The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Nuggets Exec Tim Connelly on the Nuggets’ Comeback and Jokic Stories You’ve Never Heard. Plus, Ryan Shazier on NFL Week 1 and Life After Injury.

Episode Date: September 17, 2020

Russillo briefly shares his thoughts on the Clippers’ Game 7 collapse vs. the Nuggets (3:28). Then he talks with Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly about his role in the bubble when the Nuggets are down 3-1 in a playoff series, Denver’s coaching adjustments throughout the playoffs, scouting Nikola Jokic back in 2014, Jokic family stories, Jamal Murray’s development, the Nuggets’ staff pickup games, and more (8:13). Then Ryen is joined by recently retired NFL linebacker Ryan Shazier to talk about his college career at Ohio State, playing linebacker for a historic franchise like the Steelers, Week 1 NFL reactions, what he learned about some of the NFL’s top offensive players by watching tape, his picks for this season’s top defenses, his recovery from injury and moving on to the next phase of his life, and more (41:50). Finally Russillo answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (1:13:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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against a really good San Francisco team. That Arizona win I feel like has gone completely under the radar based on the Brady-Saints matchup. Lamar goes crazy again, and we're like, oh, okay, that's cool. He's still awesome. There was a lot of storylines that I felt like kind of got lost in, I don't know, what ended up being the biggest storyline? Washington beating the Eagles?

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Bacardi, do what moves you. Drink responsibly. Bacardi USA. Coral Gables, Florida. Rum with natural flavors and spices. 35% alcohol by volume. Today's plan is awesome. Tim Conley, the president of basketball operations for your

Denver Nuggets, is going to talk about really what it's like to be down 3-1 back-to-back series, what role the GM president play in that, drafting Jokic when nobody really thought that it was a great idea, Jokic's story in general, his family. We'll talk a little Jamal Murray, also the role of the decision maker, because he gives us some really great insight on what you have to do to kind of make sure relationships can help you win on the court as well, which a lot of times I can hear that kind of stuff. Hey, we want this to be family. We want this to be relationship driven and all this stuff. You're like, yeah, whatever. Do you have like one of the top 10 players? Because none of that stuff

really matters unless you do. But you know what? Denver probably has a top 10 player right now in Jokic. All right. So we're going to do that. And Ryan Shazier, newest member of our Ringer NFL show. He does that one on Tuesdays with Cole Wright. And I want to ask him about what he saw from week one. I definitely want to ask him about some tells from players and really where he's at now, almost three years removed from this terrible, terrible spinal injury that ended his football career. So we'll do that with some life advice at the very end. I do want to start. It's not an open. This is not a huge rant.

I think I'm going to work on this over the weekend, though, because in the post Kawhi thing, and this is what happens like the immediacy. We are the worst in the moment. Now we're the worst. We are incapable of anything but what happened in that moment. And a lot of it is just angst of the barbs that have been thrown at your favorite player and your favorite team for not doing well so for all the lebron fans out there like oh you're going to do this again actually honestly at this point like there's three groups of critical people of lebron one guy in tv who sucks um jordan fans and then i guess just straight up LeBron haters but I think for the

most part everyone you know in a weird way like LeBron and seeing what happened here with Kawhi in this Nuggets series it kind of leads back to like man we probably take LeBron for granted a little bit too much here but that's kind of the point it's like a Lamar Jackson thing but on a much bigger scale Lamar Jackson's a week one. LeBron's kind of a career thing. We're like, oh, Lamar Jackson lit it up. Okay, well, I expect him to. He's MVP. He's really good.

And we're going to see what happens in his third year. LeBron, oh, he was steady the entire time and basically dictated every game except for maybe two in these playoffs. Okay. Yeah, that's what's supposed to happen. And whereas I was looking like I was making a mistake because post Giannis. And by the way, the best thing that could have ever happened to the Milwaukee Bucks were the LA Clippers. I mean,

you want to talk about the Clippers being frauds. What are the Bucks? They basically were going to be swept. I think if they had had Giannis through the fourth game, they may have been swept instead of being thrown off and then losing in five. So like, what are they at least the Clippers? And that's why I'm always kind of like,

all right, I know that fourth quarter was terrible. I mean, it was, it was as bad. It wasn't just bad basketball. It was just seeing a team completely checked out, looking scared, not showing any of that toughness, that stuff that we love, the stuff that we love about sports. Like who's going to be a foxhole guy for you. You're like, wait, nobody is that's weird. Um, but how do you go up three one? If you're a fraud, how do you go up 19 in game six, if you're a fraud? So maybe they are frauds. We can call them that if you want to, I'm not sure

that I'm quite there with it, but if they're frauds, what the hell is Milwaukee? But Milwaukee is an afterthought because they're not in LA and they're just not going to deal with the same amount of hate that I think a lot of it too, as far as social media is concerned is coming from Lakers fans that are like, wait, we thought y'all were the favorites. By the way, y'all has gotten co-opted quite a bit. It's probably one of the few things people want to apologize to the South for, but I do think it has. And I apologize for just saying it. And I'm not dragging the South here. I'm just saying, you know, whatever. But Kawhi was bad. I mean, if the exercise is, hey, say Kawhi was bad. Okay, there you go. He's really bad. Now, if the exercise is you are down on Harden, you are down on Russell Westbrook,

you are down on this guy. What about Giannis and all these different things? It becomes this stream, this marathon of NBA stars to go past this that we're like, oh, actually, he sucks. Oh, this guy's pretty good. He's pretty good. He's pretty good. No, he sucks. Oh, this guy, like him, look at his numbers. Look what he figures. Oh, no, he sucks. Russell Westbrook, third team, all NBA. Now he sucks. Some of these guys, look, first of all, none of them suck. But some of them are just really bad in big moments.

And I will defer to still believing in the guy that carried his team to a championship. And look, I would love to say, yeah, whatever. Durant got hurt, which was cheered by Toronto fans, and Klay got hurt in game six. But for those that think of Klay healthy, they win game six, then Golden State automatically wins game seven. I think that's way too dismissive of Kawhi

and that Toronto team last year. So if the tiers are this way, I think this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to do tiers. But if the first tier is NBA superstar who's never had a bad playoff game or playoff exit, then that tier is going to be zero people. That'll be the first tier. It'll be zero people. And it's a very predictable, cyclical reaction for every one of these guys that comes up short because almost all of them end up coming up short during a playoff season. Before we get to Tim Conley, this football season will be different.

Pepsi is here to get you ready for game day. No matter how you watch this season, Pepsi is the refreshment you need to power through game day. Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game. It's made for those who watch the game. I'm watching football at the new pad with a nice little viewing room um where i don't know even the tv guy was like hey i think you have too many tvs i was like don't ever say that to me

because this is the job married to the game tv guy i like my tv guy though shout out to matt and wayne pepsi made for football watching go to made for football watching.com to check out the latest football watching content from pepsi okay i'm excited to talk to this guy uh this is the team everyone is talking about right now and he is the president of basketball operations for the denver nuggets it's tim connelly i'm gonna ask maybe some dumb questions from the outside. You set me straight on this. When you're down 3-1, like you were both times, let's start with Utah. What's it like in your role? Because I can't imagine like you're in coaches meetings and you're sitting there being like, hey, let's trap and dissecting it. But what is it like day to day

when you're down 3-1 and you're thinking, I can't believe it's going to end this way? Yeah, just try to be as supportive as possible. I'm obnoxiously positive at times. I'm just trying to pump guys up, telling guys, hey, we're fine. There's not much you can do, right? The die's kind of been cast once your team's put together. So any way you can be supportive, if you can put fires out, if you can make sure guys are kind of focused, especially in this environment. It would have been so easy to let go of the rope. supportive that you can put fires out if you can um make sure guys are kind of focused especially

in this environment with it had been so easy to let go of the rope i mean we've been here for so long and none of us signed up for this and it's there's a lot a lot of stuff we're missing back home so i think i do very little once the season starts but that's the only role i think that could be you know barely smart small lead beneficial just hey let's lock, let's stay locked in. We've been down here for at that point, 45, 50 days. We don't want to leave. We think we have a chance. Let's take it one game at a time,

but I don't do much to be honest with you. Yeah. I think it's, it's one of those things that we always try to figure out because I don't think any coaching staff would be like sweet. The GM, the president's here to give us plays that he wants us to run now that we're down 3-1. Then it happens again

against a team no one expected to beat. I think more people expected to beat Utah. Give me some insight into what the conversations were like, at least with you and Coach Malone, because I imagine it comes up at some point, but just you're right. There's no point in being anything but positive. There's no point in walking around and being like,

man, we're not as good as we think or this is predictable we're not very good but to help me understand those of us outside of again understand like what you guys talk about when you're at least trying to figure out how you can get out of it well i'm lucky because i've known no forever um should he should recruit my brother's players back in the day we worked together in new orleans on this staff i've known most of staff for a really long time i was you know in in west sunsell's wedding um and he was in mine i think was he in mine i don't know that's a good wedding one one of us were in each other's wedding and i don't know how it works but we were actually i say high school rivals he was a much much better player the same baltimore catholic back in the day so I'm lucky that I'm able to have conversations.

And I'm lucky that I have a coach that's cool enough that we can talk. And I'm also way too respectful of their profession to ever infer that I know anything or act as if I can offer any real strategy game plan. But shoot, when you're struggling, you take a walk, you go get a beer, you talk about where we are. Timo and I had a bunch of conversations, and we're getting our doors blown off against Utah. It was weird because I had to leave here to get our whatever medical guys in and go down to the other hotel, the Tier 4 hotel, like the quasi bubble. And then I had to come back here after game.

So games one, two and three, are watching the penalty box where the owners are and then games four and five i was quarantining for another seven days back on this campus which was brutal absolutely brutal so um you gotta have a bit of a sense of humor about it too and you know the way we're getting smacked by these teams but i think anything our whole goal we came down here was certainly to win games, but also stay sane. We told each other, we challenged everyone on our staff and our players, let's make this as fun as possible. It's not fun when you're losing by 30 points. It's not fun when you have 10, 15-point quarters. But I think the more dialogue, the better.

And the more that we can kind of support each other and say, all we can do is fight. And it sounds cheesy and cliche, but we're down 3-1 let's roll with it and see if we can't turn the momentum a bit and uh thankfully and somehow we've done that in two straight series and it's it's been awesome what did you see that changed in the basketball in that clipper series i thought our coaches were fantastic i thought some of the adjustments they made um were really impressive. Can you help me understand, like, what adjustments specifically? Well, you know, we're going against a great team and a Hall of Fame coach.

Jamal was coming off a first-round series that was very likely unsustainable. You know, if he had two more 50-point games, great. But he was also going against, you know, Kawhi Leonard and Pat Beverly and Paul George, as good as you're going to find on the perimeter defensively. So we knew that we couldn't just expect him to bail us out of games. And the aggressive defense on him and Nikola, it was things we've seen, but we haven't seen over six, seven game series. So how do we, it's really fun being in all these video sessions, all the practices, watching our coaches go to work. And it's really, it really is like a chess match. You know, they did this last game we scored.

So this next game, we will expect it to be a little bit different. What's our counter? You know, over the course of 82 games, you're always making adjustments, but it's just so rapid fire and practice time is so limited. Here, I mean, we're just sitting in this hotel, so we're always meeting, always with the team, always in the gym. So it's really cool to see and to watch our guys try to maximize their talent. And it was really neat to see Nicole and Jamal adjust to a level of attention

and a level of aggression they've probably never seen. Yeah, that's just, I think, the overriding story for your team and those two guys in particular, is that now they've been unleashed this level where it's not, hey, are we capable of this, but now we expect to do this. And I think that's probably the greatest thing as somebody that puts together this kind of roster. I know in the past at times, like when the two-man game is right with those two guys, especially in some of those Utah games, where if Jamal's on fire and then they don't know what to do with Jokic

and then they put a perimeter defender on Jokic, I've seen that adjustment in both of these series where it's like, hey, if we're running the switch, but I'll admit like sometimes with the two-man and then the surrounding roster, people aren't hitting shots, I'll be at home and I'll be like, man, is this a little too, like, is it a little too repetitive? Is this the only thing they're going

to do? But then again, when it looks right, you're like, what the hell is Utah supposed to do? Like, what are they supposed to do? Cause I went out on Utah and they go, what adjustments would you made? I'm like, first of all, I don't understand NBA coaching as well as the guys that actually do it. But sometimes there's just no adjustment, but I really always feel like when you guys are right, it's a third guy that keeps people honest and Grant had those moments Millsap had that big shot I think Gary finally hitting his first shot in game seven for you I think it really freaks out the opponent as much as it's doubling Jokic or staying two with Jamal and all the different stuff you can do when a third guy's consistent for you that's when I think you guys are really scary yeah I agree

you know and it's been weird. We came down here with eight guys. We got hit pretty hard by injuries and COVID. And we are one, two, and three were all out. So we got down here. We had one guard for several weeks. Still missing Will Barton, who's hugely impactful. So it's been an adjustment in this truncated season.

And then I think, look, with Nikola, you're to get good shots you know especially if he's making his three i don't know if there is there's much you can do he's so adept in the post he's so big and strong he's got the point guard handle he's so weirdly slow and effective you know he plays at his own pace and then if he makes threes then what do you do you can't close out on him as He's going to take three slow dribbles and whip it past the opposite corner or he's going to make you foul him. So I think we're confident. And again, Mo and his staff, David Adelman's a rock star. He really is Mo's right hand offensively.

We're going to get good shots. Can we make them? I mean, I think game two and three the clipper series we made a couple um gary made some big ones game three we missed a couple big ones and it is also we're trying to stay focused as much as possible i know it's an overused term but we kind of want to be you know process driven not results driven because it's like you know if that mike conley shot falls what are we doing the last three weeks we're looking at our roster we're saying we're not good enough we got to do this and that it could be you know you're losing the first round after if that Mike Conley shot falls, what are we doing the last three weeks? We're looking at our roster. We're saying we're not good enough.

We got to do this and that it could be, you know, you lose in the first round after having some expectations. So I think as long as we're getting good shots and guys are shooting with confidence, Joker the other day, I think one of our coaches said, you got to be more aggressive in the first half. And he was like, no, trust me, I got to keep finding guys. They're going to need to make shots. You know, I'll be fine. And they need to,

they need to know that I have confidence in them to keep finding them. And he said that, no kidding. Sure enough in the second half, you know, I played, I was awful when I played, but I remember vividly when I was playing, like a bunch of guys failed off one time and I had like 27 and 21 then they came back and it's back to having like six and four because I was looking over my shoulder I was playing with confidence so when your best player can instill confidence I don't care if it's you know high school college or pros you see those guys who don't feel real confident with their teammates

passing the ball and they miss a shot and there's a visceral reaction like come on man got to make that so with Joker's mindset, he's so smart. Like, we're going to need these guys. And I thought when we made that run in the second half, it was the confidence level and the freedom guys are playing with was exactly who we need to be. I don't think we're a team that plays good uptight. I think we're young.

Joker's just a big, fun guy who loves to hoop, man. He doesn't want to make – he should not take a job to him. So I think when those other guys are making shots, which they have and which they will, I think we're a really, really hard team to stop. Yeah, and I'm glad you reminded me of Will Barton too just because I feel like he's like consistently one of the most underrated wing guys. And he's great for the second unit and then closing. And, you know, like different things that he can do. And's just you know you're right you guys came in there and not a

great situation and how tenuous it can be because we'd all be like what's wrong with this team what's wrong with this team and now it's like everybody's favorite team yeah no it's it's crazy right it's right one shot yeah mike conley shot was down and they we have so much respect for those guys one of the the rare cool things about the bubble is getting to know guys. And I knew Dennis and Quinn and Justin and David pretty well, but I didn't know all their players. I knew a couple of the coaches, like Johnny and Eric Waters, the trainer, but you hang out with those guys. And after game seven, I was hanging out with a couple of those guys

until like five in the morning, jazz guys. So it's – and we talked about it, how funky this is. That shot was down down 100% down the shot goes down the emotions are different uh the summer is certainly different how you approach uh this offseason is different um but it's it's it's just a funky thing you know I don't think you can be you know it's kind of like the shot selection as long as we're getting good shots we feel good about it and as long as guys are shooting with confidence and conviction, we think they'll make more than they're going to miss.

And again, I think we're a tough out when those guys are making shots. Okay, more with Tim Conley, including these legendary pickup games and some Jamal Murray stuff as well. But for a ZipRecruiter, what if a quarterback completed four out of five of his passes or a point guard hit four out of five of his shots behind the arc? Well, now, when you're hiring, you can play at that level because four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter

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slash ryan show zip recruiter the smartest way to hire okay let's talk a little bit about the legend of uh yokich here so you get the gig what about a year or so before you drafted him got the big uh like i can make like a week or so before you drafted him got the league uh like i think like a week or so before the 2013 draft so yeah right so you drafted in 14 right okay so i know about his background over the years big family grandmother lived there older brothers beating up on him two-bedroom house learned how to play hoops on like a little plastic hoop inside the house he goes to one of the euroleagues at a pretty young age because he's got all this size.

But you're looking at him, or at least early on, before you're making your draft decision. Bad numbers, bad body. Let's promise his agent we'll take him at 41. How the hell does that happen? You know what's cool about it is it was dumb luck. I know myself and a lot of guys on our staff, I'm kind of drawn. I'm a huge opponent of optic bias, visual bias, you know, people judging how you look.

I think it's probably because I'm not the most attractive guy. It's what it's like. He's really good at basketball. You know, he was at the hoop summit. He was doing all the stuff he was doing now against clint capella and instead of saying man that kid from meg is good the whole gym was like can you believe capella is getting cooked by this big fat kid you know they didn't it's he can really pass um he comes from a basketball family a lot of the european players the first question has to be or international players do you want to play here you know the worst case scenario is you pick a guy who didn't have an interest in playing the states because you have to jump through so many logistical hurdles to get them on your team if they don't want to play here. You know, the worst case scenario is you pick a guy who didn't have an interest in playing in the States because you have to jump through so many logistical hurdles to get them on your team.

If they don't want to play here, it's near impossible, and it usually doesn't end well. You know, his brother played at Detroit, then at CW Post. He had a girlfriend that was in the States, so the background checked out. We were fortunate to have good relationships in that part of the world, and he seemed like our type of guy, kind of a goofy guy, fun, cool. It was a really cool story. And then the final fun thing was, you know, too often when you're looking at these guys, you say,

you know, you're trying to project, you know, you're not trying to report. So you say, I think this guy can be like some star in the NBA right now or some role player. And, and, you know, too often you're not, you know, this guy can, can shoot better. He can defend better like that, but we got to compare them at the same age. So when you put the video in of all those European guys who have made it, whether it was Gortat or whether it was Gasol, whether it was Pekovic. And I think that really helps kind of galvanize their thoughts, looking at him in that light. Like He's got to get his body better.

We think he'll be a better shooter. We think the shooting numbers are not reflective of his touch. We've never seen a guy pass like this. And again, he's just kind of our type of guy. But none of us thought he was going to be a Hall of Famer, which is certainly well on his way. Now, it almost didn't happen though, right? Like something happened where he was going to sign with Barcelona

and then was he terrible in the game where they came to watch him? What happened? We deserve about 1% credit for drafting him. It was luck, you know, and again, we're lucky. I dealt with him, his agent of Blanche Mishko, you know, is fantastic. He controls half of europe so and we had had it was helpful we had joffrey laverne same agent we had similar so we had in our brief time there we had already brought over a couple guys from europe and gave him roster spots and eric

green and joffrey laverne so that was good because and they have to trust you when you have a plan too like too often they don't want to hear we're going to draft and stash they want to hear draft and develop you know are you going to bring him over do you have a plan so that was very helpful knowing me she'll know and jeff and those guys um but the what the if we deserve any credit is the minute we draft any of these guys um and you know we have several guys overseas right now that have played for summer league hung out in denver a bunch and still talk to me quite often is got to make him feel part of the team. So he gets drafted.

We had never met him. So then it was full on. Let's go hang out. Let's get to know these guys. Strahinja, his older brother, had become a really good friend. I remember the first year Strahinja came over to my house for Christmas. So I think what's neat is the family is so tight. They started to trust us.

They started to believe that the path we had in place for him, but then like your point, Ryan, he had some really big European teams. So he starts playing really well. All right. We watched the first team in the 2014, 2015 ABBA league as a staff.

And I thought he was better than, and this is, I'm usually wrong with this. I thought he was better than a lot of guys who were top of the draft in the 2015 draft. And my guys are like, rose-colored glasses. You just love our guys too much. I'm like, I'm telling you, this guy, he's better than – I'm not going to name names, but he's better than a lot of these guys who are going to go top 10.

And just let me jump in so people can follow along. Like, you drafted him in 14, but you knew you weren't bringing him over immediately, so he's playing in these leagues there. And just let me jump in so people can follow along. Like you drafted him in 14, but you knew you weren't bringing him over immediately. So he's playing in these leagues there and now you're watching him. He's your guy. Correct. And you're, and he's starting to dice people up and this is where it just gets exciting for you.

Just because I want people to be able to follow along. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. It's a guy. No, no, no bubble mouth right now,

man. I'm very little people. So we sit down and watch the game as a staff. It's Mega played. He played Eagle K, I believe. All right, so we're watching the game. And again, I tend to be a bit too optimistic and positive. And oftentimes it's a detriment.

But I say, we have a draft board. I said, he's better than that guy. He's better than that guy. And a couple of our guys, like, there's no chance he's better than this guy. So I'm telling you, she watched the first game, and he has like 28, 13, 4. And it's a joke. I mean, he's diving the rim and throwing behind it between the bounce passes. He's shooting threes.

He's going to fourth and fifth moves in the post. So that was probably the most excited we collectively got. Like, this guy's going to be better than just like a stretch drive role player. He's got a chance to be really, really, really good. And then as the season progresses, he's put up these insane numbers. In the previous year, he wasn't in any EuroLeague interest. So these really big teams in Spain and Russia and Turkey with deep, deep pockets, they weren't showing them interest.

They saw what a lot of the NBA saw. They saw a bad body. They saw a guy that had produced at an. They saw a bad body. They saw a guy that had produced at an okay level, at a mid-level European. He didn't have a big national team reputation. A lot of these guys have under 16, under 18, under 20, like crazy stat profiles. So they started getting attention from those guys. And we're hearing it again. Rofl, who has all our international stuff, is fantastic. Arturis is a legend in Europe. I spent tons and tons of time internationally.

So we're hearing the rumors. Hey, this big team wants him. This big team wants him. This big team wants him. So we're sweating for sure. And I think one of the biggest teams is going to drop a huge contract on him. When they showed up, he didn't play well. And which was neat about the whole thing, though.

Who knows how it would have ended if he'd had a huge game. But the whole entire time talking to Strahinja, he never really deviated from the plan. Like, he trusts us. We trust him. So without those relationships, it would have been a whole lot more nerve-inducing. And who knows?

We might have never seen him. He could have been, and I can say with complete certainty, he'd have been a great great great player in europe but the freedom that mo has allowed him to play with and the style of play that we've embraced i don't know i've never seen that evident in any european team so it's thankfully he didn't play great in that game and we got him here and i can't believe he's 25 years old i can't believe what he continues to do every night that's such a good story not just because of the yokich part of it because you gave us two Got him here, and I can't believe he's 25 years old. I can't believe what he continues to do every night. That's such a good story, not just because of the Jokic part of it, because you gave us two pieces there that I don't know that we always appreciate enough when it comes to the job of the general manager, president of basketball operations

of these franchises, that yes, it's nice if you can identify talent. Yes, it's nice if you don't give out terrible contracts. It's good if you have a good sense of the trade market and you don't get desperate. I think the biggest problem for the, the position is that you'll get desperation moves. You know, you get moves that you even know, like, I don't want to pay this guy this much. I don't want to make this trade, but I got an owner. I got a stale franchise.

I got all these different things, but the idea, then I've heard this when I'd first, you know, covered the league where I would always be surprised. Like why is the GM doing the agent of favor? I'd ask a question and the agent, you know, those are the GMs that like me would be like, look, man, sometimes you're just going to do the agent a favor I'd ask a question and the the agent you know those that are the GMs that like me would be like look man sometimes you're just going to do the agent to favor sometimes you're just going to do the agent to favor and I don't know that people understand this so that's an example of it where you've done that with Laverne um you know with with some of

the other players that you've had but then to have the older brother over your house for Christmas and you've got a family like there's there's just way more that goes into this than I think people ever understand. Well, it's also the fun part. I mean, it's at that point, I wasn't inviting their best players, brother to Christmas. You know, my wife was pregnant, so we couldn't travel back East. Um, you know, Joker wasn't even playing. It was like, I like Strahania.

He's a, he's a character, man. He's a, I don't know if you ever had a chance to hang out with the brothers but they're hilarious yeah what are these guys like because i asked one of your staff guys a while ago tell me about joker when he's starting to come up he goes dude he's the nicest he's the goofiest and i was like okay i hear that he's no no you don't understand he goes one time he was trying to ask us how much he thinks we like he was like how much do you think i make and they were like you're gonna make like and he goes do you think i'll make five million one day they're like joker you're gonna make so much more than that he's like no he's like i won't make five million so somebody was telling me that story i just started laughing about the guy oh then it is it's so his brother strahanian

is the mountain of the man he's six nine 275 arm sleeves wears like aggressive jewelry gloves he trades like he was he went to school to be um this is great he went to school to be a bodyguard in the middle east prior to you know prior to all this and then he ran a that that night was great because um my grandmother-in-law was the sweetest persian lady of all time like she's like the jackio of persian grandma and she really wants to open a bakery and he used to run a bakery so imagine uh a persian grandmother with with very good but not you know not first tongue english and strahania talking about bakery she's like i'd love to open a bakery i love to cook he goes bad business wouldn't do it wouldn't suggest it i'm like I think you guys are missing.

You guys are crossing streams here, man. She wants to open a mom and pop bakery where she makes baklava on Sunday, not an industrial bakery in Novi Sad, Serbia. But those guys, the first time we played, and Nemanja was a good player. He played for Detroit Mercy, and then he played for Tim Cluse at CW Post. We're playing two on two. Me, you know Nick O'Hare,

our PR guy. Nick and Hoop, he's a good player. I mean, Nemanja's a really good player. And Strahinja, good player, big physical. Strahinja's hard fouling in two on two. Hard fouling. Nick goes up, he double push, double hand push, and then

he does the European stuff, like lifts his finger, like like my foul like yeah obviously it's your fouls two on two man you know so once he gets competitive those guys like they like to wrestle oh that's that same christmas stride he said um he goes hey what's your plan for nicole's body what do you think i go uh i don't know man i mean you know felipe and and hess can figure that out. He goes, the other day we were wrestling, I could really feel he was getting stronger.

You're wrestling. All those stories are true, and they're just great, great guys. They sent me a video the other night after we won. Nemanja just had a son, Vuk, and they're chanting and serving, and they're dancing around, and Vuk is there, and they're just really and Vuk is there and they're just really really good dudes so again it's I my advice to a lot of guys who ask me anything I said just try to develop real relationships because it's just more fun and if if it's all transactional then where are you going with it again it's that first christmas wasn't because nicole was average 25 10 and 5 it was like hey this guy's in a foreign country he's got to be

bored we're having some people over come through and um that i think that's the part of the job that's most enjoyable because again you can't control the the mike conley shot goes and goes out but you can have a lot of fun along the way and the yokas brothers i've had a lot a lot of fun with those guys okay so that leaves me with two things i need to ask because i want i have a thing i need to ask you about based on some intel don't be don't be nervous but i just feel like i gotta i gotta give you as much room as you want to talk about jamal because i you know i know in that utah series people would be like oh you guys are sleeping on him and i think like well no it's not that we're sleeping on him but this is insane. You know, this is somebody

who was at a certain level and he's so young and the playoff ups and downs are very predictable. Hell, it's happened to guys that are in this league for 10 years that we talk about being superstars all the time.

And now for Jamal to kind of turn, I feel like this is another level. So what has it been like to watch him and the things that you see that stuff probably that we don't always see the progression because you've had your eyes on him for so long. Like what is going on with him right now? Because this is another level. It's so cool. I mean, he's such a great kid. He's so, he's just so chill and he's got such a great family. He's got no crew around.

I mean, just gym, home, family, gym, home, gym home family you know mixing a couple video games he's just he's awesome so we thought he could be special and we get frustrated when he's just really really good we get frustrated with like he drives me nuts when his shot profile is all over the place man like like your teammates got to know when you're going to shoot so he'll get a wide open shot and he'll turn he'll turn a good shot into the crazy shot. And it drives us nuts. And, you know, he'll be the first to tell you that I'm really hard on him. You know, he and I, we live in the same neighborhood.

Well, we live in the same neighborhood. And like I said, you're already a really, really good player, man. If you're content with that, cool. But you can be a great player. You can be an elite player. And you're in a position where you're, I think it's the most talent rich position in the history of the modern NBA. That point guard position right now is so loaded.

Where are you going to fall amongst these guys? You want to be a top 10 point guard? You'll be a top five point guard. You want to be talked about as an elite point guard. And you know, he's always had the desire. He's so mentally tough. His father, Roger done such a great job. The biggest moments, that guy has like ice water in his veins. He just could care less. So I think that was a challenge. And I think during the pandemic, he worked harder than anybody. I think he came back eight or nine pounds of muscle, moving more efficiently. He was addicted to watching video. So again,

I could be wrong because of my optimism or how, you know, obnoxiously upbeat I can be about our own guys, but I really believe that Jamal can be special and he can be elite. I didn't see two fifties in a playoff series, you know, two fifties and a 40. But we think he can be that good. And sometimes we're too hard on them because we don't take a step back and say, Hey, you're 23 years old. And the only metric that matters is wins and losses. So he gets so beat up. I think Jamal gets stolen, fairly beat up relative to his peers because they look at individual numbers and ultimately the team success. There's two guys that have more impact on that than anybody. And that's obviously,

uh, Nicola and Jamal. And I, and I don't think he gets enough credit. And I'm probably guilty of that too, because I just think he has been, um, uh,

we think he has an, and Mo's always challenging them. And it's really cool to see. And we've seen, we've seen flashes of it and we, he's had a great first four years. But to see him do it over 14 games in the playoffs, a second series, what he did in game seven was amazing.

We were dead in that second quarter. That second quarter is one of the most important. Unfortunately, because it's not the fourth, and who knows what happened. You know how quickly this stuff can be forgotten. It won't be forgotten in your own backyard. But that second quarter was so great that it needs to be remembered outside of Denver fans

because of what he did. It was unreal. We were done. We were absolutely done. They had come out with so many haymakers. And against those perimeter defenders, you don't know if he has a game like that in him. I thought he had a very good series,

but we didn't expect him to score 30 points a game against that defense. But what he did for that six-minute stretch in the second quarter was crazy. He gave us life. And then I think from then on, we really didn't look back. We made that run in the third. We would have maintained it earlier in the fourth and made shots late. But it's neat to see. That guy is so, so, so talented.

I mean, I joke with him sometimes. He almost has too much in his bag that he doesn't know where he wants to go. Like, he'll fake himself out. He'll get to the sixth move. When moved three he was wide open okay last thought here i've heard about these legendary staff pickup games um and it's i didn't hear it from nick but that you because you've you mentioned your extensive resume a few times and that the yokich brothers actually close to i don't know if they were kicked out of these games because people were like basically it was almost turning into a fight with them that you's out. He's out. He cannot, he's not allowed. He can play still. He's still cool. The money is still a lot of play. I've

heard, I've heard that you have a bit of a dump and chase mentality, almost like hockey. Now with the way that you play, you get the, you get the board and you just outlet it and it's up to, so it's full court. It's ones. Give me a breakdown of how, because I've heard these games are rather intense. You know, it's fun. Cause I'm not, I'm like, not our games in New Orleans when we're intense and not fun. We played like six, three in the morning. It was Tim, you were the down man. That was your rotation. And I'm like, dude, I'm, I just want to make like six, 12 footers and not get hurt. I'm not, I'm not going to best. I've never been, you were the down man. Yeah, not really. It was New Orleans New Orleans. And we had like three or four ex-NBA guys.

Like, do you realize who you're talking to right now? I play like, I'm a combination of like John Bagley and Boris DL. Prior to DL, I'm making threes. A lot of elbow action. Good backcourt. Top of key to top of key? Kind of like the last year of Weber? I play really hard. I mean, I cut. I just can't shoot. Double action. Top of key to top of key? Kind of like the last year of Weber?

I play really hard. I mean, I cut. I just can't shoot. I can't finish, and I'm a bad athlete. So beyond that, I'd be a lot better. Other than that. Yeah, like I can pass and dribble. I joke quite a bit. When I was growing up, it was the advent of that N1 era.

I was in Baltimore, so we all wanted to dribble. So I have all that garbage i just it doesn't really do much when you can't move and you're 43 and fat but um i don't we're not we have two or three guys that are way too intense and we tend to not enjoy playing with those guys we have a couple guys that treat it their whole sole goal is to win so like iso you know down down leave me leave me me. And we're like, again, man,

that's not how we play the nuggets. We're not going to play that way in these games. Um, we have some good players, but it's usually ends in either an injury or, um, or laughter, but it's,

it's fun, man. I think it's, it's fun to still go out there and play. I mean, what else are you going to do? Man? I can't tell you how much I appreciate this.

Um, I know it's been, it's a long grind for, for not just, you know, look, the players, everybody involved and all this stuff. So this I know it's been a long grind for not just you know look the players everybody involved and all the stuff so it's been a lot of fun I mean that game seven is something I'm never ever going to forget man and I definitely underestimated the team because it's hard for me until I've kind of seen it you know until

I've seen it where I go oh and now I just you know I'm just going to look at this team the toughness differently because of what you've done what you've done is historic so I'm happy for you man no thanks for you, man. No, thanks for having me, man. And believe me, I don't think because, again, those two guys in particular, and it's not just those two guys, obviously,

but I think it's what we talked about earlier. They don't look like superstars. And sometimes your eyes are the last one to know. But I think if you look at what they've done at 23, 25-year-olds, I would challenge us to find a better duo in the first four or five years. And it's neat to watch. And those guys are just nice, normal dudes. And hopefully we can continue it against a stacked Lakers team.

Thanks, Ted. Thanks a ton, man. I appreciate it. All right, that was great. We're going to check in with Shazier here in a second, but this podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. We're teaming up with FanDuel again this football season, but we've got something new this time around. All season long, you can play the free Ringer Mega Contest on FanDuel. Here's how it works.

Just pick five NFL games against the spread, including one double down pick. Double down. Get one point for every correct pick, and two if you hit your double down pick. FanDuel will add up your score every week. Just finish in the top 100 on the season long leaderboard

to make the playoffs and compete for a share of $25,000. It's that simple. Okay, this week's pick last week, not a great start. Got the one game wrong. New England, Seattle. I don't know if everybody's going to be in on this one, but Seattle minus three and have it open. It's now minus four.

I just think even though Seattle gave up 450 passing yards to Ryan, they were in control of the game and Ryan was chucking it nonstop. I mean, there was that bad turnover short field and that thing kind of opened the whole game up, but New England. Yeah, I don't know. I got to see it against a better team before I'm ready. Now,

I never thought they're going to be terrible, but that's the play. That's the play. As far as the double down, what do we need? Somebody to go over 35 points, Kyle? These are the rules. That's the rule. One team has to go over 35?

Yeah. Give me New Orleans on the road to Vegas to go over 35 points. All right, there you go. And if you miss week one, you can still get into the Ringer Mega Contest. It's not too late. The top 100 make the playoffs to compete for a share of $25,000.

Play the Ringer Mega Contest for free every week, only on FanDuel. Go to fanduel.com forward slash mega contest to make your picks today. That is fanduel.com forward slash mega contest to make your picks today that is fanduel.com forward slash mega contest really excited to talk to one of our newest members of the ringer family here uh played in the nfl for a bunch of years ryan chaiseir now also part of tuesday's the ringer

nfl show with cole right somebody i knew back at espn and we're going to talk some football but i think both of us are still sitting here. I know I'm in shock post-Nuggets Clippers. I mean, shout out to the Nuggets, but I still cannot believe what I saw from the Clippers in the fourth. I know it's not – I know you're a basketball guy too. So what do you make of that when you see other athletes struggling the way we saw LA?

So it was crazy to me because I'm actually a huge Kauai fan. I'm a Spurs fan. So I know my wife hates me saying that cause she's from San Antonio. So, but it was, it was crazy just to see Kauai play that bad. You know, like he's normally he's super efficient.

He's super on point. Doesn't make many mistakes and him and him and the Clippers, they, they, they couldn't bring they couldn't bring the pieces together they didn't look they didn't look good at all you know uh and just and it wasn't just that one game in game seven it was every game leading up to the game seven being up three one then losing every single one when you were up is is ridiculous

yeah it's it's um it's always kind of like, you know, I feel like one of the things that, that I don't love about the job is that we can't always know, like, just like when you were playing, you would hear stuff said about your team. And I'm sure there were constant times you're like, what the hell is this guy talking about? Like, he doesn't know anything that he's saying, but for the Clippers now we can say, well, we saw this coming and we knew but then I'll always kind of be like well how the hell they get up 3-1 if they're this much of a disaster how do they get up 3-1 in the first place and it still was was a team that was a

two-seed when this was all said and done so I don't know what did you see from from a team part of it where like can it happen can a team just be wrong chemistry-wise where even though there's all this talent, it just doesn't really happen? I mean, does that happen in football? Is that what you see with the Clippers? Oh, no, that definitely can happen. If the chemistry doesn't match,

and you start bumping heads, or things just don't go in order, players aren't playing like you expect them to play, things can definitely get out of whack. But I think what happened to the Clippers, I mean, you hate seeing this, but I think they got lackadaisical. You know, I feel like they got up. You know, they're like, we're 3-1, we're the Clippers.

These are the Nuggets. Obviously, they're a good team, but, like, there's no way they're going to beat us in these next three games. Because every game besides the final game, they're going to beat us in these next three games. And because every game, every game besides the final game, they were up big, you know. So for them to actually get beat pretty bad in the next three games after being up 15 points, 17 points, I think they got lackadaisical.

And it happens with professional teams, too. You know, when you're a really good team, sometimes you just don't think you can get beat. And once the momentum starts for the other guys, it's too late. Yeah, that's definitely the case in that last one because the other ones, they're up. And then that last game, you could just see, like, oh, my God, this is real.

Like, we're actually down, and now we can't do anything. And then everybody fell apart. And then Kawhi was terrible in the fourth quarter. But, you know, I've been the last couple of days. I'm like, look, I got to see Kawhi do that a bunch of times for me to start writing off Kawhi. He was bad in game seven. But now I'm not like ready to reclassify him. He's your favorite player.

Yeah. So like LeBron's my favorite player. But I feel like LeBron's like Jordan. Like you can't say like LeBron's my favorite player. You know, everybody, everybody likes Michael Jordan. Everybody likes LeBron's like Jordan. Like, you can't say, like, LeBron's my favorite player. You know, everybody likes Michael Jordan. Everybody likes LeBron. So it's just, you know, obviously I love LeBron. But Kawhi's my favorite player just all around basketball.

He's super efficient, doesn't make many mistakes. When he goes to the free throw line, he cashes them. He's good at the three-point line. He's good taking it to the right. You know, he can help develop things if he needs to. And then he's great at defense. So he's like a super all around player. And it was kind of cool to see him develop with the Spurs.

You know, he was he wasn't as good at the beginning of his career. And he developed into that. You know, the thing that's kind of cool about LeBron is he was the chosen one since he was 15 years old. You know, it wasn't the same case for Kawhi, you know, and I think that's kind of cool. How often was LeBron in Columbus when you were at Ohio State? He actually, when I was at Ohio State, he wasn't there that much. Well, he came, what, back to Cleveland the year you got drafted maybe?

Is that right? Yeah, I think it was the year you were, you got drafted maybe. Is that right? Yeah. I think, I think, I think it was a year. Um, yeah, no,

no, no. He was in Miami when I was at Ohio state. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I mean. So I think he came back. Yeah.

Yeah. He came back. Yeah. He came back to Cleveland a year. I got drafted. Yeah. So, uh,

um, we, he wasn't there a whole lot, but when I got drafted and i came back to a few games then i started seeing them in columbus a little bit more yeah because he has a locker there and everything right or is that the basketball team no it's the football he has a lot he has he has a locker in the basketball and then i've been in the locker room before i think he does have like a locker room in the football they have like a lot of retired guys on the football team that have lockers.

Not retired guys, but guys that used to play there that have lockers. And then I think LeBron does have a locker. I haven't been back in a year, especially because of Corona. So I have it in blank right now, but I think he does. Yeah, I might be putting you on the spot there because I know I just see constant LeBron lockers and considering everything gets updated all the time so the schools can spend all the money that they get

by upgrading everything. What made you, you're a Florida kid, right? So what made you go Ohio State? Not that that's a bad choice, obviously. We're talking about one of the five programs you would go to if you're as good as you are. But what was the reason behind the Buckeyes? So I was actually committed to Florida pretty much my whole high school uh my whole high school

and coach Meyer and I was one of the guys that went to school early so I went to school in January coach Meyer was going to be my coach at Florida then he resigned with two weeks for me to go to college. And with that being said, literally the next day after he resigned, I took a, like, it was crazy because Ohio State and LSU were both at my school. And the day he resigned and I literally talked to the coaches and I

haven't talked to my parents yet. And I was like, man, I understand that coach might resign, but I was like, I'm gonna need to go see, I was like, I'm gonna need that Coach Meyer resigned, but I was like, I'm going to need to go see, I was like, I'm going to need to go visit these schools. Like, I'm like, man, my coach is gone.

I'm like, my recruitment is opening up immediately. I wasn't thinking about it. I was like, my recruitment is opening up immediately. And the new coaches came and I went to visit LSU the next day. No, that weekend, then I went to Ohio State. So within 72 hours, I was at two different schools after Coach Meyer resigned. And I visited both and I just thought Ohio State was the best fit for me.

You know, just the guys. And then me and my dad like to think over everything. And we're saying it would be pretty cool if I could get drafted to somebody somebody cold at least I'll be adjusted to it if I'm up north if I'm at Florida I'm gonna hate the cold for my whole life and uh I would never want to be up here but the fact that I went to Ohio State I don't have a I don't have a problem being in the cold at all anymore okay so let me just back up a second though because we know about the early enrollment thing i mean it happens constantly all the time happens a lot of quarterbacks probably more so than any other position but does that mean you're walking around like taking classes when you would have been in high school at florida but then you ended up bouncing to ohio state is

that what you're telling me yeah that's exactly what happened how weird is it how how weird is it though to be a high school kid and then you're walking around like it's weird enough to be a freshman but then it's also you so everybody knows who you are but you're kind of supposed to be in high school and you're walking around Gainesville or in your I assume you're going out like that has to be a really weird culture deal where it's like December high school student January we, we're out, we're in it. Yeah, it was crazy. It was crazy. You know, I actually, I thought it was pretty cool. You know, I was spending time with my teammates.

You know, I definitely was going out and things like that and going to parties. But then when I had, like, prom and things like that, I had went back to high school just to, you know, spend that time with my friends, too. So it was like, I was like part high school, part college. But it was a really uh crazy time um the thing that was that made it worse for me was just like when i talked about a cold was the cold was because when i got to ohio state

it was like negative 10 degrees and i left from florida and it was. So it was, what was worse for me was actually just walking to class in the cold. You know, I used to think that guys would at least have like a car or something to give them transportation. I didn't know kids walk half a mile in the tundra to go to class. And I wasn't ready for that.

They're lucky you stuck around from the sounds of it. Yeah, no, it was, it was tough. It was tough. At first I was like, I don't know why I came up here. I should have just stayed down South, but then it really helped me out. Uh, as I, as I grew it in now I'm, I'm a, you know, I'm a yinzer. That's what people in Pittsburgh call themselves. I'm a yinzer. So I stay here full time. So, uh, I think I'm cool with it. Just like Ohio State's one of the brand names, again, you can't really do much better than a handful of those schools. I think to be a linebacker and to end up in Pittsburgh is a special thing.

That's one of the few things in the NFL where you go. What was that transition from being drafted and to go to this team with all this history, especially at that position, and play the way you did early on? What was that like? Man, it was amazing, you know, to be able to go to the franchise that has the most championships. Unfortunately, now we're tied.

But to go to, you know, to go to the Steelers, to be at a franchise that's known for winning, to be with a coach that's known for winning, and then a coach that's known for caring about his players, man, it was really great. You know, I couldn't ask for a better story. You know, Coach Tomlin, he's really been a true inspiration and a true mentor for me and, you know, a great guy.

And it was just awesome just to be part of a team that has so much history you know we there are so many linebackers that came before me that are hall of famers and that are you know the ring of honors or they might not even be in the hall of fame but they're still going to be talking about when football is 20 years from now 30 years from now and just to know that i was one of those guys that people might be talking about 10 20 years from now because of the legacy i left with such a uh historic franchise it just it felt it felt amazing i was making this joke a little bit earlier this this week when i was talking with dilfer but i always feel like week one of the nfl season i look at these teams and i fall in love with everybody's front seven

because everybody's healthy. They have all of their guys out there. But Pittsburgh's front seven, and we know Watt, we know Cameron, but Bud Dupree, those of us that watch him at Kentucky and just know the physical gifts of him, watching Pittsburgh and watching him kind of do it more defensively. Cause I would say when you were there, it was really a team that liked to get out and throw the football as much as anybody. Um, not that you didn't have good defense, but you understand like

the, the, the team. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not dumping on your defense there, but what did you see from the Steelers in that first week? That, uh, was maybe the thing that stood out to you the most. To me, I was really just excited to see the defense. They looked damn good, man. Whenever Ben Roethlisberger has more passing rushing yards than Saquon Barkley, that lets you know that you're doing something right. You know, I was just excited to see that. I was just excited to see that everybody was just looking smooth out there,

just trusting the scheme. And then just looking fast, man. The defense looked really fast out there. And it's good to see everybody healthy. You know, Tua has went through a little spree when he got hurt a few times. And then Cam got hurt a little bit. But to see all of them healthy, and I feel like if this defense stays healthy, they're going to be a problem in the NFL.

They're going to be a really big problem. Who's the toughest guy for you to tackle when you play? Man, it's crazy. I played a video game, and the guys that was playing the video game just asked me that. I would say Le'Veon was probably one of the hardest guys for me to tackle at the time when I was playing. I would say Le'Veon was probably one of the hardest guys for me to tackle at the time when I was playing. I would say Zeke, Ezekiel Elliott.

And then Leonard Fournette was really hard to tackle, too. He just runs really hard, you know, and you just have to respect how he runs, man. And the thing is with Zeke, he can jump over you. He can shake you. He can run over you. And he can outrun you. So a guy like that, it makes it really hard you know i never had to go against saquon or anything like that but i'll feel at the time zeke or fornette

was really hard to tackle the thing is with fornette you know what he's bringing to the table and he's still just going to give it to you yeah wow i didn't expect to hear fornette in there just because the not that i don't think he's he's good necessarily but it's just that between well Saquon you didn't have to go up against but I think Zeke is a really good example of that especially now too that he catches the football um but it's just kind of been surprising that Fournette maybe isn't more consistently an impact kind of player so I don't know I don't know if that changes to me I feel with Fournette it's hard to be an impact when you don't have that much other impact on your team either. Le'Veon is super easy to be an impact because he has so much other guys around him, but Le'Veon was still the best running back at the time.

With Fournette, he didn't have as many weapons, so it's kind of harder for him to be a huge impact for a team. So it's kind of harder for him to be a huge impact for a team. But I'm not going to compare Fournette to Saquon because obviously Saquon, well, last night didn't, well, not last night, but Monday night didn't show well. But he doesn't really need much help to be Saquon Barkley. Like, Saquon's going to do Saquon type of things, and he doesn't need much help. But, you know, most other running backs,

they have somebody around them, and it makes it better for the team. Did you get a chance to watch any of the Kyler Murray stuff in their win against San Francisco? Oh, yeah, man. I projected Kyler as to be my league MVP this year. What? Wait a minute.

You haven't... I didn't see that coming. So I guess you did watch him. Yeah. The reason I say that, the reason I projected that is because we've been on the streak I think two straight years

of guys in their second year winning the MVP, I think. And Kyler Murray won Officer Player of the Year last year, so he definitely showed he's capable. And I just think the way the league is going right now with the type of quarterbacks we have in the league, I just feel he brings a lot of value to the table.

And then them bringing Hop over there for him, somebody that he can consistently throw to play in and play out. I think – I just think it's just a shocker. Obviously, I don't know if it's 100% there, but I just – I think, man, it's not a bad argument. It's a surprising pick. I'm not saying it's a bad argument. That one just – that one's surprising.

But I see what you're saying. You're saying, all right, look at Mahomes, look at Lamar, second year. That's when it kicked in. So you just follow the trend. Like, I don't feel like anybody expected Lamar to win the MVP last year at the beginning of the season. Not one person. Not one person projected Mahomes to win the MVP

the year before. So you're just trying to get in front of it. I'm just trying to get in front of it. Okay. Help those of us that don't know how it works. Help me understand different players. And maybe we can go over a few of these. I don't know if it's a quarterback.

I don't know if it's offensive line, but like the keys that you would look for, the things that you would say like, ah, this tackle does this on runs. This guy does this on passes. You know, I used to sit with Jonathan Vilma a lot. He's a cane, you know, play for the Saints, play for the Jets.

And he would show me tape that he was watching. And he was like, always Vilma is the most, no, one's a bigger fan of Jonathan Vilma than Jonathan Vilma. And I can say that, but he would be like, I can, I can figure out everybody's tell I'll always be able to figure it out. And then he would show me some of these things with college games that he was prepping for. And a lot of times I'd be like, oh man, he's onto something. So give me, do you have a story about a tell that you were able to figure out whether it was a quarterback, pre-snap stuff, maybe a tackle, maybe, you know, I don't know, maybe the center would do something. Is there a time that you remember kind of figuring something out? So this is a cheat code for a lot of guys that I don't know if he's going to get a chance to get back in the league.

If he does, hopefully he has a good run. If not, it is what it is. Every pass play, A.B. used to strap up his gloves. Antonio. Antonio. But if it wasn't a pass play, he did what he like, you would just see him messing with his gloves. But like, if it wasn't passed, if it was a run play, he wouldn't touch his gloves.

He would just be just chilling. But if it's a pass play, he's messing with his gloves every single time. So did you say that to him? He's your teammate. Would you go, hey, what are you doing? Like, you know, we just say every time, you know, you think you know, you think of, like, every time it's a pass play, you know, you mess with your glove sometimes, and just sometimes you fix it,

and sometimes you just kept doing it, you know? But it's like, he's kind of one of those guys, like, all right, well, stop it, I guess. Yeah, I'm doing fine, guys. All right, no, but let me see. Travis Kelsey, when he runs his routes, on certain routes like he dips his shoulder like he dips when he's running like double moves but if he's just running like

uh like an in or in route or whatever he's going to try to uh force you to uh force you to to adjust to him like he's gonna like use his body more but if he's going to, like, use his body more. But if he's just doing, like, doing double move routes, he dips a little bit more. Let me see somebody else. Ricky quarterbacks, a lot of times when they're throwing the ball, when they're doing their reads, if they're trying to look off a defense, they'll look where they're going. They'll try to look really quick to the opposite side that they're going. So, like, they'll just they'll try to look really quick to

the opposite side that they're going so they'll just do a really quick look to try to get the defense to go over there but they're coming back to the right every time so a lot of rookie quarterbacks they'll look to their left for say literally like one second they hike the ball, look to their left and then

immediately come back to the right and they're staying to the right older quarterbacks when they read you they read you they they kind of progressed a little bit slower um uh who uh then sometimes you can just tell by people knuckles with a lot of d-line too did did brady have anything uh brady brady's one of those guys kind of tough man he just he's pretty solid all the way around. It wasn't much stuff that Brady would do. One thing that Brady used to do, he kind of changed it. Wherever the pass play, his play action fake will be,

he's throwing it to the other side. So would you know that going, all right, even though it's not 100%, if I can read play action, which is hard enough for linebackers in the first place. I mean, it's just hard for you guys, you know, like the same thing, the blocking. Would you go, okay, it's play action, and would you just take the risk to just jump to the other side? Yeah, so a lot of times, like, it would be play action,

and then I was like, all right. But, like, you kind of got to just see, like, play action, and then you was like all right but like you kind of gotta just see like play action and then you look back real quick to see how the route's developing and then if you see a route developing that way you'll try to sprint over there as fast as possible especially if you have a good hunch if it's about an 80 hunch i'm gonna bet on 80 more than i'm gonna bet on 20 you know so yeah exactly that makes sense okay so i think that's that was actually great ryan that was that was terrific um i could do that all day but does that mean now when you watch a lamar on film you watch a kyler on film and my homes isn't doing the stuff that the first two guys are doing

how hard is it to read any of this stuff because i think kyler too a lot of it's especially because he's not that he's so much younger he's only a year behind lamar but there's some design stuff there for kyler and there's also stuff for him where he's just quick enough to go ahead so you can't really read the thing that isn't designed but how how challenging or what kind of things are you looking for on some of that mesh point stuff that those guys are doing specifically so so with guys like kyler and lamar you force, you force them to get the ball off. So it makes them – when you make them hand the ball off, you make the running back beat you.

And the thing is that a lot of teams like to do, if you're doing a read option, the quarterback is considered a running back now. So pretty much you can hit him no matter what. So he can hand the ball off and you still hit him, and they can't complain to the ref. So one thing, a lot of physical teams like to do no matter what, even if you make him hand the ball off,

we're still hitting you. Yeah. Like that. So like now that makes the coaches be like, ah, I don't want to run this read option because we like, they're going to hit our guy no matter what, you know?

So now you don't want Kyler or Lamar just taking hits you know secondly uh with Lamar and Kyler Kyler is a little bit harder for me than Lamar the reason I say this is because Lamar is a lot uh I'm gonna say he's a lot better with his legs but Lamar is super deadly with his legs. You know, his arm is still catching up. Tyler's arm is good, you know, and both of them are really good at improvising and making people miss in the backfield, so that makes it harder to read those guys,

and it always puts defense on their P's and Q's because they're like, man, this guy might run. If he breaks one of the D-line tackles, now we're back in coverage, and he already has a 15-yard head start on us because he beat somebody back, so that means he probably lost five yards to beat that guy, but then now he's running full speed,

and I know this guy is shifty, and I'm trying to catch this guy. He's running a 4-4 or a 4-3 speed, so it makes it really tough on those guys. We know last year the Pats defense and I'm trying to catch this guy. He's running a 4-4 or a 4-3 speed. So it makes it really tough on those guys. We know last year the Pats defense was statistically the best. I don't know that a lot of us thought they were the best. We know they've had a bunch of guys opt out.

San Francisco, we could talk a little bit about Buckner not being up front, but still, I mean, personnel-wise, there's a ton of guys I like. Give me the three or four teams you think defensively are just better than everybody else. Ravens, Steelers. This last one's a little tricky. I'm trying to figure it out. I like the Bills defense. Yeah.

I like the Bills defense. I think the defense is really solid. They have really strong corners. They have a good, they're a good front seven. They have strong secondary. That's what I mean. I think,

I think they have a really solid, solid core. I like them a lot. Yeah. Last year when I, but the Packers have a good defense too. So it's, I'm going to have to give you four.

I'm sorry about that. No, don't. Don't be. Don't be. Because the reason I was jumping in there is I just remember consistently all year long doing the show with Chris Long. You know, he would say, you know, who I like. He's like, every week we'd be coming in doing prep, and he'd say, Buffalo, Buffalo. I really like that team on defense.

And they had some awesome moments last year. And, you know, it's really up to Josh Allen to kind of take them the next step. I want to ask you about, you know, it's almost three years ago. So I know you probably talked about this. I don't know if you hate talking about it or you like talking about it. The injury, Monday Night Football, like I said, is almost three years ago. What's it been like for you to go from that point to kind of here now, a few years removed from it and transition to the

next part of your life you know it's been it's been a little bittersweet you know uh it's been ups and downs you know at the end of the day i'm really excited that i'm just constantly getting better i'm constantly rehabbing i'm constantly just uh just growing as a man growing as a person and just kind of trying to continue to learn more and more every day. But it's a little bittersweet. And I've been playing football since I was five years old, you know, and that's something that I always loved doing. You know, you can't just replicate playing football

in any other thing that you do. You know, anybody that ever played a sport and they love that sport dearly, they know exactly what I mean. It's kind of hard to replace that feeling you get from the enjoyment of playing sports. So that's something that's been really hard on me. The way I got hurt, that really hurt too because it's just like, man, I don't like to sound like a butthole sometimes when i say this but when you watch when you watch sports you rarely see the best guy get hurt like especially like season into injuries and i felt like at the time i was one of the best guys in the nfl you know so um it really hurt not

being able to play anymore but uh but i think it's just a learning lesson you know god just wants me to help others wants me to just give more awareness to the injury that i had because i know when i before i got hurt i didn't know much about spinal cord injuries and things like that but you know now i have a lot more awareness of being able to help a lot more people and you know i just i just love the game of football, so I'm still going to watch it. I'm still going to try to learn more about how to make the game better, learn more about

what guys are doing, but and it still just, it just hurts. It just hurts sometimes. How long did it take for you to be able to go back and watch the play? Actually, I went back and yeah, it took me a while it probably took me like a few months i like i watched it uh like one time after i got hurt but then i then after that it

took me a few months to watch it again what was your reaction the first time you watched it the first time you watched it? It was just a regular hit. I hit people way harder than that. And I didn't get hurt. You know, I've been in situations that have been way worse than that. And just the fact that I got hurt from that, it was just crazy to me.

I thought, you know, if I was to get hurt, you know, it would have been something completely different. But I didn't see that being the reason that my football career would have been over with you know so it was just it was crazy did you notice how hard it was for people to figure out how to talk to you after that you know teammates be like do we do we tell them about this stuff um i know tomlin was great but i'm just i mean it's you're the person it's happened to but no one really there's probably a lot of people close to you didn't know how to navigate it with you did you did you pick up on a lot of that yeah you know people just people feel sorry

for you you know so and the thing is i just i just hate feeling sorry for but and they you know people don't know much much else to say so um and then i was i was cool with everybody everybody you know they gave all their respect but you could definitely tell that uh it made some people feel a little uncomfortable you know uh with me being hurt but and then people didn't really treat me any different it is they just felt sorry for the situation that I was dealing with. Well, look, we just met, okay? And like I said, I'm happy to have you be doing some stuff with The Ringer. But I'll just tell you, like a lot of people probably have that you don't know

and you may never talk to again. But seeing you get up and walk, and I remember the first time I saw it, and a lot of us, I remember we were at ESPN that day. We were working and we were watching, and and it was inspiring and it was emotional and it was all these things. And it was just something that you were able to do in this tragedy, in the aftermath of this tragedy, where you could actually impact people looking at you and looking at your story in a really positive way.

And I think that's the thing that you've done here, despite the fact that I know deep down how much you'd want to be playing football. And I know that has to be tough sometimes, but at least if there's any way to find a positive out of it, I'm sure you probably realize that. But I know I had that moment one of the first times I saw you up again. So thanks for that. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, Ryan, seriously, man, I do really appreciate it. Looking forward to every Tuesday with you guys, you and Cole Wright. Man, I appreciate that, Ryan, man. And I love that you got the e of your name instead of the a so uh no one else does i'll let my parents know we've got a vote that uh they like it people think that i did it people think that i somehow had input on that like what's up with this guy why does he have an e i'm like hey man i was not negotiating it was not it was not uh it's not for negotiation yeah right that's cool man i not negotiating it was not it was not enough for negotiation yeah

right that's cool man i appreciate it it was great it was great talking to you man and um i really appreciate it absolutely we'll talk again soon now it's time for the state farm surprisingly great segment of the week getting great car and home insurance from state farm at a surprisingly great rate that's like rajan rondo hitting threes left and right against the Houston Rockets. We've spent all season long wondering who that other guy is going to be for the Lakers. And they've argued, well, it's going to be a bunch of different guys at times. You know what I didn't think it was ever going to be? Was Rondo hitting 54% of his threes in that series against the Rockets.

He took three and a half per game. All right. So that means he's hit one and a half.. He took three and a half per game. All right. So that means he's hit one and a half. He's taken three and a half. He's keeping you honest. He didn't really have to do anything shooting wise in the final game where they won by, I don't know, 23 points in this one. But let's just remind ourselves of who Rondo has been.

Just a reminder, when he was in Boston from 06 to 2015, Rondo had one year where he was above 30% from three. And that was his third year where he hit 31% on half an attempt a game. I mean, he actually had 21% one year, 23, 23, 24, 25, 54%. Now, granted, it's not a ton, but that that existed was really surprising. that that existed was really surprising. State Farm agents provide personal service so you can customize your insurance to fit your needs, like a GM putting together

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State Farm goes from strength to strength. Choose insurance that always brings its A game. When you want the real deal, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Our surprisingly great player from the last week was Rajon Rondo. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

If you want to send in a Life Advice submission to Kyle, you can at lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Just listen to how relaxed I am now, Kyle. I kind of sat back on the couch, got a few of these queued up. New angle. English, yeah, english people like to say it's in the queue remember that do you remember when netflix had a queue or are you too young for that no yeah we were coming to my house man nice nice dude what was your big go-to monster garage with jesse james uh shit the rundown with the rock i just would get it all the time sean williams

scott and the rock one of the best movies. That's when they're in the jungle, right? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Christopher Walken. What's going on with Sean William Scott lately? Do you want to pull that up? I don't know.

I think he was like... I think he was a 2000s guy. I think that was just his deal. He does feel like a 2000s guy. I just... I don't know. Is he in anything? Is he attached to anything loosely?

Is he in development? Now I'm going to pull it up if you're not going to do it I'm looking at I'm just I don't see anything after 2012 but I'm sure there's something um ah man this is always a bummer as you get older he's he's younger than me I feel like he's done is he really I feel like he's done yeah

I feel like he's done. Is he really? I feel like he's done more. Yeah, I feel like he's done more. Now, am I in a better position now than he is? That's the real question. Super Troopers 2. Because in 95, he was killing me. Or 99. I don't know what he was doing in 95. I mean, look at this run.

American Pie, American Wedding. Dude, where's my car american pie too i remember my dad took my younger brother to he called me he's like i just had to sit through dude where's my car at the theater um he was in aerosmith an aerosmith video that was before American Pie. What else? Bulletproof Monk. Ice Age Voice Over. Oh, Ice Age Voice Over and then a video game. Wow, the Ice Age checks came rolling in.

Ice Age Continental Drift. Ice Age A Man at Christmas. Who's in Ice Age? Crash. Crash. Ice Age Collision Minute at Christmas. Who was in Ice Age? Crash. Crash. Ice Age, Collision Course. God. Ice Age, The Great Egg-scapade. Get it? TV short.

How about Goon? That was a good choice by him. Yeah, Goon was terrific. That's only three years ago. That's right. Good call. Good call on Goon. And then he was in Bloodline. Lethal Weapon. what was there he was a part of the lethal weapon reboot yeah and just for everybody who understands like guys who have

runs and then they stop it's a little bit like we said off the top like you're just gonna you're just gonna crush a guy for being peppers in old school and then you know like he should be proud of that imagine having one roll like peppers that would be incredible i have zero shout out to sws all the real ones out there okay let's go to i don't think i'm gaining on him right now but i think he's definitely got a big head start is that something i used to do on the creative side, Kyle. I would go like, well, what's that person doing? Well, how old are they? What is their background?

You're going to have to write and star in something, and you'll take a big leap towards them. Yeah, because I'll be like, oh, he's still like five years older than me. Now it's always like, oh, how much younger is BTS? I'm getting there with young athletes now it's weird that's it i think i'm now officially when vinatieri bounced like he was my last one damn dude he was my last one i actually went a lot longer than you would have thought all right here we go um right, this guy wants to be anonymous

because he values the few friends that he has. Okay. I wish I was reaching out for wrong profession, surplus of cash to make myself happy. Okay, whatever. I'm in my mid-20s and a few years removed from college. Steady job that pays okay but below six figures i got married last year to my longtime girlfriend and one of our best friends was my best

man a few months after our wedding our friend started dating a girl that we knew from school it turns out that he believes this girl is the one um i may have hit the wrong one but it's too late now so let's just go ahead i don't think i want to that's right all right they got engaged this spring a little bit after covid um planning to have their wedding next month my friend speaks highly of fiance my wife um blah blah blah because we haven't spent too much time with her since they haven't been dating we've seen her maybe five times in the year they've been together which is pretty crazy considering we used to hang out with our friend on a weekly basis before they started dating that's another story dude that's kind of just the way it goes man i mean you know

whatever so he says i won't get into that one. My friend has told us that his fiance doesn't really care for us. He refuses to hang out with the friend group. With that being said, I will be one of the groomsmen in the wedding along with a handful of other guys from our close friend group. My wife and I are struggling to come up with a fair yet respectable gift to get the soon to be newlyweds. My wife and I got married and my friend gave us a generous $150 gift, which paid for the price of his plate. Typical wedding etiquette from what I've been told. We would like to do the same for him. However, the wedding is taking place in his parents' backyard, and they'll be serving cheese and crackers, fast food, bottled beverages. Now, you probably think that's because they're just taking precautionary COVID, right? Nope.

My friend is one of the COVID nonbelievers and is refusing to provide masks or hand sanitizer at the wedding. The food will be served 100% buffet style. The seats at the ceremony will be next to one another, but there will be room for people to stand if they feel uncomfortable, not social distancing, you know, for all the elderly and pregnant women who want to stand for 30 minutes. To be honest, I really think that he wanted to plan a wedding during COVID just because everyone told him not to. Okay, this is, now I'm actually glad I read this one. Before the engagement, he said that he always wanted a long engagement and six months isn't very long, so obviously something changed his mind. It's probably

the fiancé part, but that's just me as a surveyor of human behavior. I'm sure you're assuming the couple must be tight with money, right? Yeah, you would think so, but that's not the case. My friend has a pretty good paying job, has been living with his parents rent-free for years, has plenty of time to save up his money. Within the past month or so, he bought a new set of golf clubs, a new car for himself,

a new car for his fiance, and continues to throw money away at online gambling sites or casinos on a weekly basis. Also, both his parents and his future in-laws are chipping in for the cost of the small wedding, about 70 people. I feel like it's also important to note that the grooms are required to rent $250 tuxedos for a backyard wedding. What are your thoughts? My wife and I, along with our friends, seem to think that a $50 gift card from the favorite restaurant or store will suffice, but we don't want to come off rude by not following proper wedding gift giving etiquette of matching what he got for us.

By not following proper wedding gift giving etiquette of matching what he got for us. However, I'm feeling like I'm dumping more money into the wedding bachelor party tux and helping out with the wedding setup than the groom is. Sort of unrelated side note, follow-up question. The bride used to date one of the guys in our friend group a few years back. The same guy is the groom's best man? That's going to be a violation. Okay. Jesus, dude. No wonder she doesn't like the friend group.

Yeah. As much space between them as you can. All right. Some of this is going to be a little harsh, but hang on. Who gives a shit how he spends his money? Who gives a shit about anything that he wants to do? And who at this point, like, I know it sucks because he was part of your friend group and all that stuff. But like, I get a lot of emails to go, you know you know i miss hanging out with friends i miss hanging out with my friends all of us that had awesome friends but that's just like it's really hard as you get older

to go hey what do you guys want to do tonight like it doesn't it just doesn't happen like those of them those are the groups of guys friends that that still pull that stuff off and all kind of live in the same neighborhood and that kind of thing. I envy the hell out of it, but it's very, very rare. Okay. So you started throwing me a bunch of these money facts. Now, look, it sounds like she kind of isn't the greatest, but if your friend's happy. But I also think what's going to happen here is after this wedding, the relationship is

going to be cut down even more. So I'm not saying that your observations are wrong. I'm just saying, you're going to have to start to kind of like wean yourself off of this friendship. Cause I think it's pretty clear based on some of the signs you give me here is that once this thing is done, you guys are going to be out of the picture as far as the gift. Yes, you are spending money. Yes. This non COVID believer thing, backyard deal kind of sucks, but it's their wedding. Let them do the wedding that they're going to do. And are you going to really try to prove a point over $100? I'm actually on your side, but what I'm telling you is don't make a statement with a $50 gift card because you don't believe in the relationship.

You're annoyed you're losing your friend. You don't like the way he spends his money. You don't like the setup that's sort of on the cheap for the wedding itself. You don't like the fact that there aren't masks. All these things. Bring masks, by the way. You do your own thing. But don't let all of that add up to you feeling like you're justified

in giving what's a pretty bad wedding present. And again, everybody's at a different economic level. So I'm not calling out everybody for a gift card. But it sounds like you were capable of doing the $150 wedding gift, but you kind of want to do the 50 because you're justified. It's $100, man. Like, just get them the $150 150 gift and i'm going to tell

you probably not going to be interacting with these people all that much after this anyway can i ask you about a wedding gift really quick i've really been to one wedding when i was 11 and my the next one that i got invited to just got postponed what do you like you just get something that's worth 150 if there's not like a registry no No, it doesn't always have to be. It doesn't always have to be. I actually am off the charts bad because I would be like, oh, I want to do something cooler than just something on the wedding registry.

And then I've like missed gifts. Okay. Get them the freak book. No. From Larry David. Right. So I, but, but, but I have come up huge. Everybody that I kind of jammed up on the no wedding gift,

I didn't do it because I was like, oh, I'm not going to give you a wedding gift. But there's like a handful of some of my best friends that I'd be like, look, do you want the wedding gift for me now? Or do you want it in like 10 years when things are way better? So my one buddy who will go by the name of Hal, who not only did I not get he and his lovely bride a wedding gift, I called him the Friday before

his wedding. I was living in Boston and I was like, dude, Pacer Celtics tonight. I think it was Pacer Celtics playoffs, Yankees, Red Sox. And then the NFL draft was also that Saturday. And I was hosting my first ever draft show from Foxborough that day. It was when Vince Wolford was drafted. So it was that year. so i'm pretty sure all three of these things were happening in a sports weekend at the same time and i call him like in the afternoon and go hey i think i got celtics pacers playoff tickets you win he's like am i in dickhead i'm getting married to the cape tomorrow and i go oh yeah dude and you know he's got the thick accent so he's like dude are you know he's got the thick accent so he's like dude are you not coming to my

like are you coming to my wedding like actually it doesn't sound like that he's got a better accent I'm doing like a bad one right now I was like uh wait on the draft I go I'm hosting a show and he goes dude you didn't RSVP I put you down is one because I figured

you're just a moron who didn't send back the card which is fine because this worksp i put you down is one because i figured just a moron who didn't send back the card which is fine because this works right but i put you down and now you're not even coming and i was like uh you know i got the draft he's like just drive to the cape he's like just drive to the cape after the draft and do the reception then hang out with everybody like saturday night's the real nights we're all together anyway and i was like yeah dude i don't think i can do it um in 2018 i got us like third row world series tickets that's gonna say you're gonna have to bring that guy to the super bowl or something right so long play how made out on the deal but i still feel pretty bad about that one because that was a classic 20s rossillo moment where i'm like oh i'm gonna call

my buddy hal and see if he wants to go to the celtics playoffs and he's like i'm a great friend yeah actually i'm getting married tomorrow and you've done nothing you couldn't the rsvp and now you're telling me hours before you're not coming i was like yep yep that's what i'm doing so all right this wedding's gonna cost me a thousand dollars and I haven't even got him a gift. So I don't know what the hell I'm going to do. Yeah. Right. Right.

Sucks. Okay. Um, by the way, I got a lot of Toronto emails from people after my rant about, um, the Raptors fans that said the worst stuff that has ever been said to me or my family.

Um, I appreciate those that chimed in after the fact, apologizing on behalf. Look, I saw a bunch of them, so we're cool. No problem. Okay. You know what that means? That means we should do this. We should just give out a Madden code. How about that?

Wow. Really sneak it in, in the middle of a segment. Yep. I'm going to Madden code you real quick here. Hashtag Madden 21. This is for a PS4. R R Q four N eight N B.

That's N as in Nancy for M two Q. All right. We got one more life advice. There's another one that you sent me, Kyle, that I can't seem to find. So I'm going to read this one instead. Um,

cause I'm not going to search for it forever here and people got stuff to do. Okay, here we go. Uh, love the show. Been listening before, uh, SVP kept Kevin Durant off his top five small forward list. That was, uh, that was an unbelievable show. Been listening before SVP kept Kevin Durant off his top five small forward list.

That was an unbelievable show. We all decided to do summer content, and we ranked the top five players at each position in the NBA, and we did it over the course of a week. It was when it was Adams, Abaka, Durant, Westbrook, maybe Robertson. I don't remember. But it was comical because he left Durant off of his top five small forward. And Durant's like his favorite player. You know, DC guy.

Similar game on and off the court. But Stanford Steve and I were giddy. Like, okay, let him go first. We're like, did you see his card? We're like, no, he left Durant off of it. Oh my God. And then like Scott would look up. He had a good sense.

He's like, what's going on? Like, nothing's going on. Shut up. Stop looking at us. And then like I was, sometimes I have a great poker face and then sometimes I have none. And I was like, he just look and be like,

what? I'd be like, nothing. Just do your forward list. Just do your small forwards. Tell us who your top five are. Tell us who the best ones are. And then he does it.

And we just start dying, laughing. And, um, Scott's like, what? We're like Durant. He's like, Durant's a power forward.

Like Serge Ibaka. He's like, Oh, so there you go. All right. Back to our email here i'm in a bit of a predicament 29 years old between miami and new jersey for work started dating a co-worker of mine about a year and a half ago i know don't poop where you eat but i did she's in

a different department but still in sales so we do have to coexist uh things are starting to get pretty rocky now we disagree on literally everything on the planet from politics to sports to religion, you name it, the political relationships. I don't know what's taken down more relationships, COVID or this presidential election. Um, because a lot of people are just,

I've had people that just go, I'm not friends with this person anymore, strictly because of who they're supporting for president. And you're like, wow, but that's happening. Now people, people are hot out there right now walking around.

All right, how can I break things off without having an impact on the job and the office life as it is? I've tried several times and no success and it seems easier to stay in it rather than have to deal with seeing the person you just broke up with every day of the week in the workplace.

We've both been relatively successful since we started dating. So really no way either of us would be fired and let go. I've worked my way up the ladder four or five years at this point so not just a career i can leave to avoid a bad situation any suggestions thanks man keep up the awesome podcast okay thank you for the note all right a few rules here i know everybody always says to like don't date from work um i did it and it was great when we dated and it was really not great when we weren't but we weren't ever really running into each other all that much we could go long stretches without ever seeing any buddy it was just it's always just a little tough because you know you would an athlete would roll

by and be like who's that girl over there and i'd be like oh sweet i remember van peloy and like no no no no no yeah yeah no she's cool because he was like trying to cut off the guy talking about it further and as i was sitting there just dying slowly on the inside um but you know and sony i think it even said to me after the fact like you know you should have done this and the thing that always pissed me off about it was like if she had asked you out all hundred of you would have asked her out and some of you already did anyway so when the attractive girl at work wants to date you guess what rule goes out the fucking window uh the window of oh you shouldn't date and by the way we were both like part-time employees and we lived in the same apartment building which is where we met

anyway and then it was like oh yeah that's right we both work in the same place so again when it didn't go great it wasn't a very good time everything has since been reconciled so everybody's fine everybody's having a great time uh shout out to uh family guy i always love that time we're like hey what's going on at this party oh everybody's having a great time so it it was fine but you know we used to get after steve phillips was the horniest man in america we had to have this this sit down with all of us where it was like don't date don't date anybody stop dating and a bunch of people were looking at me and i was kind of like you guys fuck off like again i don, I don't, I'm not even a full-time employee. And you know, again, I already know half of you guys in this room tried. So like

you could, you could look the other fucking way. All right. So this isn't really about the email anymore and it's starting to be more about me. So we're going to slow down. We're going to dial that back a little bit. But what I'm kind of telling you as I say all that is don't feel bad about it. Okay. Because if you were attracted to somebody and it happened, yes, there are times when you're like absolutely in the same department or it's a direct report one way or the other and get a little dicey. I'm not telling you it's always cool because it isn't, but I'm a reality-based person. Okay. I deal in reality. The reality is if two people are going to want to start hanging out they're probably going to start wanting to hang out um as far as the difficult part of this don't stay in the relationship because you like this is nuts this is tom wamskam did you make a glider out of

a caesar salad ha um where he says to shiv where he's, I can't tell if the sad that I feel. I don't want to screw this line up. But essentially, he's saying. It was a good one. Yeah, I'm just watching it the other night. I think I just talked about it. I think I love this line from Succession so freaking much. It's perfectly, perfectly delivered by Tom.

But he's sitting there and he's talking to Shiv. And he just says he's not happy. And he's such a good actor. And he just says, I can't tell if the sad that I would feel without you would be worse than the sad that I feel now that I'm with you. And I was like, wow. And I didn't do it perfectly, but that's the point. This sounds like it's a bummer either way. And you're not even married to the person. So look, man, don't date somebody that you're miserable with because of the work part.

So you're asking me to of the work part. So you're asking me to pick the two miserables. At least when you're miserable at work because of the awkwardness, it's going to go away. It's just going to go away. And you're going to have to hope you can both be adults about it and go, hey, look, we both love our jobs. We both love our careers. We're proud of what we've done. This isn't working. And now it's going to be awkward. And that's the price that we have to pay for the part that we wanted to engage in. And we have to both suck this up and be adults. It doesn't always happen that way, obviously. But I'd rather have that a million times over than actually having to go home to the person.

You already can't stand her at work because you can't stand her. So why are you going to then go home and not be able to stand her? So basically what we've done is I've shaved off 12 hours of resentment. Boom. Done. Have a great weekend, everybody. Please subscribe, rate, and review to the Ryan Russolo podcast

on the Ringer Podcast Network. And make sure you check out all the other podcasts that we have going on. We've got a million new things that we've launched that have been really, really cool. So check those out as well. Enjoy the basketball. Thank you.