ground. As friend and marketing agent agent what are your first thoughts and then as it unroll unfolds moment by moment are you there what are your thoughts as it kind of breaks loose jordan yes i wasn't there um i was i was actually at the cotton bowl um i was getting ready to fly back to pittsburgh and as soon as i saw it happen on Twitter, I got off the plane and got the next

flight to Cincy actually. So, you know, watching it, cause you just see it, you know, like this just seems routine, like what happened. And I think it wasn't the, you know, him following, you know, that was alarming. It was everyone's reactions, seeing how everyone was reacting. That was the part I think was the scariest. Cause it's like, what are they, what are they seeing that we can't see? Yeah. And I think that's why we're all shook by it. At 10.31 p.m., you put out a tweet that said, update on Damar. His vitals are back to normal and they have put him to sleep. To put a breathing tube down his throat, they are currently running tests.

We will provide updates as we have them. And then that is where we learned about you. Next tweet, sources me, his friend and marketing rep. Seems like updates have not really come out. And for us, that's very scary. So whenever you put that out, we're all thankful that it seemed like this is trending in the right direction. Do we have any more information since then? Or are we just scared kind of to speculate on what it could be, Jordan?

Yeah, you know, I think it's tough in that situation, you know, because the last scene everyone could see of him is him getting CPR. And so there was a lot of false speculation of what had happened to him. So for me, you know, I wasn't trying to say, hey, you know, we're in the clear, everything's fine. It was more of, listen, stop with the speculation. They've gotten him to a point where his vitals are at least stable, but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet. And so it was a matter of like, you know, a lot of people had extreme opinions going on. So I wanted to stop the extreme opinions. But then from there, there really hasn't been any major updates.

Like even right now, I don't have a concrete update for you. They're still doing a lot of tests. They're still, you know, hour by hour, day by day, just seeing how he recovers. That's why we haven't officially posted anything yet. We don't have anything concrete. Are you in Cincinnati right now? Yeah, yeah. I've been at the hospital all night.

Okay. So you're a good friend, by the way. Great friend. Good marketing rep. I'm sure DeMar will be very thankful to see all of the love that has been shown to him, especially by friends and family, hopefully. Right? That's what we're hoping.

There seems to be a sense of optimism coming out of that hospital from the reports that we have heard. Is that real? And what is the expectation of the optimism? We're alive, right? That's the first, that's what everybody's main focus is. And is that what the sense of optimism is from in your position? And if you can't answer that, we understand as well. Yeah, no, I mean, you know, I think a lot of it as, I mean, I don't know, Pat, like, look, if you're in that situation, the people who know you, I mean, they're going to be optimistic. Why? Because, because they know you that's, that's what, that's what it is with

DeMar right now. Um, we know DeMar and his family. I mean, they are such symbols of strength. I mean, they, they truly are at the hospital, like caring about the staff and trying like everyone who's coming by, making sure they eat, like that's him, that's his family. So whereas we don't have certainty yet. Um, I think we have no choice, but to be positive, especially because we know tomorrow, we know what he's capable of. Got it. What's it like, uh, like what's the scene like at the hospital? Like are family able to, to see him? Like what's, uh, like what are you doing mostly when you're there? Yeah. I mean, family, family's able to see him like what's uh like what are you doing mostly when you're there yeah i mean family family's able to see him i think that you know there's certainly been a good amount of fans there's been a lot of media there's been a lot of people trying to get in um so most importantly it's just protecting them and i think that you

know i've been doing the media rounds just to kind of own the narrative even though we don't have a solid update yet i think it's important for people to know this other perspective of damar i think anytime that you know there's an injury you tend to dehumanize an athlete and damar is someone that you know no athlete deserves to be dehumanized but me knowing damar like i think it's important to share the type of person he is and what he's going to do, especially because he's getting all this money towards his foundation. And so I've been wanting to speak on that as well. So, you know, there hasn't been specifics yet, but more so just wanting to own the narrative about what's

going on. We appreciate you doing that. And obviously the toy fund for McKee's Rocks, I believe, which is obviously Rock Still Rocks High School. Yeah, incredible for the city of Pittsburgh. Buffalo Bills Mafia got behind it. The entire world seemingly got behind it. $3.5 million? We heard $2,500 was the goal, and it's over $3 million. Is that accurate?

Yeah, yeah. I was talking with his parents today, and they're like, we can't just do a toy drive now. He started that GoFundMe actually when he was in college and he didn't have the money to have a toy drive himself. So someone dug that up from 2020. I had to figure out how to get the power today because there's, you know, three and a half million dollars sitting there. I was nervous. We weren't even gonna be able to get into it.

So finally got into it. And, you know, I'm excited for DeMar when he sees that because that type of stuff means so much to him. I mean, he was just talking to me last week like, hey, Jordan, we've got to set up my camp this summer. We've got to start getting sponsors for the camp. We don't need sponsors anymore. Yeah. anymore. Yeah. Chasing M's Foundation Community Toy Drive, $4.333 million raised at the $2,500 goal. Can't wait to see the good that the community gets to experience from this whole thing. And obviously in tragedy, there is some good that comes from it. And this is certainly one of those things. When the doctors come out and speak to you, do they talk

in like hypotheticals? Do they talk in matter of facts? Like what is the vibe whenever the doctors come and what is the information? We've been told that there's probably no updates coming today as well. Is that what you guys are expecting? What is kind of the relationship between family, Is that what you guys are expecting? What is kind of the relationship between family, doctors, and updates? If you could help us out there, Jordan. Yeah, I think being respectful of them and their job, because I don't know the specifics of it all.

I would say it's up to them to release that official report. But it's been a lot of just, you know, he's hanging in there. He's fighting. He's, you know, he's going to overcome this. Like, that's how we feel about it. The doctors aren't giving specifics right now. Okay. Well, Jordan, we appreciate you joining us.

We know this isn't easy. Please send all of our thoughts, prayers, and vibes to you and the family. And thanks for hopping on the phone with us, pal. Cool. Thanks for having me, guys. Hey, no problem. Jordan Rooney. Yeah, Jordan.

Okay. Yeah, battling. Tough situation for Jordan. Dull. Yeah. Battling. Tough situation for Jordan. Dull. Yeah. Very. Well, then him saying the optimism is coming from we know him. Correct.

And it's like, okay, I like that. Yeah, for sure. I like to hear that. Also, he's in the NFL, so we'd assume he is, you know, a dog. Yeah. Competitive and, you know, hard nose and everything like that. We would assume that. He's hanging in there.

That's good, right? Absolutely. Hanging in there is good. Yeah. He's fighting. That's good. Yep. All right.

So definitely optimistic. Okay. We got a memo from Goodell through Tom Pellicero now. This is to chief executives, presidents general managers and head coaches of the NFL from Roger Goodell read to Mar Hamlin during last night's game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals Bill safety to Mar Hamlin collapse on the field the interesting thing here before we go any further is there's people around the NFL like AJ who was at practice till 9 30 for his kids or whatever there's people around the NFL, like AJ, who was at practice until 930 for his kids or whatever, there's people around the NFL who woke up this morning, had no idea this happened because they are in their offices watching film.

When this memo came across some people's emails in the NFL, they, holy shit, they're, did you know? It's like these people are so locked in today, especially this time of year. During last night's game, DeMar Hamlin collapsed on the field. DeMar experienced cardiac arrest and was promptly resuscitated by on-site club physicians and independent medical personnel, all of whom are highly trained in implementing the plans for medical emergencies. DeMar was stabilized and transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, a level one trauma center where he remains in the ICU.

After speaking with both teams and NFLPA leadership, I decided to postpone last night's game and have our focus remain on DeMar and his family. We are in regular contact with both clubs and with the medical team caring for DeMar and will share additional information as we receive it, which it sounds like there's not a lot of that coming out right now if Jordan's telling us the truth who's there. Earlier today, the head of player engagement and team clinician for each club received information from Dr. Nayaka Nilamti about mental health and support resources that are available to your players and staff. Additional resources, including on-site services, can be available for any club that wishes this assistance.

If your club would like to make use of these additional resources, please have your player engagement lead or team clinician contact Dr. Neelamti. A short time ago, after discussions with the two teams in the NFLPA, we advised Buffalo and Cincinnati that last night's game will not be resumed this week. No decision has been made regarding the possible resumption of the game at a later date, and we have not announced any changes to this weekend's schedule. We will promptly advise all clubs of any decisions that are made regarding these matters. If you have any questions in the meantime, please call me or any of our senior staff. So the game's getting voided, right?

That's what we just learned there. Roger said also I was the one that decided last night, so he was certainly the one on the phone and also probably in Ref Smith's ear in microphone on the field before they decided to go back to the locker room. Once again, that's us speculating, but also understanding the NFL a little bit because we've been in it and kind of seen how it goes aj what you learned from that right there from goodell

seemed like there was a little bit of cover in our ass too our team officials are right like are we did that like explaining hey all the things we force you guys to do paid off last night and we would like that to be known as well going forward you know yeah i mean i guess since the the game will not be resumed this week that's seems very logical like but yeah it's gonna be they're gonna have to do some other way right they're gonna they're not gonna be able to make this up and they probably shouldn't so yeah so i wonder if they'll just wait if chiefs win yeah then it's all for now and it doesn't really matter. Next week. Like, I wonder if it's let's see how week 18 goes.

And if it has to happen, we figure out how to make the game happen. And he's not making that decision, by the way, without McDermott being right. I would assume McDermott has to be part of that combo. The thing is, they have the tiebreaker.

So they were the one seed before KC won yesterday. But even so, like, they have to avoid it. Because if they're not doing it this week, and then they're going to make them play on Sunday and then Wednesday again, and then they'll be playing a playoff game on Saturday. Like, there's no way they're going to make them play two games before the start of the playoffs. Like, they have to just void the game, cancel it.

What everybody is hoping for is an update on tomorrow yeah tomorrow update comes that's positive and we're just going to say that's the only update that's coming just because seems like it right from jordan there uh yeah i mean hopefully i don't know so hard i guess to read anything you know what i mean it's so hard to know what's real what isn't and what is an hour look like from now versus what is happening right now if they had he's in the icu that's real right yeah oh yeah critical condition right that's very serious we talked about that what did we learn what did we learn icu you can be a critical condition and not be in the icu but if you're in the ICU, you're in critical condition, right? Right.

Yes. Critical means? Not great. Life-threatening? Yeah, for sure. So he's in life-threatening condition in the ICU currently. Jordan Rooney says doctors are coming out. He's hanging in there.

He's fighting. They're optimistic because they know him as a person. he's hanging in there he's fighting they're optimistic because they know him as a person so there's a lot of feels like positive vibes taking place if what we've learned over the last 25 minutes is real or not like that's what i think yes the nfl roger goodell demar update comes then we make decision because then we know that buffalo bills locker room aj what does that look like today what are they doing today yeah i mean how do you yeah what do you do like i don't know i mean i guess you can have it open and say yeah sorry if you need to talk like you want to come in and talk and be around your teammates and like that's all you can do how do you do anything else if we don't

get an update which we are hoping we do once once again, all hinging upon the update. The guy who stands next to DeMar during the National Anthem. There's just so many little things that are going to just pop up through all of this. And man, what a sad, sad, sad situation taking place in our league right now. The mentals of all the players are tough, but it definitely does give at least me optimism hearing how Jordan talks about him. Clearly this guy is a dog, like you said, and he's tough.

And if he can make it through, he probably will because he's a badass. I hope so. Hey, let's go. Hey, let's go. Tomorrow. Let's go tomorrow. McDermott. Yeah. McDermott. Yeah.

McDermott. He's got to address the team. What do you do? What do you say? Whole building, right? Does he probably address with the owner and with Bean? I would assume they all come in. But practice, day to day, McDermott is the one that's kind of set. Yeah, imagine trying to think of, like, I can't imagine McDermott's even in his brain thinking,

like, oh, we're going to get a script together for this week in practice. Like, no way. How do you do that? I think that's why I appreciated the Zach Taylor-McDermott moment. Because it was like two football coaches. Like, hey, they hugged a couple. Now, Josh and Joey Burrow hugging and numerous other players hugging because of the realization of the moment.

But watching Zach and McDermott talk on the field, like Taylor was clearly like, man, I have no idea how we go forward. And McDermott has to show strength, right, doesn't he? Yeah, absolutely. McDermott has to show strength, right? Doesn't he? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. McDermott has to show strength, has to show empathy. If you just think about leader, like leadership position in that moment has to show empathy, has to be a real human. He sees, what, 90% of his players crying, breaking down.

He has to somehow show strength as well to everybody else. Like, that is insane to think about balancing. And coaches, a guy like McDermott, too, seems like a great dude, aside from being a football guy. Those are all his kids, too. They're an extension of his family, all of his players. They are his kids as well. Good coaches have very tight relationships with their guys.

Every decision is going to be speculated upon, not only by everybody in the locker room the families of everybody in the locker room the fans of the team the nfl world is looking on he does that prayer right and the image is what was in the background of svp uh from the other side i believe it was them praying then there was an ambulance in the back driving off it was this it was this image pretty much and it's like that is an image that is so scary yeah as a football person to see because you have obviously the symbol of

emergency in the ambulance on the field right and i guess it had happened before ambulances have gone on the field before because the initial reports from everybody on espn is never seen this before never seen the ambulance on the field never doing anything then they go to commercial break come back everybody's like have seen obviously an ambulance on the field but never for something like this. So it was clear that every word that every person was saying on TV was like, knock, knock, knock, knock, which once again puts it. But the sign of emergency driving off the field while everybody is huddled

and head down on the field, like that is so scary, so scary. But every word McDermott says in that huddle, everything in action and decision he makes on that field last night Like, that is so scary, so scary. But every word McDermott says in that huddle, everything in action and decision he makes on that field last night is going to be remembered forever by those players, by the family. So I think Taylor and McDermott deserve an incredible amount of respect and credit for how they handled last night as leaders, just leaders of people, which is the number one

trait that an NFL head coach has to have yeah and especially in moments like that that you've never they probably never dreamed that they would ever have to deal with something like that on the football field and then try to figure okay how do I compose myself to speak with this team and like what do I say to the guys obviously I'm sure it was man I bet it was super raw and emotional in both those locker rooms. I don't know if in the Coaching for Dummies book they have that. I don't know if they have that. After the game in the

locker room, he has to address the team. They're in Cincinnati. None of their families, I mean the families are in the stands some of them, not everybody travels. I would assume Bean's in there as well, but they're in somebody else's locker room away from home. Tight, right?

The Bengals locker room. All the way locker room. Very tight. Not easy. I think there's like – yeah, there's like some – It is very tight. Yeah, it's a tight locker room. And they're all huddled around, tears probably.

Oh, yeah. And McDermott has to talk. That's the first like what a moment that is going to really test you i think are you like i wonder if mcdermott was ever like i was made for this position or i didn't sign this is not because he can't show that he can't show a single sign to the rest of the team of this is not what I signed up for. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like that's a lot of pressure in the moment of how the hell you are going to handle it all.

And if you just watch body language with him and Taylor on that phone or on the field, it seems like Sean McDermott's leadership needs to be commended at a very high level forever after having to go through what happened last night, which is obviously devastating. Well, and I think it's a big credit to him, too, with their culture and everything. I mean, all the Bills players that we've talked about, like how close those guys are. You know, I mean, you guys would know. Teammates obviously love each other, but I feel like it's not like that in every single locker room. Like those guys truly do love each other but i feel like it's not like that in every single locker room like those guys truly do love each other so for a situation like this like i mean obviously you don't want it to happen anywhere to anyone but you know like if anyone can handle it it seems like

that locker room is the locker room that can handle something like this and on the flip side of that that's why it's so devastating yeah exactly true because they truly all love each other because of how tight they are you know it's uh football wise i have no idea what this is going to do for the team we all wait upon an update from the university of cincinnati medical center warning us now is a man who's playing for playoff contentions this weekend against an NFC North rival that he knows very, very well in Lambeau. He's back-to-back NFL MVP, four-time MVP as a whole. Ladies and gentlemen, quarterback for the Packers, Aaron Rodgers. Aaron, let me lead off by saying your haircut is phenomenal.

You look amazing. The speech you gave about leadership after the game at that podium and everything else that's taken place, it seems like you're in an amazing spot. We will definitely dive into that. But the topic of the day, the story of the day, is obviously 24-year-old safety for the Buffalo Bills out of the University of Pittsburgh from Central Catholic and High School, McKees Rock more specifically. Has a routine tackle last night against the Cincinnati Bengals in a big game. Goes down, head hits the floor, nine minutes of CPR, taken to a hospital. Updates have been optimistic.

We just talked to Jordan Rooney, who's the marketing rep for DeMar Hamlin and family friend who's in the hospital. He's saying that doctors are telling him he's fighting. What was the other way? He's hanging in there. He's fighting. So it seems like he's alive and we got a lot of positive coming out of it. But the fears were that we lost a guy on Monday Night Football. Did you see it? Did you watch it? And what are your thoughts on everything that has taken place in this massively devastating time for DeMar Hamlin and the Buffalo Bills?

Yeah, well, it's been, you know, tough on the football community, I think, the last 18 hours or so. I actually was not watching the game last night turned to it and it's one of those weird things where you turn to something you expect to see and when you see a non-halftime and they're in studio i was like this isn't good i just hoping it was like some sort of weather delay or something, but I was thinking, ah, they're, I didn't, they're playing Cincinnati.

And then when they showed, you know, thankfully they didn't keep showing the hit. I think that was, let me just say, first of all, really difficult situation. Obviously all of our thoughts and prayers,

um, uh, are with him and his family, really difficult situation for everybody covering that. And I thought there was a lot of class and empathy in a really tough situation by Troy and Joe and Lisa and everybody in studio. It's uncharted waters, and I felt like they handled that as well as they possibly could. And even, you know, it's one of those things where you just keep watching the coverage

because you're worried about them and you want some good news and you're hoping to hear some good news. And I reached out to Josh right away. I didn't expect a response. He actually texted me back from the locker room. And, you know, just because he's a close friend. And I just felt for him watching his face and just putting myself in their shoes to watch somebody love on the ground CPR. I mean, that's when it gets real.

They're fighting to save this guy's life, not in the locker room or in the hospital, like on the field. I can't even imagine what that would be like to go through. So, really tough night. I was shook up. Still feeling weird about it. go through so really tough night I mean I was shook up you know still uh still I'm uh feeling weird about it I think it's your football mortality uh just comes right face to face because one of your brothers in the fraternity of the NFL is fighting for his life right now so I'm glad to

hear that update um from his representation uh that's all we can just hope for right now I I thought, you know, look, there's always going to be second guessing and this like, you know, hindsight thing. When I turned on, they had just like come back from break and said, all right, they're going to give him five minutes and throw him back out there. And I was thinking, what? Yeah. So I do want to say this as well like i think one person who deserves a lot of credit in the situation is coach taylor i saw him walk across the field and just the empathy

that i saw in his face and the way he handled that thing and then obviously because coach mcdermott i mean like this is your guy right like and he was going through it but just the way that he it wasn't even a question no we're not going to play this game what are you talking about do you need more time do you need any time you won't even play i mean that felt like that was a conversation right there so big kudos to to zach for not saying oh hey let's no we're gonna play this you got five minutes okay i know it's you know you're you know the there could have been so many insensitive you know obviously in the moment and also hindsight for sure moments uh that that could have been had right there but i thought he handled that thing the exact right way and whether or not

you know we can second guess the nfl and all the decisions afterwards but i don't know had it not been for zach you know and coach McDermott coming together would they have not gone to the locker room and tried to play because playing at that point was not even close to important as this young man's life okay so Troy Vincent has come out and said that we never said anything about five minutes and we talked about it in the first hour you know in the football world somebody gets an ACL they move the drill 10 yards. And I didn't know that. When it first happened, when I got dropped into the football culture and I saw it, I was like, oh, my God. The five-minute thing last night is kind of like, let's just move the drill here.

Once we get this guy off the field, we'll go. The NFL has been, Ian Rappaport reported that the NFL came out very strongly and was like, we did not say that ever. So I think we do have to find out who was the person that seemingly went and was like, yeah, we're back on this field, let's do it. And that person

should be removed from all competition, let alone the NFL, but like all competition. So whoever told Joe, i'm joe didn't make that up he's fucking joe buck joe buck is one of the most premier people and joe buck's not saying it if it's coming from somebody that isn't important like joe buck knows and gets it so that person whoever did that needs to go because that spun an entire narrative quickly like oh the nfl just wants to get back on the

field why haven't they canceled the uh the game and I think you're right I think when Zach Taylor and McDermott were talking there with the ref what's Smith I think uh Sean says it's not Smith yeah I think he's pretty good ref right he seemed seemingly pretty good ref I think he has more personality and human instincts than other refs he He has been around a lot longer. I think what we were told is his microphone and earpiece was being used on the field for New York to be a part of that conversation as well, allegedly. So if they don't have that convo, does the NFL say, or do they come to the decision, go back to the locker room? We have to find that out, but you're a hundred percent right.

Zach Taylor and Sean McDermott showcased leadership last night that you can't just learn about in a coaching book. Just had to clarify that, that that has come out this morning. I don't know if you saw that or not. AJ, go ahead, pal. Aaron, we were talking earlier about Coach McDermott, and the true, like you said, both these coaches, obviously unbelievable leadership, something they never thought they'd probably be thrown into a situation like this but if you're Sean McDermott

like what what can he say to his team like what can they do moving forward I just don't know it seems crazy to me and he's already like how he's handled it from the jump has been at least publicly has been amazing I would assume all those guys are very shaken up how do they even like what do they do you think over the next couple days yeah i don't know i mean i was thinking last night you know every thought kind of you know crosses your mind what are they going to do with the game they're just going to move it to tomorrow and you know like all right we're gonna you know and then oh well then what about playoff and all this other bullshit that you know gets thrown around that doesn't really matter um i don't know you know i've been a part of a few games where they've carded guys off and and uh you know gets thrown around that doesn't really matter um i don't know you know i've been a part of a few games where they've card guys off and and uh you know we've had players

with neck injuries and it is it shakes you to the core and that's that's injuries where they're awake and alert and many of them gave thumbs up or or whatnot and and it still shakes you you know it's like 10 sometimes 15 minute delays in the field and and all right well just go back out there and play even though your buddy just might not ever play again and we're hoping he can walk you know it's a weird feeling but in this situation this is unprecedented during definitely in my time i don't know about before but i've never seen something where you know a player had to be given CPR on the field and supposedly didn't have a pulse for a little bit.

I thought, there's no way they're going to go back in the locker room and then come out and play? What? That can't happen. Even if they got this information, like he's alert at the hospital and he's doing okay, it's like, I don't know. What they just witnessed, and they, like literally on the field. This just happened right here, my teammate.

You know, it was like the soccer player from Switzerland, right, a few years ago that had that bizarre. I was watching that game live going, oh, my God, what just happened to that guy? He just had some sort of cardiac something. And then his teammate gave him like CPR on the field, I believe, that helped resuscitate him and allowed him to come back. So what do you say to the guys? I don't know. I just think you maybe have the best situation. Just have an open forum to allow guys to just share their emotions. I think as men sometimes we're so conditioned maybe to suppress everything, to just put on a good face and, you know, we're going to tough through this. I don't really think that's the approach.

I think it's to talk about the mortality of this game, talk about the risks involved, talk about how that brings us together and that bond that we have is so special because we know that these kind of things could happen. You don't ever think they're going to. But I think having a forum where we can talk about our mortality in this game and what we you know what we go through uh to play it and what we put on the line uh post career as well roger goodell sent a memo to all coaches and gms and everybody laying out what took place last night and then also said that uh your player development person should reach out to dr niyati niyakni nila there's a mental health psychologist that is um nilamti

uh have your player engagement lead or team clinician contact dr nilamti about mental health and support resources that are available to your players and staff was sent out this morning from Goodell. And you said something that we said, that AJ said, that I had a lot of former teammates and guys around the league text me last night, like, hey, this fucked me up. Like, I don't think a lot of us thought like how shook we would be while we're, I was like actually shook last night and i think it's because you don't expect that at all to happen on a football field especially in the nfl it was a routine tackle that was a routine hit in the nfl and it seems like every person that has played in

the nfl aq included here aq hasn't really been able to say anything because everybody every position has felt the same. Why do you think it was? Do you think it's because we never expected it or because it was one of our guys? Like, it fucked up everybody, I think, Aaron. And I think this is a good decision by the NFL. And I think it really is something that people should address over the next few days at least about the severity of everything that just took place in a league that we all love. It fucked us up, I think, Aaron.

Honestly, it did. It's been tough. Yeah, I think a lot of great points in there that you said. But, you know, I just go back to what I said in the beginning. Like, as much as there's rivalries and there's distaste for certain individuals that you play against and there's bad blood, at the end of the day day there's one thread that connects all of us right and it's that we know that we are the modern day gladiators right we are providing entertainment for the masses and doing something we love but we're also putting our bodies and our future health on the line. And I think that's one thread that connects all of us,

that we have a respect for what it takes to go out on the field and play and the attention to this being a 365-day-a-year job and the stresses of physical health and mental health and emotional health that it puts on us, and that we put our bodies on the line because we love doing it, because we love competing, and we enjoy providing entertainment for people. But at the end of the day, you don't think these type of things are going to happen. And when it does happen, everything is thrown out. A rivalry, distaste for a certain team, whatever it might be that might separate you a little bit,

that's all gone when it's one of your guys. And the three of you on the show, obviously you've all played, and I think we all feel the same way. Whether you're currently playing or done playing, you're shook about this because you just never thought you would see something like this on the field. It's bad enough when you see a guy getting carted off. That messes with you. Or you see a guy take a really bad concussive shot right and you're like man like i don't want that to be me like am i gonna be able to have my cognitive

function that i want at 50 and 60 and and and what am i what kind of risk am i really set myself up for but this kid's 24 years old right you know this really it fucked me up last night yeah all of us literally i it was i would assume that i would expect me to be fucked up from watching that type of situation but it was just a different feeling and then once these text mess people that i've never texted with before like around the league that i've known or whatever get my number last night and they're like hey man this just wanted you to know because I assume you're going to have to address this at some point. Like, I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight,

and I've been out of the league 10 years or whatever. Like, it really was something that seemingly has everybody shook, and we will wait and hope for a positive update on DeMar. Now, let's talk about you here a little bit and the Green Bay Packers. How does this affect you guys, you think? How do you think LeFleur will handle this because this is obviously massive week for your entire program what do you think the next steps are for everybody around the NFL and the Packers more specifically well I think that's you know mental health is so important uh in in our culture now

and I think there's a lot better language around it a A lot of the stigmas have been kind of erased. A lot of the myths around it have been debunked. It's an important part of your overall health is taking care of your mental health. And we're fortunate enough to have a full-time mental health support on our staff with Dr. Carr. And he's a phenomenal resource. He's been great for so many of us in Carr and a lot of and he's a phenomenal resource he's been great for so many of us in talking through a lot of different things a lot of sports performance related but even in situations like this I think it's he can be a great resource but I think there needs to be a you know conversation around it I don't think you just gloss it over like oh on to the Sunday night football to play in game for the playoffs it's, let's just take a little time out here.

Let's remember what's really important. Let's hug your loved ones, text the people you care about, tell them you love them, because this is a good moment to kind of pause and contemplate and reflect and show some empathy and respect for not just Hamlin, but for every player that laces him up every single week. And, you know, I think anybody that has any, you know, anything to say on this should have the opportunity to say it.

You know, there is obviously in our league, we're creatures of habit. There's this, you know, business as usual, you know, get on the schedule and keep things going, you know what I mean? But this is too big of an event for us to just gloss it over and just like, well, just let's get back to work, you know, like, and we're not even affected by it. We weren't playing the game and that wasn't our teammate, but that's still one of our brothers, you know, who's down and fighting for his life. And I think it's important to show the proper respect for for him and for the Bills and everybody involved in that event yeah I think you're right

and hopefully every team will do that because just as somebody that's outside of it looking in this has affected everybody in the locker room in the NFL so eager to see how it all you know pans out and we hope for updates very soon you just mentioned it sunday night football play in game okay this is a big deal a couple weeks ago you were getting run out of town let's have jordan love you spoke after the game about your leadership and what you uh what resigned to maybe the thought that you're washed or something like that? And then every time. Resigned to some of those ideas that it was time to move on, time to play, play George and give up on the season or whatever.

Okay. Well, I'm happy you don't think you're washed. Cause guess what? You're not new haircut too. Looking real young. But that speech about leadership in what you, you know, how you viewed the season and how everything was, I think was awesome, first of all. I think it was an incredible sign of leadership. I think it's a great quarterback to have. Your locker room getting to this point, how proud of that group are you? And honestly, do you feel like your team is close enough

to be able to battle something as traumatic as what's going on in Buffalo to get a massive win this week? Like, how do you how do you think your team responds to this? And what are your thoughts on your locker room? Yeah, you know, there's a lot of thoughts around that. It's hard to kind of put words to him, to be honest, because I think so much of us have been a little jarred by last night. You know, most of us, you know, either watch or check in or check on our phone what's going on. And I've watched a few more games this year just because I love Joe

and Troy so much and I enjoy their commentary. And so I've checked in on Monday Night Football maybe more than I have in the past. And so to check on that and to see what happened was it was tough man it was multiple hours of just like kind of silence you know like i don't didn't really want to you know i was kind of refreshing my twitter a lot after he got taken away like just hoping that you know there's gonna be some sort of update which which never came. And at one point I just had to stop because it's this loophole of just like

depressive thoughts about him and about football mortality and about everything, the future and all that. So when it comes to the game this week, I can promise we'll be ready to play. We have a tight-knit group. We've gone through a lot of adversity on our own squad. And to go from 4-8 and to be down in fourth quarter against Chicago, to be 8-8, and not just 8-8, but 8-8 and controlling our own destiny, like nobody would have thought that five weeks ago.

There's just, you know, nobody would have thought that. Now, I had a glimmer of hope, and I've mentioned it, you know, thinking we could run the table and win the last five for sure. But there wasn't many people that gave us any shot. and even still you know there was a lot of things that happened Washington had to lose a bunch of games and Seattle had to lose a couple and Detroit had to lose another one and everything just kind of fell into place now we're sitting here going shoot we're hosting a playoff game obviously we're a big draw you saw the numbers on Christmas so they put us in the prime time slot even though there's some

other games out there that can be to both teams can can maybe have win on their end now if seattle ends up losing at the 325 slot then obviously that game will be a playing game for both of us if they don't then they'll just try and play spoiler but uh but yeah we'll be ready to play i love the character of our team. We really come together. It's weird because there's been years where by week one we have this identity and we just kind of ride it throughout the season. And there's ups and downs in adversity. But this year I just felt like we were really trying to figure out who we were for a long time.

And part of that's for a young team. Part of that is just every season you've got to learn how to win again. And we went through a really rough stretch after London. I'm really proud of our guys. There's so many great personalities in the locker room. It's one of those teams where you just love everybody on the squad. There's not some outsiders. Everybody

feels like they're a part of it. I think that's due to the culture that we've created, the leadership, the framework that Matt has put on the squad and then uh you know type of guys that we brought in not just players but coaches like rich passaccia you know he's he's helped change the culture and he obviously pushed for down labbitt to come in and keyshawn nixon who's been such a big part of our success and then you know some of us old guys

just really embracing our role and for a lot of, it's been a bigger leadership role for Big Dog and myself and Randall Cobb. You know, statistically hasn't been our our best seasons. But as far as a leadership standpoint goes, I think we've we've showed up in exactly the way that we needed to at the right time for our guys. And we're happy to be sitting here with a lot to play for in January. It's awesome. Hey, how do you guys, I guess, approach this game like you have the rest of them? Like throughout this season, like you said, not a whole lot of people gave you guys a chance. Now all of a sudden here we are, expectations, people are saying,

oh, you don't want to play the Packers in the playoffs. Like that's the old cliche they're saying about you guys now. How do you approach this week and not put too much on this game actually? Yeah, I mean, it's funny how the narratives change right yeah they want you and now it sounds like they want you now a couple weeks yeah get the hell out of here uh we've been playing you know we were three and six in in dallas i never liked the term must win game i feel like somebody once said, like, the only must-win was World War II. You know, somebody said that one time,

and I remember thinking, yeah, I agree. Like, that was a must-win situation. Like, we had to win that, right? So the world can look a little better than the alternative. So I've never liked to use the word, the term must-win. I just feel like that should be safe for, like, life-and-death situations like that war you know so but we've been playing in these really important uh you know win or go home type scenarios for a while now a lot of people said it was like you know starting in dallas and we won that one then we lost to tennessee other

we're out then we lost to philly and we out. I always felt like as long as we're mathematically alive, then we're in it. And even at 4-8, I said, if we just get this one, probably said on the show, if we just get one, you never know what can happen. You never know what the minimum, and then we get another one. You never know what can happen. No, then we're playing Miami. There's no way you're going to beat Miami. They're an up-and-coming team.

They've got a dynamic offense, a great defense. You're going down there, you're not going to beat them. Then we beat them. Oh, then you play Minnesota. Yeah, got a dynamic offense, a great defense. You're going down there. You're not going to beat them. Then we beat them. Oh, then you play in Minnesota. Yeah, they're still playing for the top seed. They're a really good football team. They won 11 games, one-score games. You're not going to beat them.

Okay, then we beat them. It's like, well, now what are you going to say? Okay, now you're going to change the whole narrative. Oh, now nobody wants to see the Packers in the playoffs. I got it. So if you follow along with the narrative, you really ride this crazy rollercoaster throughout the season. I never really have.

I just always believe in my guys, believe in myself, and obviously love where we're at. We don't have to have anybody do anything. A lot of people have done a lot of great things. Big kudos to the Browns last week for that win. But a lot of people have done a lot of things for us. Now nobody needs to do anything for us except us winning a game against a real good opponent at home on Sunday night.

You did say, we're not eliminated. Whenever I said, you know, there's conversation right now, and I try to remind you of all those narratives, so I apologize for bringing that into your life. No, no, no, no. I love the narratives. They're great. Yeah, yeah.

I just don't ride them like a roller coaster. Yeah, the Ebjian Floj, you know, roller coaster. Yeah, the Ebj and Floch. You know, Chuck Pagano, the Ebj and Floch. Keep your blinders on. Let's stay even keel. You know what I mean? Impossible sometimes, especially with how loud it gets. But it did get very loud for you guys.

And I brought up, hey, have you ever thought about letting Jordan go in there whenever you guys are eliminated? This is the conversation you go, we're not eliminated. That was like your first, your immediate reaction was, we're not eliminated. That was the first thing you said. And I think that type of leadership is a big deal. Like, I think that's, I think I probably radiated through the building. I think you did all that.

You should be proud of yourself, pal. A lot of things were said about you negative-wise. And here we sit in a position in which nobody wants to play the Packers. Now, I don't want to be a spoiler to that narrative. They're saying that just because they want to hype you back up, so if you lose again, they can, this team was supposed to, this was supposed to be a team nobody wanted to play. You know what I mean?

So you know that's happening to you immediately, but it has been quite a ride this season for you guys as you try to find your new identity, seemingly have. Ty has a question for you, Aaron. Yeah, Aaron, I'll reiterate what Pat said. The haircut looks absolutely fabulous. Give me 2010 vibes, which I fucking love. I was one of those dipshits who was kind of riding the ebbs and flows,

but I think deep down I always knew, like, hey, we got Rodgers, baby. We're going to be okay. They're going to turn it around eventually. And then Sunday happens, and, you know, like that was, as a Packers fan, I mean, I can't remember having that much fun watching the game in a really long time. I mean, for all you guys, I mean, you are playing your best ball right now. And was it kind of just like a reminder to everyone that, like, hey, when we play complimentary football and all three phases are contributing, which hasn't really happened a bunch this year, like we really, I mean, you mentioned it earlier this year.

It's like, hey, on some days I feel like we lose to anybody, and I feel like we can beat anybody. But right now it really does feel like you guys can beat anybody. Does it feel like in the locker room that you are playing your best ball right now? I mean, you mentioned it. Everything's ahead of you guys still. It's fucking awesome. Yeah, the confidence level is really high. I look at the way that we're playing in all three phases,

and that was as well as we could play in all three phases, which we hadn't really done all season. Now, we've been trending definitely the last few weeks for sure in playing a lot better football, complimentary football. Special teams coming up with at least one big play a game. Defense coming up with turnovers. They've been forcing a lot of turnovers. You know, we had four turnovers forced, you know, on Sunday.

Keyshawn runs a kickback for a touchdown sav has a pick six smash has a pick rudy has a pick kenny has a forced fumble and sack forced fumble recovery and then offensively we took care of the football we were efficient aj had uh jonesy had a hundred yards rushing we got the ball you know around us and different guys. Bobby scored a touchdown. I, you know, had a little touchdown run. We're playing well in all three phases, and the confidence level is high. I think a lot of that is due to players, you know, specific players. This is a player's game.

It ain't about the X's and O's, right? It's about those guys who line up every single Sunday and the confidence that they play with and we got 59 back from his injury Devontae Campbell you know he's been playing really really well I think he's been a spark for us Sav was benched for a while and comes in plays real well in the second half last week against Miami and then had a really nice game obviously on Sunday I give him a ton of credit for his professionalism. Special teams, you know, we got a dynamic, dynamic returner now. And we have guys who own their roles and block.

And then offensively, when Dave's back, Dave is an all-pro left tackle. That's without question. Dave is an all-pro left tackle, and he locks people down. And he's phenomenal. And next to him, recently paid, Elton Jenkins has been a lot more consistent once he's settled into his left guard role. I think Josh has been very consistent at center. Runyon's been as consistent as anybody at right guard.

And Yash and Zach Tom, you know, Zach coming in after Yash got a stigger, Zach played really well so being able to have that consistency with our guys and certain guys with that confidence stepping in owning their roles and leading and playing at a high level that's how you win games so in 59 you know we had an incredible year last year and gets hurt and comes back and gets back to playing the way he was playing, that gets everybody going. When Sav doesn't complain, right, and comes back in the second half and has a really nice half and then a pick six and plays really, really well, that energizes guys. You know, when Elton shows that consistency, when Dave comes back and you're just like, oh, okay, we're good on the left side,

that gives guys confidence and energy. This is a player's game. And our primetime players, our big-time players, have stepped up and played at a high level. I think what you're explaining there also goes to the special teams. Whenever you have a dynamic returner, and obviously Passaccia is an incredible coach and a big part of being a special teams coach is getting everybody to buy in but if you know you got a guy behind you you don't want to be the one that fucks that up blocking like guys I don't want to be that hole that he had to run

through was never a part of the Green Bay Packers scheme before Nix comes around set it sets it up perfectly everybody's getting their blocks and then he makes a couple moves and reads it perfectly and he's gone it's like the everybody is confident on your team and it's at the right time aaron hey aaron this is the right time for this to be taking place here with obviously a should win must have to win playoff win, must win, have to win. Playoff win, not must win. Need to win. Need to win to make the playoffs. Need to win. There it is.

Okay. World War II, solid must win. Probably the must win. Number one of all time. Up there. Very high up there. But it's awesome to watch your team go. It's awesome for you.

Hey, you're moving a little bit. Hey, pal. You're starting to run a little bit more. Is it the haircut? Huh? Is it the haircut that made you feel a little bit younger? How about you slapping the bass, too, after a touchdown? Huh?

How about it? What's going on? Do we got the gold zone back? I saw the gritty parade that took place. It was as if it was a wedding. Saw you. Hey, you were killing it. Had drums.

Had a guitar. Did you see D-Bach, though,ak though on the sax no i did not see the sax i saw him coming in and watch the nfl had some view where they showed like i don't know how they had it they pieced together video but it had like everybody kind of doing their part and dave was killing the sax i'll give him that well i don't know if it's like trey daniels who did the national anthem for the colts game who uh with his sack, I'm sure Bach has a great saxophone. I'm sure that's fantastic. But the confidence, the play, it feels like everything's timing up perfectly.

Listen, you want to be playing your best football late in the season. And usually we're fighting for playoff seats. And you want to be healthy and playing your best ball. And we haven't done that over the years. You know, there's been a lot of years we didn't play our healthy and playing your best ball and we haven't done that over the years you know there's been a lot of years we didn't play our best ball going to playoffs so we weren't healthy and we had some early exits uh the last time we won a super bowl we had to win and get in and we were playing our best ball late in the season so we've won four in a row uh 16 year we had to win six in a row to get in.

Made it to the NFC Championship. This football team is much better than that football team was. I think, AJ, you can probably speak to that. But, oh, you weren't there. So, we're probably better without you. Better now. Better now. Definitely better now.

You didn't have AJ on the team? Definitely better now. Yeah, yeah, 100%. But I like the way we're playing. I like the confidence. Look, it's a weird thing, you know, always saying, you know, parents say to their kids, I'm sure AJ says to his 10 kids when they go out and play, he's like, hey, have fun out there.

It's like, yeah, okay. And you say it to, like, professionals. Like, oh, you know, let's just go have fun. It's like, wait, you have fun when you're winning, right? Hell, yeah. But also, I will say, the way that you practice during the week, the way that you prepare, the way, you know, the mood of the locker room has a lot to do with how you play on Sundays.

Oh, yes. If you have a loose team that's hanging out and joking with each other and spending time with each other, naturally he's going to go out and play a little bit more free. And whether that was four and eight and everybody's like, yeah, fuck it, you know, what's the worst that could happen? We're eliminated. Or whether it was the guys coming back and playing with that pride,

that competitive greatness, I'm not sure exactly what it was. But whatever recipe we got going right now has been making some pretty sweet music. Do you win because you're having fun or are you having fun because you win? That is the old adage. I think you have fun and you're happy, probably going to have success. You think back to the Philadelphia Eagles, that team meeting before the NFC where they were playing Meek Mill, Dreams and Nightmares, and it was the team meeting room before the Super Bowl

and the entire team is hold up wait a minute and then some the O-line coach I think was standing on a chair like this I'm like this team is gonna like this team is gonna win they obviously do you guys with the gold zone that entire time every touchdown it felt like everybody was happy and everybody was pumped. It's great to see. I can't wish you enough luck this weekend against that team from Detroit. I'm pulling for you. Can't wait to chat with you next week. And thank you for your take. Are you really pulling because MCDC declined the interview?

It wasn't MCDC. It was their PR person. And the way they went about declining it, I was like, oh, okay, alright. If that's how it's going to be, you know. And there's a lot of people from Detroit going, he's hunkering down. It's a big week. This isn't peewee football. Shut the fuck up, okay? The coach is going

to be on a microphone. This is the biggest game of the year that's going to happen. We have other things scheduled. Sorry about it. See, it's like, oh, I thought we had a pretty good relationship with you guys. For every action, tell them, Aaron, there's an equal and opposite reaction. Bingo. And they're going to feel that from me.

And every single Lions fan that was tweeting me, calling me a bitch and stuff like this, because I tweeted him, like, keep going. Keep it going. Perfect. Don't lose. Fuel the fire. Do not lose on Sunday okay do not and that's not because you know I want to do that you know the people at Detroit have sucked for a long time in the sports department that is not you know their fault but yeah we got big dog by the lines and like okay we'll see how that okay sounds good

good luck good luck it was what my response was hope you win okay hope you win because this thing's going to be active on monday live from the national championship in front of a crowd of thousands and thousands of people and i assume i might be on level 10 000 if you're going to put a couple thousand people out there i have no idea what everybody else is going to do but i can't wait to watch you on sunday night aaron thank you for joining us thank you for talking about mr hamlin uh and we appreciate the hell out of you man good luck this weekend yeah thanks guys appreciate the time uh to talk about that because that's the biggest story in in all of our lives right now and and uh keep And keep your thoughts and prayers with him

and hoping for some good news. You got it. Ladies and gentlemen, Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, Aaron! Hope you win, Foxy. Hope you win. It might not even matter, though. Might not even matter.

Yeah, first off, it might not matter. Second off, Aaron's got a pretty big game, too, and he just spent, what, 45 minutes with us? Yeah, but Aaron's on every single week. I know. So, like like that Aaron's on every single week and I have a lot of Lions fans going Tomlin told you no because he's playing Ravens it's like they're the Pittsburgh Steelers yeah okay yeah everybody talks about the Pittsburgh Steelers we are the only show that is really consistently for five years added the Lions into conversation yep and although it is like oh Lions we always go to bat at the end of the day we always turn baby face I think sure for the Lions into conversation. And although it is like, oh, Lions, we always go to, at the end of the day,

we always turn babyface, I think, for the Lions. I've always said, you want the Lions to win more than anyone else, even though the jokes are hilarious and whatnot, but you generally want... We talk about the fucking Lions. Exactly. Nobody else does.

Exactly. So finally, the Lions are a part of an actual storyline. Yeah. Implication game. Actual game. Yeah. And i never do this i'm like hey zd baby we need mcd and i was pumped i was so excited when you said that need mcd i don't do that ever it's like people reach out to us to come on the show cool we very rarely are like hey need to have this person on so like shooting our shot is something we don't normally do because this is

an uncomfortable situation right that we have to deal with but we thought like we had done in build up enough goodwill sure with the lions yep to be like all right let's because for the nfl fans which are the people that watch what they tell you what they tell you what are you upset about uh we're gonna have to pass he has a lot of things scheduled already happy new year basically that was the only response it was like oh okay not like a hey sorry make it work next it was like uh hey he's got the schedule we pass happy new year it's like i'll remember that right okay okay i i will i will remember people need to understand he's going to do media so we just really no no you fucking lions fans have no fucking idea exactly i thought it's a big game so he doesn't have to talk at all to anybody about

anything which is hilarious i'm pretty sure he did media right before the bears game this past weekend it's just i can't i'm just enough of it and i just can't just write them off that's all it is i'm just yep see ya okay let's put the steelers thing aside too uh t was not doing any other media that week yeah he didn't have a bunch of things scheduled already exact words exactly to your point they've always been good they're always going to may have reached out and he's going to the hall of fame yeah that's right everything like that and also if i really wanted to if i push back no i you. I think there's a chance. Tom, it'll come to this. Even the response, what he said, was like, with a smile.

Yeah, can't do it. It's Ravens. It's Ravens. I'm fucking working, is what he said or whatever. But if I was to send back, if I was to, like, push back, I'm like, hey, need you on here, have to do this. I think there's a chance that he'd be like, all right, he'd FaceTime on, he'd hate the whole time. It'd be a three-minute thing, and he'd be like, get the fuck out of here.

Like, that would happen. So we're coming from a franchise that has no wins ever about anything. Yep. And that whole thing. That is why I think I took it a little differently. Like, really? Okay.

But Lions fans, their tweets to me, keep them coming. Because we're live on Monday. And I assume you guys are going to win. You guys are a team of destiny right now. That's right. Okay, I assume you will. And all will be good.

We'll be lucky to talk about the playoff bond. Same old Lions. That'll be fun. Can't wait. Yeah. And't wait. Yeah. And if not. And if they win, him doing everything else that he has had to do. By the way, this is not MCDC turning us down.

A lot of people said, oh, MCDC didn't want to come on the show. Sorry about it or whatever. It's like, I don't even think MCDC knew that we asked. Right. There's no way. There's no way he knows. This is from. Yeah.

Other Mark. Yeah. out of the way there's no way he knows this is from yeah other Mark yeah but we're past it because the world was put in perspective last night anyways yep that's right and I think that is

something that we should all take away from last night is how quickly everything can change family celebrating happy we're playing a game

we're doing this Monday night football prime time who's going to the playoffs who's winning the AFC North who's the number one senior fc and then all of a sudden i know we're bang this can all end out of nowhere we need to remember that so let's not worry about that whole thing let's not hold that in let's get that out okay like we will on monday after they win or lose to the incredibly handsome looking Aaron Rodgers who cut his hair.

Right. One or the other, we'll figure it out. AJ, let's bounce back tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have an update by then. I've been watching the TVs over here. I think it's all the same information being kind of put out there. Stay tuned to the old Twitter account, at Pat McAfee Show, Instagram account, and TikTok account.

We will put out anything that we hear, although we will not just put out shit that we think. There was a lot of clout chasing on social media last night. I felt bad that I even put out a tweet asking what the hell happened in everybody else's eyes because that thing got running and rolling. And I didn't want to look at my, I didn't want to do anything for a long time. Had to give an update to that tweet,

because people were starting to come after me for the tweet, which was immediately after the situation, as opposed to 15 minutes in the situation when there was a lot of new news. So I had to update it. There was a lot of people taking their shots last night. And it's just like, I don't know if this is i don't know if this is the right time to be speculating on what you think is happening if you're not an actual fucking doctor so we will try to keep everybody updated with what we actually know we'll be back tomorrow noon eastern and uh we will not be doing big bumps

today aq we apologize that you traveled out here and we're not doing your segment, but it doesn't feel right to celebrate that. I agree. It doesn't feel right. All right, AJ, any final thoughts on today? I don't know, man. Crazy, crazy last, what, 24, 12, 18 hours has been nuts. Yeah, scary, very scary.

Yeah, I think 18. I think 18 is the right number there. If you start doing some math, would that be 845? Yep. That's exactly what happened. All right. We'll be back tomorrow. Remember, perspective is a good thing to have.

And in any bad situation, there's little silver linings that we can pick out of it and take with us going forward. Old buddy was 24 and healthy. Almost had his life taken away in a routine situation. Obviously, we hope he is good and we will await updates, but you can take a little piece of that into your life too. Anything can happen at any time. So let's not hold grudges. Let's not be assholes. Let's say nice things to each other and we will see you tomorrow. Thank you all so much for watching. Happy 2023. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye.