The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Conference Playoff Thoughts, Plus Tom Brady Stories With Tom Curran, Mike Giardi, and Drew Henson | Dual Threat With Ryen Russillo (Ep. 21)

Episode Date: January 24, 2019

Russillo shares his thoughts on Saints-Rams and Patriots-Chiefs (3:30) before talking with NBC Sports Boston's Tom Curran, NFL Network's Mike Giardi, and former NFL quarterback Drew Henson about some of their best Tom Brady stories (22:00). Finally Russillo unleashes his rant on 'The Bachelor' ... you're welcome, America (50:35). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's good, fam? All right, this is the plan for today. I prepped for a segment that I'm embarrassed that I prepped about. So that'll be the vague link to click on for this one. What did I see? I saw somebody else doing something the other day where they're like, you won't believe what this guy said. I'm like, well, I don't care who that guy is. So I don't know if I believe it or don't believe it. You know what I mean? So I'm going to probably try to do one of those vague things, but here's what we're doing. You already listened to the podcast. You already clicked on it. So we're good to go. I'm going to probably try to do one of those vague things, but here's what we're doing. You already listened to the podcast. You already clicked on it, so we're good to go.

I'm doing a full breakdown of, well, it's not full. It's probably inefficient, inaccurate, but it's a good segment. I don't like how all these guys are going on The Bachelor and Bachelorette saying they're pro athletes because almost none of you are actually pro athletes, like none of you. And I'm going to start calling dudes out, and that's fine. If it gets weird, if I run into some of these guys, and now it's on, then it's on, and we get content.

We're also going to do the best Brady stories from a bunch of different people. A lot of requests were sent out. Apparently, a lot of dudes that were into it then kind of didn't want to do it because they're afraid of telling Brady stories, which is insane to me because most of these guys aren't even playing anymore.

But Tom Curran's going to do one. Mike Giardi's going to do one. And going back to the well, Drew Henson, our guy, he tells a great Brady story back in the day when they were at Michigan together that you haven't heard. There's a bigger part of our backup quarterback kind of, you know, month anthology that we're going to do a little bit later. Okay. So we have that. And it could be Mike Lombardi too. So we're kind of doing this on the fly because there's some dudes that said yes that now are saying no. And they know who they are.

And that sucks. Because you jammed a dude. You jammed a dude up pretty good. But that's all right. We're still having a great time, right? We're all having a great time. So let's talk some football. But first,

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make your first deposit, you get $25 in free play. Got to talk Belvedere. Pretty cool. The other night, went to Nick's Manhattan Beach. Wanted to get out of the house, watch a ton of NBA. I went to Nick's Manhattan Beach, wanted to get out of the house, watch a ton of NBA, and I go walk to Nick's, nice little spot, great dinner, check it out. And I was like, you know what? I feel like having a Belvedere and soda. And the bartender goes, so it's not just in the podcast.

It's on Dual Threat from The Ringer. I go, no. I go, I genuinely enjoy it. Produced in one of the world's longest-running distilleries, Belvedere vodka is the world's finest all-natural vodka. Part of a 600-year-old Polish vodka-making tradition, Belvedere is made with non-GMO Polish rye, pure water, and no additives. Recognized for quality, Belvedere was named the ISC World Vodka Producer of the Year in 2015, 16, and 17.

A warrior'stype run. Enjoy a delicious cocktail with Belvedere Vodka today, and remember to always drink responsibly. Just some random observations. Because it's a Wednesday of taping dual threat, I don't want to do a massive, and then on 3rd and 11, those games on Sunday were incredible. I don't smoke.

I felt like hitting your jewel, Kyle. I felt like hitting it. That mango, I could have used some because it was unbelievable how great the games were. Let's start with the NFC one. I was 7-1 in the playoff games. The only one I got wrong or actually 7-1 against the spread,

6-2 straight up. So the one I got wrong was New England and the LA Chargers. And then I had Seattle winning, but I got1 against the spread, 6-2 straight up. So the one I got wrong was New England and the LA Chargers. And then I had Seattle winning, but I got them on the spread. So I was on fire, right? Doing really well. And then I got, well, I don't, I'm going to tell you what happened. I didn't make a pick on the AFC.

And we'll get to that a little bit later. Because the Pats are clearly in my head. A little bit like Chet and Weird Science. They dominate me. There's nothing I can do. Chet is really scary. And you're not going to get this reference if you're younger. If you're older, you love it.

I don't know that Weird Science the movie still holds up. Dated a girl once whose nickname was Weird Science. That was a huge compliment. I was pretty fired up that my buddies called her Weird Science. They called her the science. Now I'm starting to think about her. Moving on. Chet.

Yeah, Chet was Bill Paxson's finest ex-marine living at home I'm seriously thinking about making up some stuff alright so there's a little 80s for you sorry to go so deep in it and as Simmons has said even here when they were going to do a rewatchables of Fletch like people voted no imagine going out of your way to actively vote no

don't do a rewatchables with Fletch and then Simmons is like dude we can't make any 80 we had a whole ringer meeting here and everybody was like don't do a rewatchables with fletch and then simmons is like dude we can't make any 80 we had a whole ringer meeting here and everybody was like we're like don't make any more 80s references in anything that you do and then 98 of the staff was like why would i and then bill and i just looked at each other being like okay this is this is for you and i so i have i have a few things that i want to get to which i've sort of already done a little bit. The call, the call, the call. The call is egregious. The call is terrible.

I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. And yes, even though there's so many people that want to go, what about this call? What about that call? You guys out there, the screen grabbers that are trying to do the screen grab justice. And more often than not, your screen grab is total bullshit to begin with. And I've always made the joke that you would screen grab a guy jumping off a building

and argue on the internet that he's flying. So I don't... Look, Jared Goff should have gotten a face mask. He didn't. You know what else happens? A lot of missed face mask calls as the hand is brushing against the face mask, turns it a bit, and the guy's hand comes off of it. That is an easy call to miss, okay?

It happens throughout a game. The zero on the play clock and the ball being snapped, that happens all the time. It's funny, it happens so often that it makes me wonder how many people actually watch football closely. Yes, I'm a good watcher of games, of sports. That's basically the same thing. I didn't need to repeat myself, but you understand the point. So when you're a guy going, oh, they didn't even get it off. Like they snapped it right at zeros. Every quarterback who's played in this league will tell you

the refs give you the benefit of the doubt. Tie goes to the runner. Even if it's not even a tie, they'll be like, we give the quarterback the opportunity to do this. Quarterbacks have mentioned this because every time it's a big game and everyone is watching and a big play, it's snapped at zero.

People freak out. And all of you people that freak out about it, you're doing it wrong. Okay? So it doesn't matter. So that call in itself, Roby hitting the receiver for the Saints. You know how often now, like this league is all PI. And how often now do you watch where you see a play it's an incompletion there's some sort of dust up on the field and you sit now in anticipation of the flag like i didn't used to do that for

decades now the last few years i just wait for the flag i'm like oh the flag's gonna come flag's gonna come like oh there's the flag there's the flag and that's what i did on that play i just sat there and i I was like, okay. I'm like, this is going to be a late one. Like, okay. Wait a minute. I'm like, oh, my God. They're not going to call a flag on this.

And then you see the replay over and over and over again. You could have been called face guarding. It could have been really wanted to, saying it was targeting. You could have said helmet to helmet. It was definitely pass interference. So, sorry, Rams fan. I know you're sick sick of hearing this but enjoy your trip to the Super Bowl you're like kill it man I'm not anti-Rams I I am pro-truth and the truth is that is one of and I'm not hyperbole guy I am all for trying to figure out some street to navigate through the angry mob and go in the

opposite direction I like to try to find a way. I rarely want to be with a mob because I think the mob is so dumb all the time. The mob's right on this one. This call was horrible. And then when you watch from the fan cam video that's going out there where the line judge is looking right at it with the back judge off to the side, it's two guys right there and it is out in the open, and it is this play that is called and flagged all the time now

in this super important part of the game. I don't get it. I don't understand it. Now, does that mean I want them to start reviewing P.I.? I don't because I think it's all going to look like pass interference and slow motion. I do. Like, look at all the times that you look at, like, unless they're going to have some sort of gray area understanding where it has to be egregious in the replay.

Or are they going to start pulling flags? Is the guy challenging? Then I've heard things like you should have some sort of challenge everything Trump flag okay no but seriously like on the surface maybe it sounds okay like i am allowed to challenge one thing that's not allowed to be challenged at any point so i get my two flags and i get like this special green flag the special power-up flag um all right but what do you do when can you use that in in the NFC title game there would be a time where you would probably want to use it and you wouldn't want to sit there and just go

I'm going to wait to use my green power up flag until the last minute because you don't know and then what if you were right with the green power up flag at some other point where it was the I'm allowed to challenge anything rule and then I have to follow the rules on the other two red flags and then something terrible happens to you in the second quarter you think is a really

big moment of the game because you think you're going to go up 20 nothing and then that happens to you right you're like I should have kept the green flag so like I am not I mean Will Kane had me on the radio show he goes there's an actual section of the NFL bylaws where the commissioner could rule that something needs to be played over again. And he's like, why do you, and I just interrupted him. I go, the saints got screwed. I can't believe they missed the call, but let's not lose our minds on this. Yes. We could have another committee to judge committees headed by committee vet, Tony Dungy, or we could have the committee that rules on other committees, committee dueling committees.

People love committees after any kind of controversy. And then it becomes, well, what can we do here? There's been an announcement that the NFL is going to review this pass interference challenge possibility. I, you know, I don't, I don't know. I mean, we do this kind of Monday hysteria where it's like, okay, how do we solve this problem? I ran into a former NBA guy, the Equinox, not name-dropping.

It's just how I roll. And he goes, how does that league do that? I was like, yeah, but do you like your two-minute warning report? Because that's always nonsense, too. They're like, yeah, it is. It is. He's like, well, it just has to be something they can do I go I don't think there's anything they can do I mean for anybody to suggest the Saints fan should sue

and they should have to play this over again because that's the article that I read the only time I think that would be applicable would be last Boy Scout if a tight end pulls out a Glock and shoots a safety through the helmet and kills him and scores the game winning touchdown, then I would be open to a discussion about like, hey, maybe somebody should step in here that has some authority and we play that last play over without killing anyone. Let's get rid of that guy with the Glock. Then I'd be open to it. And imagine if it did happen for real not just in the last Boy Scout

the talk shows would be, I mean we'd have gun control, was the tight end white we'd have all sorts of topics there, what does that mean you know, then we could even if the tight, we could have other people go well, do we know what intent, I mean

there's a lot of different topics that sports loves to dip their toe into there where we'd have a field day on TV. But let's hope no one actually does any of that stuff. I still have like four other things I want to get to here before we do the Brady stories from our guys. So I want to remind you about Sonos. The Sonos Beam is awesome. It's smart. It's compact.

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Plus, crystal clear dialogue for TV and movies. See, that's the secret there on the Beam. Like, hey, this sounds like music. Hey, this sounds like dialogue. I'm a dialogue guy. I love it. Beam is easy to set up. Connects to your TV with just one cord and syncs your existing remote.

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Nice to meet you. There you go. And the beam is sick, too. I replaced my old beam, put in the new one. Go to Sonos.com to learn more and order your beam today. That's S-O-N-O-S.com. And hey, a millennial said it knocks. So that's what I have on the call there.

The Pats in the Super Bowl. In my dome, as I mentioned just a second ago, I didn't want to pick it. I picked New Orleans. I was wrong. Totally get that. I'm okay with it. Picking against New England again

after what happened with the Chargers, I didn't want to do it. Even though I sneak, he was still kind of feeling the Chiefs. And I don't really know that it was wrong, although first half defensively of what the Pats did and their ball control offense is brilliance that I just don't know that anybody can obtain other than Belichick and the staff the Pats staff must have watched the Colts film on what they could and couldn't do against the Chiefs in their playoff game and vomited with laughter it had to have

been because they gashed him when they wanted to. They absolutely stuffed that offense in the first half. They got after Mahomes. They limited Hill somewhat. And then you kind of knew it felt a little bit like that Rams-Pats Super Bowl in their first win, where if that game had another quarter to it, the Rams are winning the Super Bowl because they had finally kind of figured some of the stuff out.

And the Pats playing the Chiefs already once in the regular season, I think it had a lot to do with the fact they were able to win this thing, even though it very well could have gone the other way if the Chiefs win the toss. So I don't feel like that's necessarily getting one wrong. I just didn't want to get one wrong again with New England. And they own me. And I'm leaning their way against the Rams in the Super Bowl. I'm not ready to make that pick.

But I just want to share with you how domed up I am about this franchise because I've picked him in almost everything except for a handful of games. And I think I've split that. But them looking this bad in the regular season in getting smashed by the Jags, the Lions and the Titans and Brady looking like he was slipping a little bit to come back and play like this in two playoff games and destroy a Chargers team and then go into Kansas City and do what they... I didn't think it was

possible for the Chiefs to actually be shut out at halftime. I'm serious. NBA, baseball, hell, throw hockey in there. Give me something that is more surprising that actually has happened than the Chiefs being shut out in a full half. I don't have it for you.

Maybe Cousins getting five million. Did go to see him live. Check out the ESPN Ryan Rosillo show pod for those reactions. So that's where I'm at. They are leaning a little bit. McVay. Shout out to Sean McVay. Shout out to the Millennials.

I know you're getting crushed over this Fyre Festival thing. You have my back, youngsters that want just to party and listen to music and do it underneath the sun. I've watched both docs. I like both. You should check them out. McVeigh did not go to Fyre Festival. You want to know why?

Because he's too smart. He saw it coming. I wouldn't have at that age. I'd be like, here's my tank top. Where's the rum? Remember when they brought in all these dudes this offseason? They brought in Tlaib and Peters and Sue. And now they're in the Super Bowl.

So does this mean, hey, let's go get those guys out there. I'm more of a Tlaib guy than I am Peters and Sue. The Sue storyline I think is kind of funny, at least being in L.A., because he really mailed it in all year long, and he's been pretty good now. And he had two sacks in that Saints game. But if you watch it, sacks can be so misleading. If you have a ton, that means you're good.

If you have zero, that's probably a problem. But it can come down to pressures. There's better ways of looking at this stuff than just sacks. And I don't think Sue had a great season, but now we've seen him because there are times that I thought during his career he was the most dominant, horrifying defensive player in the league. But if I'm a Rams fan, this is awesome, this part, the last couple games, but I don't understand some of the media, the Rams media going,

well, you know, you knew he was going to turn it up once the playoffs came around. Like, what does that mean? You're not 40. So McVay has handled this incredibly well because you go, all right, well, if they're loading up on all these difficult slash, dare I say, difficult personalities, is that going to work? Are they going to walk all over a young McVay? Is this where you need an older guy?

You need these different things. And it completely worked. I don't know what he's doing other than it just seems to work. But I always warn, and I'm not saying that McVay is Josh McDaniels, but when Josh McDaniels got off to that amazing start with Denver, everyone said, ah, well, he's young. Think about it. He can relate to the players. They relate to him.

They all are kind of of the same mindset. It makes sense. Teams should hire younger guys. Look how good Josh McDaniels is. And then it went south real quick. He got canned, and it was immediately a little too young, a little too young for the job. So I'm not saying that's going to happen to McVay, but the fact that he has been this, you know why McVay is good? It's because he's McVay.

It has, I don't think it's the age thing here. It's his approach, his mindset and his ability to dissect things here. And they looked, they looked terrible in that first quarter. And the fact that golf and all those guys settled down, that was incredible. Gronk, apparently the national media thinks he only blocks now and that he's never blocked before. So yes,

I should say the catches are down. We know that he does not stretch the field the way that he used to an incredible one-on-one catch where Romo was sitting there, and Romo was so good in that Chiefs broadcast that people actually think he may have been getting the live feed ahead of time, like some people have done with the NBA draft. I think Jeff Goodman, he just had a guy that was along the pipeline, giving him the pick, and then it was like,

is he breaking every one of these? And they go, no, he clearly has a guy, and he's getting it out there, so that's good for him. People actually thought maybe Romo had an advanced feed because he was so good at dissecting what the Patriots are going to do. I think it's just personnel and formations and him realizing the coverage because he's played that position a really long time. And I can't believe that more – I don't know if the NFL is the only sport

that allows it to be that way, but for the other guys that have been doing color commentary a long time, Romo should piss you off so much to make you better at your job because Romo was incredible. Anyway, that big catch that he called, the one-on-one, he said if the safety comes downhill, it's going to be one-on-one. He threw it. Eric Berry, Gronk wins that fight. But every national broadcast now, which is, again, all the football games,

they're all doing this thing where it's like, well, Gronk has just really taken on this blocking. He has been a monster as a blocking tight end from day one. He's always been nasty. So you want to tell me he's staying in the block more? I'd have to see the numbers. I'm not saying that's not necessarily true, but he didn't just all of a sudden the last couple months decide to be a good blocker. He has always manhandled dudes. Finally, Drew Brees, sneaky hasn't been great since that 11th

game of the season against Atlanta. And I know what the overall numbers are in the last two playoff games for him, but if you watched it, I think there's a lot of stuff there that I didn't like. I even saw some of the stuff lot of stuff there that I didn't like. I even saw some of the stuff in the Philly game I didn't like. So Warren Sharp pointed this stuff out,

but his rating on throws over 15 yards since that Atlanta game have dropped significantly. Now, quarterback rating isn't everything, but he went from a 144 before Thanksgiving to a 63 rating after Thanksgiving. His completion percentage on balls 15 yards or further down the field went from 63% to 41%. His touchdown interception ratio, 6-0 to 1-2 pick.

So that one's a little... The yards per attempt cut in half. 18 yards per attempt, 10 yards per attempt. So he's completing 20% less. He was completing it at less than half the distance and his rating less than half of what his rating was before it. And then he showed a clip where he went to tackle somebody after a pick in the Atlanta game.

I don't know if that has anything to do with it. The guy played the rest of the way. It would have been his left shoulder. And I just thought those numbers were worn really good. I don't necessarily love when we start looking for injuries that may not be there. I don't know. I don't know if that's going to happen or not. But Breeze, not saying he's done, but sneaky,

not great. The last stretch of a year where he was right there with the MVP and the MVP should be Patrick Mahomes. Okay, let's hear Brady's stories. One of my guys I've known a long time has been great to me. NBC Sports Boston, miss working with him. Tom E. Curran is about as plugged in with the Pats as anybody over this entire run.

You were there in the beginning, Tom. So give us a potpourri of Brady stories, all the best stuff that you've ever thought of covering this dude. You know what? Let's go chronological then. Perfect. Because I remember after Bledsoe got hurt, Brady had played in the preseason that year so brilliantly, actually,

to the point where it wasn't even close during training camp practices in 2001. It was obvious that he looked much more capable. And it looked that way when he was on the field as well in some of the preseason games. So when Bledsoe got hurt, I remember walking behind Ron Borges' chair in the locker room, excuse me, in the press box and saying to him, hey, don't be nice to

the quarterback just because he got a boo-boo. And Borges goes, you know what? You're going to find out now. You're going to find out. So my contention had been that Drew Bledsoe was holding them back. And his contention was that you have no idea how screwed

they'd be if they didn't have Bledsoe. So it kind of proceeded from there, and I would tell Brady that I was taking a pile of shit on his behalf every week. So that's when we started to develop a relationship. We got into this routine where every Friday I'd walk over to him and speaking of Brady, in Foxborough Stadium, I'd say, how you feeling how you feeling and every week ryan every week we are

gonna kick their ass we are gonna absolutely kick their ass and he just felt that way all the time so that was one thing just where i got into that initial idea of how competitive he was and how confident he was. Okay, so you at that point, it didn't feel fake to you, did it? No, no, full on, complete self-belief and the belief of all his teammates. See, some of these stories aren't just from the mouths of Brady, but they're from people who looked around. I remember sitting in the Super Bowl locker room after Super Bowl 36. And to Bucky Jones, it was different then. You could just hang around, even 20 years ago.

And talking about it, he goes, to Bucky Jones of all people, he goes, you know, Bledsoe wasn't the guy for us, but we felt really good when Tom was in. And William always said the same thing. The week Bledsoe got hurt, maybe for us, but we felt really good when Tom was in. And William always said the same thing, but weak, Bledsoe got hurt. Maybe we need somebody with a little more fire. Wow. So those are some of the early ones. Yeah, those are the early ones. Okay, give me the next chronological one that maybe is a different brainstorm.

All right, 2003, I used to do this thing called Irrelevant Questions, where I would just write down a list of questions that had nothing to do with anything. And Brady called, set it up with Brady and he called me on the phone and we must've been on the phone 45 minutes just talking about everything from the stupidest thing he ever purchased, which was a pair of sunglasses for 800 bucks. This was an Oh three, um, to race relations and, um, how he was able to identify as a kid who grew up fairly rich in Northern California and why he was able to capture and captivate and not look like kind of a fair-haired boy that so many quarterbacks have looked like in the past and don't. So by the end of it, it's like, did you write these questions?

I said, yeah, because I'd only known him for two years, and this was probably the longest conversation we had. Because he's really good. It's a great talk. I said, well, maybe we'll go out and get a beer sometime. So a couple years later, in 05, I went to a Celtics game, and then afterwards, he used to go to this bar

in the South End, where his sister was a bartender. So I said to my brother, I said, let's go in and see if he goes in there. He comes in, and there were a lot of Patriots coming in. I think Izzo was there. Dan Copeland was there. It was a Monday night late in the season. I remember the Dolphins were playing.

And I think this was 0-4 or 0-5. So my brother was really giddy. The kid had already won at least two, maybe three. I can't remember the exact time. At that point, if it's three, yeah, right, he's going to win his second one. Or if it's after that. He sits down and just starts shooting the shit

for the next 15, 20, 25 minutes with us. Just like you would, just like I would, just like anybody that you have somewhat of a shared experience with, but nothing high-end. And I remember by the end of it, I'd had a few beers. I'm like, you know what?

Can I swear? Yeah. Too late. You know what? We go to fucking Myrtle Beach every April. If you want to fucking go, we definitely should have you come. He's like, yeah, you know, that sounds fun. Never committing at all. And I wake. He's like, yeah, you know, that sounds fun. Never committing at all.

And I wake up in the morning, yeah, fucking Tom Brady's going to go to Myrtle Beach with you, you idiot. Hey, man, I get it, though. I mean, look, I get it. Like, this is going really well. Like, maybe I'm going to be great friends with Tom Brady. Come hang around with me and my 38-year-old friends who all have three kids and make about 40K. You're going to have a blast.

You'll fit right. Brady will probably like us, and then we're going to start hanging out a lot. God, that's good. That's really good, because I've been there. And then there's this thing that happens as you get older. You start realizing no matter what, no matter how much a dude likes you,

they don't really like you that much. All right. So give me, do you have any stories from like somebody not liking him or not buying in later on? I mean, let's forget the doubt from the national media, at least this past season, which I think was at times warranted. But do you have anything that's like different? That's, that's something. Go ahead. Do you have anything that's different that's something that... Yeah, I think that there are guys like Bethel Johnson or PK Sam or Chad Jackson that if you mess up a route one time too many, he just writes you off completely. You're never going to see the ball again. It doesn't fucking matter. He did it to Chad Johnson.

That's one of the greatest things about watching every one of these games going to see the ball again. It doesn't fucking matter. He did it to Chad Johnson. Once Chad Johnson was dead, that's one of the greatest things about watching every one of these games is you could see the way he threw or didn't throw to guys, or if he'd throw low to certain guys more often than not. He knew every guy, and then you're absolutely right. He would just totally give up on you. To the point where

you have to make a decision, and that to me is one of the interesting things as well, because that turns into, and it's an inter-office combat, really. He has no say and never asked for any say with personnel, even though he probably would have liked it. So his only way of showing that Bill Belichick's guys that he signed aren't working is to throw to him. So it's not like he can go, go get me this guy, go get me this guy. So, and that is, is, has been, and will be always a constant source of consternation between he and the coaches is, oh, fuck. Now Tom hates this guy and he's never going to get the ball.

Now we have to find somebody else. Now, this is great. Just give it to him. Just give it to him. Maybe he'll have a chance. Just give it to him. And I think that sometimes people who arrive here, we have a million stories about how Brady will walk up,

hi, I'm Tom, and shake hands. I think that there are guys who are veteran guys who come to the team and look at it and say they might theorize that that's not really all he is. He can be that nice to everybody because he's that great. But another story occurred to me as we were talking, too. It's about in 2002 or 2003, I was waiting to go on sports Final on WBZ with Bob Lobel and those guys. And I can't remember who had taken a limo, but somebody was in a limo, and the limo driver was standing there with me.

And by this time, Brady had taken over for Bledsoe, and Bledsoe was elsewhere. And the limo driver said about Brady, he goes, I didn't trust that guy. I couldn't stand that guy. I was like, why? He goes, you know, I drove for Drew for about five years. And Drew takes all these kids out one night. They all go out and they go to a bar. And Tom doesn't go in. He comes back out to the car and he sits down with me in the limo. And he says, tell me everything Drew does. Tell me how he does it, when he does it, why he does it, everything you know. And I wouldn't do it.

I wasn't going to do it because I was loyal to Drew. But I fully believed it because the guy had no cause or reason to make it up. And it was a non-flattering Brady story. So it was interesting to me. Wow. How's that one? Is that all right? That's incredible.

What do you mean, is that all right? That was... to make. Wow. How's that one? Is that alright? That's incredible. What do you mean, is that alright? Wow, that's almost weird, man. Yeah. Well, I'll give you one other too. It makes Brady more of a hero though, like in a way, where people are like, well, in the beginning, if that had come out early on, it's like, oh, that seems kind of

backstabby, but at the same time, now it becomes part of the legend. Like, that's how locked in this guy was. And it wasn't that he thought he was betraying Drew, you know? Go ahead. This is a cool one that the person is a friend and he's still in the league. He was, you know, in the front office type guy. You know, front office type guy.

And he was leaving, I would imagine at that point, I would imagine it was Gillette Stadium, but it might have been Foxborough Stadium. Driving out in the Patriots, always practiced in a bubble. Had to be Gillette Stadium because there was no bubble with Foxborough. Anyway, driving out and saw the lights were on in the bubble. So he goes, what the heck? What's going on? Goes over and Brady's in there just working on drops and throws like at eight o'clock

on a Friday night by himself, completely by himself. And while that does sound like one of these, okay, you're kidding me stories. Brady never wanted that to get out at all because it seemed weird. He's like, look, people will give me shit that I'm trying too hard, and then I'm like doing this or that, so don't talk about it. Again, that sounded to me a little far-fetched that, well, maybe he did want it to get out. If this actually happened, maybe he did want it to get out. If this actually happened, maybe he did want it to get out and figured this guy would be driving by at this time and be so impressed. But I never heard of it until last year.

So that I thought was interesting. He was very anal about, please don't tell anybody about this. It's ridiculous. But see, that's the thing. At this point, he can't even win. No, I know. I actually do want to work really hard. I mean, that was his whole thing. but see that's the thing is like at this point he can't even win so um i don't know i know you know like all right i actually do want to work really hard i mean that was this whole thing that was the thing in the beginning i think it's why belichick wanted to go to him but it's funny

to think even back back then and belichick like who belichick is now i can do whatever i want like the old standard being i can't get rid of bledsoe for this kid even though i think he's better and i want to go with him like i can't i can. I can't. I mean, he would never do that now. He would never make the decision that he didn't think was the better decision. But at that point, Belichick had no equity. He had no juice. You got one more for us? I've got a couple. There's 2011. This is kind of funny. I was lucky enough to be the pool reporter for the AFC.

So I did the Patriots media day on Saturday because they had the Hall of Fame vote and all those bigwigs were over there. So I'm in the stadium and watching Brady. It's just picture day. They're not doing anything. So Brady is out there with his family taking pictures and shit, but he didn't really interact with his family, I thought, was interesting.

He took some pictures and then left. So all the players leave the field. A couple people are still hanging around, but I'm still in the stands just writing notes on, you know, this VIP who was out there with the team. And then Brady comes back in his regular clothes, and I'm sitting in the Hoosier Dome, whatever the hell it was, RCA Dome, in the front row. And he comes out of the tunnel. I was like, hey. And he turns around. He goes, what are you doing here?

I go, I'm the pool reporter today. He goes, what are you doing here? And I go, I'm the pool reporter today. He said, how are you feeling? He goes, we are going to kick their fucking ass. We are going to kick their ass. So I'm there like, oh, yeah, I got this. Yeah, they got to bury these pricks. They lose. But it's just, that is how he is set. And he came back out because the rest of his family came out as well

to have time by themselves on the field, apart from everybody else. It's very interesting, too, to see how, as he's become more famous and more celebrated, how small and tight his circle has grown around him in terms of his family. You know, you look at some guys, you know, Aaron Rodgers, and I'm not going to pass judgment from afar, but sometimes the celebrity splinters his family. You look at some guys, Aaron Rodgers, and I'm not going to pass judgment from afar, but sometimes the celebrity splinters the family. I think in Brady's case,

it has brought them that much closer together in a lot of ways because he's not afraid to share all of the fruits of it with his family. He can't have everybody chewing on a piece of him, but he also, it's an interesting family unit in that there has been no splintering, at least from my vantage point that I've seen. No, I think it was the, it was the secondary people from what I've heard that, you know,

whatever group wasn't part of the family, like he trimmed that down dramatically because he got really, there was something that happened. He got really upset about, I know a little bit about it. Um, and there's kind of those secondary tertiary people. They were just like, yeah, we're all out now. We're out. Um, which is what he did. He just, so I think that's why the family thing is so strong. Yeah. I think that makes sense too. I mean, there's been times he's been pissed at me. He's had a number of times he's been titled to be pissed at me

for different things I've written or said or and he's told me he's pissed about it. But usually, you know, he's not a grudge-holding guy. So it's interesting. He's been an interesting guy

to cover. I couldn't be luckier Ryan it is like covering Babe Ruth in my estimation This is awesome I knew you were going to be great with this Tom I really appreciate it Where can people follow you on Twitter for more of the stuff leading up to the Super Bowl? At Tommy Curran

T-O-M-E-C-U-R-R-A-N and I'm over here at the NBC Sports Boston. We have quick slants. We have quick slants for podcasts. And, of course, we have our normal programming all the time. But thanks so much. I'm so happy for your success as well. Thanks a lot, dude.

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Drew, so let's start at the beginning and let's make sure I don't make any mistakes. I researched you quite a bit. Obviously, we've known each other a little while here, but I went back and started researching everything. So you were on campus at Michigan as a freshman in 98, right? And you didn't play really that much. And then your year was in 99, but you were drafted by the Yankees in 98, correct? Yes, I was drafted out of high school by the Yankees in the third round. And over the summer, we were able to negotiate a contract that allowed me

to essentially be an amateur in football and a professional in baseball. So I play the fall season and go to spring ball. And then when school was out, I had a report for the summer and then come back early August. So I can't imagine. I mean, I know everybody's probably said this, like, oh, when I was 18, I was, and look, you're just different when you're a top baseball prospect, when you're a top football prospect. How awesome was that? Like, were your friends even jealous of the idea that you just go and try to play professional baseball after being on campus as a freshman at Ann Arbor?

Yeah, I mean, I bought a lot of pizzas, put it that way. But no, it was great. I mean, compared to other summer jobs, you know, I got to go and play for the Yankees in their system. And, you know, there were some unique situations, like during spring break, in the middle of spring football practice, I'd go down and have 10 days of spring training and come back. It was a constant scheduling deal between the school, the team,

and then my academic studies. You're 18, 19 years old, and I had the best of every world. I've always felt like the Brady thing was maybe overstated. I don't know how you felt about it, but when I was in Boston, everybody loves to embellish the stories. I had the best of every world. I've always felt like the Brady thing was maybe overstated. I don't know how you felt about it, but when I was in Boston, everybody loves to embellish the stories, and it was, oh, Drew Henson was taking Brady's job. That really wasn't the case.

I mean, Brady played the majority of the snaps, but maybe there was a little bit of drama in that. How did you see that story from your perspective as this big recruit coming in? Well, I could understand it from the outside because I was local from just down the road in Brighton, I could understand it from the outside because I was local just, you know, from just down the road in Brighton. And Tom hadn't yet started. You know, everybody knew he was a good prospect. They were just coming off the national title with Brian Greasy as the quarterback. But really, I mean, because of Michigan's profile, I think that had something

to do with it. But, you know, quarterback competition happens at every school, especially schools with, especially schools with good prospects and lining up guy after guy. My freshman year, I ended up playing eight or nine games as the backup. Then the second year, coming out of training camp, coaches felt like both guys deserved a chance to play, and that's what we did for about seven weeks. Then you get into the stretch run, and with a chance to win the Big Ten, they went with Tom to try to go win this thing, and that's what they did. So within the team, Tom was a captain.

He was an established leader. I was a second-year player trying to make my own mark. But at the end of the day, it was all about winning games. And people from the outside come on with a bigger story as Tom's become what he is than necessarily what he had been during that time. What's your best Brady story? What's the one you tell your buddy still now that makes you laugh? Oh, geez. There'd be stickball, you know, tape ball in the locker room. And, you know, Tom would be swinging left-handed and then guys would try to get him out and hit the tape ball

around, smacking everybody up the head. But Tom was a huge baseball fan. I mean, he was drafted by the Expos. And so a lot of times in the downtime, you end up talking baseball and all of that kind of stuff. But the other thing that's a good story is that, you know, you sit in the quarterback's room, and you're killing time. And so you kind of go through all the other college programs, quarterbacks, and these high-profile guys and what we all think of them. And I just remember Tom would go through and say, well, he sucks. He sucks. I'm better than him. And sure enough, you know, he proved it all right.

You could kind of see his internal confidence even at that time. But he didn't take a step back from anybody. So he just would look at film of other guys and he thought they were all terrible. Yeah, and he would never say, Oh, this guy's pretty good. This guy is real good. Um, no, he would never give in that way. That's funny. Did he ever have any moments where like privately he and you would be talking, he'd be like, man, this is fun in college, but I'd love to be an expo. Probably not. Probably not. Um, you know, but he was a good catcher and he had a real nice swing and uh if that had been his choice i have no doubt he had been successful hey drew i really appreciate

this man and uh thanks so much for your time all right thank you ryan okay another guy that discovered brady from the beginning and this guy believed in me more than anybody in boston back in the early days the old new england cable news hits for 75 bones. And that was huge for the Rosillo Fund back in 2003 when it all started. Now he's with NFL Network, and I'm so pumped for him. He's a great guy, Mike Giardi. Okay, you were there in the beginning too, right? When's the first year you started covering the Pats? 2000.

Oh, my God. I came in with Belichick and Brady. Good timing. Okay, so give me your go-to Brady story. Well, this one is sort of just about it. To me, it speaks to his attitude. It was his first year as a starter, 2001, and it was sort of maybe midway through.

Bledsoe was starting to get healthy again, so you're hearing rumblings about him coming back. They had done a lot of throwing it sideways, if you will, at that point with Brady, a quarterback. And I think one of the local columnists had said, like, yeah, made like a snarky remark. Like, nobody throws it better sideways than Brady. And I hadn't quite, I wasn't with everybody who was like, this guy's going to be the guy for some time. I was still kind of skeptical.

And so I walked up to him and I said, I brought that up. I said, hey, you know, seems like you guys don't really push the ball down the field at all. I mean, can you really win at the level that you want to win, throwing the ball sideways? And he just looked at me like I had 10 heads. And he's like, it's going pretty well so far. And I think it'll get better as we go forward. Just wait and see. And I was kind of like, that's kind of a cocky answer for someone who really, you know, again, far and I think it'll get better as we go forward. Just wait and see.

And I was kind of like, that's kind of a cocky answer for someone who really, you know, again, hadn't really done much to this point. And really there was a lot of like, you know, check downs and quick screens and I, you know, Troy Brown usage over the middle, like nothing, nothing crazy. And he just, the look that he gave me is something that's frozen in my brain forever. And then I remember it later on when they won the Snow Bowl against Oakland

in that first playoff run, and he's throwing the ball in the snow and it's difficult as hell. And I was like, man, it took me a little while to get on the train, but he knew exactly what he was talking about and how much better it was going to get. I'm with you because in the beginning, I was like, what is this? You know, and I mean, he was actually like the epitome of a game manager. The way we talk about him now, what they did and didn't let him do.

I don't, I think there's a whole nother generation of NFL fans that don't understand at the beginning of this thing, it wasn't that impressive. But there are things going on around it that I don't think you could know unless you're around it all the time. Like, you see the most liked or beloved teammate that you've seen of any of the sports that you've covered in Boston

in the last 20-something years? I mean, that's the thing. And it was actually funny that you mentioned that because I was just in the locker room talking to guys and, you know, from undrafted, you know, second-year guys on the defensive line to, you know, the gronks and Edelmans of the world who now are established, and they all just rave about his leadership ability, his ability to translate across all fronts and races and to each corner of the locker room.

One of the kids today said to me, he's like, man, I come in here and I see his face and I get energy from him. And I know how hard he's worked to get here and how hard he's working to stay at this level. And that means I can't let him down. I got to work as hard as I possibly can. And then when I think I don't have

any more, push it even further because I know that's how he's doing it. Okay, give me your most entertaining Brady story oh man um and you know early on to uh you know when Matt Castle was here as his backup when I was around like 2005 2006 somewhere on there they loved the practical jokes uh and the offensive line Matt Light is an incredible practical joker. Dan Copeland, who's kind of sneaky, funny, like they would run games on him. And I think at one point they took, they'd been going back and forth and they took Castle's car and they put, I think they filled it up with popcorn and took all four wheels off the car. So when he came out after practice to

go home, his car was completely destroyed. I believe, if memory serves me right, that they were basically told to cease and desist by Belichick. Like, all right, this is gone. We've taken this to a level too far, so don't do this. But Brady was very much responsible for making sure that Castle tended to side with the linemen. They got Castle back, and that was heavy on Brady. How has Brady changed in the way you think he's handled? I always feel like, I guess the best way to set this up is that you're either a Belichick guy or you're not.

So there are people that look at the Belichick approach and go, uh-uh, no way, not for me. And I don't think Belichick wants free thickers. And Bill's argument would be like, I think I'm doing all right with my way. My way's working out. And to me, Brady was like the epitome of that, malleable, somebody that Bill could go, you need to think this way about everything. And they were like on the same exact page for the longest time that in a way it was like, man, it feels like Tom's almost brainwashed by Bill.

But then you turn into the greatest quarterback of all time. You had to do another Super Bowl. You turn 41. You start having do another Superbowl. You turn 41, you start having different thoughts on life in general. How have you seen that dynamic change from just I'll do whatever you want, Bill, to I'm pretty awesome at this as well. Yeah. And I think we sort of, we reported on that and talked about that a lot over the last year or so.

You're in change from the Seth Wickersham story to something some of my colleagues and I talked about quite a bit at NBC Sports Boston at the time about their relationship and the friction that they were dealing with, especially last year and into this offseason. But at the end of all of that, and I think maybe Belichick has bent a little bit. I think you saw some of the ways they relaxed training camp this year. To me, that was almost a nod to some of the things that,

that Tom and Gronk had talked about directly or indirectly during the course of last season and the off season. But that once it came down to, all right, now we really have to narrow our focus. Now it's the games matter. That Brady goes right back to where he's always been with Bill. And that is, I trust you when it comes to winning football games,

that you'll put this team in the best possible position. You know, last year's Super Bowl, notwithstanding with the Malcolm Butler stuff, that you'll put us in the best possible position. And I need you like you need me. So let's go do what we have done so well for the last two decades. And that's obviously winning at a ridiculously high level. That's a really good point, that last point there. Once the game started, all the stuff that's been written.

Because I know Pats fans never want to believe that there's any turmoil, but you know it as well as anybody. And I thought some of the stuff was right, but it doesn't mean it's ever going to get away than these guys trying to accomplish the goal, which I think is really special about this whole relationship, and we're seeing it again this week.

Hey, maybe I'll see you down in Atlanta, dude. Thank you so much. All right, man. Appreciate it. Millions of men across the globe suffer from textile dysfunction. Get it? You're getting worried there for a second. Leading to poor performance in their dress shirts.

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Okay, before we let you go today on Dual Threat, I gotta talk about The Bachelor. Why? Like, wait a minute. Juliette has a Bachelor podcast. She does. We don't need to hear from you, Rosillo. I think you do. I don't watch the show, so I might not be your

go-to guy for this. And I'm not one of those people that does the... I don't like when people do this about art, where they go, I don't... Oh, The Bachelor? What are you, a loser? Oh, The Bachelorette? Seriously, what a waste of time. Mindless. Sometimes we need mindless. Sometimes I like to watch Below Deck a lot, but I don't watch The Bachelor. I don't know

why. I'm sure if I watched three episodes and I'd be in. That's basically how Below Deck got me. Stuck in a hotel, the right one, and I didn't really know what to do, and it was on, and I go, well, I got to see what's going on with Hannah here. So, look, I'm not judging anybody for liking any reality show that is deemed mindless, sucks, or what. Like, what's the reality show? They're like, oh, no, actually, this is, you know, you're not all watching Nat Geo, kid. But there is something that's going on with the Bachelor Bachelorette franchise that has been overlooked. And I think it's more than just a controversy.

I just think there's a lot of liars that go on those shows. So I did some research and I emphasize some because I know what I'm about to present to you is wrong. But so is what's been presented to you on these two shows. The number of former athletes, pro athletes, using air quotes here, that is misleading. I don't understand.

Like, what do you get to do when you show up and try out for either of the shows? Like, hey, Ryan, what do you do? I'm an MMA guy. You are? Yep. Have you fought anyone? Well, for money, like that people went to? No.

All right, so we can put down a UFC guy? Yeah, I'd like to be in the UFC. All right, great. So, oh, this season, we have UFC fighter. Right? And that's all you need. That's all you need. They vet you out.

They put you in the hotel. They don't let you use your cell phone. Like when you make the very end, the very final part of this, although that may have been Survivor because I bartended with Boston Rob for a stretch. He told us that he watched a ton of porn and then lied about it when the people from CBS were like, so what were you doing in your time up in the room? Like you're sequestered. You're away from everybody.

It's almost like being on jury duty for a major case, a major trial. And he was like, oh, nothing. They're like, do you watch any adult films? He's like, no. They're like,

well, we have your hotel bill right here. There's like 12 movies. I'm sure statute of limitations have passed because it's been over a decade since he told me that story. It's been a long time. So that happened. But there's all these guys.

The point is, there's so many people that haven't played pro sports that then say they're playing pro sports. So who went through them all? Your boy, Rosillo. Although, there was one website, and I know this number is going to be wrong.

It says there's 37 former athletes that have been on the Bachelor or Bachelorette. Two-thirds of those 37 were dancers, okay? Yeah, cheerleaders, dancers, you know, jock, pro jock. You know what I'm saying? So I don't really know how real that is, so that doesn't mean that this list is right either. Let's go through them. Nick Sutter, I don't know who he is either. He said he was a pro golfer.

I don't think he's ever been on the PGA tour. Not knocking him, but he's not a pro golfer, unless you're sort of that semi-pro thing. You know any basketball guys I played with that told me they were semi-pro? I'm like, I kind of semi-believe you. Jamie Blythe, he played in a few basketball games in Stockholm. You ever heard of him? Me neither. Pro basketball player, though, on the show. Hey, Rosillo, what do you do? Well, I'm an astronaut. Are you? Yeah, I look up in the sky all the time. Just haven't gotten on a ship yet.

Let's see. Graham Bunn, a bunch of mutual friends, heard nothing but nice things. When he was on, he was considered a pro basketball player. Now I think he's like a Nashville talk show host. Not criticizing whatsoever because we do have mutual friends. Like I said, I've heard a lot of great things about Graham. But at the time, he was presented as a pro basketball player. I don't remember him playing for the Clippers either. Do you? Michael Black, what's his deal? Well, he was in Albany for a bit and then Bulgaria. Okay. Michael Black, pro basketball player, straight out of Albany.

Damon Bowers. This guy actually, I think, had a decent AFL career. Damon Bowers was presented as a pro football player. Again, I guess it's not entirely a lie, but he was a wide receiver with the AFL, 39 touchdowns. Jeff Popovich, not Greg. He was with the Barcelona Dragons in 2001, but he was presented as a pro football player. You sense a theme here? You sense a theme to any of this? Ryan Hogue.

He actually was billed as an NFL wide receiver, even though he never played a snap. One of my favorites ever was the millionaire matchmaker, right? Patty. Patty Sanger. How did I pull that? I can't even believe I just remembered that. She's a memorable character in reality television.

Remember Paul Davis, the tall white guy who was okay at Michigan State and then was one of those dudes who kind of the longer he stuck around, the worse his draft stock got. Kind of like an Eric Chenoweth, although Chenoweth's my boy, so I don't really want to. I'm just making a comp. Like if you'd left earlier, you would have gone higher. You stick around.

Same thing for Paul Davis. He was on that millionaire matchmaker, and she went to the girls. It was like Paul Davis and Clippers star just signed a huge multi-multi-million dollar contract with the Clippers. Might've had one good year of making money. Again, this isn't a knock on any of those guys. It's just reality TV is constantly overselling the athlete. I wonder the men, not the thousands of women that listen to this podcast, but the men out there, Hey, what do you guys do when you're sitting with your lady and she's watching this show and she's like, oh, hey,

was Michael Black good in the NBA? And you go, was Jamie Blythe good? How about Nick Sutter? Is he one of your favorite golfers? No, not really. What about Ryan Sutter? Actually drafted fifth round by the Ravens. Then at his first, he played in a real game,

and he blew out his shoulder with the Panthers. So thoughts and prayers to Ryan Sutter. Actually had a real injury, but got into a real NFL game, so that one's a little bit more real. This is Harold Hirsch. He was a pro hockey player. That's what he was billed as. Semi-pro.

Played for a semi-pro Canadian team and then also played in a Jewish hockey tournament in Israel. Jordan Rodgers, we know him. We know him. I know him. Practice squads in the NFL, but you know what? Sick hair. I do like Jordan.

I don't want to take sides in the Aaron Jordan thing, even though I will take a side privately. But Jordan has been nothing but cool to me, so I'm't want to take sides in the Aaron Jordan thing, even though I will take a side privately. But Jordan has been nothing but cool to me, so I'm not going to knock him there. But let's face it, I mean, pro football player, sort of. Ryan Bowers, he played sort of professional football. He signed with the Falcons, but he never played. So he has a ton of gear, is my guess.

Justin Sherrod in the way back machine. This dude was on the 2002 Trenton Thunder when I called the games for like half the season and half the games. He was in the Red Sox system. He was a really good looking guy. I'm sure he's held up well, I think. and I'm not sure, but he was six years in the minors. I think I remember him smashing fastballs, right-handed hitter, couldn't hit a curveball, happens a lot. A lot of guys have holes in their swings down there. And then he went on, I think he went on the bachelorette. I don't think he was the main guy, pro baseball player, never played. I mean, again, if we're being real here, like if I played single A ball and was 35,

I don't think I'd introduce myself as a former pro baseball player. I just don't think it would. Now, if I were 23 and firing on girls at dive bars in double A cities, I'm the pro-est damn thing you've ever seen. Okay?

All right. Josh Murray. He was pitched as a pro Josh Murray. He was pitched as a pro baseball player. He was the 48th pick in 2002. He's going to go pro. No, he didn't.

Six years in the minors. And now we have Colton Underwood, the current star. The focus of the most recent season of The Bachelor. Big dude.

Lot of size. Not low-key thick. High-key thick. He played at Illinois State and he was awesome there. But it was in the FCS. Four practice squads. And they say he's retired from pro football. If I, out here in LA, tell everyone I'm an actor

and never get a gig for like five years, can I then tell people I'm an actor and never get a gig for like five years. Can I then tell people I'm a retired actor? Are those the rules? So I get it. Nobody really cares. And I probably care too much, but not enough to double check any of this stuff. Cause I felt pretty stupid that I've ever prepped this much for this segment.

Like really stupid. I just think we could all do a better job of just tightening the old screws on these backstories when it comes to the pro athletes on the TV show. Because the next guy that tells me he's a surgeon, I'm going to want to see some footage. Come back next week. We'll be in Atlanta. I'd love to do the pod from Atlanta. If you want.

Did we just make an executive decision to do it that way? Yeah, we'll set it up. Or I could just get a... Because I think it's going to be better than Monday next week. Monday next week's going to suck. I don't know. No, I mean, I'm just making this up as I go along. Yeah, me too.

Part of me wants to get out of the way. The other part of me is like, no, why don't I have better content for the people? You guys are the best. The podcast's doing great. We go top five in episodes every week now. My clock works, son. No, it's awesome. And we're behind Simmons and then these other goofballs.

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