The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 851 Part 1 - Super Bowl Thursday from Radio Row with TJ Watt, Bruce Arians, Steve Mariucci

Episode Date: February 9, 2023

On today’s show, Pat, AJ Hawk, AQ Shipley & the boys are LIVE from radio row in BEAUTIFUL Phoenix, Arizona for this Super Bowl Thursday breaking DAHN the experience so far. Steelers' Superstar TJ Watt joins as the first guest and talks about his pass rush dominance (0:08:50-0:32:23). Former Buccaneers head coach and Super Bowl Champion Bruce Arians hops up on stage to give us an all time interview (0:33:07-0:38:19). Closing the first hour Pat brings on Dr. Allen Stills, from the NFL to talk about the advancements in football player safety with the latest helmet technology, Guardian caps and more (0:39:36-0:58:52). To start off the second hour, NFL legend Steve Mariucci joins to preview the Super Bowl and give us his thoughts on the evolution of the game (0:58:57-1:17:36). Part 2 coming soon. Make sure you subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to catch the show live. We appreciate the hell out of you all, see you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people. Welcome to our humble abode to the week of FanDuel stage. Here for Media Row at Super Bowl 57. Thursday, February 9th starts now. Football! He is certainly cooking. We just legitimately six seconds ago just got done with a conversation with Sean Payton who was on Up and Adams this morning. We got a chance to chit-chat with him and congratulate him on being a New Testament player. Yeah. Yeah.

There he is. Woo. Go Broncos, huh? What? Hey, let's ride. Let's ride. What? Let's ride.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

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Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Oh, Buckham. There we go. Yeah. Hashtag Buckham. Need to use that at the end of every interview now. Wow. That building. All right, Buckham. They got it right. Hey, congrats, Coach.

There you go, Coach. That's awesome. Wait, is that a playoff? I believe Buckham. Can you hear? Something just happened. It just went out, yeah. I cannot hear a thing.

All right, I can hear you guys. I can hear me. You guys cannot hear me right now? No. I'm back. Can you hear me? I can't hear you. Oh, we're can hear you guys. I can hear me. You guys cannot hear me right now? No. I'm back. Can you hear me? I can't hear you. Oh, we're back.

We're back. Here we go. We're back. Yeah, you are a little bit. Okay, good. I'm good. I'm good to go now. Maybe be a little bit of an alpha male.

A little bass in there. Why don't you add a little bass to the voice? We just got a chance to talk to Sean Payton, and we just learned what next year's motto is. Perfect. The whole crew is here. The talk's at the table. I had Ty Shman at Boston Corner. Won half of the hammer. Dad. I had Cowboys 10 digs. Had a hammer down yesterday live from here. Dude, it was is. Perfect. The whole crew is here. The talk's at the table. That's Aishman at Boston Corner. One half of the hammer.

Dad. Cowboys 10 digs. Had a hammer down yesterday live from here. Dude, it was awesome. Congratulations. Thank you, Tony. Don't think you're able to do one today because us doing it yesterday blew out some wires and a computer because we had to FaceTime.

That's right. Hey, hashtag bucket. Hashtag buck. Yeah, dude. Hashtag in the trenches. AQ Shipley. How you doing, pal? Great.

And obviously, college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, A.J. Hawk is here. Hot start here. buck yeah dude uh hashtag in the trenches aq shipley how you doing pal and obviously college football national champion super bowl champion aj hawk is here hot start here big shout out to uh fando obviously for flipping the stage from k adam show to our show in a mere six to seven minutes they were playing um they're playing a form of beer pong into goldfish things. And Sean Payton, you could see his competitive juices. Because as the clock was ticking down, he was starting to take some leniences on the rules. He was starting to throw multiple ping pong balls trying to get it out there. Sean was electrifying here, wasn't he? He's awesome.

Pulling for the Broncos now because of that. We just learned that A.J. Hawk was going to be a New Orleans Saint. Breaking news. So the Houston Texans were supposed to take Reggie Bush, and then the number two overall pick was going to be the Saints. They were going to take A.J. Hawk. Instead, no, no, no. I'm trying to think of the GM.

He got fired for it. Oh, where? At Houston Texans. Charlie Casserly. You think you're fired? Charlie Casserly. He did for this later, inevitably. Charlie Casserly goes with Mario Williams because Peyton Manning is in the division.

He said, I'm trying to stop Peyton Manning. I'm not trying to outscore Peyton Manning. So he drafts Mario Williams out of nowhere. Reggie Bush then becomes a Saint. And then A.J. Hawk falls all the way to five. Wow. Dropping. Wow.

Supposed to go number two. Ends up at five. We just learned that just moments ago. Breaking news. A.J. Hawk was supposed to be a Saint. My God. Wow. Supposed to go number two. Ends up at five. We just learned that just moments ago. Breaking news. A.J. Hawk was supposed to be a Saint. My God. Number two? What could have been?

Worked out for everybody. You're going to be the number two overall pick. You would have been best friends with Drew freaking Breeze, dude. I mean, I would have had some stock in Advocare and Planet Smoothie, right? Yeah. Is it Planet Smoothie or Smoothie King, asshole? Smoothie King. Thank you for helping me.

We're having a moment here. We don't need the asshole. All right. I'm sorry. Even though your voice is, but congratulations. And you probably own a pickleball team, too. Oh, no. You're the king, asshole. You're the king. Thank you for helping me. We're having a moment here. We don't need to asshole you. All right, I'm sorry. Even though your voice is, but congratulations. And you probably own a pickleball team, too. Oh, no. You're right.

What could have been? Well, we've been offered a pickleball team, I do believe. Oh, really? Yeah, we have been. Let's go. I think there's 20% stake available in one particular team. Holy shit. I've been doing my due diligence on the team to see if it's a team that we would like.

Seems like a team I think we would like. All the players would get cut. How many are on the team, though? I don't know if we're going to make the team, boys. Just saying a Jackie Moon situation. I believe it'll be. I mean, maybe, Ty, if you get that backhand to be able to do what it's been doing for a large portion of this week.

I mean, why not see out there on the – I'm not giving away the team name. Okay. Smart. They got some dogs out there. Is the team name changing, perhaps? Great name. Okay, cool. Great name.

Everything about it is good. We've been a lot of pickleball community being very nice to us. We appreciate it. Yeah, they are. Thanks for welcoming us. Love your sport. Thank you, pickleball. Love you, pickleball.

Love your sport. We're learning new rules every single day and learning new tactics. Watching the highlights, they get right up there. They do. In the kitchen. They just work in the kitchen. And I think that's why it's so expensive, some of those paddles, is how light they are because you've got to be.'s not nearly as fun to watch though we need some action

once they get going let me fix your sport well no they're way too no they're too good though they're so precise and they're so good and we we can dunk and dink but eventually like within two or three shots we're gonna lift one up and it's gonna get up too high and we're gonna spike it down their throat they're too good and they're just going to keep dunk, dunk, dunk all day. We get very bored. It's obvious that we get bored. We'd like some action. I lose focus easily in that game.

I think they're not scared to volley a little bit. Yeah, correct. They're not scared like, hey, I'll let the other team make the mistake. And then when they make the mistake, we attack on them. Keep it in play. Even though they're keeping it very low. What I've noticed from our group of pickleballers is like, volley, volley. Ah, fuck this.

All right, I'm going for it. I'm power slamming that thing. Like there's always a little bit. So I think they have a lot more patience, ability, and strategery. So they got us in three things. Sure. And we're only three days in, though. True.

But we love the sport. We enjoy the hell out of it. It has been something that has certainly made this week fly by for us. What an incredible Super Bowl 57 as the news stories really aren't in that big of abundance. Aaron Rodgers is going into a teepee with no light for a few days. That's a big deal. Tom Brady retired. That's a big deal.

Andy Reid saying Patrick Mahomes 100%. Not 100%, but practicing and everything that we need him to do. That's big news. Kadarius Toney, same thing. Practicing, full go, even though he has a hurt back yeah i believe is what it is so aside from that there's really nothing coming out of the team which is good for the game yeah piece of information we did learn though eric bnm does call plays for the kansas chiefs i don't know how long this has been happening we don't know if this

is something that's been taking place over the entirety of this dynastic run that the Chiefs are on. We don't know why it's been understood that he didn't do any of that. But Andy Reid addressed it and put over Eric Bien-Ami's importance to the offense. And this is kind of how he laid out what Eric Bien-Ami means to the Kansas City Chiefs. So EB and I spent a ton of time working through all of that stuff and just making sure that we're rolling and dancing the same dance there. I have full trust in that. When people say, EB doesn't call the plays, EB does. I mean, he literally calls the plays in there.

And then I have full trust that if he has an idea and he wants to shoot it, then he puts it in and we go. I never question that. So I wonder what exactly that means on the logistical process of it. Is Andy Reid saying he sends plays, Bien-Ami calls them directly in? Is he saying that Eric Bien-Ami can call in his own plays at any time? How's the whole thing go? Who's in the ear?

Who's in the designing part of it? I think Andy Reid's trying to give Eric Bien-nimi much more credit than he's been given, and I respect and appreciate that. Does this change anything for Eric Biannimi's future, A.J. Hawk? I think a little bit. I mean, but I still am a little bit confused. He literally calls the plays. Does Andy Reid, hey, relay it to Biannimi?

Biannimi gets on the mic, goes into the speaker. But Biannimi also has ultimate freedom, it sounds like, to call any plays he wants. So maybe it's a truly collaborative effort where they both kind of vibe off each other. Because everybody's thinking that Eric BNME is going to have to leave Kansas City so that he can get enough credit to become an actual head coach for the offensive success of a program. Because now it's just Andy Reid gets all the credit, Andy Reid gets all the credit. Now it sounds like Andy Reid saying, Eric BNME, a large part of this whole thing.

Well, and if that's the case, though, and he is calling the plays, then why would you go take an OC job elsewhere? It's like you have Patrick Mahomes. You are calling the plays. Eventually you'd think that you will get a head coaching opportunity. It's like why would you go from being the OC of the Chiefs if you are calling plays to go and be the OC of the Commanders where you have a guy who's potentially going to be a second-year quarterback?

That doesn't make sense. None of it makes sense. But if he thinks that that's what it's going to take to become a head coach, because he's been in those interviews, in those head coaching interviews, probably all the same questions. Andy Reid calls plays, doesn't he? Andy Reid's calling plays. How does that whole thing work?

So Andy Reid's trying to get in front of it. We do not know. Hopefully he'll become a head coach and be successful somewhere. You know, that's the goal. Absolutely. Because who knows which coaches are going to suck and which coaches are going to be great. There's one coach that's been great for a long time

in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He's a defensive-minded coach. That's right. And when the defense is introduced down there at Accresure, the person that's introduced last is this big, white Wisconsin fuck.

What? Ladies and gentlemen, consumable pro, defensive player of the year in the past, TJ Watt. What? Everybody, zero. Zero. There he is. Yes. Woo.

What's up, buddy? Thanks, man. What's up, brother? Appreciate you. Holy hell. TJ, how's it going? How's it going, TJ? Everybody's man What's up, brother? Appreciate you Holy hell TJ, how's it going? How's it going, TJ? Everybody's a giant

Who are you? Jesus Everybody in the family's a giant What the hell? Big ol' hands Fingers touch my elbow I saw your big barbarian-looking fucking brother yesterday First time seeing him in person in a long time

6'6", you know he's 6'6"? I do, he reminds me all the time Because I'm like 6'4 1⁄2", so So is that a thing, though? He does – Look up at me when you talk to me. Yeah, yeah. He had Zavin on the bag for him yesterday.

He's 6'4", too. He tried to get me on the bag, and I said, JJ, I'll do a lot of things for you, but I do not want to get sunburned blisters and not get any payment out of it just to watch you and Jon Rahm have a great time. I'll tell you this. Zayven should have thought the same way you did.

We saw him at the Shot of Glory afterwards, and he's just standing there. And him and JJ both were like, that was a long day out there. Seven hours they're walking around. You did the Tahoe thing. I remember you talking on the podcast about how tired your legs were afterwards. Dude, it's a nightmare. Nobody accounts for it because I just think, oh, look at these dumpy-ass golfers. If they can do it, I can do it.

That is not the case. That is not the case. That can punt a football. I can punt a football. Wrong. I think you could, though. Your celebration is a great punt every single time. Let's dive into the football a little bit.

You're here for Six Star Pro Nutrition. Is this your nutrition company or just a company you use? A company I use. A company I've been using for a couple years. I'm trying to get the kicker quads going. I've had a couple knee surgeries in college so i'm trying to bulk up um i've used the whey protein to pre-work out the creatine obviously to try to put some weight back on after the season you and jj just been working out forever because i know you guys um it's always a big deal when you guys are working out together with who's coaching you because i think you guys high school strength

coach maybe got involved or something like that yeah we've been going to the same uh trainer since i mean this is like 13 years now, me, JJ, and Derek at NX level. His name is Brad Arnett in Walkshaw, Wisconsin. Just a guy that knows my body the best in and out for as far as what it takes for me to get ready for a season, so I trust him. Have you seen the stats of when you play and when you don't play?

I mean, they've been shoved in my face. So many people have been obviously showing me I'd be lying if I said I hadn't seen it but i don't know i i mean i don't have anything to really say that's bananas the thing about though isn't it because you and your brother obviously and your brother was catapulted into superstardom because of what the player he became down in houston and that whole city rally around him much like what pittsburgh does with you but like the game is such a team sport but you were a

fucking game record dude when you came into the league did you know it was going to be like this? Did you have to work your ass off to get to this point? And how much does having like fucking JJ's knowledge help and get you to this point that you're at right now? You're a dog, bro. A fucking dog, dude. I appreciate that. And I think you have to have the mentality that when you step on the field, you're the baddest

dude out there. And you have to and all of that is brought in through the work and all the things behind the scenes and that's what's been so awesome about having two brothers that have grown up in the same household that I have and make it to the NFL and do elite things and those guys have not been closed door to me at all they've been wanting to have me succeed JJ who just retired is like any way possible these next few years that I can help you where I was injured and I couldn't perform how I wanted to

where I can help you, please let me know. That's awesome. And it's just one of those things that we talk about it in the weight room this week with interns. It's how do you gain respect in a weight room? How do you gain respect in a football field? Well, shut up and work to start. And then we'll kind of start to like you.

We'll start busting your balls and everything goes from there. Yeah, man. I love football. I can only do it for a short amount of my life and I'm going to give everything I can to this game. You're doing a fantastic job. Go ahead, AJ. What's your offseason normally look like? Do you have a place like a cabin like your brother, like the sweet old

palatial place? Obviously, I see you guys cold punching in lakes and everything. Is your offseason changed at all from when you got in the league until now? A little bit. The older I get, the more. The more. You guys are Wim Hof. Yeah.

That's awesome. Who cut that hole? You got a chainsaw, right? We had a chainsaw, but we like to act like we're up north woods, but none of us knows how to work a chainsaw. It's a lot harder to look. So we started using shovels And the blisters came And it was just a whole embarrassing thing

So you guys dug this hole? Yeah, the ice was about like That's a big workout We all know how to work chainsaws But we did fucking old school We all missed this thing My dad was a firefighter, right? And for his retirement gift

The firehouse gave him this nice axe That says 25 years of service Congratulations We can't get this thing with the chainsaw none of us want to work it go grab the damn axe wham wham head goes flying we ruined my dad's 25 years like damn we'll have to find a way but yeah we got it we got it made sure to get the good shots but uh yeah i mean we don't do this a lot. This is just one of those things where... Oh, what? One of Jada's former teammates, Brian Peters,

he had a sauna that he was like had up on the property, so we're like, let's just try it, contrast back and forth. Oh, yeah. It sucked. Amazing. And it had to be, yeah. Like, how deep is that lake right there where you were? I mean, it goes to like 20 feet, but right there it was like 5 feet. I was just hoping a snappy turtle would come.

Could you imagine ice cold and a snapping turtle get you right in the junk? Oh, my God. Right in the tip. That'd be awful. He's climbing out as a turtle's hanging off him. That's a good brother would knock that thing off there. You're right. I think the X back out.

Give me the head. Just the head of the X. Tony has a question for you, TJ. TJ, first and foremost, thank you for your service. We appreciate it. How me the head. Just the head of the ax. Tell me there's a question for you, TJ. First and foremost, thank you for your service. We appreciate it. Howdy, baby, TJ. Pittsburgh. Steelers Nation. So when Keith was D.C. and it felt like you guys have always played Lamar well,

it felt like they just ran you directly at the mesh point or it was your job to specifically just take Lamar. And now with the Super Bowl, we're kind of seeing the same thing with Jalen Hurts and how the Eagles are running that offense. Is that the best way to do it is just have someone who is like you on the – no one's like you on the defense, but someone, the Sodom Reddick, say – or no, not the Sodom Reddick, sorry.

Whoever – Jones. Yeah, Chandler Jones, whatever, not Chandler Jones. Chris Jones. Run directly right at the mesh point or something like that. Yeah, yeah. John Jones. Yeah, I mean –

Well, he probably could do it. These guys are preying on you to have that split second where you're trying to make a decision. So the number one thing that we've had success with is charging the mesh point. And I know people on TV will get mad, oh, you didn't see the running back get the ball there, but we're responsible for someone. And when you have the quarterback involved in the running game,

that's 11 on 11 football. Usually it's 10 on 11 football when it's running. So you have to be able to take away guys and make them make those decisions, and that's when you see the mesh point fumbles and things along those lines. Do you think two weeks is enough time to figure out that? Because that equals off, and I don't know how much you watch it, they got everybody in a fucking bind. Like literally Fred Warner, I guess the best interior linebacker in the NFL.

In a lot of people's eyes, I'm not getting into debate with anybody. I don't want to do that. I'm not taking enough time to do it. But, like, against the Eagles, he was just locked because the thought that Jalen was going to get over, and they protected so well. Do you think more, obviously, you see with Lamar, is this what the NFL is going to become? I think so. Do you think this is it?

Yeah, you're seeing more and more of it. And the really tough thing is you have the mesh point, and then you have those linebackers that are biting down. Sucking them up. And then you have the RPOs on top of it. So you have the RPOs, you have the shovel pass, where if you're the end guy and you're reading the mesh point and you're looking at the quarterback,

and then a guarder comes and kicks you out, a guarder is center. Oh, the counter tray. Exactly. And then just pitch it right in there. It's tough. I mean. Well, here's you just fucking blowing up plays all year. When you go out there, you say you flip a – yeah, there it is.

Jeez. Yep, that'll do. You know you just put the helmet to helmet on, guys. CT, I hope you're happy. Yeah, I probably – Boom. Shoulders. That's what it is.

How do you handle that? How do you handle all the new rules and everything? Because they're obviously going to continue to change to favor the offense. But you are an explosive guy. Obviously, you're you're bigger stronger faster than most of the people you're going to tackle you have to set them down gently like is that an active thought while you're playing football now are you at the point where it's just comfortable not tackling people for real it's tough because you can't practice it so how how are we supposed to continue to get better at it when i'm not allowed to do it as much in a practice setting i mean in training camp we do

tackle more than any team. I mean, probably up there, we do live tackling once a practice. Here we go. We call them seven shots, ball to two-yard line. During the season? No, not in season. Oh, jeez. In training camp, sorry.

But, yeah, we were in pads a lot this year, but even when you're in pads, it's thud, and you can't really practice having your head up at all times and not tackling the quarterback too low, not tackling the quarterback too high. Do you feel like a transition year in the building? No, never transitioned. Still had it. At the end, still had a shot to make it. That's the thing, man.

When you have Mike Tomlin at the helm, you have the leaders that we have in the building. It's just a matter of working through all the little kinks of having younger guys in the building, having a new quarterback in the building. How do you like him? I like Kenny Pickett a lot. He's a guy. He's got a lot of moxie. He came in, won the home run derby in La Trobe right away,

kind of showed you that he's a winner. Definitely was a little salty about that. Oh, you lost, that means. Yeah, I wasn't victorious. I didn't know if you just happened to miss that particular home run. I'm a lefty and right field's a little deep. It's a whole thing. Coach T will be mad at me with excuses, but it is what it is.

Hey, that's reality. Okay, if you want to talk about excuses or reality, you tell me. AQ has a question for you, TJ. I'm sure you guys are all excited about Coach Flores' opportunity in Minnesota, but can you talk a little bit about what he brought to Pittsburgh and the defense and just kind of his knowledge? Locked-in mentality. The guy is no BS.

He loves football. The X's and O's. Communication was one of the bigger things that he brought to our team. A lot of success that comes with defense is just talking. And even if it's just nonsense talking, it's just chatter to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

And B-Flow was a great addition in the room. It sucks to see him go, but I'm happy that he got an opportunity. Quiet defense, dead defense. Yes. Can't fuck around. Yeah, if we're all wrong, we're all right. Hey.

Boom. I'm sure we've all heard that one before. We better see this, too. A lot of this on film. We're breaking down before the press. I don't know if you're calling close left if you don't put your damn arm out. It's so real. It's so real.

And as we were breaking down film all year, pretty much like with everything DB and in the trenches and everything, you literally see that pre-snap conversation happening. Get a cosign on it. And literally just doing it for the film purposes of, hey, everybody's on the same page. That's right. In training camp, we'll look back at the camera and go, there you go. You know I see it. We got you, pal.

How vocal are you whenever it comes to that type of stuff, like with shifts and motions? Are you locked in on your job? Well, I mean, I'm the end guy in the line of scrimmage, so I'm the why-off guy, alert rap, all that stuff. A lot of chatter. A little bit of chatter. I mean, I like to have—I say I'm a donkey, man. You just tell me what to do, I'm going to do it.

I'll tell you if the why's off. I'll tell you if he's going to rap it or not. I'm just going to let my instincts take over and try to play the best football I can play. I'm a donkey, man. You're at the top of this mountain. Just fucking tell me to go which direction. Tell me to go. They tried to give me the green dot one year.

I was like, this is way too much going on. No thank you. Got a great crew over there. Cam Hayward's head. Yep. Huge. You guys ever just walk at it and look at it and be like, oh, that thing is. Too bowling ball.

I had his headset over at one of the other ones, and it was like sitting on me like this. It was all stretched out. Good leader, though, huh? Good man having a locker room, I assume. Yeah, he's been doing it for a long time. I mean, I think he's on his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl, a multiple-time All-Pro player. Were you in the Pro Bowl? I was selected for the Pro Bowl this year, yes.

I didn't go, though. Come on! It's a couple games! Had to work the peck back out. Oh, he banged up. In the legs. Yeah, Cam's the man. Oh, he banged up. In the legs. Yeah, Cam's the man.

Connor has a question for you. Yeah, TJ, with the tackling problem in the NFL right now, one of the things that was brought up this offseason is how the hip drop tackle might be taken out. What do you think about that? And then another conversation on the Internet, what was your reaction when you got your script that you were going to break the all-time leading sack record last year. That was sweet. It's tough because as an edge defender, you're often chasing plays down from the backside, and you have to lay out.

And you can't possibly run through the tackle. So you have to kind of just grab on and fall down as best as you can. So I don't know. Break an ankle. Yeah, that's what you got to do. I mean, nothing is malicious. I mean, at the end of the day, we all respect each other in this league, and we're never trying to hurt somebody.

Injuries are the absolute worst thing for the game. Obviously they happen, but never want to be a part of a guy that's causing someone else to be injured. Do you guys hate all the bullshit, though, I assume, on defense side? Is there, like, whenever the meeting comes in, that this rule's been changed, this has been changed, this has been changed? Or are you at the point where you just got to deal with it? You have to deal with it for sure.

It's tough when you... We'll have to bitch for a little bit though, right? There has to be a moment at least of why don't we do it? Definitely, I mean, if you had us mic'd up for every game, you'd hear some good snippets, but I mean, yeah, quarterbacks nowadays it's not... They're getting the ball out after you have them wrapped up. It's like, how long are we

gonna have them wrapped up before we call? Because obviously if we take them down, it could be a potential problem. Yeah, like there was a couple of sacks this year, big time, primetime football games, where the defense player just hugged the quarterback and then just looked at the ref. But then you have Mahomes who will just flip it out at the last minute, and it's like was it forward progress or was it not? It's tough. Oh, this guy hates Mahomes.

Not naming names. Yeah, there we go. So Mahomes is part of the problem. Oh, okay. Fair enough. Ty has a question for you. TJ? Yeah, TJ, you mentioned the leaders that you have in there,

and obviously like with Cam on the defense, you don't really seem like a rah-rah guy, but have you noticed that you've kind of had to take a more active role in like leadership with Big Ben not being there anymore and the offensive guys being really young, or is it kind of just like, hey, I'm a fucking monster. monster my play kind of speaks for itself you guys can kind of feed off that yeah i'm more of an emotional leader um where i let stuff build up and i don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing but i'd rather just kind of go about my work and lead by example and uh if guys have

questions i'm going to be an open book but i'm not going to go out and seek and try to give you too much information because guys take information different ways. But, yeah, before games, at halftime, if something's built up, I'm not a guy that's going to sit on my hands and not say anything. Ever been down or do you need like – do you take pre-workout before games? Do you ever find not having juice? Is it easy to find juice? Yeah, and that's one of the things that my brother and I talk about a lot.

I mean, JJ and Derek is – I mean, anyone who's played in the NFL knows when you go into a game and you're feeling good, you have a certain feeling. Yes. And sometimes you go into games and you're like, let's go. Let's go. We've got to find it. Let's go.

It's a one o'clock game. All right. This matters. This game matters. Yeah, you for sure take a scoop of pre-workout and it usually snaps you right back. But, yeah, there are moments where you should have it, but you just don't mentally have it and got to snap into it quickly it's crazy to think about

because i think it automatically fans are like oh it's game day yeah what the hell show up sunday these guys will lay everything on the line it's like some guys some guys wake up who are normally a 99 on madden and they feel like an 81 yeah and it's like well this game counts this game matters people are going to watch it you You're one of those guys. You're just assumed to have a great year every year. Love that, hate that. You obviously have to love it. I mean.

But it's something that you have to deal with that other people don't. Because if you have just a little bit of a, and your brother had to deal with this too, I guess. If you have just a little bit, whatever numbers wise, production wise, even though you're getting chipped and doubled every single play. What? Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Hell doubled every single play. What? Hell yeah. Hell yeah.

Hell yeah. Schemed. What? And bamboozled. What? But legit, that's like your life from very early on in your career. So does that drive you in the offseason? Do you think about that, or is that just something you can't control?

I mean, I love having high expectations. I have high expectations for myself. I never share goals. I have goals. You don't get a sack in a game, though. It's like, what love having high expectations. I have high expectations for myself. I never share goals. I have goals. You don't get a sack in a game, though. It's like, what, TJ's dead. I didn't even play today. This guy's losing it.

TJ can't. He doesn't care. Yeah, this guy stinks. That's the thing about this point in my career. It's I want to win. I want to do whatever it takes to win. I feel like we have a nice, we have a really good team here. We have a good nucleus.

We have good young talent. Yeah, it's like your guys' generation now. The time is now for us, and I feel like we can put it together. It's your chapter of the Steelers now. I mean, I hope so. Cam Hayward is still the big head in the house. Legitimately. Literally.

AJ has a question for you. Pat and I talk about the Steelers being almost like a college atmosphere, how the old guys are always coming back. More than any other team, I think, at least publicly, the old guys support everything and you guys are a family. Have you noticed that? That's not the same everywhere in the NFL. It's pretty special.

Yeah, and obviously I don't know too much about other places, but just from what I've heard from my brothers. But, yeah, players are constantly coming back, whether it's at La Trobe or throughout the season. I mean, sadly, just before Franco passed, he was back for a little bit. Coach Tomlin always talks about it. Hey, that came out of nowhere, right? But kind of expected, too, it seemed like.

It seemed like the NFL was ready. Yeah. Because as soon as it happened, there was like everybody had their thank you Franco back. But that came out of nowhere. Yeah, it was very tough on the city and on the building, just so many people that he affected and impacted. But, yeah, I mean, just talk about Coach Tomlin always says,

these guys want nothing from you. They just want to share knowledge, and they just want to teach you the Steeler way. And they're never looking for a handout. They just want to be around and show what it's like to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. And they love whenever you kicked your agent out of the way. Yeah. Get the fuck out of the way. Hey, I just got, I just fucking

broke my dad's 25 year anniversary axe on a fucking lake. I need to get in here to sign this deal worth however much money that I definitely earned. Tywin has another question for you. How nice is it now that Alex Highsmith, who's playing opposite of you, has kind of come into his own. He was leading the league at one point in sacks this year.

How nice is it to have, like, another guy on the other side? Yeah, it's huge. I mean, I had Bud Dupree earlier in my career, who is a phenomenal counterpart. And then Alex has come into a pass rusher of his own as well. He's got one of the best spin moves in the NFL. And just a guy that works his ass off each and every week, and I'm happy that he's getting the success. Are you adding moves as you get older,

or are you just sharpening the moves you have? You know, I watch all the sack tapes and try to do the moves and usually save them for training camp, but, like, they never look as good as you think they look. That's why sometimes films... Feel-vers-real? Yeah, exactly. You're like, dude, I spun really good there.

Slow motion. I'm going to do this one. Yeah, tell the video guy to bury it. Feel versus real, that's a thing, huh? If it works, who cares? Yeah, exactly. It's tough, man. What are you?

You're just like, you consider yourself an explosive edge rusher? Because there's obviously that clip where you're getting held clearly by two people. And then you are like the Incredible Hulk coming. And your face, the Hulk coming in your face like the zoom in of your face it looks like Planet of the Apes where the person was pissed off like a whole different human are you setting things up all game

is it a chess match do you do that or are you just every play trying to bring your best shit yeah it's I mean people always say I'm not the biggest I'm not the fastest I'm not the most explosive pretty fucking big very explosive but I just like The fastest. 6'4". I'm not the most explosive. Pretty big. Pretty fucking big. Pretty explosive. Very explosive. But I just like, it's like, I just want to find ways to win.

And that's in the pass rush game as well. I know that it's a chess match each and every rep. And I know that he's thinking something as well. It's not just me going, how the heck am I going to beat this guy? He's watching my film as well. So it doesn't matter of how he's played other guys. It's all a game within a game. That's why the iPads are so important throughout the game as well. But I'm going to get there.

It's just a matter of time. Wait, didn't you say something like you'll listen to the other quarterback's cadence from TV? Yeah, watch the TV copy with your eyes closed. He'll go into a darkness retreat. Yeah, the eyes closed. He goes into a darkness retreat, I believe. The absence of light completely. So you're sensory deprived.

See a little DMT pops in there. Naturally activates. Which we just learned about over the last couple days. You do this. We've been doing this. And then you play the TV copy of the... Is that it? Way, way, way, way, way, way, way.

That's Tony Romo's. I'll tell you right now. The game was on last week, right? Because I've done this so many times with my wife. Where if a quarterback will say something like purple, my wife will go, purple, what does it mean? I swear, because we listen. And she'll be like, what are you doing? I'll be like, I'm just listening to see if I can get, like, this is their reminder for it's on, too, this time.

Or this is, like, one of the last games of the year, tight end looked at the other guy. He goes, you going or I'm going? He goes, I'm going. I go, it's a pass. Let me get out of the sixth technique and widen up and let's go. It's just little things like that that you can pick up on. See, that's like elementary football, though. You know, people spend all hours and hours and hours and hours and hours

trying to figure out football, how we win games. There's billions of dollars on the line. And then you're just listening to somebody. All right, well, fuck, screw everything we did all day. This guy literally just said it. How often does that happen? You're listening all the time. Yeah, I'm listening all the time, but it was my first couple years I didn't listen to anything.

That was one of the things I picked up from J.D. It was just sometimes you just have to listen to what they're saying. The big fat boys are saying. Yeah, whether it's like a trade block or something. If you can hear a little bit or some guys are like, is it on one or two? It's like, okay, let's go. So any little bit where I can get better. Worst place to play for you?

Baltimore. They're awesome fans. Their fans are awesome, aren't they? They have good fans. They never get talked about. No. I feel like every time we talk about Baltimore's fans, it's always saying Baltimore's fans don't get talked about. There's some white trash loud fucks over there in Baltimore.

I mean, they are ruthless. I'm not making those assumptions, but it is a tough place. No, that's what Accresher is. Accresher is saying, you got some white trashy insers coming in here that know football and they're going to be fucking loud. That's what it's going to be. That's how you're doing. Baltimore, same exact thing. New England

even. And Philadelphia. There's places that are just like more ruthless cities, I think. They love football. In general. And I think Baltimore is one of them that never gets talked about. And obviously, you saying that as a Steeler, some Pittsburgh fans are going, TJ, say fucking Baltimore. You can't say anything these days, man.

How do you feel about the Yenzers? I love them. I was just telling a story about it the other day. I was like, how did you know it was different in Pittsburgh? And I said, I was walking through Giant Eagle, which is the grocery store, and a 40-year-old lady stopped me and told us we were blitzing too much that week. I was like, okay, it's definitely a little different here. You stick to cooking or whatever you're doing for your groceries, I'll stick to playing football.

Yeah, listen, we'll figure out how many times we're going to blitz, and I appreciate you paying attention. That's Collinsworth got in trouble too, right? Exactly, yeah. Collinsworth. These women actually know football. Crazy. He was down the side.

Southside giant eagle. That's real. Yeah. That's really had to come out with a full ball. I didn't mean it like that. I was just saying, like, I'm getting yelled at by these women in Pittsburgh. What a moment. It's real.

It's Pittsburgh City, and they got a perfect guy leading that defense, man. You alongside Cam Hayward. Been fun. Minka. What a dog Minka is, man. Wild. Competitor, man. Played very well at the Pro Bowl games.

Very well. He always plays very well. The diving flagpole I saw. All right. Come on. I can't. Not one thing with you. Good play.

Nice play. You can't just have fun. You said a highlight. You said a highlight. I said a highlight. It was a great one. Maybe the greatest flagpole in the world. It was incredible. Can't wait to see you there next year. Shout out to Six Star Pro Nutrition for getting the most explosive outside linebacker in the NFL

juiced up on game days when he needs it. All right. There we go. What are we doing? Are we selling any? We got a deal? Buy one, get one 50% off, mix and match. Oh, my God.

All right. Shout out to Six Star. Shout out to you, TJ. Hell of a career thus far. Can't wait to watch it continue to go. And let's not break any more of Dad's Axis. Ladies and gentlemen, TJ Watt. Yay!

Appreciate it. Thanks, man. Awesome. gentlemen, T.J. Watt. Yay! Appreciate it. Thanks, man. Awesome. Oh, shit. See you, brother. Appreciate it, man. Thank you. What's up, baby?

How's it going, dude? Hey, see you, T.J. All right, thanks. How are you? You want to sit down for a second? Can you? Oh, yeah. Let's go.

What's up, coach? Hey, T.J., how you doing, coach? What's up, brother? How you doing, brother? What's that? What's up, coach? Yeah, yeah, let's go. What's up, Coach? AJ, how you doing, Coach? What's up, brother? What's up, Coach? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I know, Jody. Set. Nice catch.

Wow. Okay. I just got hands. Bro, that was like plus 750. I put $10,000 on it. My man. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, Super Bowl champion, head coach of the NFL, now retired in an advising role, Bruce Arians.

Yay! Quarterback whisperer. Holy shit, you see AQ, obviously. Thank you for giving him an opportunity and all of the chances you gave him. Let's talk about you right now. We say this, and I know we don't have a lot of time. We can't thank you enough for stopping by at night when you lay down. Every little vitamins, you know what I mean?

What? You think to yourself, Pittsburgh ain't fucking won one since I've been there. Indianapolis? They ain't fucking won one since I've been there. Arizona? They ain't fucking won one. They haven't been back. Tampa? They ain't fucking won one.

Now, obviously, you don't think like that because you're a team guy. I'm supposed to be the consultant. I didn't do too good of a job. So let's talk about your transition. Hell of a career coaching. Now you're consulting advising. Do you get the itch to go back on the field? I remember you got a personal foul that one game.

Yeah. Is this a role you're used to or are you going to be back on the sidelines soon? I like making new rules. You know, if you're not a coach, you can't be down there anymore since that game. I had my fix because I got to go to practice, get with the coaches every day and then go play golf.

It was pretty good. I never played golf in the fall, man. It was pretty cool. Yeah, I bet you there are a little different greens in the fall, right? A little different bounce, a little different roll. I'm happy you're doing that. Same cocktail. Came out of nowhere in retirement. A lot of us were super fucking bummed. I know AQ was.

A lot of us that have ever been on a team or around you coming out of nowhere. It was like an era was almost ending. You had known you were thinking about doing it. Was it something that was just like waiting for the right moment? What was it with your departure? Yeah, it was the right time. You know, for me, it was just, okay, do I really want to grind this again? And, you know, I really want to grind this again?

I'm not to where I can get up at 5 anymore, and I kind of like sleeping until 9. But, yeah, it was time, and we had the perfect transition. Just turn it all over to Todd. I was really bummed the way it turned out as far as our record and guys getting let go, but I was really happy with the transition. Okay, because it came out of nowhere. It alarmed us all, and we fucking love you around here, obviously. AJ has a question for you, Bruce.

I want to know what the boat parade was like. I think your guys' celebration tops everyone's. The fact that you were able to do that looked like the most fun. We had two hellacious ones in Pittsburgh. This one blew it away. Really? Just beyond the river. Then you see the aerial shot and say, how the shit didn't they get drowned?

Yes. Absolutely. Guys on jet skis. Two dudes on a paddle board and there's sharks out there. Jeez. Dude, you nuts. He didn't even have a bracelet on. I'm like, oh, this is a drunk fest today.

It was, and it certainly was that. I mean, the quarterback who had avocado ice cream for most of his life was going to drag off the boat. Obviously, Lombo's getting tossed from one boat to another. It was like you guys took over Tampa, though. How was that to feel? You know, I don't want to say it was like one last rodeo, but really that whole crew you had coaching together back in Tampa,

hey, we got one more shot at kind of building this in our eyes, and it works. That has to feel fucking good for the story. It really does, bro. I mean, I was with CBS. I was enjoying it. I hated to travel, but I wasn't dying to get back in. You know, and Jason Light was a big, big part of it in the Glazier family. And then all of a sudden 18 coaches were available.

Like, shit, this is supposed to be. I knew how to delegate now. I never knew that word before. I'm not going to call the plays. I'm not going to kill myself. A little better life. And, yeah, it was an amazing three years. How do you feel about the play calling thing?

Because that's happening right now with coaching hiring. Everybody's scared, I think, to hire a defensive coach because you have to find an offensive play caller. And if you find a good offensive play caller, he's going to be a fucking head coach one year away and you've got to find another one. Not easy to find good play callers right now. How do you feel about the state of it? I think it's very, very hard. Why? Why? Why?

Well, we're hiring guys that are, and don't get me wrong, a couple of them have done a hell of a job, but if you're a quarterback coach, and all of a sudden you get to be hired as a head coach, and you're a head coach for the first time, and you're a play caller for the first time, you ain't got enough time in the day to get those both jobs

done, unless you're super special. And a couple of them have been. But it's hard. Why? What's harder? The head coaching role with all the bullshit you've got to deal with? Well, yeah, just the relationships you build with the defensive guys. You know, if you're an offensive guy, and this goes back when I was at Temple, we're walking off the field one day, and John Devlin, God bless him, coach, can the defense ever win one practice?

Oh, yeah. I'm like, we never leave until the offense wins. And you're happy. I'm like, damn, I never the offense wins. And you're happy. I'm like, damn, I never thought about it that way. But, you know, that was a lesson learned early. A training camp, whenever fans are in stands, and they're like booing when the offense isn't doing well, and it's like the one defense is out there like,

hey, we might be a fucking historic defense. We might be remembered as that. You'll be remembered as one of the greatest coaches of all time. Congrats on all the success. Thank you for stopping by. We fucking love you, and thank you for taking care of our guy, AQ. My man. Honestly, I mean, if you go back to where you were,

to where AQ's career was, you gave this man an incredible opportunity, and we thank you for that a lot. He did it. He did it. Everybody gets opportunities, but what you do with them, he did it. How do you deal with those little arms, you think? Amazing, bro. It's amazing.

When you draw them up, that ain't it. Don't try to get past his ass, though. Yeah, yeah. Show me tape. Show me tape. Bite both your legs off. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, Bruce Arians.

Yeah, B.A. Thank you so much. Thank you, brother. Appreciate you, dude. That was amazing. Hell, yeah. I'm so thankful you were here, BA. Thank you.

Hell yeah, BA. Thank you. Literally worked. Yes, sir. All right. I didn't hear a word he said. No. What did he say there?

He said stay out of the kitchen. He's got brunch on Saturday. Oh, you got brunch on Saturday. He's got brunch. Oh, that's what he told me. Stop by at a thing. Stop by Saturday, yeah. This guy's getting invited to everything. Hey, Jake, what's up, bud? His kid's here. What's up, Jake? brunch on Saturday. He's got brunch. Oh, that's what he told me. Stop by at a thing. Stop by Saturday, yeah. This guy's getting invited to everything.

Hey, Jake, what's up, bud? His kid's here. What's up, Jake? Appreciate you guys. How was Jake Lazor's party, by the way? It was good. Oh, yeah? How was it?

Did you guys wrestle? No, we didn't wrestle. Did you go to a gig? A little Tampa reunion. Hung out with Gronk and Shady McCoy. It was good. Oh, wow. Nick Ross performed?

Yeah. I didn't make it that late. Oh, it was a late night performance? I think so. Was that a hotel or what? Yeah, it was at the W in Scottsdale. Sweet. Oh, yeah. Where was this? Nick Ross performed? Yeah. I didn't make it that late. Oh, it was a late night performance? I think so. Was that a hotel or what? Yeah, it was at the W in Scottsdale. Sweet. Oh, man.

That sounded like a good time. Classic glaze. Of course. Fucking top shelf. Yeah, that was a blue affair. All right, joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who's very important to the history of the NFL. He's the first ever chief medical officer that's ever been hired by the NFL.

Let's go. Now, originally, I believe it was probably for the brain stuff. But then when COVID came through, ladies and gentlemen, this man came through in a big way for the league and for all of us. The chief medical officer of the NFL, Dr. Alan Sills. Hey, Doc. Hey, Doc. Woo. This guy's the best.

PhD. Hell yeah, H. Hell yeah, Doc. How you doing? That the best. PhD. Hell yeah, H. Hell yeah, Doc. How you doing? That was a firm. Oh, yeah. I saw. He meet you halfway.

Not his first answer. No, he came to me. Oh, OK. And he booked me down. Yeah. He took me into the deep end. Doc, good to see you. Hey, good to see you.

These shoes. The Enclods. Enclod. Enclod. Everybody's wearing them. You love these shoes. I do love these shoes. You know, as a surgeon, you spend a lot of time on your feet.

So you got to have stuff that works for that. Yeah, Chuck Pagano wearing them. You love these shoes. I do love these shoes. You know as a surgeon You spend a lot of time on your feet So you gotta have stuff that that works for that Yeah, Chuck Pagano wears them and he goes a lot of the medical community uses these kids on their feet all day or whatever He's like you're walking on clouds. They look incredible. Nice to see that the doctor of the NFL also wears them Chuck is on to something. Let's start talking about you hell of a job Congratulations, the process the procedure that was worked and practiced, probably begrudgingly by all parties, whenever it's being practiced, saved Amar Hamlin's life. Whenever the athletic trainer comes out, starts CPR, the response from the team in the stadium and the on-site people working there to the hospital, those procedures, I assume, are worked, practiced, and executed, and saved a life.

Fucking good on you, Doc. Yeah. That's going to feel pretty good. I assume that's part of your department. I just assume it is. But it's not me. I mean, it's obviously those doctors and trainers at every club. Of course.

And I would actually tell you something. I don't think they begrudgingly practice it. I think that they've come to realize how critical that is. And just like players have a playbook and they practice that, our medical staff has a playbook. It's called an emergency action plan. It describes who's going to do what in a case of certain emergencies. And they rehearse it.

They actually rehearse it prior to the start of the season. They videotape it. They break it down just like you break down film and look for ways to improve. And so, you know, in that moment, they're going back and falling on their training just like players do. Okay, so for you, as that whole thing's taking place, are you being called? Are you a part of the conversation? Obviously the games and logistics, I think Troy Vincent, Roger Goodell handle that.

But how hands-on are you and your team in that whole process? Because that was the biggest emergency we've ever seen probably in the NFL in a long time. Sure. Well, I'm always available on game day, and we have on-site representatives. So I was communicating with them. Obviously I was starting to communicate with the medical staff. I'm not bothering them in the moment because I want them to do what they're trained to do, but we're there to support and to come alongside them and then to follow up and do what we need to do on our side to talk to those operations people about what's going on, the severity of

the situation. It was amazing. I mean, we saw it now, granted the internet didn't know, you know, the internet's going to do what the Internet does. What's that, Doc? What did you hear? Doc, what was that? Yeah, what was so funny? Hey, Doc, what was that? That was a big pop. I'm laughing because my wife always says, don't read social media.

It's not real life. And I think she's a smart woman. Yeah, well, absolutely. At the moment, we've got a lot of other things to focus on. So what are you guys focusing on? We heard that there's an expansion of the Guardian, right, after use last year, I think for the first time mandatory in training camp. You're going to expand on. So what are you guys focusing on? We heard that there's an expansion of the Guardian right? After use last year I think for the first time mandatory in training camp. You're going to expand on that a bit. Did you guys

see good results? How was the feedback from the players? And what's the future look like you think in that regard? So the results are pretty astounding. So the position groups that wore the Guardian cap, those positions that wore it. You need to talk to these two. These two right here. These two right here. 52% reduction in concussions of those positions compared to previous two. Sure. These two guys right here. These two right here. 52% reduction in concussions of those

positions compared to previous years. Okay. Hey, Doc. That's great news. That's a lot. Good work, Doc. And of those concussions that happened to those positions, half of them were impacts to the face mask, which is not covered by the guardian cap. So I think you have to say it was remarkably successful.

We obviously talked to players, heard about feedback. There are a couple concerns that people had. They were worried about heat, and we're really studying that and figuring out heat transfer and what the best material is. They're worried about could there be more neck injuries. We did not see that at all. And then there were some issues with fit and securing it, and we've already worked with the company on that.

Okay, so there's going to be a better-looking product too? Because, you know, these guys are so like, oh, it looks stupid. It looks goofy. It looks stupid. That is a real thing. Funders never worry about how so like, oh it looks stupid. Looks goofy. That is a real thing. Funders never worry about how they look. Dude, we always look stupid, Doc. Doc, you ever see how stupid I look all the time? I mean, I look terrible in my office. But like these are old meatheads, right?

So whenever you hear about the Guardian cap, you get worried because that's a part of getting in the game shape now. Do you think there was any ripple effects long term that maybe affected the brain in a different way? Like, for instance, some of those concussions we saw this year seemed to be a little bit more, I don't want to say devastating, but there were some devastating concussions this year.

Well, we looked at those positions that wore the guardian cap, and we saw, did they have an increase in concussions after they stopped wearing it? Yeah, because can you toughen up the brain, I wonder? You don't. I mean, the brain doesn't develop calluses. All right? I'm a surgeon.

I've operated on the brain for many years. I've never seen a callus on the brain. Okay. So there's not an idea that you've got to kind of condition the brain. So we didn't see an increase in concussions in those positions when they took the cap off. We didn't see any change in their play style. It wasn't like they used their head, you know, more or less.

So, again, the Guardian cap's not a be-all, end-all solution. We still want to get guys to use their head less as far as impacts. But the idea with the Guardian Cap is kind of like the airbags or the seatbelts in your car. If there's a collision, if there's a crash, it's going to reduce your chance of getting hurt. Ten percent each person. Let's go.

Hey, that was an incredible one. I couldn't wait to pitch at a training camp, especially with these meatheads. AJ has a question for you, Doc. Yeah, where are we, like, when it comes to understanding brain trauma and CT and all of this? Have we even scratched the surface of what you're going to eventually know? I feel like AQ and I see this study recently said some, like, 92% of former players showed signs of CT,

which obviously you can only study that if you're dead, correct? Right. Now, what about the regular population? Do we have numbers on that? I just want to see what that would be compared to these athletes. Is it is it still very high denominator? Yeah, I think it's I think we don't know the denominator because, again, we don't have, you know, large scale group studies. But and I think we've got a lot more to learn. We want to learn. Can we diagnose this in living people? But most importantly for me, can we

prevent it and treat it? Right. You know, if we think someone has this condition, what can we do about treating it? But most specifically, prevention. I mean, any doctor will tell you the very best treatment for any medical condition is prevention. So I want to go back to this, how do we reduce the number of head hits? I mean, reducing the number of head hits that guys take throughout their practice and their game career, that's going to be the most effective treatment. Doc, you can, and AQ will have a follow-up for you, that's going to be the most effective treatment.

Doc, you can, and AQ will have a follow-up for you, but you have to be the person in the room that says, like, who discusses that there's an inherent risk? You know, you're the doctor, you're the chief medical officer for the NFL, but if you talk to a lot of the ex-players, granted, I know there's class action lawsuits and billions of dollars that happen with some players and all that, but I think a majority of former players are scared that the game is going to get transformed so much that

it's no longer the game that they grew up loving and doing it, all in the name of safety and health. But if you talk to a lot of the ex-players, they'd be like, we knew what we were signing up for. How do you balance that? And how much do you think the game has to continue to change so that some people in the future will

continue to deem it like a safe sport, if that makes sense, as opposed to the majority of your fans and everything like that. That has to be a tough balance, especially coming from the doctor side of it. But how do you judge that? Well, I think the balance is exactly what you said. And our job is as we learn more, you know, as we know more about what specific risks or what things drive injury, we have to share that information.

We can't hide that. And if you think about how the game has evolved, it's always evolved, right? I mean, 30 years ago, a head slap was legal. more about what specific risks or what things drive injury, we have to share that information. We can't hide that. And if you think about how the game has evolved, it's always evolved, right? I mean, 30 years ago, a head slap was legal. 30 years ago, you could spear guys. Oh, my God. That was the slap game. But now you realize, hey, that's a risk.

And, you know, players like you guys, I mean, you want to play. You want to be on the field. You want to be healthy. And so you know, players like you guys, I mean, you want to play. You want to be on the field. You want to be healthy. And so the question is just what you said. How can we evolve and change and keep guys as healthy as possible but at the same time preserve the excitement of the game? We know in sports there are always going to be some injuries, but I think we can continue to make them safer as we learn more. And if we learn things and say, wow, this really results in injury at a very high rate,

then we need to share that. The Guardian cap is a good example. If we find something like that, you know, over this really results in injury at a very high rate, then we need to share that. The Guardian cap's a good example. If we find something like that, over 50% reduction in injury, we've got to share that information. And I think when players understand that, just like the better helmet technology, as we've developed better helmets. Oh, I heard we're getting position-specific potentially. Exactly.

Guys realize, hey, that's a better thing for me as a player because it gives me a better chance to stay on the field. I'm less likely to get injured. Got it. So it's a balance you have to deal with. For sure. And you're the doctor guy. So you're right in the middle of it.

Yeah, sorry. So good luck out there. We're pulling for you. Honestly. Thank you. Doc, so I was an offensive player. He was a defensive player. You're taught the same thing.

You're taught to lead with your face, then bring your hands, right? Like that's pretty much what we're doing. So if we're putting guardian caps up here, I'm'm going off what I watch for when I see knockouts. We're getting hit here. We're getting here in UFC, right? We get this little shot. There's nothing to protect that face. We can't put anything over that face.

It blocks the viewpoint, correct? So what is this fully doing in terms of when we talk? Yeah, we're reducing the number of hits, but aren't most of the ones whenever they're going here and they're getting hit from the side of the head? I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. Is it protecting the button, the guardian?

Yeah. Yeah, so we take a look at all the concussions. We look at the video, where guys got hit on the helmet, what was the scenario. But then, as you mentioned, also that play-after-play contact. And so you're right. The guardian cap doesn't protect you in the face mask. I go back to what I said before. We can now measure helmet impacts, like how many helmet impacts does each player take.

And you see very stark differences. If both you guys play the same position, you might hit your head at a very high rate. He might hit his head much lower. Why is that? Both you guys grade out the same on, let's say, your PFF grades. So that talks about technique. And I think that's what you're going to see is more discussion and more development of how do you play these positions in an effective way but without the head contact. What else are we not talking about that you've had to answer a bunch of questions?

I assume we're missing something. COVID we're done with, right? Let's hope so. Knock on wood. Whoa, that's glass. But I think we'll knock on whatever so we don't have to have that. What else is in there? A lot of focus on lower extremity injuries.

You know, this year we made a big focus on – Oh, the hip drop tackle. On hamstrings. Let me talk about hamstrings first because hamstrings are the number one reason to keep guys off the field. Vitamin D. It's the number one time lost injury. And so we really spend a lot of time working on lower extremity strains.

Obviously, we're going to continue to work on that. Grass. We're getting grass. Working a lot on surfaces. You know, it's not just about grass versus artificial. It's what are the properties. You know, what are the exact properties of that surface that either reduce injury or can contribute to injury. What do you mean? Like give, solubility?

Split turf. There's a certain turf that's bad. We know that, right? That's gone out of Detroit. You know, how slippery it is, how firm it is, how much infill. I mean, all that varies. Whether it's natural or artificial, we need to get better at understanding what are the properties and making sure that the field is uniform.

So nobody wants to say we can't have all grass because it's too expensive or we think that there's other answers that are just much better? No, it's just a more complicated question than that. It has nothing to do with expense. I think our owners would pay whatever amount to have the safest field. It's just we need to tell them what the safest field is. Got it. Because I heard there is like.

The helix. The matrix helix. There's a super grass coming in almost. Is that happening? We have a lot of hybrid fields now, too, that are actually natural grass with some artificial. Green Lambo. Lambo. So I think that's another really innovative technology.

Is that in your world? That's in your department? We, together with the Players Association, have committees that look at that and look at the injury data with it. So, yes. Let's go. That's a big deal. You go, dog.

I think you can win over a lot of people. You start getting, like, some great surfaces. Yeah. I just assume the grass is the best one. Most giving. Most forgiving. Those are two different things, I think. Yeah.

And then the way Arizona and Vegas, they just walk the stadium outside to get sun and then come back inside. It's like it feels like we have the technology. What you're saying is we might not have the perfect technology just yet, but we are trying to find it. Exactly. We're trying to learn what is it about

the property of the surface. Because when you talk about injuries, like if you want to talk about ACL or ankle, surface is one factor, but so are the cleats. So are the style of play. So is previous injury. So you got to look at all those things and figure out how can we balance them to reduce the risk of injury.

Hip drop tackle, you guys getting rid of that? I don't say that we're getting rid of it. I think it's something people have brought forward. It's our job as physicians and scientists to say, hey, here are the injuries we see. Here's the mechanism. What does the community think about this? And I think that's a discussion we have about a lot of different areas of the game. I know people have brought it up.

Rugby has banned it for certain reasons. So I think it's something we have to bring forward and discuss. Very fascinating. Has rugby banned other forms of tackles that force that form of a tackle, though? You know, because the way you tackle a quarterback, I just hope that, and obviously you know this because you're an incredibly intelligent person, like in theory everything seems to work. You know, but then you're talking about, like, actual humans at, like, 20 miles an hour.

And the unintended consequences. You always got to think if you do something, what's going to respond to that. Guys get fired. Yeah. Careers are, you know what I mean? Or you get hurt trying to make a tackle a certain way. You hurt yourself. There's, like, just so much that goes into all of it.

And, by the way, I think you guys are doing an incredible job trying to keep the game growing and evolving and doing great. Not an easy job, but I guess neither is fucking brain surgery. Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Doctor, do you see all the players in the NFL wearing those new helmets that like Kittle and Nick Bosa and Tony Pollard who we just saw wear? And also, what are those neck

things that some of the linebackers wear? Is everyone going to start wearing those too for the blood circulation? Yeah, so let's talk about helmets first. Helmets have gotten better and better and better over the last 10 years, and they'll continue to get better. We talked about position-specific a minute ago. I think, again, you're going to see helmets continue to evolve.

The reason position-specific makes sense is different players get hurt in different ways, right? Quarterbacks tend to get concussed, throw in the ball, they fall, they hit the back of their head. Linemen get hit front of the helmet, as we mentioned. Punters, they slip and fall coming out of the locker room. Oh! Dr. Comedy. I actually have done that. Me too.

I actually have two times. Bruised my tailbone. I've got to have a little fun with my guy over here. Bruised my tailbone, Doc. Thanks. I haven't seen any signs. But I think that you'll see helmets get better, and I think you'll see players make choices, again,

based on that data that's coming out. We rank the helmets every year, you know, with the Players Association together, and we look at the injury rates, and so that's good information. The thing you see around guys' neck is what's called a Q collar. It's a device that literally squeezes the veins in the neck a little bit, and it reduces the blood flowing out of the brain. The idea is that it makes a little more blood volume in the brain and makes the brain maybe a little less likely to slosh around.

So it's a lot of scientific debate about it. These guys are choking themselves out here? I think we need... Doc, you guys got people choking themselves out here? Are they good? Do they work? I think we'll have to continue to see what the data shows. Are you guys behind it or no?

Are you guys behind it or no? Like when that was presented, you guys had to okay that. It's an FDA approved device. And so our docs and our committees discussed it and said, you know what, we don't see that it's going to create harm and we'll just have to wait and see if there's a benefit. It looks cool. It does. Doc, what is it? What's a concussion? What makes something a concussion instead of, hey, that was a big hit or how do we know, hey, this is a concussion? And there's got to be different levels of severity as well. Well, so concussion, instead of, hey, that was a big hit. How do we know, hey, this is a concussion? And there's got to be different levels of severity as well. Well, so for us, when we're trying to identify concussions on game day, there are two components.

There's a blow to the head or neck area or a blow that transmits force there, followed by some form of injury behavior. So does the player display any symptoms? Slow to get up, if they're staggering, obviously fencing posture that you've seen, or if there are symptoms that are reported. But, you know, one of our real challenges in medicine, and anybody that takes care of patients will tell you this, is it can be hard to diagnose a concussion. We don't have a blood test. We don't have an x-ray. We don't have an MRI that says yay or nay for every concussion. So I think really our best tool for diagnosis is self-report of symptoms. And that's why we spend so much time encouraging players, coaches, and others to speak up.

And they do. You guys know this. Today is a very different climate than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago, and that's a good thing. Well, I mean, we're talking strictly this department. There's a lot of other things that are different than 10, 15 years ago that I don't think we're necessarily saying is better. But in medical, I do believe that is the case. Perfect way to end this with what we're talking about. What is a concussion? How can you deem it? Yes or no. The Tua situation

there, it was at home, right? Buffalo, then Cincinnati. And it was like four days away from each other. And then obviously in prime time, one of the worst concussions I've seen probably since Austin Colley, probably since Austin Colley. Yeah. Probably since Austin Colley in Philadelphia. So then old buddy that's the unaffiliated neuro consultant, the unk, gets fired down in Miami by the NFLPA after an interview is done. We have not been told, I don't think, whether or not that person, that it was the UNC, didn't do the proper protocol, didn't know what they were doing, or if the NFLPA just didn't like that person's attitude in the interview, the Tua process, the Tua concussions or back spasm, whatever it was, has that changed the way you have to do anything?

Has that obviously been a focal point of the conversation throughout the season for you? Because I feel like the UNC was a good thing for concussions, and in theory it's a good idea, but what happens if that UNC stinks at what they're doing? Who's going to tell the smartest person on the field that they stink at what they're doing? Like, that's a difficult thing to manage when you have humans involved, which you're going to do.

What happened down there, and how do you fix that so it doesn't happen going forward? Because that was a bad look. That was like Good Morning America was talking about. Everybody was talking about it. How did that change things, and what are you doing to kind of advance that whole process? Well, I think the first thing to point out the facts, both the league and the Players Association together investigated that situation and found that everybody involved followed the protocol. Okay.

Period. Full stop. That's a big piece of information there. So I think that's important to recognize. Secondly, we're always looking for ways we can improve the concussion protocol where we can do a better job. We spend a lot of time in the offseason and during the season educating the unaffiliated neurodocs, the spotters, the team doctors, the team athletic trainers, and players themselves about what to look for. We always want to identify anybody that's injured, right?

That's our goal. If you're injured, we want to get you off and get you evaluated. So I think we learned from that situation. You know, we made a protocol change as a result of it. What was it? That was that we changed that if someone has a taxia where they have this particular form of stumbling, we're automatically going to say that that's suspicious enough

of a concussion that we're going to pull them out regardless of anything else. Because if you pull star player game-winning drive just because, I mean, that's a whole other ballgame in there too. So you have to be careful on what's pulling and what's not pulling. But what I would tell you, Pat, is we have some incredibly talented men and women who serve as athletic trainer spotters and unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants. These are the best of the best. These are the people you want taking care of you. You know, if you call me and say,

hey, who in that city should I go see for this issue? These are the people we're going to recommend. And so I think what happened there was extremely unfortunate with that UNC. But as I said, we've all learned from it. And the investigation that was done jointly said that the protocol was followed. What we did as an outcome of that was to simply say, let's change our protocol and make it even more conservative. And that's what you saw this season. We did more concussion evaluations than we've ever done in a season. We had more medical timeouts where we stopped the game to get a player off.

And I think as a result, we can say with data that we're becoming even more conservative about concussion. Well, congratulations. Obviously, you're a doctor, so people only come to you whenever something's wrong. So you don't necessarily have people just pumped to come see you. And when you're working with the NFL, you're only going to get talked about whenever something fucks up. Great job. Your team has done an incredible job. We're excited to see what the NFL is 10 years from now with a lot of the help from your department. So thank you for your time and thank you for your service to the league.

Hey, thanks for having me, man. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alan Steele. Thank you, Doc. Thank you, Doc. Appreciate you, Doc. ...now is a man who can only do what he does because he is the most electrifying human being maybe that has ever graced our planet. Former head coach of the NFL, obviously, for the Niners, but now everybody knows him as the X's and O's showdown world champion

back-to-back years. This year he hopped in a Spider-Man costume and broke it down. Last year he did the same. They got an eight-and-a-half-hour kickoff show on Sunday leading up to the big game on NFL Network. Ladies and gentlemen, the star Steve Mariucci. Mooch!

Mooch, good to see you. Mooch is all pumped. Mooch was not thrilled that we forced him to come back. He's standing up here. We said we need to give you a big intro. You deserve it. You've earned it. You're the man. I believe this is your headset right here. You can move that around if you need.

Coach, you can do whatever the hell you want to do. This is an old ball, isn't it? That's from the Pro Bowl games. Okay, hey, did you have fun at the Pro Bowl? Not bad. Huh? Not bad. What do you mean not bad?

I thought it was pretty darn good. Did you like the gridiron gauntlet whenever they were doing their thing? Miles Garrett dislocated his toe. They're never going to do it again. Nope. They're never going to do it again. Never going to do it again. It's over.

That drill. Yeah, but that was like the best one. I like that format because I was watching you and Curt and the whole thing. And remember how the Pro Bowl used to be? Yes, Hawaii. Yeah, Hawaii. So when I was coaching the Pro Bowl one year, can I tell a story? Yo.

Mooch. Nothing but time. Come on, Mooch. So it was back in the day when the loser of the championship games would coach the Pro Bowl. Yes. Right? It was your duty. And it was after the Super Bowl.

Oh. It was after the Super Bowl. So you'd get more guys participating, right? Mm-hmm. Right now in between the two, you don't have the Super Bowl players in there. There was a lot. And then you have the guys that lost. I'm banged up.

I can't play. TJ Watts said he had a peck or something. And then you have the guys that lost. I'm banged up. I can't play. TJ Watt said he had a peck or something. He didn't. Yeah, I mean, guys are banged up. But after the Super Bowl, there's a little bit more time for them to participate. Anyway, we're playing in the game. And this is how serious it used to be. It wasn't flagged back then.

It wasn't flagged. No, no, no. This is the first year of flag just for everybody. Yeah. So I had a guy. I don't know if you ever heard of a guy named Kevin Goggin, okay? He's the biggest, ugliest, meanest guy in the league, right? 6'8", 345.

Jeez. Goggin's a dog. They had a picture of Goggin biting somebody's leg on Sports Illustrated cover, like the dirtiest player in the league, and I loved him to death, okay? So he was playing, and the afc neil smith from the broncos playing anyway fight starts because they're serious about winning this game right winner gets 50 loser gets 25 that's big difference big difference you got to pay for all those drinks from your family that showed up and it's hawaii expensive milk expensive and so so they're playing

hard trying to win and And the fight breaks out. Here's your guy, Gil. All right. Look at this guy. He's actually gnawing on somebody's arm. So anyway, he gets kicked out of the game. He and Neil Smith both get kicked out of the game. But they go through the same tunnel, and the locker rooms are close by each other.

So I'm standing during the game. We're coaching him up. And all of a sudden, Milt Aldridge, the head of security, comes to me. He says, Coach, you need to go in there and calm him down. I go, why? He goes, he's going to fight. He's going to go crazy. He is going crazy.

You've got to go stop him. I go, I've got a game to coach right here. I've got 50 grand. So I go, Steve Young, Steve, come here. I just pulled Steve out of the game. He started, and I pulled him out, Steve, go there and calm down Gogan, will you please he goes in the locker room

Gogan beats the shit out of Steve Young could you imagine he comes back, I go, what he goes, I can't calm him down you gotta go in there and calm him down so they actually hired more security for the party after at the hotel.

So these two guys didn't start throwing tables around. They cared, though. They cared. The point of the matter is they cared about the game. That's how competitive it used to be. Now, I'm not saying it's not competitive now. In fact, I kind of enjoyed this format, right? It gave a little bit more juice, I think.

A little bit more juice because last year it was still tackle football, and it was despicable. Not disturbing to watch. Yes. Bad for football. The late Pro Bowls, they were playing two-hand touch. Bad for football. It was bad football. You know what else is bad for football? What? Just to get to the two-hand touch football thing. Like some of these rough-in-the-passers, Coach, I assume you lose your mind.

Now you work for the league. You work at NFL Network. But you speak on those game day, on that game day show. Best show on TV every Sundayay by the way you guys are amazing coming on come on you know you picked the right guy in xo showdown hell yeah good job i didn't even get to see the last one i knew you'd win come on that's not even a question being asked to be on the show was an honor but you're always speaking from like a coach's standpoint like the way you do you're always super optimistic and ready to go some of these things

that are happening in the game are obviously not good for football is it tough for you to hold your tongue or do you get pissed off about it and you just kind of let it go so i was watching when i first came here uh dr seals was on that was fascinating he did a great job he's good he's good i know him already because i'm on the player safety advisory panel not easy so we study we study the the trends the injury trends and then you know, when are injuries happening on grass, on turf, in training camp, in games in cold weather, whatever, everything. And obviously concussions number one and then other injuries follow. But he does a great job.

We're trying to make the game safer, right? We're trying to have players play a little bit longer. And so protecting quarterback, we saw what happens when you don't have a quarterback, right, in San Francisco? Bro. How about the exclusive third quarterback thing? You think that's going to happen? I'm watching that game. Fourth quarter.

Hold on, Luch. And the Niners aren't even trying to throw the ball and catch up. They can't even attempt. They can't. Their third quarterback was Christian and catch up. They can't even attempt. They can't. Their third quarterback was Christian McCaffrey. He was rubbing his calf. He just showed up halfway through the season. I mean, it was ridiculous, right?

So I texted. I won't give you any names. Roger Goodell. I can't say names. Roger Goodell. Troy Vincent. Okay. Well, one of those two, yeah.

Moods gone pool. Let's go. I don't text with two thumbs yeah. Moves, God, pulls. I don't text with two thumbs. I can't do that, so I'm like this. Anyway. They are doing the same. So I said, we can't have this anymore. What if this happened in the Super Bowl where one team can't play anymore and 200 countries are watching this sport and you can't play the game?

It's ridiculous. So we have to have a third quarterback available. So that's happening. Maybe it's for the So we have to have a third quarterback available. So that's happening, we think. Maybe it's for the playoffs only to bring up a practice squad guy. Whatever that is, this can't happen anymore, and there's discussion about it. You're assuming it's going to change. I hope it changes. You know, I think it's an easy change.

Maybe it's just for playoffs. It can happen during the regular season too, but it's not as impactful, I guess. But let's have three guys ready. AJ has a question for you, Coach. I'm wondering, Mooch, if you, too, but it's not as impactful, I guess. But let's have three guys ready. AJ has a question for you, Coach. I'm wondering, Mooch, if you, like, say back when you were a coach, and even if you're watching old film, when you see, like, horse collar tackles happening, guys getting up cheering and there's no flags, big old shots, and guys are coming across the middle, what do you think when you see that?

It's almost, to me, crazy to think that's how it was for a while, isn't it? It was, and you could hit quarterbacks in the head. That was the was the game plan yeah hey if he wants to carry his face out we're gonna kill that guy that's on him yeah yeah absolutely like is there a way to find a balance between where we're going and where we were i don't think we're ever going back there no i i think i think um you know this committee that're on, we're not the competition committee. Was it Roger Goodell or Troy you texted? Can't tell you that. So with the rules the way they are, you take away the wedge, you take away half of the kickoffs

because that was the most dangerous play in football. The most dangerous play in sports was the kickoff. And the punt. The play that was on. Punt's up there, too. And standing on the sideline is dangerous, too. Last Bosa. So I did all those things.

Amen. I stood on the sideline a lot. So then you do the data and you say, well, yeah, we reduced concussions X percent and then that kind of thing. And then with only 14 practices and pads during the whole darn season, does that help or not? You know what I mean? But I don't see us going, okay, we're okay.

Let's add a few more padded practice. That ain't going to happen. I think players are happy to hear that, but as this inevitably goes to 18 games, which we know is going to happen. I hear us talking about that. You guys think that's going to be... Mooch, how long have you been around the NFL? How long have you been around the NFL? Come on, Mooch. How long have you been around the NFL? Well, 18

years with the network, and then 14 years coaching, so that adds that up. I'm not a mathematician. But then I had another 15 years in college coaching. Oh, 47 years. That's it. Yeah, so. Love the sport.

Hey, thank you for your commitment today. Yeah, thank you, coach. Thank you. Honestly. You know, when my wife, when I, I hope she's, I'm sure she's watching. Everybody's watching this. No. I don't think so. When I have to go down and watch film or I've got to watch this game because she goes,

come on, just football. She thinks I'm like a fan, right? I go, you know what? See this dress you're wearing? Paid for that dress, okay? My whole life has been football, right? Yeah, and you've done great. Oh, it's been fun.

XO Showdown, two-time champion in a row. You know that belt? You know that title? The title belt? It doesn't fit anymore. I mean, I herbed. That had to hold it on me, you know, with, because it's. Well, that'll happen.

It's like that Spider-Man suit. It's shrinking. Of course. No, is it the suit or is it you, you think? It's a suit. Suit. Yeah, absolutely. When they washed it.

Hey, you've got eight and a half hours on Sunday. Are you going to be able to last or what's the deal? What are you saving up? Are you going to just sleep? That's a suit. Yeah, absolutely. When they washed it. Hey, you've got eight and a half hours on Sunday. Are you going to be able to last, or what's the deal? What are you saving up? Are you going to just sleep? That's what we've done, Pat. That's what we've done. In fact, we used to do that and the post game. Damn.

And then they said, ah, you guys can do it. You know, take off. We'll bring somebody else in for post. Hold on. There was one week you guys didn't work. What was it? It was a Saturday, Sunday day, maybe? We didn't work.

Yeah. During the season? Yeah. Because of one of the London games. Yes. That was season? Yeah. Because of one of the London games. Yes. That was it. Yeah. Because we didn't do the game, so we said we're off.

And the game is shown at the same time as our show is on. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because I missed you guys for a week. I missed you, too. That was rude. You guys did that to me. Took the weekend off. I was like, oh, these guys are getting lazy.

They sent us to Munich. That was awesome. That's a beautiful city. If you ever can go to Munich, I'm not kidding. It was spectacular. How do you feel about the international events? I think it's good for the league, good for the game, good for everybody. You can't believe how many fans are in Europe, NFL fans.

They follow it like crazy. Yes. Oh, my God. And then Germany especially, even more so than the London. We've done 30-some games in London. Do you think it's military or do you think it's the locals? Yeah, there's some military presence there, but it's because of NFL Europe.

Remember all the Ryan Fire and Alexi and all those teams? They developed an American football fan base over there from way back when, NFL Europe. Your microphone sounds amazing. You just moved it up. You sound like so full. Unbelievable. Paisano.

Connor has a question for you, coach. Yeah, Mooch. We were just talking about how difficult it is to be a head coach in the NFL now, especially if you're not an offensive play caller, because if you are a defensive guy, there's a chance that you're going to lose your offensive guy to another head coaching job. What do you think is the hardest part now in today's game when it comes to coaching? Well, obviously you gave the ball to T.O. on Jerry Rice Day.

Yeah. 20 times. Awesome. That is an amazing thing. They were celebrating Jerry Rice. Oh, yeah. We're doubling Jerry Rice. I mean, the ball had to go somewhere else.

Throw the ball, coach. T.O. breaks an all-time record. He passes on Jerry Rice Day. Tough relationship, I assume. Jerry wasn't happy. He wasn't. So when you're successful, of course, when you suck, everybody's going to lose their job, right?

But when you're successful, you're going to lose coaches and players. And so the trick is hanging on to as many as you can, right? But when a coordinator gets an offer or an opportunity to take a head job, well, geez, he's gone, right, usually. Pass it. If you're a defensive coach and you have an offensive coordinator that's pretty darn good and he leaves you, that's a problem. Oh, yeah.

Unless you have a guy waiting that knows the same system, that can keep developing this young quarterback without changing the scheme and the play caller in his ear, right? That's why, it's not 100%, but that's why the trend right now is for teams to hire an offensive-minded head coach. Oh, yeah. The Sean McVeigh's, the Kyle Shanahan's, the Matt LaFleur's. O'Connell's.

On and on, yes. Because if you have success and you lose your offensive coordinator, the offensive guy is still calling the plays for the next 12 years, right? You don't lose that continuity with your young quarterback. And not that it's easier to replace a defensive coordinator, but when you're talking about developing a quarterback, the continuity with the scheme is really important. And that's where all the money is too.

The money's in that quarterback as well. A lot of the money. Which is your franchise, which is the future of your franchise. That's a tough hire to get it right through head coaching. That's where there's so much turnover. What was it, $800 million was being paid to fired coaches just this year? Fired coaches because people couldn't figure it out. That was halfway through the year, too.

That's gone up since. Yeah, they fired more people. Okay, relax, okay? Because here's the deal. No, yeah, your coaches. Your coaches are draining $800 million. $800 million out of the NFL. But you don't get it all.

Here's the deal. Now, I don't know about everybody's contract, but typically a coach's contract, if you get let go and there's a year or two left on it, if you go home and sit on the couch, they're going to pay you. Okay? But most of these coaches are young guys that want to keep working. So when you start a new job, that salary offsets with that old team owes you.

There's an offset clause. OK, so that 800 million is the starting point. And then when they get back on the workplace, it comes down. Why are they being so dramatic then? Why is the NFL being so dramatic? Who wrote that article? Some Mark. I think it was somebody anti NFL. Yeah, probably. Obviously somebody anti you.

They said they fucking hate Steve Maraniss. Bullshit. Hey, speaking of articles and narratives, everybody has the Eagles just beating the hell out of Chiefs. Wait, who's everybody? 76% of the money. It's dropped to 73. 73% of the money is on Chiefs. I don't know anything about that.

We're not allowed to talk about spreads and everything. Well, just wait until next year. There'll be so much money coming into your pockets from it that you guys will be talking about it every single week. But you, 73% of the money is on Philadelphia Eagles at minus one and a half. But also on TV, any human that is speaking into a microphone seemingly has just casted away Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid and the Chiefs. And you obviously are a coach, so you're always about, hey, we got enough in this room to go and get a win.

Do you think the Chiefs are just, like, outmanned? Is that why everybody just assumes the Eagles are going to do their thing? If I were neutral, and I should be, in looking at the rosters, Andy Reid and I grew up together. And they're sharing an office no bigger than this in Green Bay. Oh, yeah, and he kicked Sirianni out of it, remember? Oh, yeah. He kicked Sirianni out of it. He didn't kick. Sirianni was of it, remember? Oh, yeah. He said he kicked Sirianni out of it. He didn't kick.

Sirianni was with the Chiefs when Andy took the job. And he had David Culley. He had his own receiver coach. Coach Dave. Chewing on his tongue. He had his own guy. He's Coach Dave. But anyway, what were we talking about?

Eagles. Everybody's saying the Eagles just have the Chiefs completely outmanned. There's a lot going on. AJ. What happened here? If you look at the roster, and you watch that last game, Spags is playing with five

rookies on defense. Corner. Corners. Corners and pass rusher and four defensive backs against Joe Burrow. I'm going like, oh my God, they're going to get sliced up. And they were good. Brett Veach told me before the season that, hey, we're going to be young on defense, Mooch,

but if these guys stay healthy and they get better, you know, we've got a chance. Well, here they are. This is a young team, and they've got a rookie tailback, Pacheco. The Eagles have a veteran kind of a defense. I mean, those pass rushers are scary. They've got about eight of them, right? And Darius Slay and Brad Bear, I mean, they've got good corners. So if you just look at it, just with no bias,

you'd say the Eagles have the better roster, the more experienced veteran kind of a roster. And then you go, oh, but then they got Patrick Mahomes, Meadowlark Lemon. You don't even know who that is. You weren't even born yet when the Globetrotters were playing. Oh, wait, I have an assistant in the Globetrotters game. Thank you, Mooch. Pointing it to a guy. I mean, isn't he like that? I mean an assistant in the Globetrotters game. Thank you, Mooch. Yeah. Point it to a guy.

I mean, isn't he like that? I mean, he's the best. And then, of course, Andy's got something up his sleeve. I interviewed him the other day, and I made him promise me that he would pull out that snow globe thing. Oh, yeah. And do something else. I said, I've never asked for anything in my life. Just can you do it for me once?

He goes, okay, fine. So maybe you will. So you. So the Eagles have the better roster. That's why people are saying, yeah, they should win this game. But then here goes Magic Mahomes. If you give them a minute left in the game, they're only down by seven. Look out.

Are you a coffee guy? Two cups of coffee in the morning, done. That's it? That's it. What about an eight-and-a-half-hour kickoff show? So the coffee's early at 7 and 8 o'clock. And then we get to cocaine about 7. Now we have pizza.

Pizza. Oh, I said. Hey, oh, hey. All right. A little bit of gas there. No, it's fun. It's Super Bowl, so you get energized, right? Hell yeah.

You know how this works. Hell yeah. Yeah, it's a great day for football. Yeah, you're a great person for football. Thank you for your support. You are the man. I love watching you. 47.

All you guys are nuts. Very nice. You guys are the best. Honestly, you guys got a great program over there. You do a great job. I think every single week you bring it, which we appreciate, except for that one you guys took off. Yeah, I was messed up.

But aside from that. When we took off that weekend, because we did that the year before, because there was a London game that we didn't do. CBS did it, I think. So they said, you're off. It was the first Sunday I had off in 46 years. Jeez. Because when I was playing.

What the hell? In college, you go back in and watch the film. Yeah. When I was at assistant. I mean, you're playing in the NFL. It didn't matter. You're always working on Sundays. And, of course, Thanksgiving.

And probably Christmas. And New Year matter. You're always working on Sundays and, of course, Thanksgivings and probably Christmas. And New Year's. And New Year's probably. You get Fourth of July off, though. That's nice. Oh, yeah. Middle of summer. So what'd you do?

I went to church and then stayed home. What'd the Lord say? Where the fuck you been? Where you been? Oops. And then watched all the games. Yeah, it was amazing. It's a great Sunday.

You got to experience it like we do. And we can't thank you enough for your service. And good luck this Sunday. Thanks. And have a great offseason with the wife. Appreciate you. Chase, you're the man. You're the man.

You're the man. Thanks, man. I'm Steve Maravich. Yeah. Boo.