The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 826 - Positive Damar Hamlin Updates, Ian Rapoport, Stephen A. Smith, Darius Butler And Chuck Pagano LIVE In The ThunderDome, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: January 5, 2023

On today’s show, Pat, Darius Butler, Chuck Pagano, AJ Hawk, and the boys react to the news that Damar Hamlin has woke up and is showing positive signs and is in an incredible spot compared to where he was at a few days ago. Joining the show to chat about Damar Hamlin and his situation, the playoff implications this weekend and who is playing and who isn’t, as well as where a few coaches might wind up is NFL Network Senior Insider, Ian Rapoport (18:19-51:44). Also joining the progrum to chat about everything going on in the sports world, his day-to-day, his new podcast and memoir, and much more is the face of ESPN, legend in the industry, host of First Take and a plethora of other things, Stephen A. Smith (1:13:28-1:39:39). Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. See you tomorrow for Feel Good Friday, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, beautiful people. Welcome to our humble abode, the FanDuel Thunderdam. On this There's No Thursday Night Football, Thursday, January 5th, 2023, we start now. Football! It is obviously the topic of conversation every single day. Over the last couple of days, we've been talking about a very serious situation that has taken place on a football field in primetime on Monday. We have breaking news here to lead off the show. And by breaking, I mean, it's been broken on the internet for like the last hour or two. Tamar Hamlin has opened his eyes in the University of Cincinnati

Medical Center ICU. He has gripped the hands of loved ones next to him bedside, and they're saying he is neurologically intact. This seems like great news on all fronts, and they're saying that, obviously, let's continue to send our positive vibes, thoughts, and prayers to DeMar Hamlin and his family and everybody at that hospital. But hell yeah, fuck yeah, let's go, DeMar. Pumped up about that. Fuck yeah. Let's go, DeMar.

Yeah. Pumped up about that. We talked to Jordan Rooney, obviously his marketing agent of Jaster Media, I believe. Jaster Media, I believe, is the name of the company. He's from Pittsburgh. He's friends with DeMar, also friends with the family. He has become a pseudo-spokesperson for the family through this all. Now there is obviously going to be eyes all on Jordan Rooney for the next five years because of this whole thing.

It felt like every time he talked to us or any time we saw him chat, he did have the best intentions and was just trying to make sure that all the world we live in right now with the narratives weren't getting out of control too much and hopefully trying to take a little bit of stress off of the family so they don't have to deal with anything. I think that was his angle. We shall see. so they don't have to deal with anything. I think that was his angle. We shall see.

$11 million, I believe, is what's going to be raised for his GoFundMe, for his Making M's charity, I believe, Toy Drive, which is also going to fund some other stuff that they have going on. So there is a lot happening around DeMar Hamlin, and now we're hearing incredible news. Yesterday, the vibes were high out of their camp, saying that good things were happening, but nobody was really saying anything of, like, matter of fact, like, this happened, this happened.

So that gives us positive vibes. It was always like, the doctors are telling us he's hanging in there. He's fighting. We know DeMar, he's going to battle through this. It was that type of stuff, good vibes. Now we know, eyes open, gripping hands, neurologically intact. That's great news. Ian Rappaport will be joining us in 15 minutes.

He'll probably have all the latest updates. Can't wait to chat with him. Today is a massive day for the football world because this is the first Thursday in a long time, no football. God damn it. This is what the future looks like. This is what the next seven months look like right here on Thursdays. Yes, this is what it is. We need to understand that.

But that means that we're at a point in the season where the football matters the most. We're at a point in the season where every single game, well, that's not true. There's just a couple games. Not the ones that the Colts play. Obviously the Colts are one of those teams that currently are out of it and have nothing to fucking play for this weekend, and that is a shame. I'm calling for it. Because they have paid a lot of money to a lot of players,

and that should not be the case. But there's a lot of teams that are that way. And then there's other teams that need to win, and they're in. And when they're in, that means they're in the playoff hunt. They're in a tournament. They could go win the Super Bowl. They can get their names etched in history.

That's right. That's where we're at right now. It's going to be a glorious Thursday, isn't it? The Talks at Table is here at Boston Conner, at Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer. Cowboys 10 digs this year. Host of the Man to Man podcast, Everything DB and the NFL matchup show on ESPN, ESPN

2 and ESPN+. Darius J. Butler is here. You look so cool. You too, man. These jumpsuits. I look the same, literally as every single day. You look, no. I kind of look white. Well, those shoes.

I kind of look white trashy, they say. He's not jocked. He's not jocked. But you look super cool and you're jocked. Very jocked. Joining us now is another man that's jocked. He is a guy who coached in the NFL in college and in the football world for like four decades. Yep.

Total. I was very lucky to be a player of a team that he was head coach of, which is the Indianapolis Colts. This man battled leukemia through one of those NFL seasons and founded the Chuck Strong Foundation, which has raised millions and millions of dollars to fund cancer research. Ladies and gentlemen, an absolute legend, icon, host of Coach P's Keys, which had a great first season.

Chuck McGonigal. What's up, man? How you doing? So we got a couple things to talk about. That's not an Italian flag on your computer. Yeah, what the hell is that? That is not an Italian flag on your computer. What's going on?

Did you get bamboozled here? What happened right there? What? Green, white, and red. Yeah, but there's a country in the middle. Is that what happened? Yeah, you know the red part down

there where the boot is? You know what part of the country that is? Hell yeah. Cologne. That was the Sicilians. Sicilianos. That's where the Sicilians live. That's where the organized operations is really cooking down there. The Calabres are up top. Oh, light skin, light skin, light skin.

Like us. Yeah, absolutely, up there at the top. At any rate, there's a lot of gobble ghoul over there. Yeah, there is. And Tone was the one that actually put the flag on the back. And as soon as we saw it, it was like 30 seconds before we went live. I was like, that's not the flag, obviously, because there's a lot of flags in the world oh yeah you know so you don't always just remember the intricate details of every single flag because there's some flags that if they told you to draw

you'd remember and think it's so simple and then they're like oh no don't you there's a sun up here and it's all right good it's like how did the flag design happen there's some that are just like the most basic and boring like okay we want no creativity and then there's some that are just like the most basic and boring like, okay, we want no creativity. And then there's others that are like, why is this what we got going on? Nonetheless, knew that wasn't an Italian flag. And then Tone said, we want to showcase the boot, the country as well.

Tone, how does it feel to have a fellow Paisano within arm's reach for this entire beautiful No Thursday Night Football Thursday, January 5th. It's unbelievable because I know that the amount of knowledge that I'm going to gain today is immeasurable. Can't be measured. Won't even be tried to be measured because the wealth of knowledge.

He's forgotten. That's right. Immeasurable. Won't even try to. He's forgot more about football than I've ever fucking known in my entire life. So I can't wait to listen to Coach P today. All right, let's dive in. Let's start talking about some stuff.

You're Sean McDermott. Okay, Coach Pagano, you are Sean McDermott. And that incident happens on a Monday Night Football field that is just routine tackle. Okay, and obviously there's another half of this that we haven't even chatted about, and that's T. Higgins. And I'm sure he is more relieved than everybody about the news that has come out about tamar opening his eyes and having uh grip strength capabilities and being neurologically intact which is the news that has come out this

morning from the university of cincinnati medical center but he's obviously felt i couldn't even imagine how he but he knows and everybody's told him except for probably one or two people like routine tackle that happens all the time. There's no way he could have done anything different. But nonetheless, that all happens there. McDermott immediately has to become a coach that there's no blueprint for. How do you think he handled it, and what do you think his message to the team is going forward? Because this team is going to be, it's week 18 of the regular season.

They've still got another month and a half left. That's a long time, hopefully, in their eyes, obviously. Yeah, great news, obviously, that came out of DeMar's camp. And for the Bills and all of us, matter of fact, we've all been waiting for something, right? We've gotten little glimpses here and there about stuff. But yeah, I thought Sean was unbelievable in that moment. Like you said,

there is no playbook for this. When I first got hired at the Colts, I was looking for the head coaching manual. There's not one. You know, Jim Caldwell didn't leave that behind. But there's no playbook for something like this because we all know injuries are going to happen. You know, we've seen knees, we've seen ankles, low leg, you know, concussions, things like that. But this is, you know, use a word that's getting thrown around a lot, unprecedented, right, this situation. But listening to Zach Taylor talk to the media yesterday and come out and kind of explain when he walked across the field and when he first talked to, you know, Coach McDermott, and the first things out of his mouth was, hey, I need to be at the hospital with DeMar, with his family, and I don't need to be here coaching this game. And so I think that speaks volumes.

I think we already knew what type of man Sean was, what type of leader Sean was. But until you're thrust into these situations like that, you know, circumstances don't make you. They reveal you. Oh. So I think what was revealed about this football team, about the Bengals, about, and we already probably knew a lot about it, but it revealed that these are two classy organizations. The head coaches are great leaders. There's great players and great leaders on these two teams and i thought i thought sean was amazing and and i think they're going to practice today i

heard you know i had a walk through yesterday but getting this news you know i think they his father came out and did a zoom call with the team which probably helped him you know tried to help him help that team move forward those coaches move forward, and then the news today, they can kind of say, okay, our brother, our teammate is going to be okay. Yeah. And then we can move forward, and we have to move forward. And I think Sean would say, hey, look, what would DeMar, in this situation, what would he want us to do?

Yeah. And what would that family want us to do? And you've got to keep moving forward. And I think that's probably a part of what Mario said to the team. Yeah. DeMar's father, Mario, spoke to the team in the Zoom. And then a couple of the Bills players, not a couple of the Bills players, but they said the team needed it.

Obviously, yes. That is an incredible message to hear. The world, I think, was excited to hear this. And I don't want to say needed because we didn't as much as the Buffalo Bills or as much as his family. But, man, this is great news coming out for everybody to think about. Me, Darius, and AJ were talking about this yesterday. You know, Sean McDermott, great coach,

and he just talked about how adversity doesn't make you. It reveals you. Boom. Hell, yeah. What a line. That's a bar right there from old Coach Pagano. There are some coaches around the NFL that would not have been able to handle that situation as well as Sean McDermott did. So I do believe the praise that has continued to be heaped on him, especially if we have a former head coach in the building talking on a microphone, is a good thing.

Yeah, absolutely. What they got going on there in those programs is fucking good, strong, and that's what a culture I think everybody talks about. Yeah, and in tough times like this, obviously you need, you know, team and family and his family is going to need that as well because I would assume, you know, it's a long road ahead, you know, to recovery and him getting back to us. And so we're all on pins and needles. Obviously his family is as well. So great, great news coming out from his pops.

Yes. So our big question for you in Rappaport now is like, what is expectation here? Yeah, going forward. Because we didn't know what good news was a couple days ago. We didn't know, well, what's good news? Like, alive, right? Is good news?

Sure. That's where we all were thinking. Neurologically intact, that makes it sound like they're. That's good news. Hand. That strength. Yep. Grabbing, right?

So we're starting to piece some things together now on what may be if tomorrow and i don't even want to say it because it seems so absurd especially coming from the moment that it happened to everything we've just experienced is he playing football again yeah i mean based on what like talking to jordan and like the feelings about tomorrow that they have unless he himself decides like yeah i don't want to ever you you know, have to be put in there. This would be a question we'll ask for Appaport. Because I don't even – it's obviously not even – Yeah, it's probably so far away.

That is not even like in anybody's thought. But like Pronger, the NHL, he got hit puck, chest, commotio cordis. He came back, played like what, 10 years afterwards or something like that. Yeah, he went on to have a Hall of Fame career. Yeah, and he didn't play that long after it happened, right, Nick? I think it was weeks. Next week, I think. Oh, yeah, like after it happened.

Yes. It's insane where modern technology is at. We watched, the whole world watched, and just from my lack of knowledge in that world about how long a body in CPR and everything can happen, my natural instinct about how long a body in CPR, everything can happen, my natural instinct watching how long it was, I was like, that's too long. Yeah, once again, hats off to obviously the coaches and players, and they did an incredible job with those responders,

those first responders getting on the medical personnel, getting on the field, actually going. Because all the doctors that's coming out, if it is, what is it, Comotio? Cordis. If it is something, that's something that most of these guys only read about in textbooks. Yeah, probably haven't experienced it before.

Yeah, so having really, you know, going through those protocols and actually put some of that shit in place. So for them to come out and do that and give DeMar a chance, you know, because a lot of places that happens, a lot of people don't even have a chance to make it. So hats off to them. Shout out to? Yeah, Denny Kellington that that happens, a lot of people don't even have a chance to make it. So that's something. Shout out to Denny Kellington. They said was the Bills guy who basically acted immediately.

Yeah, there he is. Assistant athletic trainer. Right. Acted immediately and started administering CPR. And they said, like, he's, you know, in this situation, like one of the real heroes because it was, you know, same deal. I mean, something like that happens. And I mean, obviously, these guys are trained to do that kind of stuff. But it's like, hey, got to have your fucking A game when something like this happens.

Yeah, when pressure arrives, can you perform? Exactly. You know, there's some refs we've seen that, like, in the big moment, obviously not ready for it because everybody talks about players. And rarely are coaches talked about, too. There are some coaches that in the big moment you can't do it, let alone equipment managers whenever something pops off. Like in football, there's obviously helmet malfunction, face mask, literally anything.

You've got a good equipment manager who can flip things quick. It doesn't get thought about until it pops up. And if you don't have a guy or a girl, it's like you're trying to find in the thing. So old buddy, I assume that this has been the plan. He's the one who took the left like he was probably the one that was part of the practice and part of the whole thing but who knows in the moment are you going to be able to execute it perfectly and these trainers everybody talks about you know and they're the meme water boys people like oh water boys make six figures

in the nfl or eighty thousand dollars in the nfl like i'd love to do that. That fucker has slept 14 hours a week for the last 24 weeks probably, if I had to guess. The trainers, their lives, they're in the building as early as the earliest person that's in the building. And then normally in the building, I don't know, the coaches end up sleeping there and doing that type of stuff, so we can't talk about that. But whoever the last player basically out of there is there,

their days are 18 hours long, very regularly. And then, obviously, they have a deep passion for the team and for the players. And then for this to happen, it's like, hey, shut up, Denny. And you know their phones are blowing up 24-7. So when they do leave, these things are still blowing up. And players are saying, hey, I need some Norma Tech. I need this. I need this.

I need that. And those guys are on call. So they don't sleep. They can't turn their phone off. You can't silence your phone if you're in that role. And so, again, adversity doesn't make you. It reveals you. What was revealed about this dude?

Yeah, Denny's a legend out there. D-Butt, also, have no sleep. Make everybody feel better. Always be ont. Also, have no sleep. Make everybody feel better. Always be on call. And better have a good attitude. We don't need you bringing us down. Yeah. Legit.

Like, their vibe keeps people going through the entire seat. I couldn't even imagine a training room that has a bad vibe. Colts one, we had. You were always in there. We had fucking people. Like, the trainers, physical therapists in there, everybody in that room, pretty great hang. And then you're dealing with a lot of individuals that are,

obviously it's a high-pressure job. You can be in there one day, you can be gone in the next, you can be fighting for your job, and now, damn, I got a knee, and I'm out three four weeks potentially and i'm trying to you know fight for my professional life here so now like you said you show up at treatment at six o'clock those are the first faces you see those are the people kind of push you all right let's get three more reps let's get four more reps so with these um sometimes you get an injury they may say hey this this may this may be it this may be it for you may never come back so

yeah they have to deliver terrible news. Very painful. Tough, tough job. Rehab is very, very tough. They're raking a metal, like, stick on your scar tissue so it'll break it up so it doesn't happen. Excruciatingly painful. A metal absolute, a metal thing just getting jammed and rubbed, basically, up and down. Bone and scar tissue.

No fun. No fun at all. Necessity. It is a necessity. No fun. They have to do that, and then they have to read the human. They have to read me. How bad does this hurt? Okay, let's take a break. Motivational speech. Gotta do it. Let's get back in here.

Like, it's just not an easy job at all. I'm happy old buddy's getting. Let's think about it. Then they have to deal with the coaches. Oh, my back. What the fuck is going on with Pat, man? Is he going to practice? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Is he going to practice this week or what? Yeah, it's real. You know, we're working on it. So, shout out to those guys. And they have to treat everybody on the team. Exactly, yeah. All 90 guys that come in immediately, right? You got to treat them all like they're Peyton Manning.

Exactly, yeah. Like Aaron Burrill is the head physical therapist for the Indianapolis Colts. Been around a long time. West Virginia grad, okay? From Morgantown, West Virginia. Weapon. Weapon. Weapon of a human.

Knew of me whenever I got there. Obviously, he and I and Kyle and Wallow was in there for a long time and Hambone and that whole group is awesome. But me and EB, he got me back. Him and Kyle got me back from fucking three surgeries, four years, just like that. I'm very thankful that Denny's getting his flowers. Absolutely.

It's not a bad time to get flowers. Everybody else around the NFL doing that job as well because obviously they did not save somebody's life right on a field in front of everybody. Denny deserves to get shouted out, and I think he would think this as well. Those trainers are fucking awesome people around the NFL, and they're a necessity. We got Ian Rappaport joining us right now. We will love to hear what Ian's hearing because it feels as if this morning

a lot of news has been released out of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Ladies and gentlemen, the senior NFL insider for the league, the network, and its website, host of the podcast, The Insiders, which can be found on fast networks. Also the host of the weekly wrap-up

with Rap Sheet and Friends, us being the friends, he'd be in rap sheet ladies and gentlemen ian rapaport ian uh before we dive into anything phenomenal job on the food network last night tailgate takedown thank you you were the star of the program and you did amazing. I appreciate that. I appreciate your tweets. The thing about it exploding in my mouth. Hey. I just hope the internet forgets, which I assume it will. I would tell you this. The only thing I really cared about, well, one, my hair looked great. Two was, did they show how fun it was?

Because it legitimately was fun. So I'm glad they showed that and thank you for your tweets. Yeah, I think it was a good, I think it was. Okay, that, now, now, now that. Yikes. What's going on, Bob? Tim Kirsch and Frank Thomas. I see what happened first here. Yeah, this is a Siciliana thing, it appears. But they have

you dead in the middle. So it's not even we could say like they put you far side. No. Or there's anything else like that it is perfect perspective there in perfect ratio but that was whenever you were showcasing urgency you were the one that pointed out that there was a fire fire oh star i mean i'm ian was the star of the show last night oh yeah and i don't know if everybody got to see it so the one about the mouth exploding let's go let's turn that volume up because it is a little low because I'm recording it from my bed at my house. This is Ian. Too much, but okay.

This is Ian explaining, okay, a meatball, I believe, right, from the New York Giants team? Yep, meatball. This is a meatball that was cooked, obviously, to perfection. Oh, yeah. cooked obviously to perfection oh yeah and here's a description of the texture of said meatball by food judge and critic ian rapaport on tailgate takedown you can feel it like in your mouth which i like so that was great work yeah the way they edited that whole thing and then there was oh there was another moment that you got in there they were really cutting these quick.

That was me just showcasing his entire take. That was not out of context at all. That was what they decided to put in there. And then this is shortly after there where he wanted to go ahead and just get all the flavor off the fingers. Because if you do recall, it was a long day on the set. He was looking forward to this food, not just to judge it, but to also digest and enjoy it.

Here's Ian Rappaport wrapping up his thoughts on the meatballs. Don't mind me, guys. I'll be a second. Okay. Thank you, Ian Rappaport, for the electricity last night. You did great on that, honestly. You fucking were great on that show last night, Ian. You need to know that. Well, thank you. There were several moments where I was supposed to be doing something and I was just eating.

And they had to be like, can we take the food? And I'm like, can I just have like a little? Because I was there all day. It was the best food we had. And all I really wanted to do was just eat all that stuff. Food, I work. Yeah. I mean, and they promised me I would get to eat, like for real eat.

So it all worked out very well. I'm happy that that was a part of the negotiation. I'm going to Food Network to be a food judge. Can I eat? Please. What is this guy's deal? Come on, Raph. He still kept taking it away.

What is he doing? No, they kept taking it away. And I was like, let me just, just like, there was one point when like they put it down and they were like, all right, just leave it here. And then I took some and they kind of were like, don't, don't take any. Okay. All right. Cause they got to get their shots and everything like that.

That is a massive moment in your life. I'm happy. I got to watch it live and I'm happy and hopeful that you'll get more of those opportunities. Congrats. Let's dive into your actual bread and butter, which is being the senior NFL insider for not only the network, the league, the website, and NFL Plus.

Hell yeah. DeMar Hamlin news, seemingly really, really good. Eyes open. You reported gripping hands of close ones. Neurologically intact, they're saying. When did all this happen? When did all this take place and are we expecting more great information coming out of university of cincinnati medical center

today mr rapaport uh okay so first of all this is all amazing yes you know i think you could probably tell yesterday when we spoke things were going in the right direction right like there was some optimism there was some positivity even if people close weren't saying like, this is specifically happening, that's specifically happening. You could tell by the way that they were reacting, things were going to be okay. And at least he was going to make it. That's what it seemed like yesterday. At least he was going to make it. And then last night he opened his eyes. Um, and that is also amazing. And just imagine the family members who have been there 72 hours, not knowing if he's going to live or die, watching him get resuscitated on the field,

some of the most dramatic and immediate medical attention we've seen in a public setting ever. I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. I was thinking about it. I forget about football. I can't remember ever seeing anyone else fighting for his life in front of us,

and we're all watching. Nine, and I think Joe Buck, like, for the last nine minutes they've been doing, it's like, it was, and the whole world's watching. Prime time. All eyes on. Right. I think for all of us, hearing Joe Buck say nine and a half minutes, it was when, at least for me, I was like, okay, this has just changed.

This is now not about football. This is very real, and I don't know what's happening. And then he opens his eyes last night. He is responsive. He's not talking yet because he has a tube in his mouth still but gripping the hands of loved ones knowing that they are there for him is all like really incredible okay so let's uh dive into a little bit more there was anybody with him when he opened his eyes how did they find out i assume that it was his family bedside the entire time and when that happens what i everybody lose everybody

gets real pumped right i mean that is what time do we know when that happened in the, in the evening? It was late. It was late. So I, it was, I think it was, you know, somewhere after eight o'clock because, you know, it started like, you know, I'm, when I do these things, you know, you check in for news and you check in on humans and then you do a little bit of in between. And this is one of those things that you're not really gonna do anything until it becomes an official statement but he started to get word last night like we're gonna have something tomorrow that's gonna be good so around like 8 or 9 p.m something was happening which turned out to be opening his

eyes i don't know specifically who was in the room, but I know that the reaction from those close to him who evolved, because the family members are sort of in and out, so I don't know who specifically was there, but I know the reaction was described to me as extremely heartwarming. I would assume, yeah. I mean, geez, what a moment there for DeMar

as well. Coach Pagano has a question for you, Ian Rappaport. Hey, obviously that's great news. Good to see you, Ian. Glad you enjoyed those meatballs. Did they tell you what was in those meatballs, how they were made? Yeah, it was

regular meat, some jalapenos diced up, and then some ricotta and mozzarella in the middle of it so it was real crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Do you make your own? Do you make your own meatballs? No, his wife.

My wife does in fact make meatballs. A lot of the other stuff I make, I got a new pizza oven. I am the one putting it into the oven, taking it out. She does some other stuff. This guy I got a new pizza oven. I am the one putting it into the oven, taking it out. She does some other stuff. All right, Chuck. This guy's just lying all over everything.

We can't do that. No. What are the next steps, though? A lot of that was true. Go ahead. No, no. So whenever we talk about, and your meatballs are fantastic, you don't make them, though. So we're not going to let you just lie on the program.

But I think we do have to get back to, he does it. He doesn't do anything, Chuck. No, he does not. This guy does not, he actually documents him not doing anything and puts out to the public like, hey. My wife is awesome.

My wife is awesome. Thank you for massaging my feet. He's, yeah. Well, I don't know if that has happened, but certainly some. It's happened. Snow. My feet hurt so much.

I was just on the food network. All right. Let's get back to what you actually do, though. Let's get back into this. So what are the next steps? What are the next steps here for the DeMar Hamlin family, for the team, for the Bills? And what are expectations? Do we know what expectations are at this point?

You're talking about for him specifically? Yeah, like neurologically intact is great news. Like that's incredible news, right? And then gripping the hands, that's great news for extremities you would assume right like that's that would mean good news i don't know how much more you know than us but like what do you think are what are what are expectations timeline going forward for him so you know obviously the focus has been on like how is he and is he going to make once it was clear that he's going to make it and he's neurologically intact, then you could sort of start being like, is he going to have an okay life?

Is he going to be okay? And then could he ever play again? And I don't know the answer of would he want to play again. I do not know that answer because I would imagine, considering what happened to him, you know, he could play or not. And I would understand both ways. Honestly, I would totally understand if he never wanted to play again. But no one has said to me, this is the guy who will never play again. Like, I don't know if you can compare difficult, tragic situations, but

and I don't think this is saying anything wrong but this made me think of ryan shazier and you know tracking that situation a couple years ago i remember speaking to someone close to him and i asked about football and the response was don't ask about football i understand i understand i haven't this hasn't quite been like that no one has said to me he's never going to play football again got it Crazy that you are asking about football in this situation, but that is your job, I guess. Well, for the Ryan Shazier thing, I didn't understand. Oh, got you. I didn't know what it was, and I didn't understand.

So he says, you know, let's not talk about football, and I was like. I got you. Okay. And that's a great, by the way, thank you for bringing that example because you're showcasing that it has happened in the past and it has had a different reaction. So that's great news for DeMar, I believe. Chris Pronger of the NHL, what year was that? He got hit with a puck.

Do we know what year it was? That was 99. 98. 98, 99, yeah. Yeah, he gets commotion accorded, which comes from hockey, ball sport normally, or object sport. Hitting at like the exact wrong time with a heartbeat and at the exact, they're talking like millimeter of where it's supposed to be and everything like that. He came back and played, you know, so it's fascinating what the human body can do.

I think that's what I'm learning most through this whole. Nine minutes, this guy completely out on primetime TV. Now they're saying he's 72 hours later. He can move and he's alive again. Think about him opening this up. Yeah, yeah. There's just so much that is really mind-blowing here, and it's all certainly good news.

We can't wait to follow your Twitter account, hopefully, for more news. Do you think more is going to come out today, or do you think this morning was the good news they're referring to? No, I think that was the good news they're referring to. At some point, maybe today, Sean McDermott will speak. And I don't know if there's going to be a doctor with him or not. Sometimes they do that. It would make some sense to sort of explain, like, here's what happened. The family has been very protective of making sure that there's no specific medical updates i think mainly because everybody screws it up um and they

wanted if there's going to be an update for it to be like real and here's actually what it happens so we may see some sort of medical update also um and then it's like the football part of it which is what are you gonna to do about the game? Is it going to be replayed, which my guess would be probably not, but we'll see. And then how do you actually play a game this Sunday? Got it. And they're going to try their best.

You know, they said they're doing a walkthrough or whatever, and obviously teams are offering up mental health, however, and whatever, basically try to get through it. Other teams are feeling the rippling effects of this as well just like all x players are and whenever you talk about a doctor being there i remember when chuck got diagnosed with leukemia uh jim spoke doctor spoke immediately afterwards to kind of break it down a little bit and i thought to the team or to reporters both yeah i think both i think yeah definitely to us first though team we came back in and we knew something was up because we hadn't been told it was fresh off a bye week

right i think we're coming off a bye week everybody in the buildings in the team meeting room like everybody meeting supposed to start at let's say nine or something did not start at nine so i was like okay so mr ursa is part of this that part of this. That's the only person that would be able to just not show up, like with the whole building here. He comes in, and then Dr. comes in, and there's a lot of us that are like, yeah, that's not good. What the hell is going on? And then we kind of got it laid out to us, and there's questions, you know,

like Reggie, who has had obviously great history with Chuck. He's known Chuck since he was 18 years old. He's getting recruited down to the Miami and whatever like that. Like Reggie asked to follow up, and the doctor had the answer. It wasn't like Jim or anybody else had the answer. And I think in the media it was the same way. Do you remember it the same way? I don't remember.

I don't remember the media, but I definitely remember the doctor coming in and breaking it down to it. That does lead me to a question. Have they formally come out and said it is commotio cordis or whatever it is i know a lot of people have been speculating that us included because that's i guess what it looks like but have the doctors actually said that right uh so dr allen sills the nfo's chief medical officer said yesterday last night that it is a possibility which is the most specific medical information we've gotten.

That leads me to believe, you know, if Dr. Alan Sill says it's a possibility, it probably means it's very, very much a possibility. That may not be all that was going on. This seemed like incredibly serious. And I know there was a clearing of his lungs, which was also essential. a clearing of his lungs, which was also essential. I don't know enough to know what that means as far as a condition, but that sounds like a little more than maybe what Chris Pronger had and some of the other athletes who've had commotio cordis. So I guess it's happened four different times. Pronger's the only one that came back and played.

The other three did not, and that's because they had what pre... Didn't the soccer... There was a soccer player who played. Christian Eriksson. Yeah, Eriksson did. I don't think that was Camosio Cordes, though. I think that was just cardiac... I think he just had a heart attack. The Camosio Cordes, I think there's been four. Pronger was the only one that came back and played. He had a full career

afterwards. The other three had what? What's it called? I don't know the specifics, but I just know they had irregular heartbeats that were underlying that yeah what's undiagnosed conditions that they found out after the fact yeah in the heart and we heard from somebody who played football for a long time the other day they texted us and they were like um or they called and told me like when i retired i was having some like pain in my heart and i had to go get tested and then they had to put dye in my blood and they had to do all this stuff to find this out. Turns out it was something he had like myo.

Myocarditis? No, it was something. I forget what it was. Myopathy? Yeah, myopathy. I think it was. Cardiomyopathy. Yeah, cardiomyopathy.

And sorry, there's a lot of heart terms being said these days. And we should all learn more, by the way, because the heart is the leading cause, I think, of people passing away or whatever. But whenever that person said that, the doctor told them, like, hey, you were rolling the dice playing football for as long as you were playing. This is an undiagnosed condition that, like, I think if he would have been told this when he was in college, he would not have gone on to play football after that. He had been living with something that made his rate or percentage of something like commotio cordis happening much, much higher than everybody else, but it was undiagnosed because a regular physical wouldn't be able to pick it up. And he told me, there's a chance that when a doctor comes out and speaks, there will be something that will be alongside of it that'll make him be at a higher rate for this to happen

than maybe somebody else. And I think that's what a lot of players are going to be wanting to hear. If that's just possible, if that's just possible to happen to anybody, he's in great shape. He's 24 years old. Routine hit. That was just his standard hit. We've seen it 200 times.

So I think that conversation is one that should happen. I think it should be explained too because that's going to put a lot of people at ease or it's going to put everybody at like, okay, so this is something that somehow has not happened as much as it should happen. Obviously for DeMar, we hope that's not the case.

I'm just happy he's back, but I will be excited to hear the full explanation of what's going on. Will we ever? We will hear that, right? We will? I hope so. I feel like as a society, we're way more transparent than we've ever been. We tend to have national conversations, for lack of a better way of saying it, over these things. We did it for COVID, for better or worse, for two years. It happens for illnesses all the time. And I think what sometimes happens is in the end people go, okay, well, I'll get checked out. And, like, that's great.

If that's what comes of this, more awareness, more people knowing, like, hey, I'm going to go get my heart checked out. Or if you're a player, say, I'm going to get a certain type of physical that happens at the combine where you check your heart out. That's good. More information is better. More awareness is better. I hope that that comes with all of this. Okay, me too.

And I think Connor has a question about something that is not DeMar Hamlin related. So I think this is the perfect time to say, obviously, all our thoughts, prayers, and vibes are still going to University of Cincinnati for DeMar Hamlin. I feel like the whole world still feels that way. But it's great to have some good news coming out of there. Way to kick some ass over here, DeMar and everybody that helps. Connor, your question for Ian Rappaport. Yeah, obviously, all the football questions are secondary, but Rapshita, a lot of stuff has been coming out,

especially in the coaching world right now, and the Saints have officially said, like, hey, this is going to take a first-round pick if you want to trade for Sean Payton this offseason. Is it basically known around the league that Sean Payton will be a head coach in the NFL somewhere next year, or is this just kind of them letting people know that if there's even a thought for some teams that you're going to have to give up a first-round pick to get there?

Yeah, I think it's more like – now, I don't – I will not – I cannot definitively say Sean Payton will be a coach next year. There might not be a lot of openings. We might have probably somewhere between four and six. Usually it's between six and eight. I think four and six this year. There's some possibilities that I think are not yet decided or not yet public. But Sean Payton is going to be choosy.

He's going to want a strong ownership with a good functional organization, either a good quarterback or a quarterback that he can make good, like some sort of rookie. He wants a young quarterback, you think? Young quarterback? I mean, I think that would be his. I don't think it's a deal breaker. I think mostly he'd want a good quarterback.

Okay, so he's going to Miami with Tom Brady like they were supposed to do before the whole thing happened? Warm weather he said he needed as well. Because somebody's reporting now out of Dolphins, and it might have been a blog, might have been a report. We saw the headline. We should have looked into it more. Might have been fake.

Dolphins lose, end up 8-9 after going 8-3. Everybody's job's at risk down there for Steven Ross. Is he doing that to move some pieces out of the way so that he can move Sean Payton and Tom Brady back in like they were supposed to do and when they were going to meet on that yacht and B-Flow said, I ain't coming? Is that what's going down right now? I have not corroborated that.

That would be a little surprising. Now, we do see that from time to time where things are surprising, and this is that time of year. Now, the other thing is, it was a whole tampering thing from the league where they all got busted. Yeah, Steven had to watch a game from his yacht. Wasn't allowed to get out of the stadium. I remember that. Half a year, right? Right. Which sounds

devastating. That is. That's tough. Especially with how good the team was this year. He didn't get to see Tyreek score like 10 touchdowns. Yeah, heartbreaking. Golly, he wouldn't do that again. It would have been worth a shit since he got back. Well, but then it's like, will the league let that if that's going to happen?

He has only seen them lose. That's why. I was in my yacht watching these games. You guys were killing it. Daddy comes home. You guys can't win a game. You don't win with me in the building. You're all fired.

How about it? For the betterment of the team, this week, head to the yacht. True. Well, I heard Snyder's doing that, right? Yeah. Snyder doing that this weekend? Yep. I mean, he spent some considerable time on that yacht, I would imagine.

Yeah. There was a whole website, a whole Twitter account, who only purpose was to let us know where is Dan Sanders yacht which as a public service I appreciate it well I think Elon wanted to ban that particular thing from the twitter because of how potentially dangerous it is but at the time

we were following right along he was in Napoleon's home island there for a while you can take the thing off you can make it so no one can track it I don't know if Elon knows this but you can like just click a button and it says can't track it. Can't track what? Yeah, he's telling them. Where your plane is.

Yeah, that's not real. It's real. That's not real, what you just said. These fuckers have technology to track everything, pal. These autograph hounds, I don't know what you have access to. I don't get a lot of autograph hounds, if we're being completely honest. I don't know if they're just shooting.

Are they holding hangers up in the sky through the entire flight? He's over Illinois right now. It's not just me. They know where everybody is. You could turn it off, like you just said, but you have to check in in every airspace that you go to. All you need is literally one person at any of those places talking about i mean it's uh yeah that's true it's a whole thing yeah i've experienced it a little bit i've experienced a

little bit wow so thanks ian for telling elon what to do yeah elon for a suggestion yeah no you didn't say that it wasn't a suggestion it was a matter of fact is what you uh he went back and forth with you, too. Yeah, yeah. Like, no, no, I know, I know. Just turn it off. I couldn't find where fucking Sean Payton was flying to, I thought. So there's no, you think, so let's just, let's wrap that one up here

before we move on to the next one. Sean Payton, not necessarily coming back. Wanted to go to the Chargers. Chargers might not be available, so now might set it back a year where he evaluates another team. Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, so those are the three big ones. You add the Miami Dolphins in, does that immediately become the number one job?

Why wouldn't Sean Payton do that? I don't know that it's going to come open, first of all. I think that job, if it came open, would probably make sense. Denver, I think, is a possibility. They're going to swing big. So Harbaugh and Payton, along with Dan Quinn, will probably be the three targets there, I would say. So that would be sort of what you would consider.

But I think he likes TV. I think he'd like to stay near L.A. somewhere. So I don't think he's going to jump for just anything. He's also rich anyway, so it's not like he needs the money. I think he's going to be very choosy. I can't wait to see what happens. Tom Brady's a whole other story. We'll dive into that another day.

Ty has a question for you. Yeah, Rapshid, in terms of injury reports for Week 18, a couple guys for the Packers last week, Keyshawn Nixon, they didn't know if he was going to go. He obviously runs a kickback, scores a touchdown. Christian Watson was banged up. Bakhtiari played. Are all of those guys, I mean, are the Packers kind of all systems go this weekend?

And on the flip side, is anyone hurt for the Lions potentially in that game? I think what you're going to probably see around the league is for the teams that have stuff to play for, it's going to be almost all systems to go. It's like in the playoffs, everyone always plays. I think that's what it's going to be like this week. Now, on the other side, for the teams that don't have a lot to play

for, even if you're just playing for seeding, I don't think teams will put guys out there at risk. Giants? Eagles? See, when Dayball, I think we talked about this a little bit, when Dayball was in Buffalo, they rested guys. So we may see the Giants not play everyone.

The Lions, yes. Dayball is, ah. The Lions, 13 or 14, so it's a success. They're saying they're not playing. I would think so. How do you feel about that? Dayball wasn't a head coach in Buffalo. How do you feel about that? They will win the head coach in Buffalo. How do you feel about that, Sean?

I don't like that. Momentum's huge. Huge! I'm a big believer in momentum. But if you lose a guy, you're the fucking dumbest coach of all time. But you can lose a guy at practice. Yeah. Were your fans and owners thinking about that, though?

Those guys want to play. You heard what Tom said. They don't want to sit out this week. They want to play. They want to keep their chemistry. They want to keep the momentum going, especially if they're doing this. Incentives. Keep working.

And yet you talk about guys got a contract and a guy needs one more sack to hit an escalator. A couple more catches. Well, that's the other thing that happens this week. You want yours, Chris Kirk? Yeah, 500. Now you're going to sit me down so I can't. GM gets in the guy's ear and says, hey, we should rest this guy.

Why that guy? Well. That's a tough position for you. That's a tough position for you. It's bullshit that it even happens because there's $110 billion meteorites here. They deserve everything. I mean, that's why we did it. That was a big part of Chuck's speeches.

Go get your money now. Actually. That's cool. I don't know how proud you are of this moment, but it's real. We're talking about drawing up a play for Reggie to get a fucking, you know what I mean? Yeah, right. Like, hey, Chuck was a big believer in like, hey, things matter. You know, especially escalators and consecutive streaks and everything like that.

Just because we're fucking around doesn't mean that this has to be fucked up. So that is something that I think you live. You remember what happened. Not everybody lives by that, though. Yeah, we lost eight or ten or something like that. No, the end of that game, and he's got that streak going where he's got three catches and 100 games in a row. And, like, we're at the end of the Jacksonville game.

Gus Bradley's's head coach and so we throw reggie back in there he needs three catches we throw him two bubbles two bubbles he gets cut in half saw it in half no no he's looking at me trotting off and then gus when i go to shake his hand after the game hey good game and and hey i'm sorry for it and tried to explain to him the circumstances why we're throwing to reggie late in that game when we're up, whatever, we're up and the game's over. Gus was not happy. He kind of just looked at me crossways, you know, like,

yeah, I was wondering what the hell you were doing. Yeah, yeah, I could imagine. I think it was a good thing. That type of stuff matters, though, I think. I think Reggie wasn't necessarily as pumped about it either because he didn't feel, but that's like a coach looking out for a person and the whole business thing. So you're thinking the Giants aren't playing.

Eagles are playing then? Gotta. Sounds like Eagles are definitely playing. We'll see if at some point Jalen Hurts will be a full participant. If he's a full participant today that means he's going, but health-wise Hurts is definitely in a good position.

Time digs your question for Ian Rappaport. Hey, what's going on Lamar? Dude, this is getting ugly. good position. Time digs your question for Ian Rappaport. What's going on, Lamar? Dude, this is getting ugly. Not ugly. Not ugly. Yeah, it is. Whatever. Come on.

We'll bring it up after Ian does his little bullshit. Here is where it stands. He's probably not going to play this week because he hasn't practiced yesterday. It has been, it'll be five weeks for an injury that I think most people thought would take three. PCLs take a little bit longer, and they're not going to risk it. So I was told that they are confident in his return for the playoffs. If he's not out there for the playoffs, then it would be, okay, he had a setback. I don't think it's contract-related, and I don't think it's effort-related.

I'm sure it sucks for everyone, though. And I know he wants to be out there, and they want to be out there, but he is just not ready. So I said your little bullshit thing because I thought you were going to talk about the Lamar contract situation, which I think is what Tone Diggs was alluding to, but you wanted what the playing thing. So we appreciate that information. I apologize for assuming you were just going to lie.

I do apologize for that because you have sources and everything like that. We're just judging from outside looking in. This quote that made it into the Baltimore Sun Sentinel and then onto Reddit from Mueller and Sando. Harbaugh clearly thinks Lamar should be back. He's trying to stay out of it and take the high road. Sando going to say Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun wrote in a mailbag column that it's no secret between the coaches and top members of the front office that Jackson is a slacker.

Source, the athletic football show, the football GM with Randy Mueller and Mike Sandoe. This slacker won the MVP. This slacker won a playoff game. This slacker won a playoff game. This slacker's absence has been wildly visible over the last month or so. Why is this happening, Rap? Why are your people talking shit on their guy? Why is this happening?

I've talked to my people, and nobody has said that he's a slacker. Okay. They say it just takes time. And I think I get particularly, not that my opinion matters, but I get particularly annoyed at the frustration when a player is not back from an injury. Because rehab is hard. All injuries are different. And we don't know. So, like, you know, it's like when people were frustrated

with Bakhtiar not being back out there last year, and then it turns out he needed a whole other surgery, and he's having to come back and play like normal, even though his knee doesn't feel normal, which is what happens after surgery. This is all hard. And people like me, who, you know, never had a real injury like that,

like, you know, fans always get frustrated, but I don't know that i don't know that that's fair to him it sounds like to me he's doing what he needs to do he is just not ready okay we appreciate that i assume that take was on like the contract situation as opposed to his recovery but nonetheless thank you for clarifying that all last question here for you ian from boston canada yeah raps's kind of a two-parter here. One, is it safe to assume that either Jimmy G or Tom Brady will be the quarterback for the Raiders?

And then also, is there a frontrunner for Derek Carr right now, and why is it the Colts? First, the Colts thing, I would be, at this this point a little surprised if the colts went the veteran route not saying anything about derrick carr i'm sure he would do a very good job he has had really good moments in the nfl that's great to hear but after this most recent not great situation with matt ryan i would imagine they try to draft one yeah they would go they'll be in position to draft one. That's a good way to know.

A guy's going to be a guy. The draft. I mean, a lot of teams go to the draft and get guys like that. Top five, I mean. We saw CJ. We can't get number one pick either. I just fucking read. No.

Yeah, but you could get the next Justin Herbert. We could grab that pick, though. Put it alongside something else that has value currently currently but might not a year from now. Like a line. No, no, not necessarily that. Anything, anything that we have. And just put that together to go to number one to get Stroud. That is something we could do.

A couple of players you could trade on that team. I think there's a couple of salaries that we, I think, if you're going to rebuild this thing, which it sounds like they're going to potentially think about doing, there's some salaries on there that you would maybe want to be like, okay, we appreciate your service, but for whatever reason it didn't work. You remember? We gave up the largest comeback in the history of the NFL.

That was just one week after we gave up 33 points in the fourth quarter to nothing against the Cowboys. And then you guys get fucking smacked in the mouth by the New York Giants, which, good football team, obviously, but still, we were supposed to be one of those, too. And then, like, I think that'll be... So we both need a fresh start.

Yeah. Boom. I think that's potentially going to happen. So maybe we go up to one to get Stroud. Who knows? We appreciate you, Ian, joining us. We know you've got a busy day. Thank you for the news on DeMar.

We'll continue to follow for updates as you go, pal. Thank you, guys. Thank you for having me, and I'm very glad that I got to say some actual real good news today. Yeah, me too. I'm happy we all got to experience that, especially coming from you. Not that that was a shot, but

you crushed it on tailgate takedown. Ladies and gentlemen, Ian Rappaport. Ohio is a college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, Ryder Cup champion, a man who's a video game shitster, NBA pundit, COVID survivor, father of 10, A.J. Hawk. How are you doing, pal? Oh, doing great. Coach P looks great up there on stage.

He does, doesn't he? He looks fantastic. We didn't expect the Italian flag to also have the country of Italy in the middle of it, a little bit of a remix version. But this Paesano looks fucking incredible, AJ. You're 100% right. We're lucky he's here. Yeah, he does.

Is my video choppy? Yeah, it's terrible. It's unbelievable. Let's redo it. All right. This is terrible. From the top? I don't know if we're going all the way from the top,

because the only person I hadn't introduced was I was going to introduce to AJ saying, hey, how lucky are we that on this stage is a man who's been coaching football for 15 decades. He was obviously the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts whenever I was punting there. Now he's the host of Coach P's Keys. Ladies and gentlemen, Chuck McGonigal. Chuck, we've been talking a lot about the DeMar Hamlin situation, everything like that.

I think the next step is what happens with the games, what happens with the teams, what happens with their schedules. It is a lot to be sorted, and I think the proper amount of time has been took by the NFL to let the grieving process take place and for good news to come from the DeMar Hamlin camp out of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Pro Football Talk is tweeting now that there is some ideas on the table for how this will be treated in a way of fairness, I believe, for all teams, especially with the playoff picture and playoff berth literally a week away at this stage. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio is reporting the

current information we have. Bills-Bangles won't happen. The NFL is currently figuring out how to configure the AFC playoffs without that game. Could an eight-team be added to eliminate the bye week for the number one seed? We do not know if that last sentence there is just punditry from Mike Florio and his thoughts of what could be, or if that's from the information that he's getting from the inside source that he definitely has. He has been one of the authorities on football information for like two decades at

this point. For me, this is a fascinating answer. This is the NFL saying the conversation about the number one seed and what's good is obviously get home field advantage and everything. But that bye week was something that everybody wants. So if the bye week is what everybody is holding in the highest regards we can eliminate that then everybody loses something that could have potentially been on the table for them we add another team eight teams to this whole thing everybody just plays the afc side a little bit different than the nfc side and we move forward as is. That's a fascinating, fascinating angle to go about fixing the current issue. I do love, Darius, and we talked about this during the break, that the NFL said, okay, we can get more football out of this.

Here we go. And it's fair for literally everybody. I wonder how long it took to get to this potential offer or if this is just Florio kicking this around right now. Yeah, it kind of looks like it's him kicking it around, but, I mean, it would be interesting. It would be as fair as it can get, I guess, and it would be more football for fans,

which would be obviously a good thing coming from a very, very bad thing. But, I don't know, it would be very, very interesting. It is very interesting. This is, interesting once again no blueprint unprecedented the nfl obviously had to dodge duck dip dive and dodge through the covid era in making up and figuring out what the best answer is how do we reschedule games how do we keep everybody safe we'll play on wednesday we'll do this we'll do that we'll move games to a different place it's like they've had to do this in the most recent history, so this isn't completely out of the ordinary of the modern world that we've been living in for the past three years or whatever,

but this will be something. Eight teams in the AFC make the playoffs. That changes the playoff picture for a lot of people all of a sudden going into Week 18, more specifically the Pittsburgh Steelers and also the New England Patriots, right? Yeah, absolutely. I don't know how much Tony wants to be in the playoffs. I know I definitely don't want to be in the playoffs as a fan of the team

and what we've seen, but they also already have a spot open too. Getting a dance. Yeah, for sure. We're getting ready to dance. Anything can happen. You're getting a dance. Yeah, anything can happen. Actually, we found out what can happen last year when the Bills had a perfect game against the Patriots.

We can also think about, yeah, they can get in the dance, and for, what, four or five days, we get to say, nice, you're in the dance. And then that entire next week, you guys just got fucking boat raced. Oh, you're talking about what we would have to do? Exactly. Because Colts aren't in anymore, so the critiques of the Colts are now, we know we suck. Bingo. What's the future look like?

The future's bright, though. Look at the pick we got. You make it to the playoffs, especially in an 18 playoff for the AFC side, and you just get boat raced at the beginning. It didn't matter. Exactly who we thought was going to be. You guys are so good. We made the play. You guys are so good.

That's a whole conversation. Playoff check's good for the coaches. Great for the coaches. Great for everybody in the building, but this is a fascinating theory that we did not come up with whenever we were brainstorming on the thought. Joining us now is a man who is a college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, and an internet expert. Influencer, A.J. Hawk.

Yay, A.J.! This has got to be Florio just throwing it out there, right? You think that's true? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's an interesting proposal. I never thought of adding an eighth team, but I feel like that's a lot. Yeah, we never thought of that. I think that's why I was most surprised whenever Connor read it on his phone

during a commercial break, read it aloud, and I was like, oh, we hadn't even thought of that or whatever. And then once I saw the way it was tweeted, first thought is, is that Florio or is that his inside source saying, here's some ideas that are being pitched and maybe float it. You know, like, let's see the reaction there. I think coming from your perspective, I think it is a fair thing. I think it would be a fair option. How do you feel about it, AJ, actually?

Well, I just instantly think of, like, logistics. How do you feel about it, AJ, actually? Well, I instantly think of logistics. So we have an extra game, right? And it's going to be played wherever the one seed is. That's where we played, which is probably Kansas City. Yeah, they have times slayed open. Bills would have been, though. Bills would have been one seed. They win.

So do you add one to the NFC, too, to make it fair? Add an eighth team there so there's no buys anywhere? So here's another update from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio. Paisano Florio. Here's a look at where things currently stand as the scheduling. One, no Bills-Bengals game. Two, NFL figuring out what to do with AFC seeding. Okay.

Three, neutral site for AFC championship is possible. I think it would be fair because the Bills beat the Chiefs earlier in the season. So, like, the Bills not getting the one seed. The Bills having to go back to Kansas City. Right. We talked about that way yesterday.

We said, could you imagine if the Bills end up having to go to Kansas City, obviously, for the championship? Yeah. After beating them there already earlier this year. Yeah. And they have – And last have, there will be, even though the DeMar Hamlin, that was the scariest thing of all time.

For sure. Scariest thing. So the NFL has to figure this out on the fly and they will be judged and people will forget how serious the world was just a couple of days ago. People will, as soon as this good news comes out, there will be people. And I'm not saying you should be one of these people,

there will be people two weeks from now, whenever something happens, that will be like, remember they added an eighth team, and remember they chose that whole, there will be people that will judge the NFL very harshly for everything that happens here. It sounds like they are trying their best to make it a fair operation. Absolutely. While also not forfeiting any football,

which is obviously going to be, I think that's the fairest way, right? You play your way in. to make it a fair operation while also not forfeiting any football, which is obviously going to be – I think that's the fairest way, right? You play your way in. That's probably how they're selling this whole thing. And then the last one, expansion of playoff fields to eight teams in AFC and NFC is possible. So it would be both sides. That changes week 18 all of a sudden out of nowhere as well. Neutral psych is part of that conversation, too,

of the Bills lose to the Chiefs at Kansas City in the AFC Championship. Well, it should have been in Buffalo, but if they do it at a neutral site, that kind of X's that out. Where are they going to go? Are they going to take that game? Oh, Detroit's going to be playing. Indy's about halfway through there, and you don't have to put those two off ends. You don't have to worry about the snow in KC or Buffalo.

Bring it to Luke's soil. Hoes Stadium. Do we get a suite for that? I think so. Yeah. That'd be cool. I think it's a good idea, Florio. Don't you dare.

All of a sudden, I think this neutral. The more I'm reading it, I guess I'm going to think about it the last two minutes. I don't like it. How come? It's just kind of Mickey Mouse. It is. If they do get an eight, they'll never go back. Yeah.

That's the other thing. Oh, bummer. More football. We're talking about it. They're going to have that bye week, though. That's something you work, obviously, all season for. See, the NFL, though, can grandstand so hard. Yeah.

They can grandstand so hard because this is more football, more games being played for the players. But isn't this the games you want? This is what you guys have been working for all year. This is an extra game. That is literally, it is easily fan you win the

what is it? You win the mob, you win Rome. The NFL could very easily. They have to pass right now because this is unprecedented right now. So whatever they do right, this would be a great way for them to kind of get it in there. And it's like, all right, this is what it is. You know what? It was great last year.

Let's just stick with it. But I think obviously we had the tragic situation on the field. But at this point, you forfeit the game. You flip a coin. You do whatever it is. You keep the seven teams. And you just go from there. I think all the players, all the coaches will just understand it fans as well and you just you move

on as is but add an extra game you know taking away home field event like a neutral site for the afc championship that'd be crazy it'd be too corporate it'd be like a corporate superbowl corporate afc championship almost but to your point too in terms of money like if they're adding if they're adding two games on wildcard weekend, they're opening that up to the highest bidder of any of the networks. Amazon. Alright, yeah. Who wants the game? Amazon, you want it? NBC,

you guys want it? Whoever offers us the most money is going to get this fucking extra game that we didn't think we were going to have. There's been a lot of things we've chatted about on this show where I've been in my head, I'm like, players are going to hate this. Players are going to hate this head. I'm like, players are going to hate this. Players are going to hate this. I'm not saying the players are going to hate this necessarily.

Playoff checks are good. There's a whole other team getting playoff checks another week. Two, potentially. There's so many good teams. Yeah, for NFC, too. You're right. You don't get paid for the buy, either, if you get that. Yeah, if you're the one seed, which is wild.

That's weird. Oh, you did great. Thanks. So good we don't got to fucking pay you. But you didn't work. Did you do anything? Did we sell any tickets?

Didn't think so. Make it to the Super Bowl. Did any eyes watch you guys? Did any eyes watch you guys? Did we make any money from any revenue stream? No. That's what we thought.

Congrats, one seed. You make no money. Yep. We'll see you next week, though. Money goes up next week, though. More eyes, more money. It does get higher. But the teams that are not seeded number one don't get that check.

That was a wild development whenever I was there. Yeah, that's absurd. So everybody else gets a check. What do you mean? Why are we going 14-10? Are we in the building? What are we? What the fuck?

This is work. We're still work. We're still work. We're not work. What is? We did better than everybody else? They make more money than we do? Well, yeah, of course. That sounds fair.

Didn't you guys think, based on listening to Harbaugh talk about the circumstances, that everybody would be okay with, you know, this is a no contest. Moving on. Oh, yeah. We're going to move forward. Like you said, it's unprecedented. Everybody's going to be cool. You throw something like this in there, and, you know, if you're down here,

if you're in that eighth spot or whatever, you're going to be cheering, hey, we're in the playoffs. But if you're up here and you work your ass off to get the number one seed and have home field advantage. And then you lose. Yeah, that's good. And then they pick a warm weather venue like Kansas City or Buffalo, and then they pick a dome, which is probably what would happen.

Right here in Indiana. They pick a dome, and then you lose that advantage in late January for an ASC championship game and a home field deal. Yeah, that's why the one seed thing, like you could see him being pissed, but you can also see how Kansas City could also think like, hey, we don't really deserve the one seed just because of the fact that. Well, we don't know. Yeah, because the Bills could have went on to lose that game. But if they were to have won it in Kansas City still, think like, hey, we don't really deserve the one seed just because of the fact that... Well, we don't know. Yeah, because the Bills could have went

on to lose that game, but if they were to have won it in Kansas City still, and that's the thing, it's all like questions, but there might not be that much of a corporate event because of how well the Bills and the Chiefs travel. Yeah, that might be 50-50. That'd be more like the college football playoff that you were just at. Yeah, bingo. High of State Georgia. Which

was bananas. I don't know if Lucas Oil Stadium is built the same way as Mercedes-Benz Stadium is for Sand. It's a little sleepy in there. It is a little comfortable in Lucas Oil Stadium. It always wins that. That thing did get, when Peyton came back here. Sunday Night Football? Yeah.

Fuck, it was loud. Patriots last year, too. It was impressively loud. So maybe it's not the building then. Maybe it's just the. Maybe it's the marks think so maybe it's who they're rooting for yeah sure that's potentially that'll get fixed that'll get fixed next 10 years or so what do you think aj we've heard the thoughts of this stage what are your thoughts on i think what chuck's saying like no contest we move on what do they do like winning percentage for seating somehow i don't i i assume

that is like the most likely option to have just as a person that is strictly a fan at this stage and players i feel like i champion players more than anybody else okay i could see how some people feel as if well what the fuck are we working for we're working to get up into five seed six seed you know coaches are saying we literally have not seen our families in three weeks because we've been trying to sneak into this fucking six seed now you just open it up to an eight and it's like well situations happen we gotta adjust and then everybody with a brain goes like to darius's point we do this one time this is going to become the new standard wherever and then what nine then ten then what does the playoffs even matter then all of a sudden a team that's good gets into the playoffs

and they get knocked out by a very average team just because something happens earlier in that game or a penalty is called. Are we going to still maintain the integrity of the playoffs with the good teams making it if we're getting some shit ones in there? Does the season still matter as much if you start adding games and everything like that? This is the same conversation that's happening with college football playoff as well.

For me, this sounds like an answer that is rather fair for the current predicament that we are in, where we cannot play this Bills-Bengals game because of how far we are into the season, how close we are to the playoffs. Because of how serious it was, it had to be postponed. It just so happened to happen at a point of the season where there's really no other answers. If they picked this, I would not be upset about it. Nope. I don't know if they will pick this.

This sounds like this is just like... Conjecture. Who knows? Like maybe a thought. Maybe they're floating it out there to see how people react to it. But if they were to do this, I would be like, all right, I think they did okay in this situation personally. But I do hear how people could be pissed off that this becomes a new norm.

Then what does that mean? Then what does that mean? And how many teams with losing records do you want getting into the playoffs every now and then? That's a great point because there was a tweet last night from Siciliano, a person who's been talked about on this show a little bit. There's a chance that we have three teams with losing records. Jaguars, Titans, and Buccaneers making the playoffs. Only three losing teams in NFL history have made the playoffs in a non-strike season.

D-Butt, you almost puked in the mic. What's that mean? Shit ball? I mean, growing up, obviously, the NFL playoffs has always been the best to me because it was the – the NBA like half the league gets into the playoffs and it's like you know the first round like NFL playoffs that's why we say all right if you get into it you get in the dance anything can happen because you have to play well at some point sometimes you may start off shitty and you get hot late in the season

you start playing well like I would just hate to see the NFL playoffs continue to be watered down more football yeah but like that's it's a reason why you're playing through the shit you play through to get to that point. So I just want to keep it. Got to keep it up on a pedestal. Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of it going to seven, honestly, going to seven teams. I liked it, but it is what it is.

Obviously, money talks, and that's really the bottom line. Do you think that, AJ, do you think it gets kind of knocked down a couple edges if we end up doing that? Does it dilute? Not this year, they're going to do what they got to do. Yeah. But if it goes on to be the thing going, I think you agree with that, right? Absolutely.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This year, they got to do what they got to do. But if this just becomes the new norm, does it dilute it? And is the reason why people think it's diluted is just like they start here. Where will it continue to go? Is that what you think everybody's thinking? Yeah. Obviously, like you said, this year is different completely. they do this year but yeah moving forward yeah i don't i don't think

as of right now i don't like diluting the playoffs like that because i think there's such a big deal it's such a big thing like d but said i feel like half the nba or more than half the nba is in the playoffs like it needs to we need to keep it special somehow well that's like the pro bowl you start thinking about it there's like 17 18 quarterbacks at the Well, that's like the Pro Bowl. You start thinking about it. There's like 17, 18 quarterbacks at the Pro Bowl. It's like, all right, is this the... And if you've got 7 and 10 teams getting into the playoffs, that just looks weird, I think. I don't think it's good for their...

I understand why you guys feel that way. Once again, as a fan, though. More football. More football. I agree. Go ahead, John. More playoff checks as well, which we will wrap. But if the Jags and Bucs win this weekend,

there's zero teams with losing records that are getting into the playoffs this year. So it's kind of like. Yeah, the Jags have to win to get in. Or if the Steelers, Dolphins, and Patriots all lose, they get in. And they lose. Well, and if it moves to eight, then there's a lot. Chuck, your thoughts. I'm excited to hear your thoughts.

Chuck is a man who has obviously been in the NFL in so many different facets, both as coordinator, assistant, head coach, worked with the league for a while, so you've seen it all from all angles. They make it eight to Darius's point. They're going to keep it eight forever. We all know that. What are your thoughts on it? Yeah, we know what the almighty dollar, what drives the whole thing.

Could you imagine? Next week they go, hey, who wants to bid for this? Two extra playoff games that we have on. Super wild card weekend. It's like Amazon. Bezos would throw a billion dollars from his yacht. Do I get this every single year? Yeah, we'll kick it off with you guys every single year.

Sounds good. All right. There you go. Right into the bank accounts. Boom, boom, boom. And then there's another game. There's still another game that's happening It is crazy

You two guys, AJ knows How hard and difficult it is To win a game Let alone enough games To be a number one seed To win a division, get in the tournament And now we're just going to start handing out Participation trophies And we're going to reward

mediocrity? Nobody's going to, because of the circumstances, this year, because of that, nobody's going to argue anything that happens. They're going to say, okay, whatever you guys decide to do, and everybody can put out their stuff and plant seeds and and you know rogers had troy vincent's head and they're going through all they're smart until something comes out of 345 park avenue and we got a memo from roger goodell that's when we'll actually know exactly what's oh you're saying there's a lot of times where

there's speculation and the nfl doesn't do I mean, that's what everybody loves to do, right? But personally, I don't think that you can sit there and start rewarding, you know, teams that didn't earn the right over a 17-game season to make the playoffs. Yeah, because what does a regular season become? Just like you have to kind of get through it. I think there's a lot more rest in the players. Yeah.

Load management comes in. Yeah, load management comes in. You're right. That is what the fear is. If it did go to eight, though, you go back to one and two seeds both getting by. So there's an extra benefit to being the one and two seed. Yeah, but that's less football, right? It would be the same football as now.

Less games to broadcast. Yeah, but then they'll find a way. Which is what we're all assuming is the driver behind this. Five or six would be weird, too, just the look of it. Because four would play, seven and three would play. We'd all get used to it, just like a 33 yard extra point. Everybody gets used to everything, but we do have to be in the position

of projecting what we think could be the downfall of this, and I think diluting something is not always a great thing. How do you think they come to this final say so? Is this like a competition committee thing? Like coaches get on a conference call? Like how to just ride, just Troy?

There's a ton of smart, big-brained dudes at 345 Park, and they'll sit down and they'll go through all the scenarios, figure out what's next. Are they in like a conference room? Like a desk, you think? Glass? Glass windows? Succession?

They've got plenty of space. You think Roger Goodell, loose tie, you think jacket over there, we're not leaving until we figure this out? Is that what's happening, you think? I don't know exactly which room it would be. They've got a few floors over there in that building that they work out of. Yeah, they're going to get together. A lot of smart people, like I said.

They're going to make a decision. I wonder how many ideas they've floated. I wonder if any ideas they've got, like, I don't want to say any ideas we came up with, but I wonder if like everybody in the room's job is like, hey, come with ideas, and then we're going to figure out what the best one is. And then some people are probably pitching ideas that they would like to see. Like a writer's room. Like a writer's room for a show or something.

Don't you think that's how it should be? And they're probably saying like, this has already been floated by Florio. Here's the reaction to this from our fans. You know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of that. Yeah. That's the room. Is that going down right there, you think, Chuck?

That's at the NFL headquarters. A bunch of people bouncing. It's not very intimate. It's not very intimate. I wasn't in that room ever. What if they were in this? I was not in that room ever. Let's take a seat up there.

Executive level room. We will all look on on what happens and who makes the decision how they make them joining us now is a man who every word that he says captivates millions of people his job is to go onto television and make magic his job is to go onto a microphone and let the world know how they should be thinking about things, even though it might not be what they want to hear. This man has created the take show recipe. This man has created what everybody wants to become in television. Ladies and gentlemen, host of the first take, host of the No Mercy podcast, which, hey.

Hell yeah. Unreal. It's going big time and as of january 17th this man is an author i don't know if you wrote any books before i should have done more research that's on me i'm not as professional as he is straight shooter a memoir of second chances and first takes that author legend legend, Stephen A. Smith. What's up, fellas? What's going on, y'all? How y'all doing? How's everything? Hey, things are great. How about you?

You're crushing it. This No Mercy podcast got a new studio. Are you in a new studio right now, Stephen A.? This is a home studio that I'm building. This is in my home, so I like this. I'll be doing it from various places, but this is one of the places I'll be doing it. I've been doing a podcast since September, but obviously working for ESPN, they needed me to wait until January to go to video. And so as of January 9th, this Monday, I'll be on video now.

So maybe I'll have a snowball chance and hella compete with you, Pat. Maybe. We're all trying to keep up with you. Congratulations. Thanks a lot, bro. Thanks a lot, man. Appreciate y'all. How y'all doing? No, no, we're great. I didn't plan on diving into this, but have to do this.

Happy New Year to you as well. This is your show or ESPN show? You own this show? No, this is mine. I own it. Let's go. Hell yeah. Hey.

Yeah, everything. I own it lock, stock, and barrel. It's my content. It's my podcast or what have you. Because I work for ESPN, there was a negotiation that had to take place to get out of the constraints within my contract. But ESPN was extremely cooperative and very, very helpful. I've got a great relationship with Jimmy Pataro, and he was more than kind enough to allow me to do this. Even though it was a negotiation, nevertheless, I'm here and I'm doing my own thing.

And it's not a sports podcast. You know, I touch on politics. I touch on pop culture and entertainment. I'm not limited. And that's the reason why. If it was just sports, it would be something for ESPN because it doesn't get much better than that in the world of sports. But to me, I didn't want to be limited and confined to the world of sports. It was important to me to be able to expand my horizons and step out beyond that

because there's a lot of politics, social issues, pop culture and entertainment. Kanye West, Kyrie, the list goes on and on. I like to be able to talk about all of it and not be limited by it. And I couldn't do that doing a sports podcast for ESPN. So it was important for me to own and operate my own. Because I thought there was a time there

where that was almost being promoted at some sports networks, not just ESPN so it was important for me to own and operate my own because I thought there was a time there where that was almost being promoted at some sports networks not just ESPN but everywhere was that something that you thought you wanted to do more of because they were telling you to do more of there for a time or was there a conversation about you should do less politics on ESPN or did you just feel like it wasn't the right time or place and you're looking for the right time or place and that's on no mercy where you can really dive in a little bit deeper. Or how'd that all come about, you think? I've never been an aficionado when it comes to the world of politics or even social justice issues. But I've always had a passion for current news.

I've been a journalist my entire career. And so for me, I've always paid attention to what's going on in the world of news. I started my career off at the New York Daily News. paid attention to what's going on in the world of news. I started my career off at the New York Daily News. I went from there to the Philadelphia Inquirer, where I got promoted about nine times and ended up being a general sports columnist before I got into television and all of that. And so for me, I've always been about what's percolating. What matters to the masses is what matters to me. When Jimmy Pitaro came on board, obviously he made a concerted effort for us not to get into politics per se. And I want to tell you that I stood up ando came on board, obviously he made a concerted effort for us not to get into politics per se.

And I want to tell you that I stood up and supported him on that, and I still do, because we did get to a point over the years at ESPN where it was too much politics. It was the politicization of too many different things. And the sports fan got to a point where they were sending a message that they didn't feel like their needs were being met. And so Jimmy Pataro comes on board and he instantly addressed that. And I supported that because I think people have a right to get what they tune in to see from you. My argument, however, was, yes, I will give you that. But when I step away and I have other interests, there's nothing wrong with that either. And then the argument was that I was such a big name that whenever you say Stephen A. Smith, that's synonymous with ESPN. I'm proud to be a

member of ESPN. Please don't get me wrong. And when it comes to sports, I have no issue with it whatsoever. But if I feel some way about a presidential election or something a politician is doing or something that's going on in the streets of america that's my personal opinion and i think one of the things uh that that people had a struggle uh really really expressing to the brass is that when you muzzle everybody any little opinion that emanates from espn everybody thinks it's everybody it's all of us yeah and that's not the case pat mcafee does a phenomenal, phenomenal job. I mean, that's an A-list pickup for us doing college football. Okay. Pat McAfee, I truly mean that. I truly mean that. You're exactly what we needed. But Pat McAfee and

Kirk Herbstreit think differently. You might think differently than Reese Davis. You might think differently than Desmond Howard. You might think differently than Stephen A. on certain issues. Why is it that we can't stand on our own and make sure everybody understands these opinions are not reflective of the network? They're just mine. And in order to do that, you have to separate yourself from it to send that message. And that's what I did. Hey, congrats on the evolution there, man. Politics numbers are big.

Hey, you're owning that whole thing? Those politics numbers. People get real passionate about it. They're not going to be able to separate you as the, you know that though, right? Well, I mean, they may try to lump me in, but I'm going to make a concerted effort to make sure that happens. Like, for example, I'm a fair-minded person. And so I think about fairness. If there's something that I want to get into that I think is too political or whatever, I'd be like, this is first take.

This is not the platform for that. You can check me out on No Mercy, though. But here on this platform, I'm going to give you what you expect. And that's what I try to deliver to my viewers, listeners, and everybody in between. It's smart business by both you and Jimmy Pataro, I believe, especially because you're Stephen A. Smith. Be who you can afford to be. You have earned the right to be able to do

a lot different than everybody else, you know, because there's going to be... I think you have... I would tell you this. Yeah, but I would tell you this. I want to take a moment to give you props for that because you know what? As a former NFL player

you come onto the scene and you come into this business you know it wasn't me but there's a lot of people that's jealous of Pat McAfee there's a lot of people that wish they were Pat McAfee and they wish that they were in your position and you know what they pay attention to the opportunities that you get but not the work that you put in to get it and they didn't pay attention to the sacrifices that you make and more importantly anything else, the bravery that you had to bet on you. And that's one of the things that to me, as a guy who's getting to know you better and better every day, what I love about you is that you're a guy that take chances on you. You believe in you and you'd be surprised how many of us, including the person you're listening to right now, lack the courage to do that over many years.

I was scared to go out on my own. I was raised by West Indian parents and my mother, God rest her soul, was about putting in the work, punching that clock, going to work every day, getting the job done, going home, saving your money, invest what you can, and have a pension or something along those lines. Pat McAfee of this world was like, wait a minute, there's got to be more to life than that. And you go for it. And suddenly people are looking at you and the resentment kicks in because they're looking at the opportunity that you're getting, but they're not appreciating the work that you put in and the courage you had to exude and display in order to take that chance on yourself. And people like you are what helped me say, F this. I'm going to bet on me. I believe in me.

Well, obviously, that was incredibly kind and nice of you, and I'm incredibly uncomfortable right now. But that was fucking very cool of you to say because I have a lot of respect and appreciation for you. And I think that you can check the tape. We've always had it. What you did for sports media is amazing. And I assume what you're going to go on to do to world news, world media, it's going

to be the same damn thing. You're a talent, Stephen A., and I'm happy that you're going to go experience what entrepreneurialism is like because I think you are going to have smashing success. But thank you so much for those words. That was very fucking cool. I will remember that forever. I wish I could take that off and hang it on the refrigerator. That is very, very nice of you.

AJ has a question for you. Well, you know what? You know what? Fuck it. I'll hang it on my refrigerator. We'll do it that way. Go ahead, AJ. Steven, hey, quick pivot.

I know there's reports out there that, what, Sean McVay is getting courted again by some networks to leave the coaching sidelines and come into the booth. What do you think about that? Coaches possibly leaving a head coaching position in the NFL to go take a gig with a network? Split emotions. On one hand, speaking specifically of Sean McVay, on one hand, he's a champion. So he's earned the right to do what he wants. on one hand he's a champion so he's earned the right to do what he wants on another note i would have much rather preferred that you did it last year as opposed to the way y'all stunk up the joint this year yeah and then you leave i don't like the fact that if he ended up doing that i don't want to remember sean mcveigh as somebody that couldn't make the playoffs and won four or

five games in the 17 game season I want to remember him as that champion that walked out of SoFi Stadium as a Super Bowl champion beating the Cincinnati Gringos and coaching his butt off the way that he did. But he's earned the right to do whatever he wants to do, and I wish him nothing but the best. Really nice guy, by the way. In terms of coaches, players, or anybody else that get into this stratosphere, I would say the same thing that I'd say to anybody else. Be qualified. And qualification doesn't always mean going to school and having this degree. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about knowing what the craft entails, knowing the work that has to be put in in order to succeed, and committing yourself to do just that. You can't get over in this business for but so long.

If you're a fake phony ass person, it ain't going to last. If you're somebody that's duplicitous and you're trying to figure out a way to cut corners, you're not going to last. People like y'all put in the work every day. I listen to y'all whenever I can. The energy does not dissipate. What you get, and that's why Pat McAfee is so important, when you see him in World Wrestling Entertainment,

when you see him on College Football Game Day, when you see him jumping in the ponds and swimming and shit like that, you do all of this stuff going on. When you see all of this, the consistency is in the energy and the passion. He sells you his knowledge, along with you, AJ, and others, but what happens is it's the energy. There passion. He sells you his knowledge along with you, AJ and others. But what happens is, is the energy. There's no dip. When I go on first take every day, Stephen A shows up. That's my job. And you got a lot of people that come from the world of sports and they think it's going to be easy and they think they're just talking. You got to do your research. You got to

do your homework. You got to pay attention to what other people are saying so you can make sure you're not regurgitating other people's comment, mimicking what they say, or worse, not know what the hell you're talking about and think that you're going to slide under the radar and collect the check. It's not going to last.

It's far more serious and intense than people realize. You got to be ready for it. A lot of people think they are, but trust me, they ain't. Well, that's an incredible monologue there about what people need to hear because when I retired, you know, boy, I got much more busy, didn't I? Oh, yeah.

I mean, I did not expect. I did not expect. And then I accidentally signed up for Thursday Night Football to call those Thursday Night Football games. The amount of time and travel and investment in teams that I will probably never talk about again. No way. The amount of investment that you have. But you have to do that sort of homework.

So that when you're on the microphone, you can have some sort of confidence and have some sort of direction when you're speaking. It is. It's a lot. It's a lot easier. OK, than laying bricks. You would never ever in the military and everything like that. But it is a lot of fucking work and i think to your point once again you complimented me again so fucking stop it

but okay i'll stop okay but when we're watching people like you like others it's very obvious right it's very obvious who is just doing like a simple thing right now and i think negativity is a real easy way to get clicks it's a real easy take too I think having like a sophisticated maybe a different look at it is much harder it takes more research you have to look into some more stuff and that's why I think you've had such great success because a lot of people say oh Stephen A's that don't like Stephen A he's the guy that yells it's like yeah he's definitely loud and he has energy but you listen to what's coming out of his mouth we got some very valid points and that's why you've had the success that you've had if you just yelled bullshit it

wouldn't work let's talk about this morning okay okay let's talk about let's talk about this morning steven a all right sure yeah beautiful beautiful new set over there hey mercy that's a beautiful set i hope i hope that I hope that gets displayed Whenever you're being phoned in To first take because whenever they decided For first take to become the Stephen A show With Molly kicking ass But have no just have a rotating cast

Come in and talk to Stephen A More Stephen A we thought that was good news This is a good idea Put this guy up against a lot of people We have a little bit more diversity in this whole thing And Stephen A will shine through it all. We fucking love First Aid. We watch it every day.

Every day. On the big board. Big board. For TV. This morning. No, no, Stephen A. This morning. What did you say this morning?

You go. About Aaron Rodgers? Yeah. Is that what you're talking about? Yeah, when you go, hey, Aaron. Shut up, Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers, I don't want to hear you talking about you maybe being done after this game on. Shut up.

You used to be a bad man. And then you become a bad man. You got a big game this Sunday against the Lions. And now we're hearing you talk about potential football life ending. Shut up, Aaron Rodgers. You're making it up. That's what you said this morning. What happened? What happened? Actually, quote me accurately. I told him to shut

the hell up. That's number one. Number two, let me say this to you. I have been accused at ESPN for years for having a man crush on Aaron Rodgers. Us too, yeah. I think this brother is the greatest quarterback I've ever seen.

And I hope that you replay this, fam. I hope that you replay this, fam. Well, I don't know if he's going to listen. You told him to shut the hell up. Let me explain. Let me explain. Aaron Rodgers is the greatest talent I've ever seen at the quarterback position in my life. And I understand everybody's talking about Patrick Mahomes, but longevity matters to me.

When he puts in another eight, ten years of that, come talk to me. But Aaron Rodgers has been doing this for years. The reason why I went ballistic about Aaron Rodgers this morning is because you haven't been yourself. is because you haven't been yourself. Last couple of years, you know, you gave a press conference before last season about not wanting to be there and why you had felt that way and some of the things that Green Bay

had put you through through the years, which I happen to know, I felt they didn't lack respect for him. They lacked appreciation for him. They took him for granted. They rolled his coattails in his shoulders for years. The nerve of them to be remotely disrespectful to him. All of those things I've expressed about the Green Bay Packers.

Great promo here. But the bottom line is this. But the bottom line is this. This year, for the first two-thirds of the season, y'all sucked. Period. Agreed. And Aaron Rodgers had a role to play in that. Now, over the last four weeks, I think that he's played very

well. I think he's reminded us of the greatness of Aaron Rodgers. So, we're one game away before the playoffs are to begin after you went 4-8 and your team was stinking up the joint. And you said, well, the memories were nice. I mean, this is it.

Excuse me. Excuse my language. The fuck are you talking about? I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear that. I'm looking at you, and I'm saying, look, man, even at 8-8, 9-8, you'll get to the playoffs. They got to deal with Aaron Rodgers. And I don't care about who lost, how many playoff games you lost before.

You're Aaron freaking Rodgers. Excuse me. You get in. It's a game changer. It's a different ball game. We talk about the pass rushing the Dallas Cowboys. We talk about the complete team, the Philadelphia Eagles, at least the world before Jalen Hurts went down.

We could talk about Christian McCaffrey arriving in San Francisco. Debo's going to come back. San Francisco is going to be X, Y, Z. Can I tell you something? You can't dismiss no Aaron Rodgers. No, no. San Francisco's gonna be X, Y, Z. Can I tell you something? You can't dismiss Noam and Rodgers. No, no. That brother's something special. So when I feel this way about him, and I've been articulating this for years.

And after the season you have, and you're gonna sit up there. Oh, yeah, the memories have been nice. I mean, if we lose, we lose. I mean, we control our destiny. But, you know, if it happens. To me, that reeks of life goes on I'm gonna be I I got my bag the 50 million per year now. He deserves it He's earned it and I ain't hating on it

I love it love the fact that you but what I'm saying is when you got fans like me who is the fan of Aaron Rodgers, I want that brother like this. We here, you shouldn't have let us get here. Y'all in trouble because here we come. That's what I want to hear from Aaron Rodgers. And I ain't hear that. Come on, man. I want to hear that back. I want to hear that.

I think two ayahuasca trips ago, maybe. You know what I mean? He's a little different man at this stage. He operates differently. He was asked, too, about it. I think he was asked about it, so he gave a thoughtful and open answer, but I could see how you would want him to have, hey, let's

have a little bit more. Hey, what are your thoughts on this maybe being... I want this! Yeah, I understand what you're saying. I could see that, and I wouldn't mind. I want this! If he, with that new haircut, comes out and cuts a promo, he's like, I ain't worried about any of that right now. I'm worried about the Detroit Lions, the brand new Lions with MCDC. We win, we get in, we're playing our best ball. about any of that right now. I'm worried about the Detroit Lions, the brand-new Lions with MCDC.

We win. We get in. We're playing our best ball. I can hear that, too. I understand. You seem to be a little bit aggressive, though, with the shut down. Because of him. Because it's him.

I love this guy. All these people talking to me. You know what stuff this guy has had to deal with? You got his brother on The Bachelor talking nonsense years ago about him. You got his brother on The Bachelor talking nonsense years ago about him. You got people all in this business about his women knowing you wish you were with them instead of him. You find every excuse to talk about Aaron Rodgers. And I've been the one sitting there.

Y'all shut the hell up. This is the bad man. This is somebody special. Y'all mind your business. And then he come on the air It's been a nice ride What? I do not want to hear that From Aaron Rodgers

You said he's making it hard for you to continue to do this Whenever you display things that prove everybody else's point I got it I understand what you're doing We'll see how the game goes. Excited to hear how he reacts to all of this. Probably next Tuesday. Right here. Can't wait for it.

Ty has a question for you. Owner of the Green Bay Packers. Yeah, Stephen A., that was awesome. Loved hearing that. Going back to something you said a little bit earlier about when you show up on the set of First Take, you're Stephen A., and you know exactly what you need to do. You never have an off day to your point but you know for like us we've only been doing this a couple years now obviously haven't done it day in and day out like you have we always talk about

competitive stamina how do you continue to have that competitive stamina when sometimes you go and it's like shit you know i i don't want to talk about anything today or i don't want you know or whatever the topic is at hand that day like i don't want to get into a spirited debate about something like how do you kind of flip that switch every single day maybe if you going in no like shit i don't have my a game today well a couple of things number one i remember one of my colleagues once said about me said that when the lights come on, I'm just different. You know, it's like the lights are on and people expect, you know, a quality product. And I'm going to give it to them and I'm not going to fake it because you can't sustain fakeness.

Fakeness is going to ultimately reveal itself to be fake and then you'll crumble. And so for me to try to be the best that i can be particularly when the lights come on i mean i got close to 500 000 people watching me live on linear television i've averaged i've averaged every morning i've averaged over one point over 1.5 billion views on youtube per year billion views on YouTube per year. And so I realized that I'm in the eye of the storm. And then I take into account the role that I have because I'm at ESPN and because of my contractor, because of what I've accomplished, even the bosses tell me I'm the face of the network. And so there's a level of responsibility that comes with that. And I know that, but to answer the question directly, the biggest thing that I've done is make sure

that I'm surrounded with people that I love working with. I think Molly Karam is phenomenal. Swagu, Marcus Spears, Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, Matt Doerr, Christian Bruce, Dan Orlovsky, Ryan Clark, and all the contributors that come on. They're not just colleagues. They're personal friends who I love dearly and I would do anything for, and that's just to name a few. And so, think about y'all

going to work every day. It helps that you're surrounded with people you cool with. You like being around. Hold on to that for dear life because i got news for you no one likes everyone they work with in corporate america nobody we all got to tolerate people we don't give a shit about but we gotta work with that day okay and for me the most fortunate part of my job is that i don't have that. Everybody that I work with, I got love for.

And they got love for me. And we all assist each other in trying to make each other thrive. Well, you guys are doing a great job. I got to watch you walk into that seaport one time. Sunglasses on, I believe. AirPods were in. Jacket on. I was in the green room in the back.

There's like a little turn. And then the green room's in the back there's like a little turn and then the green room's in the back i saw this dude turn the corner and i've never seen a cooler fuck ever in my life that's my first time seeing you like walking in i think you gave like a cool dap up to somebody as you walked by then you went into your first take studio or whatever and i was like geez this dude is literally levitating through here you I don't want to say that you've kind of put the daytime on your back, but you and Greeny definitely have, and it has been fantastic to watch. I know you don't have a lot of time left,

but Darius wants to get a question in here about something you know a lot about, which is the association. Yeah, I got to pivot to basketball because I'm not tapped in yet. It won't be until February after the Super Bowl is over. But I have been watching KD, Kyrie, Coach Vaughn out there at the Nets, and that will probably be my pick to win it all this year if they can figure it out. I know you have a lot to say about some of those players on the team and that team. How's your feelings there?

And do you like their title chance? If not them, who else are you feeling can make a run? Well, first of all, a couple of things. Number one, I know we're running out of time, so here's the deal. You want me to come back and talk to you about the nba in a few months i'm happy to do that number two i do that for you number one number two i meant every goddamn word i said when i was saying it yeah this is about kairi kd or anybody else i didn't study i didn't back up and that's still the case having said that you notice i never question their greatness as talent tyree is sensational without question kd is an mvp candidate one of the best players

on the planet i believe when healthy he is the best of the planet he's just a scoring machine there is no matchup for him i look at brooklyn however i think they're a bit thin on their front line they can beat anybody but to ensure that they would be a boston or milwaukee which i'm not sure they would do at this particular moment, I still think they would take Milwaukee. I don't know if they'll take... I don't believe they'll take Boston. I think that Boston would take them with Brown,

with Robbie Williams coming back. He's at the center position with Marcus Smart, with the pickup of Brogdon, with White and those brothers, and then being fresh in the NBA Finals. Manzula's doing a hell of a job, and we'll see whether or not that continues.

Once other coaches figure him out. He's not Eme Udoka, but he might be. The bottom line is this. I look at Boston as the best team. They obviously swept Brooklyn last year in the postseason in the first round. I don't believe that would happen this go-round. Brooklyn, I believe, needs a little bit more girth on their front line. They need to just find a

big body that's just there to bang. That's what they need. Somebody that can move bodies. They got everything else. And I think Jacques Vaughn's doing a hell of a job. I think he's doing a hell of a job. And he's a Coach of the Year candidate. All right. We'll go put every dollar we have on that. Thank you, Steve, for the recommendation.

We can't wait to chat with you, hopefully, in a couple months, whenever you come back. Good luck with No Mercy. Good luck with the book, Straight Shooter, a memoir of second chances and first takes. Hardcover coming out January 17, 2023. If you want to learn about the life of a man who has transcended sport and sports media in a beautiful fashion.

The book comes out January 17th. Thank you so much, Stephen A. I appreciate y'all, man. Thanks so much. Happy New Year. See you soon, Pat. Hey, you said a lot of very nice things about me. I would like to reciprocate all of them and then some.

You are the man. Happy New Year, Stephen A. Smith. Yeah! That was too much, sir. Really. Yeah, that was incredible. That was a lot. We might have to somehow print that out on one of those mobile frames.

You could do that. And put it on your fridge so you can anytime unmute it. That was really nice. He was talking about us as a whole whenever he was talking about that. But certainly, we have rattled some things, I think, in some places. Yeah, I don't think so. Take a little credit here. It doesn't happen without the team, obviously.

You've got to have a good team around you. And what he said there about working with people that you like, that is a big deal. For sure. That's the only deal. Exactly. That's why you haven't seen us hire, really, at all. Because you could add somebody that's great and fits in perfectly.

Certainly could. Certainly could. I think we're a good group. I think there are people that could fit in and match in really well and handle it. But if you don't, then I, as the first senior leadership here, would have to deal with the exit of said person as well with balancing, obviously, so many different things. It's like I don't want to sign up for that. And that's thinking very negatively. But in this particular role that I currently have,

have to think about that every once in a while, which I hate doing. But that has certainly scared the shit out of me out of hiring anybody as of late. And it's, you know, Dirty came in here fucking awesome. Dirty came in and was incredible. We appreciate the hell out of you, Dirty. Mitt came in strictly because it's like, all right, I've known this fuck since he was 12. He'll be able to figure it out. He's been been there before but that's a scary thing to do congrats to steven a being around everybody in corporate america that he likes it seems like he's got it

set up over there seaport a lot a lot of hours a lot of hours we have spent that's the thing is you know i mean it's been basically the same people from they since you retired and started this like it's just asking someone to come in and you know if it wasn't someone like d-butt who you already knew incredibly well and was cool to us from the get-go like it just and didn't suck like he doesn't suck no yeah chuck doesn't exactly but it's aq he sucks but it's like it's five to six years of every single day, multiple hours, like building chemistry. And like, it's just, it's almost impossible to imagine someone coming in and being able to just pick it up and run with it.

That's why going into game day was something. Yeah. That's why I felt obligated to go to those production room meetings on Fridays, which I, I said this yesterday, like didn't have to do part of the contract did not have to be there for that whole thing. Negotiate that in there. Cause I didn't want to miss any of this particular show but then once you start like learning about who's behind the scenes it's like been there 20 years been there 20 years 15 years 27 years okay

eight years wow you haven't been here that long eight years the doctor that's a doctorate that's how long it takes basically it's like i should probably try to get in here and introduce these people to who I am because chemistry is the most important thing I think in anything for the success of anything Chuck whenever a player comes in you know they're not good for your culture how quickly do you recognize it and how do you change it can you try to change the person or do you know when you know yeah you know but the locker room knows players, you guys know before we know. Because sometimes we get blindsided because of the talent and this, that, and the other.

But if there's somebody, it's like you've got cancer in your arm, you know, and the doc says, okay, you can keep your arm, but you're going to live six months. All right? We can take the arm, and you're going to live until you're 95 years old. What are you going to do? Take the arm. All of us would sign up and say, take the arm. I'll do whatever I have to do, but I going to live until you're 95 years old. What are you going to do? Take the arm. All of us would sign up and say, take the arm. I'll do whatever I have to do, but I want to live.

So chemistry is huge. Can you imagine the hours you got to your point that you spend here together and you're working around a bunch of assholes? The, you know, guys that you walk into, like, if there's a player or two, and they're everywhere, right? And, you know, we all got a Lulu in our family. Hey, Lulu's coming to Thanksgiving. I got you.

You know, right when you think that, you know, you may be the Lulu as well. You got to make sure your shit's in order. You don't have one, it's you, buddy. You know, but that's real. Because you're walking in a building and say, God, I don't want to be around this dude for the next eight hours. So what you've built here and what you've built, like, our coaching staffs and the people, there's a bunch of us.

And I couldn't imagine being around people that I did not like, you know, let alone trust and their brains and what they're doing and they've got your back and all that loyalty stuff. But can you imagine going into a place? How do you measure that? How do you measure that, AJ? Like at the Combine. Because we talk about it when it comes to a team

because we've been on this same page for a long time. Like I want to know the team. Like last night I saw the video from the night before the NFC Championship game for the Philadelphia Eagles back in aught 18 or whatever. Yep. And they're playing Meek Mill's Dream – or Meek Mill Dreams and Nightmares. And I think we had already known that was kind of their song, but it hadn't blossomed yet.

I think that next day in the NFC Championship game, it was going to become a full show. I think that's when we all kind of learned about that being the – they were playing it in a team meeting room the night before the NFC Championship game. This video came out the night before the Championship game. I thought you'd be in a hotel. They're clearly in a team meeting room here, so I don't know how they were handling it all.

But the whole place is jumping. That's the night before nfc goodbye you know how big of a game that is do you know how nervous people could be instead i think that's garrett blunt over there jumping on his way and there's coaches in the back there's another angle coming out jumping and bouncing alongside of it's like that team way too tight to lose if you and by tight i mean like a group not tight as in like nervous like how do you find that i wonder i honestly we have this conversation a lot and i'm not sure we found the answer yet how do you find how do you know i don't know how you can wouldn't you think chuck could answer better but i would imagine coming out of when you're like say you're talking

to guys at the combine hey would this guy be a good fit in our locker room i would imagine you you have to trust the trainers, the different people that that person dealt with, talk to some of their teachers, some of the professors possibly. And then if you have a good relationship with their coaches, if they're going to shoot you straight and let you know for real what this person's really like. I'm thankful that the Colts didn't do any of that. I never went to class and the Colts would have no idea.

That's real because we get a 15-minute interview at the combine. What are you going to find out in 15 minutes? Because one guy goes, give us your background so if this guy had some stuff in his life and he's got two or three red flags you know 14 minutes has gone by he's trying to explain hey i didn't touch her i didn't do this i didn't do that i was drunk he's going through this whole deal right i was drunk in public i meant to be drunk in a bar i had to do that someone's supposed to be watching my back yp yeah i want there was an. They shut down every bathroom in the entire city. What am I supposed to do? It's 2 a.m., bro.

Penny pitchers. But those scouts that are on the road for the whole fall, we get those 15 minutes, but it's your scouts. It's your personnel department that they go and they scour. They're going to talk to the coaches. And a lot of times the coaches aren't going to say anything negative. They can't. Because if that gets back and then it becomes a recruiting issue,

gets back to a high school, hey, this guy badmouthed. So those guys can't. But you've got to dig. So go to the class. Go to a professor. Go to the chow hall. Go to somebody that cooks for these kids and say, what do you think about such and such?

You'll find somebody. And they don't have to say a lot. I used to be the pro liaison at the University of Miami when I was down there. such and such. You'll find somebody, and they don't have to say a lot. I used to be the pro liaison at the University of Miami when I was down there, and guys would come in and they'd ask, and I'd have to get up and talk about all the players. Hey, what do you think about such and such? Good player, good kid. Oh, he stinks.

So you can say a lot without saying a lot. Yeah, but do those people know that what they're saying is saying a lot? They should unless you get fired. That's what I'm saying. And then you got to, when you do say that, knowing that you got to maintain your reputation, too, so you can't feed them bullshit and say every kid, every guy is great, every guy is a great locker room guy because then they come back to you. Hey, we just drafted this motherfucker.

Hey, overall. Everyone hates him. No, they're not coming back. You ain't going to be the pro liaison. You're not going to talk to those guys. Some guy, one team at the Senior Bowl, said the night you got your public intoxication or public whatever it was in college,

minor in possession is what Morgantown calls it, just so they can collect $100 from you and collect your fake ID and then move on or whatever. When you did that, were you out with players or were you alone? And I was like, what's that? He was like, did you go with players or were you alone and i was like uh what's that he was like did you go out alone were you with your teammates i was like i don't know if i should even talk about that and he was like uh were you alone or not and i was like i don't hang out alone no he's like okay so you were out with your teammates had a good time you're the

only one that got caught i was like whoa whoa whoa now you're putting stories together i actually went to the bathroom you know i actually went the bathroom, and my lookout was actually, he had to go to the bathroom too because, once again, no bathrooms are open 2 a.m. What the fuck are we supposed to do? This is before Uber. So I don't know what I was supposed to do. I thought I did the right thing.

He's like, got it. And then that person, I learned from a coach later, said like probably good locker room guy out with teammates, like that whole thing. It was like, great guy. We could actually have a better guy. That was, it ended up being something that a coach

told me later, like, hey, this is what we heard about you coming out of college or whatever. Is this true? Whatever. I'm like, yeah, I do remember talking to that guy because every team has agents, retired agents that do their look into. Some people have, like, what, mental coaches from Navy SEALs. Doesn't, I think the Colts have a

Navy SEAL. Matt Ryan. No. Brian Decker. A Navy SEAL who does some sort of reading and testing and everything on people and conversation, what their grit is and where their level is. That's the hardest thing to figure out. What makes man tick?

We can watch tape. We can evaluate the tape. We can see what he puts on the field. We can do the measurables we see how you know how fast he is how high he can jump all that all that stuff right but this is what you got to figure out this is what you got to find out yeah and then do you ever really know until some shit goes down yeah we've learned a lot about people real quick yeah you know what happens when you pay that person too yeah when they're when they become a star player, they start to get success. How do you handle success? You know, how do the people around them?

You know, so it's a lot of different variables. And that locker room shit, you know, now, you know, this stage and this, my post-football career, I've been blessed to work with a bunch of people I like. But in the locker room, you don't like everybody. But you know how to get along, go out there and do your job, you know, when it's time to work, when you're in the locker room. Who'd you hate? I didn't hate anybody.

I never hated anybody, but it was definitely people where, you know, we didn't hang out off the field, and it was cool. You know, they're whoever they are, and maybe they like being a loner, so that's cool, too, but they show up, they're on time, they do their work, they're having a business, they're going they're gonna be lined up and should we get our job done i loved kind of watching new guys come in the locker room and just kind of seeing how you know they work and how they don't work there was a guy that showed up in our locker room that i think four steps in i was like oh this guy sucks oh really middle of the season didn't even talk to well first of

all never took headphones off yeah okay wow people were introducing themselves like first day in like first day and he's got his headphones first entrance in the locker room and i'm sitting punched him right off my locker is in the middle my locker is in the middle kind of so i have good eyes over here where kind of skill and DNs are. And then this way, there was, like, offense and everything like that. So I kind of had good view on pretty much everything. Old buddy walks in, headphones on, and I see some skill guys, like, introducing themselves to him. And I would assume that this guy would have been a little, and he was, like, kind of, I don't want to say, like, big time, but definitely standoffish.

I'm like, oh, this must be an awkward fuck or whatever and then it goes through the whole thing and then like anytime we saw him never had those off and it was like this guy doesn't want to talk to anybody this guy i feel like this is literally this is literally like at a bar that i was in san francisco this past weekend watching those games i just kept those airpods in my ear that's like a hey don't't talk to me. Place. Bring it to someone else. Place. You know what helps the NFL?

You know the top 30 visits? So you can bring 30 guys in every year. Colts did that. So that gives you an opportunity to bring a guy into your building. You do a physical, but he's going to be there for a big chunk of time. So he can be surrounded by a bunch of – you can get him around your players. You can put him with a panel. Did you do that? he's going to be around the train you do any of those yeah um with rams i think there was still st louis there st louis and then minnesota and then the

jets i think i did three colts i had one here and tell me if yours was the same and aj you're number five overall so i assume you were in the building before you got drafted over there so tell me if he's probably picking if mine's different or not. Did you do any of these top 30 visits? Yes? Yeah, I did, like four or five, but not Green Bay. They didn't bring me in. Oh, they knew.

They were trying to. This guy stays. There's a lot of gamesmanship when it comes to that, too. Yeah. Because when they come in, they say, where are you going? Who's bringing you in? So you're writing all that stuff down. I remember when Andrew came in before he got got drafted and he was going to washington next and i believe the full conversation was like what don't go like

why are you we're gonna pick it yeah and he was like he felt obligated to i think because he was a good guy coming in for the colts is the only one i had and they have a scout pick you up a scout picked me up he drove me for probably an hour and a half two hours in a car all around this fucking city i had to go from the airport to carmel to some other place on the south side to get test physical physical physical physical then finally drive back up to where the fucking practice facility is which is another one i was in his car for two hours this guy and i talked about a lot and it wasn't until like probably 45 minutes in i'm like like, oh, this is on purpose. Like they are.

Yeah. But I lived on the road pretty much my entire teenage life because of soccer. So I felt good, you know, talking shit about stuff. I was like doing my thing. And then I get in the building. Tom Telesco has me sit in a room. They have me sit there probably like 30, 45 minutes. And I'm like, are they watching me through like.

Yeah, that's what happened with Grom. I feel like I'm being watched right now. And then Tom comes in, and it's like a real – it's a real convo for like another hour, two hours. And then I'm on my way out, and I don't hear from them again. I didn't hear from the Colts again until draft night when they traded with the Eagles, and I get drafted. I was like, that entire time they were trying to –

Just to see if he'd bitch or whatever. Bitch or if I seem like, because I did have that minor in possession, there was a lot of like, what is this guy? What is he not? Now, obviously, that was an indicator. Second year, that was an indicator. I should have learned my lesson. Okay, that's on me, 100% on me.

But, yeah, I felt like that's what they were trying to do that entire time. You're 100% right with that top 30 visit. Well, and there's one call, I think, if you remember, two years ago, when a trainer for North Dakota State called in, talking about Trey Lance, about how he's a great guy and obviously what you see with the Niners. You know, he's out with George Kittle doing everything. It is a bummer to hear Trent Richardson was like that when he came to the Colts. That is not.

That is not. That's a huge bummer. Let's take a – And we joke about it too. I'm not sure what you're saying, but like the draft day, does this guy go to the – did this guy have players at the birthday party? Like that entire conversation is real. I think that was written into the movie to showcase that whole convo

that we just had, and they figured that was the most creative way to describe that. But that is an answer that every team is trying to get and most difficult to have. But if you have a good locker room, you can win regardless of all the other things. Let's talk about some breaking news coming out of DeMar Hamlin's health scare. Tom Pelissero is reporting that Dr. Pritz says DeMar Hamlin's signs of improvement, including emerging from his sleep following commands and asking who won the game.

Dr. Pritz clarifies that Hamlin cannot speak and still has a breathing tube in he has been communicating in writing last night this guy can write okay let's go dude our response was damar you won you won the game of life you're right that's fucking awesome dr pritz says they have explained to hamlin what happened and he expressed surprise that he had not been with the world for two days. Also talked with him about all the support. His first note was, did we win? It's not only that the lights are on, we know that he's home, says Dr. Pritz, who has been working with DeMar Hamlin at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Remarkable news. Hell yeah. Big thank you to everybody medically that has done incredible

work with a very scary, devastating, primetime football situation. DeMar Hamlin seemingly all the way back. Writing now. Dexterity still there. Who won the game? Remembers game. That he was at game. Surprised that he hasn't been around for the last two days.

It seemingly is the greatest news we can get. For sure. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Congrats, DeMar. Aren't they saying he woke up on his own, too? Like, that's awesome. Yeah, like, hey, DeMar.

Writes down, I'm fucking sleeping. Yeah. What the hell? You know, what's the deal? Congrats to DeMar. Yeah. Unreal. Can you imagine that building right now, that locker room?

Can you imagine the galvanization that's going to take place now? Wouldn't want to be playing them this week. Yeah, that would suck. Well, they might have eight spots, Well, they might have eight spots, but the whole world breathes a massive sigh of relief from Dr. Pritz's update there. That's amazing to hear. Let's take a break. On the other side, we will wrap up the glorious day that is January 5th, 2023, the day that we learned that it is possible in the world that we currently live in.

There's a lot of shit that happens in our world that we don't like. It is possible for somebody to have to receive CPR for nine straight minutes in front of the entire world. Then get in an ambulance, get to a hospital. And two days later, basically be back with full neurological, neurologically intact. And the doctor reiterated that fact. Yeah. That there's no signs of any deficit. Yeah. Unbelievable.

Yeah. Mom and dad. Yeah. Man. They were very positive through that whole time. Jordan Rooney became the spokesperson for the family. I'm sure that was, it didn't look like he was enjoying. A lot of people were saying he was taking advantage of the moment and everything like that was it didn't look like he was enjoying a lot of people were

saying he was taking advantage of the moment and everything like that because people are naturally cynical on everything i would assume that the family and everybody is pumped to be at this stage yeah and the positive vibes that we had heard about and the belief that tomorrow is tomorrow so he'll get through this rang true let's Let's go, dude. Let's go. Welcome back, Hour 3. Chuck, we appreciate you. 15 people, 500 bucks. How about it? Here we go. Here we go, Chuck. I did hear my voice give out a couple times. I might have done a little bit more damage.

I probably shouldn't have been doing that, but needed the moment because this is a big-time day. The last hour, we got a chance to chat with Stephen A. Smith, and the DeMar Hamlin news is remarkable. I heard the doctors during the break. I don't know if you did the same thing as us. Over here, we listened to the doctors speak a little bit.

First of all, congrats to them. They obviously go to school for a long time, work long hours. They probably treat this type of thing, not this type of thing, but very serious things on a regular basis nobody ever really knows about now they're being thrust in the spotlight i think the way they've handled it with the information being kept in right there hasn't been any leaks out of the university of cincinnati medical center which is incredible it's not normal in 2022 2023 and probably for the rest of eternity tight tight circles are not real anymore especially

whenever it's the story of the world so them talking about it addressing it the way they are this is the fucking this is this is incredible this is incredible news they're talking about we're working on getting him back to who he was before it happened it's like that means like oh yeah football like if this dude returns the football i mean granted the fact he's already alive, he's writing, he's messaging is what's being quoted. He's waking up on his own. He's doing everything. All the news is good. And they're talking about we're just working on getting him off the ventilator because, Chuck, explain to us a little bit.

You did during the break. Because the ventilator's on there, he has to remain sedated for a certain amount of time. And they talked about that a little bit. And that was kind of their answer. Like, we still got to get him off the ventilator is on there. He has to remain sedated for a certain amount of time. And they talked about that a little bit. And that's, that was kind of their answer. Like we still got to get them off the ventilator there. What is that process? And how do you know about it? Yeah. So going through, um, open heart surgery back in 96, just out of nowhere, they strapped you down, you wake up and you got this ventilator. First thing you want to do is go grab it. So we heard that there was, to get that thing out. That's the first instinct is to get that thing out. But you're strapped down, and you're so heavily sedated

that they're going to breathe for you until you get off that sedation. And your lungs, he's got to get you. I had tubes coming out of me. So he's got tubes clearing his lungs, getting the blood out, whatever was there. But until you're off, completely off all the meds, to a certain point where you can breathe on your own, it's because of, you know, they've been reports that he's sedated, sedated, he's in critical condition, all that stuff. So until that kind of gets weaned out of him and he gets off that sedation, they'll pull that thing and he'll be able to breathe on his

own. Obviously there's some dangers involved with this. I would assume sedation, ventilator, weaning off, tubes coming out of lungs and everything like that. But this is standard operating procedure for heart surgeries normally? Yeah. Yep. Yeah, it's not. Okay. So that's a good piece of information, right?

Seems like that's another good piece of information because they were asked, the doctors were asked about playing football again. And they said, you know, he's still in the ICU. Yeah. He's still very still in the ICU like yeah we're still very much in the ICU the doctor said it's like okay we understand that but it sounds like we're getting to a point where this is a lot of folks like not a lot of people in the history of football he might be the only one in the history of football routine tackle cardiac arrest but it sounds like we're at a point where there's a lot of people that have been to this point of where he is in recovery. Yeah.

And that's good, right? Because we probably have more information about this particular stage of recovery. Like you said, him going for the thing, very natural. That's what everybody does. Everything that's going through right now, pretty well tested, I think, right? He's gotten to a point where I don't want to say people are just comfortable like, hey, here we go. He didn't have heart surgery, though. They had to do something, right?

So it's still probably different. I don't know. They didn't open him up, up i don't think he had blood in his lungs though right so they had to do the tubes yeah they had to train yeah i'm sure yeah there's plenty of stuff going on which i didn't know i'm we'll get back to i didn't know chuck had open heart surgery in 96 me neither that didn't know if it was the right time to just stop him in the middle of that and be like excuse me okay so you had what did you you said a heart attack out of nowhere so i had one uh artery blight i was on a treadmill early in the morning doing my workout it felt a little bad so i got off showered went upstairs as a recruit

i was at university of miami came back down at lunch jumped back on had the same kind of stuff and they said hey you need to go over to doctor's hospital i didn't go trainer came up grabbed me on a thursday said you go what'd they say i said i didn't go so he grabbed me by the back of my hair and drug me over there and i essentially never left so i uh lad the widow maker lads the left anterior descending artery was like 85%, 90% block. Jesus. So they had to go in. So they take you in. You do a catheter deal. Jeez. They check it out, cardiac cath.

You do that. They say, yeah, it is. Then you get out on the table. One doc comes in and said, we can do a stent. Less evasive. No open heart. Saw your sternum open and rib cage. Crack. Do a cracker deal right so i'm thinking yeah

that sounds a lot better than open heart but then the doctor's nurse came and said where you got this blockage it's too close to this other artery and if they do this and something happens and you're not opened up they're not going to be able to save you if they if if you burst another artery got it so then i said okay where's the open heart dude yeah they they wanted you to do the open heart that's why they did the way they did like hey we need to provide you options but also we've been here before this is a decision we're going to try to make for you pretty much and thankfully they did right all good since then oh yeah yeah so i don't you know they did a mammary a deal took my mammary how old are you 36 jesus oh. Jesus. Oh, my. I'm 35.

How scary was that, Chuck? Yeah, it was a lot scarier for, like, my parents and my wife, Tina. You know, because when you come out and they bring you into the room finally and you're hooked up to a million machines. So right when you see somebody like that with a deal down your throat and all these machines going and they're basically breathing for you they're pumping blood through your body you know for you all that kind of stuff so it's scarier for them but when when i finally came to they woke you up and i tried to get that out they didn't want to take it out so they did something they stuck

something down to make me cough right and so i just they had just sewn me back up right and just wired you know they put these wires to bring your chest cavity back together so I'm off the table crying so you can't talk because you got that in your deal they're trying to get you to cough up stuff and get get that lung your lungs clear so I give me the pad you know they talked about DeMar being able to write yeah so I could write you know and I think I wrote down to Tina, all right, have them put me the fuck under again, please. Don't ever do that again. So, yeah, so it's pretty commonplace, but I think, you know, by another day or so, but obviously he's in such great hands

and such great care. I was lucky where I was, you know, time and place, but he'll, you know, once he gets off that stuff, it'll be. Did you think about not coaching after that? Stress? Did you change your lifestyle? Did you diet? Yeah, it's a good question, AJ. For a couple weeks, be honest with you. Really? No, it's like we take these things for granted because we're all healthy. We come to work every day. We go home, we get up, boom, boom, boom.

You take these days for granted and they may not always be there. So you change some things and, uh, try to, try to eat better. Actually, I've always exercised. I've always been, you know,

I didn't have, I didn't have cholesterol problem, no family history, no this, no that. What is it? Stress. So two weeks later,

I was back on the, on the field coaching. Okay. Smart. Wait, where have you What is it? Stress. So two weeks later, I was back on the field coaching. Okay, smart. Nice. Wait, where have you been? Way to go. Unbelievable. I think your phone's blowing up too.

Yeah, I believe people are saying, hey, Chuck, are you telling the heart attack story? I didn't know this. I didn't know this was. That's amazing. I didn't know. Is that a heart attack? No, it's just blocked. What is that?

What does that consider? Thank God. So I was going to go back. They don't know until they get in there and see if there's any damage to the heart. So I had what they call is angina. So you had like pre-heart attack, you had all the symptoms, you know, so they say, hey, look, shortness of breath, feels like your chest is burning, pain down the left side of your arm, things like that. So then they go in and say, okay, did you have any damage to the heart muscle and thank god i i had no damage to the heart muscle so they they did you know one bypass and knock on wood everything's good yeah there we go thank you doctors thank you doctors and thank you to the doctors at the university of uh cincinnati medical center let's bounce around some of the news here

as we wrap that was news chuck we'reagano had Oprah. Yeah. Yeah. 36 years old, man. Scary. What? Oh, no. No, yeah, we know that. I think that's already been broken a couple different times. But, yeah, the Bills-Bangles game, not happening.

I think we all kind of understood that it's been made official. Yeah. A couple different people have broke that news. What will happen next, we shall see. Will they add another team to the afc and to the nfc because they don't want any home field advantage if some team cannot fairly earn it uh will that be for this year will that be for years going forward those are the next steps and also the next steps of damar hamlin's health we can't wait to hear what's next and congrats to everybody over there uh taylor heineke uh broke some news yesterday because it was alleged that he said to the team uh you guys just need to see sam how or

whatever he like he was going to start and then he said no sam how should start he addressed it while wearing a foreplay podcast uh hat in the locker room just yesterday and I'll tell you what, Taylor Heineke oozes machismo. Yep. He does. Doesn't he? He does. Big time. He really does.

This dude is what you want in a leader, what you want in a locker room. Here's him addressing the Sam Howe starting situation for the commanders this last weekend of the NFL season. Yeah, we had some discussions this morning and ultimately decided to go with Sam. I'm really excited for his opportunity. I think he's going to show a lot of people what he's got. But as the competitor that you are, any disappointment that you're not starting? No. Obviously I want to be out there with the guys, but I also understand this is kind of a business deal.

We want to see what Sam's got. We've seen it all year through practice, training camp, preseason. The guy can ball, so we're all excited for him. Two different ways to take that. Taylor Heineke doesn't want to play. Taylor Heineke's happy for somebody else taking a job that he certainly has earned and has been fucked out of a couple different times now with the Washington Commanders. I think the way I view it is Taylor Heineke's the greatest teammate of all time. Listen, if you want Sam Howe to play, cool. He told us he's

just happy to be in the NFL. He's making money, but he is a massive piece of the puzzle that is this Commander's team. Carson Wentz last week, he goes in, throws three picks. Obviously, he's not playing. They've been eliminated. They haven't seen Sam Howe because injury early. He is a rookie. I think it's a cool move by Heineke continues to prove that we are big fans of his and why we are big fans of his and Sam Howell welcome to the league week 18 no nothing really on the line good luck out there this is for the future of the commanders pretty much yeah but still the question that comes to my brain yeah of course Taylor Heineke the dude is awesome his teammates love him we know why I like how he said

it's kind of a business deal. That's true. Like, don't get your feelings hurt about it. It's a business thing. Why the hell did Carson Wentz start last game? They didn't know. What are you talking about? Darius, what's so funny?

Like, why was Heineke bull-wided Wentz fucking game? That's a great question. I had no idea. They didn't let him play the whole game after he was glued. He needed to win. Stinking it up. Yeah, Heineke should have won. I mean, the Commanders haven't done much that makes sense.

Didn't Rod Verrilli say he can't play himself out like remember when taylor got the starting gig he said like no he's in he's our guy like he can't there's nothing he's gonna do to get pulled he said that like early on taylor had to what one game i think he had a game where now granted he wasn't putting up massive numbers in the wins that they were getting but he was winning games for them and i think everybody loved him and are we trying to win, like just win, or are we trying to win in a certain way? You know what I mean? Like that is kind of the conversation that seemingly was taking place. And business, it's business.

They paid Carson a lot of money. He was healthy. I guess they just decided in the middle of a playoff hunt, in a playoff race, that since Taylor had one game that maybe wasn't as great, or maybe it was two. I don't know. Go ahead, Tony. The game that they pulled him in, they said, like, if they're assigned to struggle. It was a quick hook.

Yeah, and it was against the 49ers, and also he was, like, 12-19 for 150 and two touchdowns. But it being a quick hook was talked about before the game even started. It gives you a storyline. He never threw three picks in a game, did he? No. I don't think so. What happened a week before that though? The quick...

The short leash. You're allowed to throw a pick for every $10 million that you're making for the team. Fair. Before they start judging you? That makes sense. Yeah, the week before the Niners. He has 23-31.

One TD, one pick. Oh no, it's up top. The Giants game. They lost to the Giants. 17-29, one touchdown. 20-12. Two TDs, one interception. Are you talking about the 1-0-3?

Yeah, that's when he got pulled in the Niners. He'll never do more than one pick in a game. Yeah, but what happened in the Giants game going into the Niners game, they said he's got a short leash for Carson Wentz. That's just because Carson was healthy? Is that what it was? I assumed from not watching the entire Commanders games, I assumed he must have played poorly.

Now, granted, one touchdown, zero interceptions against the Giants, 17 of 29. Wink Martindale's defense is going to be hungry regardless. I guess he's not putting up like 400 yards, 300 yards. 249, 275. Falcons, 138. It's just like managing a game pretty much exactly. But they're winning. 5-2-1 is the starter.

Oh, they lost right there. That's why. Look at the last tie loss. One of those last two games, they have a tie and two losses. Yeah, it was like when the school board member came up to Coach Herman Boone and said, hey, I got bad news. One loss and you're out. Taylor doesn't deserve that.

Why does that happen to Taylor, though? Can we pull up Carson's now? Because, like, we just looked at Taylor's and absolutely, like, sure, they lost those games. In fairness. Look at the stats Carson has when they lose their games. It's certainly because of the business part of it absolutely absolutely because of it chuck let's ask you what it's 100 business that's top down telling them we're not resting

against 30 mil and ron or there's gonna deal with it yeah so we know what we paid you know to get him what we traded to do to get him in here and he's gonna be our guy and then he gets hurt and he's out he's out what 10 weeks so they're looking for an opportunity probably – because you can't lose your job because of an injury, right, supposedly. James Winston. That has happened a lot throughout professional sports. But they're doing well. There's a Wally Pip guy. Drew Bozzo.

That statement, I think, is just marketing. I think it's propaganda. Yeah, exactly. That's not an actual real thing. People lose their job because they get injured all the time because there's a counter-cliche. Can't join a club in the tub right so that's a counter one there no that's legit and i think they're doing good and they're winning heineke obviously wins over the fans the locker room coaches he's a gamer

he's a baller he's a great teammate winning winning winning and then you hit the skids a little bit you lose one you tie one whatever that was but i think it was like maybe there was a little window that said okay the shines kind of wore off luster's kind of wore off we have a window now legitimate window where we can we can move carson back in so you think it's strategy reasons see if he gives a spark some new energy some new whatever he. He did not. No. But then why wouldn't you go back to Heineken, that must-win game? I mean, they only lost by two touchdowns in the Browns, and Carson played like shit. So right now it's just like anything else.

They're going to see what they have. Maybe one game's enough in Sam. Just like, you know, playing Sam Ellinger for the Colts. You've got to figure out what they have. Do they have a legitimate backup in Sam Howell? Well, yeah. The Colts. What's wrong with the Colts. We've got to figure out what they have. Do they have a legitimate backup in Sam Howell? The Colts. What's wrong with the Colts? Chuck, just as your...

What time? Don't we go off? I don't know. Yeah, the opposite would be what's right. How does that get... Like the commanders, they've got an uphill battle to figure out what they're going to do next. Makes sense there, though.

Maybe Carson came back. A lot of work to do. It's my time. What if Carson did? Well, if we watch Hard Knocks. Oh, forget the Colts stuff. I watched Hard Knocks last night. It was awesome.

It was a great episode of Hard Knocks last night. First one I've watched this season. Only watched because I saw an Instagram clip of J.J. Watt doing something awesome on the Hard Knocks Instagram. And it was like tonight, 10 o'clock, and I'm like, oh, this is going to be the J.J. Watt recap, almost overview. And it was. It was fucking awesome. Just because they have so many clips of J.J. from back when he was at Houston, when he got drafted. Big moments, big plays.

NFL film was running this whole thing, so they got an entire vault. And I think last week everybody thought, because the tweet went out, that maybe the retirement Hard Knocks episode would be last week. And then we thought, well, maybe J.J.'s not giving any, like, nah, I'm not being mic'd up. I'm not doing it. Like, you guys could do a little song and dance elsewhere. He was mic'd up. I'm not doing it. Like, you guys can do your little song and dance elsewhere. He was mic'd up. They did a wonderful job of encapsulating, like,

what fucking J.J. Watt has been to the NFL and to the league. There was a couple refs thanking him for his – he ends up getting 10 sacks on the episode for the sixth time of his career. Last three years he got 10 sacks combined because he was injured so much so he reached a milestone these last two games of the cardinal season the last two stadiums that he hasn't played in in the entire nfl so it's like almost like storybook type now the team stinks win a super bowl obviously that would be fantastic but the way it was covered last night on Hard Knocks, I think. Worth a watch. And JJ says fuck. Okay. What?

Now we're talking. JJ is a human. Yeah. And HBO allowed that. Talking shit. Telling stories. Seems like a real mentor for that. Zayven.

Zayven Collins. Zayven Collins out of Tulsa. Their relationship's awesome. And you can tell that JJ Watt cares. Now, his way of caring is shit-talking, but that is certainly a way of caring and way a relationship goes back, and Zayven

talks shit back, but it was a great episode. I loved it. Congrats, NFL Films, and congrats to J.J. You done good, dude. You done good. Way to go, J.J. A.J., did you pick it up? I did not. I completely forgot that it was even a thing, but I have seen clips because I love J.J. A.J., did you pick it up? I did not. I completely forgot that it was even a thing, but I have seen clips because I love J.J.'s D-line coach, Matt Burke.

He was my linebacker coach in Cincinnati. Dartmouth guy, super smart. He's the man. He's in it. Yeah, I know. That's why I've just only seen clips of it. I didn't know it was still going on. How many more are there?

Probably this upcoming week is probably the last one, but real artsy shot of your D-line coach. Sitting good lighting, good backdrop. You know, real. Nice. I just thought to myself, look at this guy getting some shine out here. You know what I mean? It was a cool thing coaching against J.J. Watt.

It felt like every time we played Houston, the whole place was going to be turned down for Watt was going to play, and then J.J. was probably going to be doing the old Dougie out there. Hell, yeah. He was unbelievable. He was everywhere. What a fucking career. They encaps doing the old doggy out there. Hell, yeah. He was unbelievable. He was everywhere. What a fucking career. They encapsulated the last night well in Harnox, I thought.

No, he's – you know when he came out last, when they're going to introduce the defense. It's like Ray Lewis getting introduced in Baltimore. You knew you were in for an ass-whooping. And that guy was going to play. I mean, the guy is phenomenal. And, you know, what he's done off the field is amazing. But what he's done off the field is amazing,

but what he's done through the course of his career, I mean, we saw that same move over and over and over and over, and we talked to AC and our tackles alignment. He's going to foot fake you. You're going to go crashing down, and then he's going to come back out and go down the line of scrimmage and catch you from behind or wreak havoc on if you know we're running into it he's unbelievable and you and there's nothing you could do about it they show and then when he wanted to hit you right up underneath your chin and just get knock him back and separate and shed and then get to the court he's incredible they showed him working that play

which he did three times last week i believe like what it was almost like let's see if we still got this boom bang pow crash down tackle loss, and a fourth down. That's like the J.J. Watt move. They were showing him in Houston working on it on like a dummy whenever they had hard knocks in Houston. They were showing him in Arizona in training camp working on it. It's like him working it and how much he's committed to a game. Hell of a fucking football player. First ballot Hall of Famer guaranteed in everybody's eyes.

Absolutely. It was cool to kind of take a trip down memory lane. I don't know if he watched it, but he proved to me last night he was a human, which is also fucking really cool. I got to check it out. See that side of him. They always do a great job, but y'all both just talked about it. One of the best pops in general coming out of

the stadium. Yes. Him getting that last intro. Have been a dog, obviously on the defensive side of the ball, all across the line, and then even on the offensive side of the ball, playing a little tight end, man. So he deserves this little farewell tour. I don't want to name drop too much because he talked to Cliff Kingsbury on Hard Knocks about – Cliff Kingsbury goes,

did you get any texts yesterday? You know, when he put out the tweet, he was like, yeah, I just – I tried my best. So I figured, you know what, I DM'd him. I didn't send a text, though. Name dropped, no big deal. I have J.J. Watt's phone number. We stole it.

We stole it, kind of. The way we got it was not necessarily like how you go about getting somebody's number. They asked me to do something, and they reached out, and then he came on the show in return, and he called from his, and I don't ever do that, but I'm like, Hey, will you send me JJ's number from that computer there? I'd like to send him a message. So I sent him a text last night and I said, or this morning, I said, Hey, last night's episode of Hard Knocks was awesome. You're a legend, pal.

A great ambassador of everything an NFL player is supposed to be. I had no idea you said fuck the way you do. Thank God. Congrats. Have I got a response yet? Come on the way you do. Thank God. Congrats. Have I got a response here? Come on. He's watching. Game plan.

He'll know. He's in the middle of working right now. That was my biggest takeaway. I'm like, yes, dude. Really? Yes, dude. This is a guy. This is him picking up his 10th sack of the season right there,

inched out in front of 44 there. They show a full replay on both sides of it from hard knocks and he's screaming right there let's fucking go by the way just so i'm sure he had some incentives too for 10 i would assume yeah oh yeah yeah i i would certainly believe and also he said last night he's known for months and i think there was a scare right that had happened to jj watt in his heart yeah so and he has a baby now and his family's growing i wonder how quickly everything got put in perspective but last night on the episode he said he's known for months it was awesome i would recommend watching it and i think the nfl films folks i've done a did a fantastic

congratulations all right a couple more things here that we rep colts fucked we're dead you think got some work to do quarterback and head coach two most important things yeah jeff's gonna get it i talked with uh some people in the building they said they feel as if jeff has done a great job in maybe initiating some things that hadn't been in there for a while so like i think there for a while. So like, I think there's a lot of people who obviously love Jeff in that building because Jeff ring of honor in the building, fucking the people that are running that building still the day to day were

around when Jeff was there, Jeff was beloved by fucking everybody in the building because he's Jeff Saturday. So I think it's coming from a state of bias. See, but there's a lot of like, Jeff is doing like all the things you would hope that, you know, like he's doing everything that we have wanted to see from like a good fucking coach.

Not that Frank wasn't, but I think Frank, the way Frank ran a team, got the team to a place in which they became pretty complacent, I'd assume. It seems like. I think if you watch the way they played. So Jeff, I don't know if he's going to get the job long term, but I think he's been a vital part of maybe setting a precedent on maybe what's going to come, probably, with whoever gets the job next. Chuck, what are you hearing out of the building? What are your thoughts on it? No, I think we all know how much Jim loves this guy and how beloved he is in the city and in that building and I think

Jim would really love for him to be his coach to be honest with you now we'll see he's got to go through a process they got one more game to play you know on Sunday and then you know Jim's got to go through the you know interview process and follow the guidelines that go you know into that and see who the candidates are you see if they're going to get a Sean Payton in or get a Jim Harbaugh in here, et cetera. And then Jeff is going to get his turn at interviewing for that job. But I really feel like there's a lot of people pulling for him, and the most important one is the owner. Yeah, and I think this was all a tryout.

I think that's how we assumed it was from Jim Rosé, who was like scouting everything you need to be a good head coach, probably hearing through the grapevine what the building has become, what they need, and him going, Jeff, probably. Brother, this guy be a fucking man. You know, you got everything that you would. Have you ever thought about it? What were you saying guys were late to meetings?

Whoa. Whoa. What do you mean? Was that the Colts or somebody else? No, I said I heard that about teams. I heard that about teams. Oh. I didn't think it was the Colts.

In treatment as well I heard some places, you know, just because who cares about the trainer's time? Fuck them. Right. You know, and everything else that's scheduled. Little things become big things. Those are huge, huge things. Huge. Very abnormal in the NFL.

Good teams, bad teams, mediocre teams. Like you talked about the meeting, you know, when the doctor came and talked about Chuck, it's 9 o'clock, like this meeting's not starting. It's got to be Jim. Like that's the only person that can hold up that type of clock. So that's very. There's some buildings doing that, not necessarily the Colts,

but potentially they need to have his coach. He has to have his hands full, though, if he does get his job. Yeah, but he can put together like an MCDC-esque coaching staff where you have all that experience. Yeah, D-Bud, you might be a fucking D coordinator, bro. Orlovsky, OC. Does Dano, does D-Bud, does he come in as OC? Chuck wants to be head coach.

Dano? Chuck, what are you, what, you really, that's the first time you have. There's a chance. That's the first time you have – If that happens, there's a chance. That's the first time you have interrupted. D-Bud, I'm sorry. No, no. We wanted you to do it. I wanted you to do it all show.

I said, hey, Chuck, any time. Jump in. Any time. First time he does it is, oh, yeah, Dan Olavsky. What's that all about? I think coaches would love that. Could you imagine a D-Bud, everything D-beat, live from the Indianapolis Colts training facility?

Well, that's what every single meeting will be. Yes. Yep. Listen, man. Congrats, D-butts. What good is that? I had a baby. Let's go, D-butt.

D-butt, you did it. We did win it. Get him that Colts hat. He's around himself with a lot of, obviously, veteran coaches that have been around and done it before. Give me a call, Jeff. I'll rock with you. Yeah, you think veteran coaches, have been around and done it before. Give me a call, Jeff. I'll rock with you. Yeah, you think veteran coaches, just to that point,

do you think veteran coaches would be okay? Did Shep coach before he got this Detroit gig? Yes, I believe so. Kelvin Shepard, linebacker coach for the Detroit Lions, former teammate of ours, great fucking dude. Where did Shep coach? He coached somewhere. He went maybe through an internship as well,

and then he went back to LSU to work. I want to say kind of like a pro personnel type guy at LSU. Yeah, he was director of player development at LSU in 2020, and then the outside linebackers coach for the Lions the last two years. Okay, so what we're learning here from the Jeff Saturday thing, and I was optimistic. Once again, on paper, great team. For whatever reason, they fucking stink.

Wow. There's a lot of them, I think. I think there is a happy medium. You have to have maybe some sort of knowledge. Okay. You have to have had to try it before. You know, just something. You think, is that what we learned from this?

You know what I mean? Maybe it helps a little bit better. I don't know if anybody comes in and wins for the Colts. I don't know if anybody comes in there. He won two challenges last game. Should have been three. It could have been three, by the way. Cowboys was a very close game for most of it.

Fourth quarter. We were up on the Cowboys. Vikings was close for a little bit. Well, in the Vikings game, how much of that did he put in on Saturday? I guess strategy-wise, he could have told Parks Frazier, who certainly is going to have an interesting offseason. I would assume Parks Frazier is in an interesting spot right now. But he will use this as a vital lesson as he goes forward, I would assume. Did he really have a chance? Who knows? You, I would assume. Did he really have a chance?

Who knows? You know what I mean? Did he really have a chance? Can you imagine how hard? So hard. There's not many guys. You've got to give him credit for just signing up. He was the only motherfucker that knew the place.

Yeah. And signing up for that job. Yeah, Jim, I'll go do this for you. 30-year-old. My gosh. Only guy left in the building. No, I'm talking about Jeff. Oh, okay, okay.

No, and then, you know, those guys turning down that job, and same with Parks, so. Parks had to be bumped, too. They're not afraid. You're saying a lot of people did not want to probably take that job with where those coats were, even though on paper the roster looked good. So you think back to when that transpired after the Patriots game, right? And now you see what's transpired and where we're at now,

that timeline and everything in between so maybe there's some guys that said had a vision what might happen what this thing may look like hey that's a big piece of conversation though because at the time that was not talked about like oh jeff's picked over this person jeff's picked over this person jeff's picked over this person gerald everall endeavor yeah they offered him the job before they gave it to Jerry. Yeah, D.C.? And he said. I'd rather not have that on my record. Well, I think it was more he handled it really well.

If you watch his press conference and his comments, he's done a really good job. But he said, you know, my duty is to the defense and these guys. And I can't. I'm not going to let them down and leave this thing. Fascinating situation. Good luck to all parties. Colts are going to have to hit a reset button. What the fuck is going on?

We've got snow angels. And the 30 million cap currently can increase significantly if they make a couple moves. And I think we can. Yeah, for sure. Probably need to. Was Matt Ryan on one year? No.

That's going to have to be something that's figured out. That was a three-year, $120 million contract. See, remember, we thought there was a chance that Matt Ryan would just say, you know what, yeah, signs a new deal worth $0 the next 10 years. And then that will be a $0 cap hit because he renegotiated his deal and he's sailing off into retirement. J.J. Watt did that for the Cardinals. They renegotiated the deal.

Still a couple million dollar cap hit for multiple years, even though they did that whole thing. So I think the Colts aren't going to be strapped with Matt Ryan's contract for a good bit here. Yeah, only 18 if they cut him pre-June 1. Yeah, save 17. What's so funny, A.J.? I'm thinking, like, what makes us think that next year is going to be any better?

Like, this is a tough situation. AJ! Nothing, AJ. CJ Stroud. And remember, I mean, it's true quarterbacks can save everybody. They really can. A guy comes in and plays well, everybody has a job. Everyone's happy.

It's 2023, too, so they need two Super Bowls in seven years. Here's how the money has been spent by Jim Mercy in the quarterback position since 2018. Andrew Luck, $18 million. Jacoby Brissett, $760,000. Brad Kaya, of course. He was a dog. $555,000. The kayak.

Were you coaching this year, Chuck, or no? Which one? 18. Nope. No, you're this first year gone. Jacoby Brissett, the next year, $15 million. Andrew Luck, $12 million. He's not on the team anymore.

Brian Hoyer, $5 million. Dog. Chad Kelly, $268, Andrew Luck, $12 million. He's not on the team anymore. Brian Hoyer, $5 million. Chad Kelly, $268,000. Atta baby, Chad. Phil Rivers in 2020 because obviously Jacoby Brissett doesn't work out. He gets hurt in the middle of the season. He gets a human dropped on his knee. It's a whole different ball game. We bring in Philip Rivers because he knows Frank Reich's offense. They work together at the Chargers. He's only worth what? $25 million. Jacoby Brissett still getting the deal, $15 million from the deal beforehand a year ago when he was going to be the guy for the foreseeable future.

Jacob Eason, another million. Brian Hoyer, $950,000. Let's move to 2021. We got Phil Rivers again? No. We got Jacoby Brissett again? No. We still paying people? Oh yeah. Carson Wentz, $21 million. Sam Ellinger, $700,000. Brett Hundley, $572,000. Okay Wentz, $21 million. Sam Ellinger, $700,000. Brett Hundley, $572,000.

Okay, 2022, you got the same people. Uh-uh. Matt Ryan, $24 million. $705,000. Nick Foles, $2.6 million. Congrats to him. He's not good at football, making multiple millions of dollars playing football. He did have a hell of a career, though, Nick Foles.

And Sam Ellinger, he is a statue. He did have a hell of a career, though, Nick Foles. Yeah, he's got a statue. And Sam Ellinger, he is a statue. And Sam Ellinger, $825,000 for a total of $145 million from Jim Irsay in the quarterback position over the last five years. And where are we? At a potential we need to fucking reset everything. Lowest of all those points.

Not easy. Not easy to win in the NFL, so congrats to all the teams that do. Yeah. Amen. All right, let's get the hell out of here. We've got aats to all the teams you do. Yeah. Amen. All right. Let's get the hell out of here. We got a big time feel-good Friday tomorrow. What?

Huge. Yeah. Big time feel-good Friday. I can't wait to be in the Thunderdam on a Friday yet again. Let's go. It's a beautiful thing. Because it's Friday. Friday.

That's not the song. It's going to get down on Friday. Oh, yeah. Well, who was that? That girl. It was a one-hit wonder. Carly Rae Jepsen. She's got a couple bangers. No. That's a laugh. Michelle on fire. Oh, yeah. Well, who was that? That girl, it was a one-hit wonder. Carly Rae Jepsen. She's got a couple bangers.

Michelle Black. Michelle Branch. All right. Someone else. It's not Michelle Branch. Rebecca Black. There we go. There we go.

D-Butt, do you want to – I don't remember if you won. You won yesterday with a putt. Yeah, you did. Chuck won today with a putt. Yeah. I won a shot yesterday. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Great shot. First one. I won a shot yesterday. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Great shot.

First one. First shot. First shot. Oh, yeah. First shot. You remember you got up early and we're like, no, no, no. Sit down. For the video.

Back up. Yep. I'm just co-signing. What do you mean? Of course. Well, you said it like an athlete. You hear me? Tone.

You don't know my tone. You don't get my tone. We do. That's why whenever we hear y'all from it's like, wow. Seems like there's some toxicity. I am D-Bud's biggest fan when he's shooting shots or putting. You guys know that. No, you're not.

We'll just act as if that's true even though we know it's not. Connor's certainly the least biggest fan of giving away money to anybody ever, which is a damn shame. That hoodie stinks. It stinks for you because this team right here just took your old

gross, grimy penguins out back behind the shed and put bullets in all those old guys' heads in their entire careers. It was a good run. Shut the fuck up. Oh, hockey time. But hockey time is dead.

Same with that, hockey town. There's only one town the Stanley Cubs had him to, and that's the one up north in Boston. Oh, that's a Bruin? Yeah, it's the meth bear that we had in 1970. Jeez. The meth bear? Yeah, the meth bear.

That makes sense. That's exactly right. Anyone see that cocaine bear movie? Yeah. Ray Liotta's final film. Is it good? Is it good? It's after a real story, right?

Yeah, it looks fantastic. It's a comedy. The bear can talk. You say allegedly. Oh. Yeah, I don't buy it. You better hope the Guinos don't have cement in their skates tonight. I'll tell you that.

Oh. Oh, God. You are dialed in. Because they are going to the toughest barn in America, T-Mobile Arena. They're taking on the Golden Knights. The Golden Knights actually stink. Thank you. We always have, always will.

Same with the Bruins. The Bears are back. Number one in the Western Conference. Yeah, number one in the league. Also, we did learn something about T-Mobile Arena during the Winter Classic. I believe they sell 12- 12 ounce beers for 19 that's vegas baby get on board that is you're lucky to be here it's a tough barn all right ty how much uh how many merches are you giving away if i make this i'll give you fucking 15 merches whoa 15 merches ty Whoa. 15 merches? Ty's got a baby. Ty, think about it. That's a lot of merches.

Think about it. Sorry, Phil. These would be $10 or less. Yeah, keychains. We don't have any merches. Oh, we got some stickers. Yeah, we got stickers. There it is.

There it is. Pine glasses. Merches is everything on the screen. How much is a football? How much is a Baby Duke? Baby Duke's $40. Easier to get a PS5 than a Baby Duke. I forget what the Baby Duke is.

I don't want to be on the record for the Baby Dube. Like $200, $300? Yeah, you should. Hard to find. If you want to go supply-demand, those footballs should be $1,000. They're not worth that much for sure. So you're going to get 15 merches from the entire store? 15 merches.

Whoa. Bang-a-ring. Ooh. Oh! That's good right away yeah yeah man retweet this video

say something nice to somebody maybe DeMar Hamlin yeah let's go maybe Stoner anybody in their family definitely not

Stoner definitely not Stoner that still counts yeah you can say something nice to Stoner if you'd like anybody actually the world needs to hear

more nice things. Do that in a reply to this video. And also put your cash tag in there so we can pay you. Oh, no, you don't need to, actually. Yeah, no. No, you don't need to put your cash tag in there. You just need to reply by saying something nice. Ty Schmidt's going to pick 15 people to get merches from store.patmackvshow.com.

What a day. What a fantastic Thursday this was. This is the first Thursday of a lot of Thursdays that doesn't have an NFL game tonight. But today was the day that we got incredible news about DeMar Hamlin. And we will try to move forward with the NFL season. And hopefully DeMar Hamlin will be back better just as he was before the entire scary incident on Monday Night Football soon. We can't thank you enough for joining us. Be a friend.

Tell a friend. We're back tomorrow for a feel-good Friday. Big thanks to Rapoport for stopping by today again. He's kind of been our correspondent all week. We appreciate that. Stephen A. Smith stopped by. Fucking hey, dude. Unreal. How about him owning his own podcast? I'm very happy

for him with that. Shoot. Shoot happy. Yeah, very smart. It's got to be fun for him, too. He says it's not a sports deal, so it's probably fun to take a little detour from what he normally does. And I think a lot of people are happy that sports will remain sports because I think I understand why people felt obligated to tell the entire world how they feel and, in turn, how other people should feel. And there's a certain level of responsibility, I think,

to people who have a platform that feel as if they have to dive into everything and do that. And we have always been a crew that is way too dumb to be letting others know how they should think. So we stay away from most of the real-world stuff. Sometimes real-world stuff comes into our world and we have to talk about it. But I try to never be a person that is trying to sway anybody in any direction strictly because I don't fucking know. Nobody's asking, hey, you know what? That dipshit that wears the tank top in the middle of the day on the Internet, I'd like to hear what that guy tell me how I should feel about something that is real.

Like that is not us. We're trying to be a mental vacation for people. But I think sports have been viewed that way by a lot of people for a long time and sports became something that was you know much different in the coverage for a while and i understood why it was happening because people felt an obligation but also i understood why people were like this is not what if we want this we'll go some we won't go sports is supposed to be something that brings us all together, as opposed to, and Stephen A. even, like, acknowledges that.

I think that's good news, that that is where we are at. We're all kind of understanding each other a little bit more, I think, and hopefully we'll continue to move forward in a beautiful fashion and be a united sports community, just like we have been this week, around the tragedy and scary situation that was DeMar Hamlin on Monday night football. Sports are a beautiful thing. We're lucky to cover it. We'll do more of it tomorrow. We'll see you then. AJ, good luck. Take care. Goodbye.