The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Teams That Can Win the West. Plus, Chris Long on Darnold to the Panthers and This Week on the Internet.

Episode Date: April 8, 2021

Russillo shares his thoughts on teams he can see winning the Western Conference finals (2:20) before talking with two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Long of Chalk Media and the 'Green Light' podcast about some internet highlights, NFL free agency, what it’s like being the “new guy” in the locker room, Sam Darnold on the Panthers, and more (19:00). Finally, Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (59:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

that's something you do every couple days in new england i can remember the first day um we're having our first one-on-one tackling drill and you know like dudes line each other up in a line and you count and it's basically like you know two lines as you can imagine the pylon and you can only make one cut and we're like five, seven yards apart. So this is a drill I haven't done in a while. And you know, that's okay. It's just about willingness. But as the line dwindles down, I'm triangulating and I'm noticing I could get LeGarrette Blunt or I could get James Devlin and LeGarrette Blunt and I are buddies already. So I'm like, this is almost going to be like a, you know,

a brother-in-law thing. Next thing you know, Marty Bennett cuts me in line, just cuts me in line so he can line up with, uh, with somebody. And I ended up with Devlin. Um, and when I tell you that that guy fucked my neck up so bad, like the third day of practice, I was reconsidering my choice. It was not great. Okay, excited.

Got a great podcast for you today. NBA 10 Minutes or Less. Life advice. But more importantly, Chris Long talking football, talking internet, man. What's going out in the worldwide web? Chris Long of the Greenlight Podcast joins us for today's episode. We're going to start it with NBA 10 Minutes or Less. Suri, Kyle, you guys going to time this for me?

Probably. We all know what happens in that sense. On it. Okay, all right. Okay, so let's revisit some theories, kind of where we're at. All right, 20 games to go here, depending on which team you got.

Like, you know, look, we're just putting this together. We got the playoffs starting up in May. So I've now for a few years said I really think that the regular season is different than the postseason, but it's not 100% certainty, but it's also not 100% dismissive. So when I, I really think that the regular season is different than the post season, but it's not a hundred percent certainty, but it's also not a hundred percent dismissive. So when I look at the end of the regular seasons and try to figure up how

these matchups are going to play out, it's, it's a little bit more complicated. I think it could be a little misleading, but I'm still not a hundred percent sure of that. All right. What are you talking about? Ryan,

get to the point. All right. The point is this is that whenever the seating comes out one through eight, I'll look immediately at like the season series and i'll go through and i'll double check some box scores and make sure you know hey was somebody missing because there's going to be guys missing there could be a 3-0 regular season deal and you go okay but the three times we played them it was when this guy was out and this happened and all these different things so you could look at some of the season matchup records and talk yourself into an outcome when in fact, that is not a real reflection of what the two teams are

going to be once they're in the playoffs. And the point is, is that this season in particular, there's probably no better example of misleading results than this. Not saying like all these terrible teams have good records and all these great teams have bad records, but any given night, you can watch some teams going, what the hell is going on here? And we saw some stuff this weekend. We were like, my God, this is awful.

All right. And that's why I was so excited about Phoenix and Utah. Now Utah scored 40 points in the first half, which tied a season low, which matches actually the first half total they had in Phoenix and another loss against them. So looking at that matchup, despite the fact that Utah right now is the one seed,

I think there's just so much hesitation to be dismissive of the Lakers, which I'm with you. I don't want to be dismissive, but what I'm going to be is a lot more positive about multiple teams getting out of the West. I don't know why it seems impossible that Phoenix would come out of the West.

I don't. I'd say the same thing about Utah. The same thing with the Clippers, although there's some Paul George stuff in there, even though he went off the other night against Trailblazers. If you look at his restricted area finishing and the field goal percentage, it's way down before this foot-toe injury thing. I think he's had two dunks since the first injury part of it. He'd missed 13 games on the season, but he's had two dunks. He's not getting to the free throw line. The passing is terrific. We know the shooting is terrific with George. He had that big night again, but it's not a night to night thing. It's,

I need the real Paul George, which again, I'm not even quite sure who that is, but I need the better version of it than just a jump shooting guy that never gets to the free throw line anymore. But Canard has been better and man has been terrific for them. And this is even without a Baca, without Beverly. And as you mentioned, George missing, what, 13 games? And I think Kawhi's missed nine of the 50. So despite even seeing what the Clippers did last year and blowing the 3-1 lead to Denver, I'm not going to write them off.

And I wouldn't even write off Denver, even though I'd like to see them defend a little bit better for a longer stretch, because I think that's always been their downfall. But now I'm kind of the point where I think with today's game, I'd rather have elite offense and average defense than average offense and elite defense, even though we always for years have said, oh, defense carries, defense can help you. I don't know if defense can help you when another team's

pulling up from 27 feet and making shots. Now you could talk about running people off the three point line and contesting, but that shit gets tiring, man. It gets really tough to keep doing that, especially with playoff intensity over and over and over again. But then that brings me back to the other point where I've said now for years, whatever we see with some of these regular season teams that are reliant on one kind of offensive system, Milwaukee would be one, Houston would be another. But again, Milwaukee was only a couple games away from getting out of the East a few years ago, and Houston really probably should have beaten Golden State back when they had 65 regular season wins. So I'm not absolute on a lot of these things,

but I'm to the point where I'm just far more bullish on having five, maybe six teams that are potentially coming out of the West, and I'm not including Portland in that. And so I'll always have the Lakers in there, but this idea that it's Lakers are just going to roll. I think Phoenix is really good. And by the way, the Phoenix Utah matchup. You know, there's I'm not going to do regular season standings guy and just go, OK, well, look, Utah's got him twice. So if they excuse or excuse me, Phoenix has gotten Utah twice. So if they play in a seven game series, it's all going to be Phoenix.

But as much as jazz fans hate this stuff that Bill and I have brought up now for years, there are certain times where Gobert, despite his production and his impact, I mean, the Celtics played against Gobert and it's like they had never heard of him. They're like, why do you guys keep going up for it? Like stop in front of the rim and then think you're gonna up fake this guy like what the hell

are you guys doing and and they were terrible in their approach but i started to track it because i was like i want to see what chris paul does here late in a close game they went at go bear seven straight possessions and whether it was the first screen or a second screen and they do that a lot with chris paul where they'll start him on one side of the break on the three-point line. So he's outside of the three-point line. The break is kind of where it turns. Paul gets one screen to then get into a secondary screen where it's actually really Aiton trying to get a switch

so that Paul can go at Gobert. Now, again, as I tweeted out, Chris Paul on that short jumper one-on-one, it's not like Gobert's completely dropped. Some of these centers dropped back so far that that elbow jumper's there all fucking day in a regular season game. I'd imagine the playoffs, they would tighten that up a little bit. Gobert's not even dropped to the point where he's being lazy about it

or not being in position. And it's Paul who's one of the great mid-range finishers that we've ever seen. But as much as Jazz fans get mad and they're going to throw some stat out about how Gobert does statistically against other point guards, if NBA teams, the good ones, are like, hey, we want to make sure we get Gobert one-on-one for seven straight possessions for an important regular season game, that should tell you something. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And by the way, it didn't work every time, but it's what they

preferred to do. Their preference was that, Other than a couple of times they had Mitchell and Booker one-on-one later, but they went seven straight possessions with it. And then they ran a one-four flat with Booker and Booker missed a really nice floater. And then Booker got Mitchell a couple of times and they took Mitchell off of Booker and put O'Neal on him. On the other end, Mitchell took 35 shots last night. Donovan Mitchell is borderline in the MVP conversation. He's been terrific. The,

the spike in production, the metrics on him from last year to this year, he is now getting kind of into that superstar status, but I looked at it. He's about 20 shots a game. He's just outside of top 10 at five shots per game in the fourth quarter, but he'll have moments like he had against Philadelphia and trying to prove something against Ben Simmons. I think he was trying to prove something against, um, against Booker,

but I don't want to make this a negative Utah thing because they lost an overtime game against Phoenix at Phoenix, because I think they're right there with them. And Mitchell, by the way, is the guy that hits the ridiculous transition three to send it to overtime in the first place. But there is something with Mitchell where it's like I'm gonna prove it I think he was trying to do it against Ben Simmons and I think he tried to do it again against Booker and yeah I guess this last one is gonna feel a little negative for jazz fans Gobert's gotta chill out on the I am I dead movements he got kind of in the head last night and then he just face floor like just

cuddling with the hardwood and everybody stops and then they wanted to bring him to the concussion protocol and he's like, I'm fine. I'm good. I'm good. And credit to Mark Jackson who was like, man, you milked it. You were on the floor. Like now everybody wants to check you out and now you can't just go right back into the game.

Like we got to figure this out. now you just you can't just go right back in the game like we're gonna figure this out gobert's terrific but yeah i mean there's a bunch of guys lebron has done it forever it just gets tiring now lebron doesn't do it as much as he used to but lebron used to check for for blood 20 20 times a game 20 times a game he would he would rub the tank to the forehead and be like where's the blood blood? All right, the blood's not there. I guess we're good and keep playing. And Rudy has a little of that in him. But, you know, it feels like a West right now where I could talk myself into a bunch of teams and I can't tell if I'm making a mistake having an open mind or if I'd be making a bigger mistake just saying,

oh, whatever, once it's LeBron and AD, all those teams are toast. Because those are good basketball teams. At least that's what I think based on this regular season. Time? Almost eight and a half minutes. Yeah, it felt a little quicker. Felt a little quicker on my end.

Good job. So Rudy, do you have anything to chat? Have you watched Aaron Gordon light it up now? How's that feel? It's not terribly surprising. I don't root against the guy either. it's not terribly surprising. It isn't. I don't root against the guy either. I'm happy for him, man.

Like, I don't, it's okay. The idea that, the reason he's wearing 50 kind of bothered me because I'm like, all right, dude. Because remember, whenever he came into the league and he was like, I'm wearing double zero because I want to open everyone's eyes, right? It was like, okay, well, that seems kind of lame. And then now it's, oh, I'm wearing 50

because, you know, I've had more 50s than any dunk contest guy. I don't like that part of Aaron Gordon's game. But listen, he's a perfect fit in Denver. I'm happy for him. I'm happy for the Nuggets because it makes things more interesting out west. So what's up? I wanted to ask you about your boy Chris Paul, though. Yeah.

I kind of feel like the anti-Chris Paul thing, if you're still doing that now, that's a you problem. Yeah. But I do feel like the last two teams he's played on, because he played in OKC and now he's playing on a Phoenix team that's much more likable, I feel like he's sort of overcome the Rockets and certainly the Clippers days where everyone was like, oh, Chris Paul sucks and I can't stand watching him. He's a terrible watch.

Where now I think everybody kind of likes Chris Paul again. People definitely like him more now. I mean, there was some stuff going around um the other day that people were linking me to because they knew what a huge chris paul fan i was about i mean look it was just some random that was trying to i i don't even know uh if it were real if it was real or not but i remember years and years ago even with clippers uh paul was still on the clippers and i tweeted out something like i can imagine trusting thinking you trust westbrook more in a final possession than you do chris paul and you know back then when paul obviously was was on the clippers i

said and westbrook was on the thunder like thunder fans get really pissy man um thunder fans don't get enough credit for how pissy they get about stuff. I'm serious. I think they're like top five most infuriated, like immediately mad fan bases that are out there. And, you know, by the way, I'd be mad if I were a Thunder fan too when I hear people talk about,

like now that Harden and Durant are together again, they're like, you know, never should have happened. Those guys should have played together forever. Now I do think despite how great Presti is as a GM, they made a mistake, and that's probably more in ownership than it was in the front office, but they made a mistake just not stepping up and figuring out a way to keep Harden. But I can't imagine Harden was going to be happy staying in that role. Durant didn't like playing with Westbrook. Westbrook sucks to play with. Watching the Wizards' young players try to develop while they watch Westbrook. Westbrook sucks to play with. Watching the Wizards young players try to develop while they watch Westbrook just drive at will, and then he decides at the last minute if he can't get the layup to just throw it to you. Westbrook is arguably the worst player to have on your team

if you're trying to develop other guys around it. It sucks. I don't even think it's an argument. I actually wouldn't talk to somebody. If a stranger said, hey, I want to tell you why Westbrook's better than Chris Paul. I'd be like, well, tell somebody else. I'm going to keep walking. Cause I just, I'm not going to hear it.

The Clipper thing though, you know, Paul, the three, one lead to Houston's terrible. And, you know, Paul's got what the two turnovers in that thunder series,

what Westbrook fans would, would point to. Um, but you know, a handful of playoff games versus a career and seeing that every time Paul's on a different team, how could you be... I guess I would just put it this way. Thunder fans, when you saw Paul running your team with very limited talent around it last year, did you have moments where you were like, oh, okay, this is what it's supposed to look like?

I actually trust this guy a lot more. I imagine a lot of you came around to that. And I know that you're not watching the other guy, and you're sticking up for your guy. And Westbrook was somebody who kept the money. After Durant left, Westbrook took the extension and was like, this is my place. And you guys backed him. You got the triple-double. You got the MVP.

And he became your guy because you're still bitter about Durant leaving, which I totally understand. And I understood the propping up of Westbrook. But anyone with any basketball sense whatsoever watching just how teams operate, thinking that you would rather have Westbrook than Paul, that'd be like a doomsday guy coming up to me and being like, hey, you're all going to die Tuesday. I'd be like, okay, but if you're wrong, what?

I wouldn't even get to that point with him. Yeah, I would agree. I think Paul has become much more likable. I don't know that it's that different, but when he shows up to a team, your team is better. It's that simple. You guys win more. Everywhere he's been, better winning percentage.

By the way, Thunder fans, Napoleon Complex, they have big 5-7 guy energy, I kind of feel like. Whereas they're a smaller market, so they're just going to be louder and more angry all the time for no reason. I just kind of feel like that's what Thunder fans are. And it's not even like a knock. I get it. It sounds like a knock a little bit.

No, listen, I like the Thunder. I like Presti. Obviously, they've put together some great teams and the fans show out. They have one of the best home court advantages there is, when things are rolling. But there's some 5'7 guy energy there. So you're saying the average height, if we went city by city, all 30 cities,

you're telling me Oklahoma City is going to come in on the shorter end? Like they're closer to 30 than they are 15? Yeah, I mean, Utah is probably there as well. The Lakers are 6'4 guy, chiseled jawline. They're fine. Yeah, but they're mad. They're mad all the time. I would say the angriest fan

bases it's utah it's oklahoma city it's toronto and before i dealt with all my shit in the lowry toronto thing they were always really really nasty because you know labeling is a really weird thing. Whenever Toronto is criticized, like here's an example. If I do a talk show and it sucks, people go, hey, that guy sucks. All right. It's pretty, pretty simple. I'm a white male from the United States. But if I were a female and people didn't like the show, then people would say something nastier and being like, oh, this female sucks. They'd make it specific to her gender as opposed to where me, it's just I suck, right? And that in a way is like, okay, we can label it this way. And that's why Toronto fans for years, whenever they feel slighted, they feel slighted strictly because it's a Canadian market team.

And you're like, okay, but if that were true, does that mean that we're just way nicer and non-critical of the American teams? Because that's ridiculous. And as soon as you bring up that next example, it's kind of like what will happen sometimes on social media where it's like, okay, women deal with way worse shit than guys. But I mean, I get called stuff every single day, but no one cares. And I'm not asking, hey, pay more attention to me, feel bad for me because this stuff is happening. And the whole point of it is Toronto fans, oh, you guys are just saying this because we're Canadian. If that were true, then the opposite would be true,

that we'd always be really supportive of all the other cities because that's not what's happening, right? So Toronto fans have always taken it personally because they think it's a geography deal. But in reality, it was, no, you guys sucked in the playoffs all those years. Except for the one where you made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and you really weren't that good losing 4-2 to Cleveland. You know him from Season 2 of Home Improvement. movement and and also uh he is he's a backup host for i am athlete podcast he's hoping to get uh he's hoping i was wondering when they were gonna call me

yeah what's the story on that chris long joins us i don't know i'm an athlete uh i know that there are guaranteed contracts i feel like uh maybe there's a space for me on that show that was an interesting thing from the internet this weekend um watching brandon marshall for those you don't know screaming at chad ochocinco and uh was it channing crowder yeah linebacker there he's great i love you like channing right i I love Channing on that show. And then, you know, I said this, we said this offline. And listen, it's clicks are clicks. But I do think Brandon Marshall deserves a little bit of credit for just saying like, yeah, don't cut that. Let's just go with that.

I saw that argument. I don't know. Can we at least start with, hey, you're, you're like unbelievably wrong first before we rush to be like, great job, dude. No. Yeah. You're right. You're right. But I'm not looking, I'm not, he's not Brian wind force. So I mean, yeah, but he was, he was pretty passionate about, he said, basically for those that missed it, Brandon Marshall starts screaming at these other two guys about contracts. And he was like, they were like in the NBA, they're guaranteed contracts. And Brandon gets up and starts screaming at dudes.

He's like, no. And Brandon's a big guy. He's like, it's only, he's like, look it up. He's like, it's only like four guys that get guaranteed money. And then the rest are all non-guaranteed. And Chad, like zero emotion out of him was like, you're wrong. Yeah. Chad, Chad, Chad's blood pressure doesn't raise a lot on that show. And, and you know what? Like usually when I see somebody, you know, dying on a Hill,

I'm so intimidated by the prospect that they could be right that I'm like, Oh, let me, let me hear the argument out. Like I was watching that the first time and I was like, yeah, he's wrong. Like, and I give everybody the benefit of the doubt he was wrong now what the NFL PA would do is what they would push back is DeMora Smith did this with me where I think there could be guaranteed NFL contracts they would just be structured differently you wouldn't have the fake years the bonuses may change the guys at the top would still make money I think it could be possible and I just it's just weird math that your league loves doing but whenever I brought it up to DeM And I just, it's just weird math that your league loves doing.

But whenever I brought it up to DeMora Smith, he would be like, well, we don't have the end. He's going with the brand of Marshall. He'd be like the NBA. No, but he would say they don't have guaranteed contracts in the CBA. And you would say, okay, you're right. And yes, there are NBA contracts where the fourth year, third year isn't fully guaranteed or it's partially guaranteed. And then of course we get into options, all these different things. But I think if we were just being honest about what it is in one league versus the other ones, they're far more guaranteed, even if the language, even if you can get away with a semantics argument.

That's what Brandon Marshall should have gone with. He should have gone with the semantics. But when he said, now it's only like four guys on a team, then none of the rest of the guys. And then Lou Williams is quote-t is quote tweeting it you big wrong i did that's the one tweet i saw and i was like oh shit come on i was gonna have brandon on and i did i share this with you should i just do this story tell the story i was gonna ask you to tell the story today this is a perfect day to tell the story okay so i. So I've never told the story on the pod because I probably wouldn't.

And I don't want anybody to get bummed out. It's one of the best stories I've heard in the last calendar year. Okay. Take it easy. It's not that great. But I was going to joke with you. It was like, well, we could have Brandon Marshall on and ask him about it. And then the joke would be like, didn't you think you already did?

Okay. Now, if some of you remember, we had Brandon Marshall on the linebacker and the way it was pitched to me was that it was Brandon Marshall, the wide receiver. So I get pitched just like you do. Anybody that does a pod, you're like, Hey, do you want this guy? Do you want this guy? Yes. Yes. No, no time for that. Whatever. I was like, yeah, I'll have Brandon Marshall on. I was like, he's always ripping Baker. That'd be kind of interesting. I've met him a couple of times. We had him in studio. He's a really personable guy, ton of energy, as you can see. I was like, absolutely. Let's do it.

So I go downstairs in the studio, I dial it up, pull up the zoom and it's Brandon Marshall. And I'm like, Hey, I'm not a Marshall. Yeah. I go, I go, I'm not losing my mind here, but that's not the Brandon Marshall that I was pitched. And that's the other one. And the best part is you, you, you were a good soldier though. Well, if you go back and listen to the interview and I'm just going to do this for the audience, because Hey, I appreciate you guys being here you can tell i'm not 100% sure what the hell's going on because i'm like okay so that's not the receiver that's the dude and luckily i just remember him as the broncos linebacker he turned his hips and run with you a little bit like he was he was a good linebacker there for a couple years but i didn't know what

he was up to so the first question yeah first question i was like so you know the season what's going on what'd you think and i'm I'm, I'm trying to go like, where the hell was he this past year? And that's the other thing is he wasn't with the team. He was in the Texans camp and then he had been with the Raiders. So then he was doing Raiders television. So he'd been out of the game for a year. And I feel bad when he ends up finding out about this, but I, I was luckily lesser podcast hosts would have, would have really fucked that up.

Dude, I'm not blowing smoke now that I'm doing this. And I've made some mistakes. I remember we talked about this here where I called and you've done it too. Matthew McConaughey, Matt, as soon as he got on the Zoom, felt like the whole interview got sunk, but it was terrific. Your save was exponentially more impressive. I mean, to turn on the Zoom and be like, huh? And then on top of that,

I'm just telling you, dude, at my age, people I know that are around my age still in the league, I'm always afraid to assume I know where they're playing. In the NFL, towards the end of your career, if you're bouncing around, it's almost like when you text a buddy

for the first time in a year, you should tell them what team you're on because I don't know what to ask you. So you were in that situation times a thousand and you stuck the landing. The first two, three minutes of that interview, and if you want to go back, you can listen to it. It'll be funny.

This will go to like top 10 in the episode rankings oh dude i think i was just thinking that this is a great way to uh to just boost the hell out of that episode it's going to be randomly top five on the charts which i know we look at all the time yeah that would be little easter eggs you just put him in in different pods you tell people a year later like actually this is what i was doing here so when i sat down i went that's not him and i go i yep i go that's the linebacker and i i was just like i have no idea where he's playing none i go i don't even think he's playing and then i was like okay he's been in the camp so i'm sitting there stalling trying to research what his career has been up to um where his career has been hey

what has your career been up to i know the phrasing of that sentence in itself wasn't all that spectacular because i said it out loud hey man like listen and then and then uh the best part was you told me this you guys hit it off and you really great you were like man i'd love to have him back a hundred times so brandon marsh, sorry, not guaranteed contract Brandon Marshall, but the linebacker, very underrated player. Okay, the reason that's funny is because the other internet piece was Bruce Campbell supposedly getting his ass kicked at Walmart, and then you knew him.

So take us through your side of that story. Well, so we had audio problems the other day, and you know how it is when you have audio problems. I think one time we had audio problems. What, in New Orleans did we had audio problems the other day and you know how it is when you have audio problems i think one time we had audio problems what in new orleans did we have audio problems yeah the task cam was set to like open mic so it was just like listening to two guys two guys talking a hotel room in the background and we thought we were taping we were hungover half drunk for four days in new orleans you're never sober um and we had to shoot this pod in Ryan's hotel room. And I think you felt bad about the fact

that we even had to do it. But then you felt really bad when the audio got disrupted. Because you went to a thing. You went to like a deal. You went to a thing for life. Oh, yeah. I was on a steamboat.

Like, you know, like when you text me, like, dude, can you come back? I had to get off a steamboat to redo the podcast. So the other day, I always just feel bad. I feel mortified when I fuck up the audio. And Jimmy Trena came on, and we were talking about baseball, and I lost

half of it. So I felt like that pressure to get something good. Now, it just hit me. I was like, I used to play against Bruce Campbell, Maryland guy. I remember him. They had huge tackles back in the day. Bruce Campbell, Jared Gaither, a couple other guys. I'm forgetting their names, but I just took a swing at it because I saw Bruce Campbell who was viral. And this is 7pm or 6pm that I direct message him. He tweeted and cleared the air from an unverified account that was clearly his.

You can tell when it's a former player, but they're unverified. And nobody picked it up, of course, because good news doesn't sell. So I'm like, man, I want to retweet this guy. And also, it'd be fucking sick if I could get him on the show just for five minutes. So I DM him. He's like, yeah, man, let me put the kids down. And I'm like, great. So he calls me.

He hasn't been interviewed in a while. It's just me and a dude I played against kind of catching up for five minutes. And I didn't want to put too much pressure on him. But you could tell he wanted to clear the air. Because in that tweet, the last couple sentences were, my hands are certified. Not only was it not me, but my hands are certified,

which means he can really fight. And that was the word from Torrey Smith as well, that Bruce Campbell literally has like heavyweight boxer hands, soft spoken guy, but will kick your ass. So honestly, what's come out of this is me and Bruce Campbell haven't spoken in years, like in years. We never spoke off the field. Now we're talking about, Hey, I'm going to come down there. You can take me hunting, like come up here. We can, we can, we can, it's almost Turkey season, like as we speak. So I got a new friend, we got some great content and some good laughs. What did he say about his ability? Cause that's going to be the worst part. You wake up, you're trending. So then that's horrifying to be the worst part you wake up you're trending so then that's horrifying and then you're like are you more relieved that it's not you are you more

pissed off that now the entire country thinks i got my ass handed to me by a guy at the store well i think the i think you're i think it's i i don't even know that's why i asked him i said like how was your day like when you wake up and you're... The only other time you have that many text messages is after a game. And if you're an offensive lineman, usually it's not good if you have that many text messages or that many people are talking about you rather on the internet. somebody had to hook him up and not that everybody's listening to our podcast but i wanted to do a little you know throw him a bone and we in the funniest line he he had was you know i had a buddy this is my favorite text he goes uh my buddy knew it wasn't me because i'm a target guy um and the big guy that fell flat on his face got his ass kicked in walmart the two most terrifying things in the world would be a video of you getting your ass kicked or a leaked, you know what, that is not a great angle or doesn't, you know, that you want to do over. Yeah.

No, I hear what you're saying. Bad angle, cold weather. That happened to your brother. Was it a bad angle or is it that? I don't know, dude. The problem for Kyle is that. I don't know, dude. The problem for Kyle is that... I don't keep up with that. Yeah, but see, I think...

Let's just put it this way. There's a science behind... If you're a 315-pound guy, there's depth perception, there's ratios. Depth perception is a hell of a thing. That's a nightmare, needless to say. I mean, the night that I was going to bed, and this is like my first football season out.

And not only do I have a podcast now, so I'm like, oh, I have to speak on things. But Kyle is going through a lot at this juncture in Chicago. And I know he's on edge. And the last thing he needs is this. And I'm going to sleep and my phone starts blowing up and I read a's on edge. And the last thing he needs is this. And I'm going to sleep and my phone starts blowing up and I read a text message from PFT, a text message from PFT. And he's like, dude, your brother trending. And I'm like, oh no, everything is running through

my head. I get out of bed, go plug the phone in because I don't want to wake Meg up. We have a little kid. And when I tell you my heart sunk because he had to experience that nightmare it's one of the hardest nights of my life my adult life honestly and i'm not exaggerating that's my little brother he's gonna script that better though he's gonna say hey your your brothers you know what was hanging out in the background. And now because of that, he's trending. You've got to set up why you can't just say, Hey, your brother's trending. Oh, I didn't. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I didn't ask. I was just worried. I just had to go like Twitter was going to tell me sooner than PFT could. Um, and then he ends up on like dead spin and all these sites that are like, Oh, we're just posting some, some porn here. No big deal.

You know, like, let me link it. That pissed me off a little bit. That surprised me because Deadspin is kind of rebranding themselves. I'm surprised they would do that where somebody was vulnerable. Yeah, I was surprised as well. Let's talk about the end for you and coming into camp and free agency and all that kind of stuff. What was it like being the new guy for the first time after forever?

Let's start in New England. It's so weird in New England. It's hard because you're also trying to prove yourself like on a level of the Patriot way, all that stuff you hear, you've got celebrities in your locker room. You're just a nobody, you know?

Um, and that was kind of nice, though. If you've been the guy for a long time, it's like your first opportunity to blend in and kind of reprove yourself with lower expectations. So I think that was cool. And New England was a culture shock. Not in a way that I couldn't handle it, but their camps are different. They don't practice fast, um you know their their camps are different you know they don't practice fast but they practice physical whereas like when i was in st louis we were physical um but we didn't we didn't do as much like two spot or oklahoma or like one-on-one tackle like that's something you do every couple days in new england i can remember the first day um we're having our first one-on-one tackling drill

and you know like dudes line each other up in a line and you count. And it's basically like two lines, as you can imagine, the pylon. And you can only make one cut and we're like five, seven yards apart. So this is a drill I haven't done in a while. And that's okay. It's just about willingness. But as the line dwindles down, I'm triangulating. And I'm noticing I could get LeGarrette Blunt

or I could get James Devlin. And LeGarrette Blunt and I are buddies already. So I'm like, this is almost going to be like a brother-in-law thing. Next thing you know, Marty Bennett cuts me in line. Just cuts me in line so he can line up with, uh, with somebody. And I end up with Devlin. Um, and when I tell you that that guy fucked my neck up so bad, like the third day of practice, I was reconsidering my choice. Uh, it was, it was not great. The biggest adjustment though is off the field. It's just being a, being a regular guy. You're not the guy anymore. And I think that can be nice.

What do you mean? Just because you were the guy in St. Louis, you brought in your high pick, big investment. I mean, did that... And the team didn't do that well. So, I mean, did that... It always felt like you loved St. Louis and you never got any shit from anybody

despite the fact that things... I'm not even saying for you in particular, but for the organization, didn't work out as you were a main guy. I think St. Louis fans, if any of your listeners were like Rams fans back in the day, we're conditioned to like, listen,

that was a terrible 10, 15 year stretch there before the move, like really bad. Go look at those records, go look at those teams. And the organization was in disarray. And the best of the best for st louis fans was jeff fisher and i love fish but we couldn't get over the hump you know seven to nine all the jokes um right so i think as a as a player in st louis and the nice thing about it was like did people didn't crowd your locker on monday like

the media wasn't as rough as it was on the East Coast and that sort of thing. But the fans also got that like, listen, we're going to level set our expectations on effort and individual performance. And if we spend every Sunday lamenting not only the team, but the players on the team, we're going to have nothing to cheer for. And I really think St. Louis fans

being a little bit more patient and understanding guys like James Laronitis, Robert Quinn, obviously Steven Jackson, who was, in my opinion, you have to at least make a case for Hall of Fame. I know he probably won't end up there. All those guys wasted a long, long time in losing. So that was a tough period man and i still feel like i'm i'm bittersweet because i love that place so much but i feel like you know in a football sense maybe i wasted eight years you know and that sucks because when you get drafted somewhere you just play the best you can and then they re you up and pay you and then next thing you know you're there a decade and uh you didn't win so i feel bad for guys that didn't have the opportunity i had on the back end everybody's like oh, Chris deserved it. Or, you know, some other player deserved it. There's a hundred guys that deserved it just as much as me to go win.

How funny is it realizing how, like, when you were moving on to New England or Philadelphia, how little, like, just other younger dudes knew anything about you? It's funny, man. You know, I kind of liked it. You know, a lot of people were like... The funniest shit was always... We'd be sitting somewhere and my dad would come on and me and Lane would bust my balls about my dad's Skechers commercial or something. Just the way me and Lane would go back and forth in the lunchroom. And then a young kid without fail every time would be like, that's your dad?

So I just felt like it was a cool new era of, all right, not only am I a vet, but I'm also a little bit anonymous. Where I was good, maybe if I played in New York, a lot of these kids would have heard of me. But it's 50-50. Who the fuck is this old guy that looks like he lives in a camper van? guy that looks like he lives in a camper van. That was a different experience for me. So I molded the way I tried to lead a little bit differently. Because that's another thing. When you're on a good team, and you're the guy and you're a leader, you lead one way. And when you're a veteran, and you have to prove yourself, you're like the old guy at the bar that's got to beat somebody up before everybody's like, oh, that guy had it at one point.

You can't walk in and just start talking. So that's the difference, the biggest difference. Yeah, bad leadership is worse than no leadership. And I know that sounds really simple, but I absolutely always hated the guy that, and I'm not trying to compare experiences here, but the guy that you were like, oh, that guy wants to be seen as the guy that and I'm not sure kind of compare experiences here but the guy that you're like oh that guy wants to be seen as like the guy and whenever when you're exposed and it's just fake and the motivations behind it it's way worse trying to do that than just fucking never saying anything and guys pick that up you know those guys that and I don't have anybody in mind I'm saying because it's just prevalent enough that I use in this. Yeah. But you told me Brewski like off the air.

No, they were not on the same team together. Fuck you. That guy is, by the way, I said that because he's the opposite of that. He's the best. Didn't you,

didn't you tell me he's got like just the best storytelling ability he has, you know, Brewski was weird at first cause no one could kind of figure them out. Right. And, um, this is a funny story. This is a funny story. For whatever reason, he and I hit it off very early. And other shows were like, ah, we don't really know what to do with Bruschi, you know, the Patriot thing.

He doesn't sit. And then I was like, I'm just going to have him come in. And we'd talk and we'd get excited in the hallway. And then I'd have him in. And people were like, in the talent department, were like, we don going to have him come in and we'd talk and we'd get excited in the hallway. And then I have been, and people were like in the talent department, we were like, well, I don't know what it is, but every time Brewski is on with you, it's the best version of Brewski. Like he's awesome. So then Brewski and I, once we're hanging out and he could be like, Hey, what's with that show, the show before your show. And it was Levittard show. And I go, I go, well, you know, it's, it's different because they asked me. And he's like, Bruschi's so intense, too.

He's very intense. Like, there's a switch there, and I don't care. Like, it is there with him forever. And he's got, like, a backpack in his hand. He's looking at me kind of sideways. And he's like, those guys asked me about wiping my ass? They asked me about how I wipe my ass? What is with that show?

I was like, hey, Teddy, TV is different than what you play, man. Like, I don't know if you've been watching all these shows, but we run out of shit to talk about. I was like, you told me he was low-key funny. I knew it because I, like, met him a couple times. And just kind of like, if you follow him on TV, he'll make a joke that's next level and people won't pick it up. He's very dry. Right.

But that's the case with a lot of New England guys, man. New England is the no fun place, right? Is that true? Part of that thing. No. New England had some... I had some of the most fun in the world

with my teammates in New England. There were things I didn't like about New England, but they have nothing to do with what's usually talked about. It's fun to win, dude. If you go to New England, you know why you're going to New England. These days, I'm not sure, but with what they did in free agency, at least you have some excitement up there. But there are all types of dudes there that just get a rap for being boring New England guys who are behind the scenes, the most fun guys I've ever played

with. Okay, so when guys were up free agency, did people reach out to you? What do you mean? Hey, what's New England? What's really the deal up there? I don't want to make this all about New England, but what's that conversation like? I kind of have to ask the follow up even though we're boys but when you say like hey the things that are fun there are not the

like it's fun to win the things I didn't like are different from the things that like so I have to ask the follow yeah so I so yeah so I so Bo Allen called me about New England I told him he'd be perfect I mean and unfortunately Bo got hurt so he didn't get to play a lot this year but if Bo was healthy that was like the perfect place for him there's just guys that you know wouldn't like personality wise and probably they wouldn't be in talks with Bill anyways in free agency because Bill's not going to bother with people that he thinks is a fucking like weirdo or somebody lame like I really do think like certain things just turn Bill off

to where he's like, I'm not even considering the player. You know what I mean? But Bo would be perfect. The stuff I didn't like about New England, I'll start here. It's very bright early in the morning in the summer. I didn't have curtains when I first got there. When you first move somewhere

and first impressions are important, you think maybe I'll sleep till 7 a.m. The birds are out at 4.30 in New England in the summertime. Was that a problem for you on the vineyard? Look, the vineyard problem always revolved around no highway if I want to get out of here. So the bird... Oh yeah, that's tough.

It's like shut around. When you're in your 20s and you go i may not get off i missed red sox games because i couldn't get off standby so i always i wasn't thinking about birds but i hear what you're saying it does i didn't like the birds okay that's not the most important part i didn't like the fact that it got dark super early in the summer or in the in the winter you know everybody says oh it's the coldest place in the world. It's like fucking north of the wall, that stuff. It's cold, dude. But the trying thing is the sun going down at four o'clock and no windows in the building. If they ever asked me, what can we do to improve our building? Not that they would ever

give a shit. Maybe put a couple of windows in there just so guys can look outside while we're studying football. Another thing I didn't love was, and this was okay because the scheme wasn't on trial. I'm on trial. Scheme didn't work for me. That's why I left. I've said that 100 times. They lift weights hard, dude. They lift weights hard.

And at times where I was not into lifting weights um because i was into recovering so there were a lot of different things that that that i hadn't experienced before including the sunlight deprivation and then like at times the the blinding white light into your your window um but but i love the place best teammates ever and uh really really cool fans they annoy me on Twitter sometimes. I take Patriots Twitter is not as good as the fan base. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Okay, so we go back to St. Louis, though. You'd be going through different quarterbacks. What's that like in the building? Say if you're the Panthers right now and you've got Darnold,

and I'll tell you, I still hold out a little hope for Darnold, but I'm blown away by the positive support for Darnold, which I think blown away by the positive support for Darnold, which I think is really more of a product of being anti-Mets. It's kind of like when people get mad at something in baseball, or the NCAA is a good example of it. The NCAA does something, and they're like, okay, but I don't really want to have to defend. I don't want to have to defend the NCAA. I don't have to defend Mark Emmert.

Then it's like, okay, well, this is how this conversation is playing out in public. And the same thing is happening with Darnold now, where I'm not even sure if it's people that are Darnold fans as much as it is. They hate the Jets and think that that's why he has a second chance. So give me your Darnold thoughts, but also what it's like when you're a vet and it's like, okay, we get another guy now behind center that's supposed to save us here.

What's that vibe like in camp? I think if you're having that situation, you're either used to it or, you know, you just got done enjoying some prosperity with a guy who's been there a while. So guys hit the curveball. I mean, guys are so a team like Carolina, you weren't planning on winning a Super Bowl next year anyways. You come into every season and you're like, we're trying to win the whole damn thing. And you manufacture hope and you look

favorably upon your weaknesses and you kind of overlook them. You know, you look at it through Carolina Panthers' tinted glasses and I think that's what they'll do. They'll say, this kid could be different. I did see those throws on Twitter. Remember that throw when he threw it across his body on Twitter? Oh, man, that could happen. USC. I mean, like, and kind of what you hinted at, the Adam Gase factor. You know, like, I think people are just so like, automatically, the narrative is if you played under Adam Gase, you will be better elsewhere because of Ryan Tannehill. Ryan Tannehill put the nail in Adam Gase's coffin, as far as the court of public opinion. So I'm sorry as I meander around, but this is a two-part answer. Firstly, it's about Darnold.

It's about your reaction as a teammate to Darnold. It's about giving him the benefit of the doubt because of Gase. But also it's about maybe we think Teddy is a better player, which I do at this juncture. And I'm sure if you're in that locker room, knowing what you know about Teddy Bridgewater, he's a magnetic guy. So guys, football players are not great at sometimes separating the magnetism from the ceiling or what the team's trying to do. And that could probably be an issue. And for the record, I think if I'm Teddy Bridgewater, I'm pissed off. Now, on the Sam Darnold end of things, dude, I think your biggest fear, if you're a Carolina fan, is him playing really well under Joe Brady and you having to make a

decision about him long term and then Joe Brady leaving. And I think what we'll know this year, and I think this is an interesting angle with it, is we're going to know what Ryan Tannehill looks like without Arthur Smith in Tennessee. Now, that's not going to be an exact blueprint, but if Tannehill craters or regresses to the mean, you might look at Sam Darnold and say, well, beware because just because you sucked under Brady or under Gase doesn't guarantee him an excuse. I mean, you look at Tannehill, if he was only

good under Smith and regresses, that will concern them, I think. You might not think the dots connect, but for me, they do. Okay, last thought here. You know I like to give gifts and we were able to hook it up for you at tulum gym oh thank you we get you the camo tulum jungle gym hat and we're going to be sending

that out from the from the compound over here uh probably probably tomorrow tomorrow looks like a big mailer day for me just Just give me a tracking number. I'm going to be mashing that thing, you know, looking for this hat. It's a perfect fit for you. It's incredible. If you and Meg want any tips on how to do Tulum right,

let me know. Because I already did the whole airport exit thing. I did that on the pod earlier this week. So we're not going to do that with you here, but I just want to let you know, the hat is ready to go. And I'm just expecting you like, if somebody says, Hey, have you been to Tulum? And you go, you have to say like one day, man, one day, man. But honestly, I've been there and I love the place and I love Playa so much. And honestly, if you're going to give Meg any advice,

just be like, Hey, I got great advice. Chris, you just go alone like me. That's the best advice I can give you. I had a great trip. Chris, you just go alone. Because I love solo traveling. You can't do that anymore as a married guy.

Why don't you sign off on that? No, but I just like getting lost, man. I like the feeling of like, I'm just in this bar in a weird place and I'm just sitting there and I'm observing people and nobody knows who I am and I don't know who they are either. And it's just fun. And that's

how you travel. And Dan said it in the text message. Big Cat said it in the text message in the thread. He said there should be a book about Ryan Rosillo's solo travels. And I agree. Okay, but they weren't, they weren't, this one wasn't that exciting.

And they're getting less exciting as I get older here. But I, I was texting with, with Chris and big cat throughout the trip and where you might've thought like, Hey, does he not have any friends or what? But like,

I was just solo. The wifi was working when I'd be at the resort. So I'd catch you guys up, take pictures for you, have you be involved, be a part of it. But I was, you know, I'd go to dinner and I just kind of hang out.

But then I found this one weird spot that was like a local spot and there are no masks at this place. DJ booth. But basically every place in Tulum has a DJ booth, which is another thing that I found kind of interesting. As it should. That'd be great.

Like, what's your silo up to? He's DJing in Tulum and it's in pharmacy. I could totally see you doing that. I could totally see you doing that. I could totally see you doing that. You know, like the end of Silence of the Lambs where they zoom in and he's like in a random beach town. Was it the Keys?

And he's alone in a Hawaiian shirt. That's how I think about you. Besides like, I'm not insinuating that you're a murderer, but that's the way I think about you. And I think, you know, like I've heard stories about you in Jamaica DJing at a random bar. Not a lot of people have the balls to just DJ a random bar in Jamaica. And you've done that too. So there's nothing you can't do, man.

I'm very proud of you and your travels. Well, the dive, and I immediately thought of you so i immediately like got back because i i did a very relaxing reading deal worked out because i just i wanted i wanted just to kind of like not you know when you're younger you have those vacations where as soon as you get back you're like man i could really use some some downtime like no that's that's what that week was supposed to be you're like oh i don't like vacations dude. The pandemic has made me realize that I don't need them. That's not true. I don't believe that.

I don't believe that for one second. I think that's, I think that's, I don't want to get on the plane, dude. It comes down to what you sent us about your exit and how crazy it was getting out of the Tulum airport. And just like, I'm, I'm imagining, you know, being hung over going through that. There's nothing worse than hung over international morning flight. The second worst thing is hung over international evening flight where the gremlins start to creep in and you're feeling a little funny. But the first worst thing is what you tried to do.

But you told me you weren't banged up. So that made it a lot better. I just don't want to travel anymore. I can't imagine getting on a plane and dealing with people after a year of not dealing with people. Just ease into it. Maybe no international travel for you immediately but i found a spot dj there was just like little branches everywhere which tulum has a lot of like branches molded into artwork and i was like what's going on up here and they're like oh it's a club man you'll love it and it get up there and it was all locals and And I go, all right, I'll have a cerveza. And, you know, before it was, it wasn't even like 10 o'clock. And the guy pulls out like a 40 and goes, here you go.

I go, no, can I just get like one Modelo? I was like, I seriously, I'm just going back, going back to bed. I'm not on spring break. Yeah. I was like, I just want to take the vibe in here for a second. I know I look great. Thank you. But I just.

I'm just imagining you at dinner. I'm imagining you at dinner taking pictures of your shrimp that the guy brings you out, like, you know, like on a skewer with pineapple and stuff. And you're like, just smiling all alone, taking a picture and sending it to people. Well, I would only send it to you in Big Cat is the joke. So I don't, there was no shrimp dish that we took a picture of. of yeah there wasn't the the 40 was funny because then there was like a local guy just sitting on a stool with cigarette and he was like it's only two beers man so he's looking at me going what's wrong with you and i go no like i don't really feel like pounding a 40 before i go

to bed i was like i'm getting up whatever and he's like yeah he's like what and i go you guys don't have all like normal beer size like any beer you don't have like one normal size and the guy's looking at me like i'm the worst and i realized like yeah you gave up you they're like what is this guy doing are you like a businessman like you're here you're alone you're possibly over 40 possibly 40 oh yeah um i'm just tiptoeing around that. And you're not just wasted looking for like escorts or something. Like that's what I imagine most dudes over 40 solo in Tulum are doing. You're really their wholesome sightseeing dude. Like you're a wholesome traveler.

I'm going to the Tulum jungle gym today. Like check this out guys. Oh, I'm sightseeing. Look at like birdwatching. Like that's the type of thing you do on vacation. You don't do the cliche 40-year-old white guy on vacation shit. I've definitely done that, though. Let's not kid ourselves. More so recently,

it's been a little calmer. Yeah, you've cleaned it up. The altitude, though. There's no altitude in Tulum, which is nice. You don't get disoriented no that's good that's that's key well is that a play on words there no i don't even know what we're talking about anymore i think i do room keys oh room key yeah no no that wasn't i wasn't doing that but that's cool because it always comes full circle it up on

my pod did you ever clear it up on this pod real quick? Yeah, we've mentioned it. Okay, good. I just want to make sure because you're so resistant to bailing yourself out. I know. I know. I guess. I don't know.

But hey, make sure you check out Chris Long Greenlight Pod. The stuff is great. What? I'm always like, should they though? Fuck, dude. No, definitely. Check it out. And we'll promo it at the beginning too.

All right. All right. We're like the opening band for this. Don't come in with some big expectations. Shut up. It's really good. We're so low. If it was a concert.

The social production is terrific as well. So congrats on all that stuff. Thank you, bro. Now it's time for the State Farm. Surprisingly great segment of the week. Getting great car and home insurance from State Farm. Thank you, and State Farm's got a great one. In addition to agency award-winning mobile app, helps manage coverage, pay bills, file claims, and more with a great price and even greater service. State Farm goes from strength to strength.

Choosing insurance, it always brings us a game. When you want the real deal, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Our surprisingly great player of the week is Pat Fryermuth, tight end, Penn State. Now, Pat's a big guy, 6'5", 258. He's on the Danny Keller ringer board. It's second, late second, maybe a third round pick. Here's his deal. He's not going to run real fast. I think he's just sub five on the 40 at his pro day. But when you watched him, he's on the field all the time because he can block and because he can win in short distances. He's not the modern tight end that everybody wants.

He's basically a wide receiver. You put him out in the slot and he's running a four, five, four, six, and he's beating people down the field all the time. That's not who he is. He's an old school tight end from North Andover, Mass, who actually, if you look back at his beginning of his career, eight touchdowns, seven touchdowns, freshman, sophomore season, and only played in four games this year with a shoulder injury. Penn State had an awful start. Remember, this was a team that had real expectations, but it just didn't work out.

He was better when Trace McSorley was at the quarterback position than the back and forth they had a little bit later on. But he wins in contact. He's terrific blocking. He's got an edge to him. If you watch the Chase Young game, where he had to try to block Chase Young throughout the game, not saying he won and beat Chase Young, but he wasn't afraid and he was going at it with him there. And with all the teams that run this

21 personnel in the NFL, a guy that can make some short catches, win 50-50 balls, and then block all day. These are the kind of tight ends people like just keeping out on the field in the NFL throughout an entire Sunday. Pat Fryermuth is our surprisingly great draft pick for you. Presented by State Farm. You want details? Bye. 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. Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Okay. We've got another guy checking in on a living situation here. Kyle, what's your current living situation? Moved in with girlfriend. Got a new TV and a bidet. So very

happy. Yeah, I'm doing well. Sounds like it. Thanks. Sounds like it. It's been a great month. Back in the 80s? Yeah. I mean, back in the 80s, if you had a bidet? There'd be questions about you, right? No, it would just mean like, how many houses does this guy have? Now guys are just, yeah, guys are just getting them left and right now. It's a lot, just a lot easier access to bidets

than back when I was growing up. And that's one of the things that's changed over the last few decades. Okay, all right. So good stuff there. This isn't, is this the girlfriend that you keep? I don't want to open up your business here, but.

Yes, no. Before you go through the whole thing. Yes, you're correct. Okay, all right. I don't know if that's offensive to you you don't like no it's not it's like you know bill bill's like a hype man in certain situations and if it's if there's like issues and relationships he's like all over it so that was the case early on and you know the world knows so it's just just how it is for somebody like bill who's a little bit you know he's only a little bit older than i am but he is obviously successful he he really enjoys knowing some of the intimate details of those around him which surprises me because you would think he could

give a shit about any of it and it's not even a criticism it's just at times i'll notice i'll be like oh i'm surprised you know anything about that and then he's he it's not like he's um enjoying the the drama i i think he's just more aware he might be all right a bit of a reality tv guy you know i think he just yeah you know what in us you know i think that's what it is good call i. I think you've gotten smarter. You've gotten a lot smarter the last couple of years. I don't know what's going on with you. You're just, and I mean that from whatever your baseline was before, an improvement. I didn't think you were a moron or anything like that.

So, all right, moving on. All right. A guy checking in here, sophomore at Penn State. I feel like there was an awkward pause there, Kyle. Like all of a sudden you thought you were an idiot, and now I'm impressed that you're not you know you know suny college education you know bottom rung suny but you know i'm still in that club yeah all right sounds good okay all right back to our guy sophomore year penn state living with three other juniors that i've known before this semester i failed out last year and had to go to community college to get my gpa up you know what

though you did it you failed out GPA, get it up, get back to the program back at Penn state. So give yourself a pat on the back for that. A lot of guys just bail. There are already friends. Of course there are that a year difference is a big deal. High school and college. It just is. So they've been friends and you're younger. They already, um, I've been trying to fit in for a while now with them i feel close with them but not as close as they are all together yes all right see earlier um commentary here you're just not going to be as tight as these three guys they're all the same age and you're not in the same class you're not all right they're signing a lease next year for a place that's 850 a month in rent my rent

here with them is currently 500 a month um my parents. I don't know what that sentence means, but I think what he's saying is he doesn't want to spend $850. He's currently spending $500 and his parents have budgeted for $500. Living there next year would cost me the difference each month, which is a lot of money for some of my age. So he's going to come up with a $350 a month on his own. I'm not sure if I should sign with him because one, the price factor and two, I'm worried about not having a group of friends next year if I don't live with them. So what should I do? And if you have more time in the school of communications, I don't know what major to do. All right. Do I start a blog? Let's focus on the rental situation here first because I don't know

what to tell you in the second one. Okay, here's a couple concerns. I completely get it. You want to maintain friendship with these guys, because if you're not with them, then you're not going to have any friends. So really, the calculus on this is pretty easy. It's $350 extra a month. There should be a way for you, if you really want to be motivated about it. I would not have been mature to execute this plan. I could have thought of it. I wouldn't have done it. But if you really want to live with these guys and they're offering you a spot,

then figure out a way to make an extra 350 bucks over the course of the next however many months you have between now and when the lease starts, doing a summer job or whatever it is. If that means cutting some lawns on the side or whatever it is you could do, like making 350 extra dollars a month and putting that aside to then have it budgeted out, I don't think it's that hard. I'm not talking about when you're back at school,

it's going to be hard, but I think there's a way for you to make up. And I don't know, I guess if you're doing a 12 month lease, that's tougher. I don't know if you're subletting during the summer. But yes,

during the school year, coming up with the extra $350 a month is going to be challenging. But if you really want this, I don't think it's really, like, I don't think it's impossible to figure out a way

to go, how can I come up with, what are we talking about? Three grand, $3,600, plus the 50, you know, it's almost $4,000 here extra to cover the extra rent. I mean, you add it up, it gets a little scarier, but I don't think it's impossible. All right. Now I got to ask, are they asking you if you want to be the fourth in their new place? I assume they are. So that's good. And when you say I'm trying to fit

in with them, don't try too hard because guys don't like that. Guys really hate it. I think guys initially sort of hate each other. And I think women immediately really like each other. I don't know which one's worse, but we all have our flaws because here's the warning shot. If you sign the lease and you're like, yeah, dude, I'll figure it out. I'll figure it out. And your parents are not on board with this. And then you're the guy that's not coming up with your rent, you know, say month four or five. These guys are going to hate you. And no one's going to be friends with you ever.

And you're going to have zero friends the rest of your life. Now, I don't mean that part. That's a little dramatic. But yes, don't do the lease. Like, I think there's a way you can find a way to do this if you want it, but don't do the lease and be the guy that is like, yeah, man, I got this. We're cool. And then after a few months you're behind because you can't come up with it. Kyle. Well, I was in the same situation as him. I came back as a sophomore. Actually, I got booted out my, my sophomore year. So I came back as a sophomore, actually. I got booted out my sophomore year. So I came back

older than the guys who I had to find a new group of friends. But the thing that I would say is, like, you have the summer to make up some money for a job, but just do your calculations. And then like, you know, sell something or get a job when you're back there for the second semester, especially if it's not for a year. And you know, they, a lot of those college towns will rent out houses by the semester. It's like, yeah, well you're, you're number one, our number one choice to come back for the second semester for this house, if you're the rental agency, but you know, you just pay it by then. And then there's, you know, three months where maybe you don't have to pay it if it's a college town. All I'm saying is you can figure it out

between a summer job and maybe like, you know, selling cigarettes but you could get a bartender or something you know what i mean like be it's not actually that hard if you break it up and into little sections is what i'm saying i'm expecting in a year from now you're gonna say you know and i would i would collect for a bookie and you know if it got rough i got rough but did anyone ever think that you may bring a gun to school? No, I didn't give off those vibes. I really didn't. Okay, all right. I think people were more like, what the fuck is wrong with that guy?

He's doing what? So I think it was more like unassumingly, what's, you know? Can you give me an example of what something it is that you would have been doing would have initiated that response? I got a good one for you. Me and I got one buddy it was

so cold in potsdam new york freezing cold below freezing and um you know we were freshmen it was really important to us to smoke weed at the times when we wanted to smoke weed and there was this one like teal jeep wrangler that never locked the doors i think the doors were just didn't work and so we would smoke our joints in the, in that person's car, never take anything. And, um, it would just show up in the police blotter.

Like somebody smoking weed. It's like, I'm pretty sure that's like, if not a felony, it's like pretty, definitely a high misdemeanor to break into somebody's car and do whatever in there. But it was like multiple times.

It was just so cold and there was nowhere we could go. Um, so we would just break into this car like once or twice a week. Did you know whose car it was? No, we had no idea. We'd see it in the newspaper all the time. And it's just like, why would you do it? Why would you do it? The person that owned the car would report it to police every time somebody had smoked pot in their Jeep.

Probably not a smoker because it never smelled like it in there, but definitely did after we left, if you know what I mean. Yes. Imagine, God, that would be so weird to get back to your car multiple times. I guess it would make me think, this is where some of you on the security cam community blame the Jeep Wrangler owner. Be like, whatever, dude, fix your doors.

Be like, hey, how about this? How about if my doors don't work? It doesn't mean high school kids just get to smoke pot in it. How about that idea? But there's so many people in that first group, it drives me fucking crazy. So you were getting high before high school classes as a freshman in high school?

No, no, this is college. Oh, okay. This is freshman in college. Okay, all right that's that's obviously i mean okay we're doing better now yeah you're doing better because when you first said it i was like god you're like a badass no i'm afraid i'm afraid of kyle now okay this one might be fake um somebody checking in here what's up guys i'll keep it short i recently had to put my dog down she was 13 years old the dog literally was my best friend putting her down was the second hardest thing i've ever had to do next

to getting through my mom's funeral okay it's been a little over a week now most of my friends family have checked in on me a couple times at least to see how i'm holding up everyone except my two brothers-in-law um it's difficult because one of the guys one of the brothers-in-law. It's difficult because one of the brothers-in-law's name is Ben. He says it's difficult because when Ben's hamster died a few years ago, I sent him a couple paragraph long condolence post on Facebook. That's what makes me think this is fake. Anyway, I guess they love the hamster, but let's face it, it's a hamster, and this is my fucking dog I've had for 13 years. I feel very alone recently, and not hearing anything from them just makes me feel even more lonely, and like they don't give a shit, which maybe they don't. I'm guessing what I'm wondering is, am I allowed to be mad?

Should I call them and tell them how I feel? Am I expecting too much for them to reach out to me on their own? There's no way that's real. Because it's funny, except for the two parts that aren't funny so i'm sorry if it is real but the hamster thing i don't know i don't know i don't know what to do about this one um if this is real don't don't light into your brothers-in-law is it brother-in-laws i was gonna ask you that if i learned anything it was gonna be is it brother-in-laws? I was going to ask you that. If I learned anything, it was going to be, is it brothers-in-law or brother-in-laws?

Yeah, I don't care really, but I would just tell you that, um, don't because it's going to, even if you're right and you're upset and you reached out to him about his hamster, which again, I'd agree with you.

Hamsters, a hamster death. I don't think is the same. No disrespect to the hamsters out there, but I just don't see it being equal to losing your dog. Um, and so if this is true, that's great that you reached out to him on Facebook and, and banged out a couple of paragraphs sharing your condolences about the hamster. But I, I gotta tell you, I think there's times where just, I'm trying to imagine the argument in front of me where if it's a guy who's like, well, fuck you.

My dog died and you guys didn't even say anything to me. And it's not your immediate family. It just to me personally, I think that's a weird thing to imagine. It's so hard to keep up with that stuff outside of your own life. You know, it's really hard. Yeah, we all could do a way better job of just the day-to-day stuff like how many times i don't know how often this will happen but like if you'll have a relationship with somebody i'm not even talking about like dating or anything

like that just a relationship with someone whether it's professional whether it's a friendship and then it'll it'll kind of waver right or maybe you'll have like a dead period for a few months. And then that person, you'll wonder like, wait, did something happen? And then you start to think about it in your head. And then you can kind of convince yourself that, oh, I bet it's this. I bet, you know, and then there's levels to how psychotic you can get about it. But whenever that happens, and it'll happen to me occasionally, like on a professional thing, you know, let's just, I'll be honest.

Like if it's a, it's a Hollywood pursuit thing thing and the person is clearly far more established than i am and then i'm just trying to play it right where you know hey man this is what i'm doing and whatever and then it's like okay i'll check in i mean the thing about writing is is i've learned is everybody asks to read your stuff and very few people do it so you can't even take it it personally. Like, what are you talking about? I sent you the thing and I thought you said you were going to read it. I had an agency who I was in the middle of trying to figure out my next agency. And I had sent scripts to all of them and said, I want feedback and I want real feedback. I want it to be honest. You're not doing me any favors telling me I'm good if I'm not any good. And every agency for the most part blew it off except for one who took it really seriously.

And that's why I ended up going with. And like one agent, I go, hey, what happened? He goes, you never sent those scripts. I was like, yeah, I definitely sent them. June, whatever. He's like, yeah, I never got them. And then sent it forward to him in email of some attachments and then his response saying, can't wait to read them. So I forwarded that to him again months later and he was like, yep, busted. Never read them. I was like, yeah, no. And then you lied about never getting them. He's like, yeah, you got me. I was like, all right, cool. So the whole point is that there'll be times where I went off on a tangent there a little bit, but there'll be times when you think, oh, is this something wrong, something wrong? And then I'll have it happen to me where it's like, hey, did I do something wrong? I'm like, no, I just didn't respond to one text. I don't respond to every text sometimes. Like sometimes it'll be a text that I want to take seriously on the response. And then I let it sit there for a couple of days and it's lost in the waterfall of texts but um that ended up becoming a lesson about far bigger stuff than than maybe the dead hamster but uh i think that happens to a lot of

us where we'll think like oh this guy should have done this or they should have done that and you know especially guys with families and stuff and kids like they're probably not thinking about you as much as you think about if you're by yourself that's the other thing that can happen too like somebody like me by myself i could be thinking about other people much as you think about it. If you're by yourself, that's the other thing that can happen too. Like somebody like me by myself, I could be thinking about other people in ways they're not thinking about me because they got way more shit going on and they're waking up and the kids are unhappy or the kid has to go there. One of them's sick and the wife is, you know what I mean? Like always try to remember that there's a lot of people that have a lot of stuff going on. Um, and, and not everybody, especially again, I'm talking to the guys that are by themselves out there. Okay. One more,

we'll get back to a relationship one here. Six, four, two Oh five, 9% body fat. All right, guys, take it easy. Former college tight end can still windmill dunk. That's pretty sick. All right, here we go. Just want to say I love the pod. I've told my buddies for months I wanted a reason to write in. Well, now I take that back. So he did write in. I started seeing a girl a little while ago. We met on a dating app. I know, don't judge.

I don't judge anybody that does anything on a dating app. That would make me sound old, which happens from time to time. Anyway, so we hit it off. We're both 23. She's a yoga instructor. Hello. I'm a personal trainer. Yeah, you are.

And we'll be going back to school in the fall at the same school anyway we absolutely hit it off just a side note on anyway anyways it's anyway there's no s and the only reason I know is some really smart girl at a Colorado ski house vacation where everybody hated me for like the first day. I'd said something to Kyle when I got into the hot tub, which I thought was funny. It was a lot of guys. The ratio was way off. It was like a million guys and then just a couple of girls. And then a couple of girls were already spoken for, which guys didn't know ahead of time.

So then the odds ended up getting really, really bad. And some guys just tapped out immediately and blacked out downstairs and played guitar hero for days on end because the skiing wasn't very good because the storm was so bad but i've gotten into the hot tub and i said completely deadpan i was like man i've been kind of checking this group out i was like i would say i have at least the third best body at this house and i kidding, but people thought I was totally serious. And people went up to my buddies are like, your buddy's a dick. Like who says anything like that? Like now, like, you know, you don't get it. Like he's, he's, he's doing it because it's absurd. But they were like, well, yeah, but he's in good shape. So it sounds like he thinks that.

And they were like, he didn't go through and's in good shape. So it sounds like he thinks that. And they were like, he didn't go through and rank every guy's body and then proclaim it out loud to be serious. We promise. He's fucking, he's fucking with you. And they're like, I don't know. He didn't smile or anything.

We're like, that's the whole point. That's this whole thing. Like, trust us. You're going to think he's funny. And eventually people warmed up. Um,

but in the midst of when one of the people at the ski house didn't like me she i said anyways and she was like it's anyway i was like man i've never forgotten that ever since and again i don't think i'm gonna stop saying it i like anyways but thanks lady in the hot tub yeah no problem there's somebody who's gonna write in and say actually and you know we're not gonna read that email so don't worry about it. Okay. Anyways, we absolutely hit it off.

Great chemistry, the whole deal. About four or so dates, hanging out consistently and feeling good about this. Short backstory on myself. I have major trust issues due to my ex basically ghosting me after the three relationship and leaving me for a girl. This is the first girl in about three years that I've gotten comfortable enough with to open up about. I was on cloud nine.

Then after a night out, pizza on the beach. We get home, boom. She says she wants to be friends. I was shocked. Her reasoning being that she thought I deserved a real relationship with someone. You may ask why she would say this. Why did she say this? Well, getting to know each other more, she told me she's never been in a serious relationship.

Never. And she's not been intimate with anyone in three years. She's not giving me many details, but the insinuation was that something bad happened. Okay. She goes on to stress that she really wants me to be in her life and still, her life still doesn't want me to lose her.

Hmm. Okay. After further conversation, I sense that she's acting weird during this, more off than a normal conversation, ending things. After talking about two hours, he says at one point, she doesn't know what to do and she doesn't want to confuse me even more while I leave. But before walking out the door, I kiss her. She kisses me back. I say, I'm sorry at first, but then say eventually after talking for a few more minutes that I'm not sorry. Fast forward. I think he's talking about the kiss.

Sorry, not sorry. All right. Fast forward to saturday she wants to hang out and talk i have no idea how to approach this conversation whether to tell her i'm willing to do whatever is necessary to make this work or just to back off and be friends with her thanks and also hello to kyle and that's a little alarm going there to move the car out front street sweeping this one is uh is difficult um and it could get more difficult depending on what your level of patience is. I think the beginning, if you care about this person, you feel like you're really hitting it off and you feel like there's something in her backstory that's preventing her from, you know, opening up to you in the way that you want her to open up to you. Then you get to respect that and you can be cool about it. Um, as long as is, is you're still cool

about it, but there's probably going to be a moment where you get frustrated because it's like, all right, so what do you want me to do? You want me to just hang out with you all the time and like my Fridays and Saturdays are for you, but we're not dating because you don't want to be in a relationship. There's some things she did say here too where she's like, I don't want to lose you. She's like, I don't want you to lose me, I guess. But she's saying she don't want you to lose me i guess but she's saying she doesn't want a

relationship so um i don't want to be insensitive knowing that you've mentioned or alluded to something that could have happened that that's made her afraid of being with anybody um but i also think in any times in the beginning when any of this stuff is confusing and it's like hey i don't really want to date, but the person wants the attention. We've been over this before with different emails. But you've kind of got to have an understanding going into it. Not necessarily a timeline where it's like, all right, after six months, the first day I'm out of here, if I'm not in a relationship with her. You clearly like her a lot.

a relationship with her. You clearly like her a lot, but don't get to a point where, because I always feel like these things will happen and you're, this is going to sound kind of shitty, but you'll meet somebody and they're like, oh, I don't know if it'll ever work with us or I'm not quite sure I'm ready for something like this and on and on and on and then you find out she's been like sleeping with a guy at work and you're just like oh okay well that sucks um and i'm not saying that's the case here but there's just some phrasing here that you're giving us where she says i don't want you to lose me and she's asking to hang out again. I would just hang out, you know, not force the issue, not, not keep asking her where you stand. You know what I mean? That's what I mean. Don't, Hey, are we dating? Are we not dating? And you'll know how long you can go down that road. Only you understand that none of us can give you that advice because some people would get sick of

it. And some people wouldn't i'd also ask you this to be fair is she completely out of your league because are you going to be really really patient because you can't believe a girl like this is talking to you um and i don't know it sounds like you can still dunk in your six four and your personal trainer so i'm i'm not sure that you're terrible to look at but in other cases cases, I can see guys being really, really patient when it's, let's be honest and shallow about it, a version of a girl that's never paid any attention to you whatsoever in the past. So there's a lot of different things here,

and I want to be straightforward about it instead of just saying, okay, because I think the easiest thing here is if there is truly something going on with her and her backstory that's bad, then you're going to have to just make sure you give her all the space you possibly can. But I also think you should play out the other theories or timelines in your head as well. Okay. So here's what I want from the audience. We're finally doing it. We're really doing it, man. We're going to have a financial guy on, Josh Brown, who you may have seen on CNBC all the time, reached out, and we're going to have him come on and give investing advice. So we're going to do a longer life advice, all investment

stuff, lifeadvicerr at Gmail. And we're going to just talk to them too as well um just you know about some stuff that's going on how worried should we be about inflation what's going on with mortgage rates is bitcoin viable kyle you probably own a couple couple coins maybe not bitcoin maybe not the pure stuff but something yeah i did i owned a piece of a bitcoin nice coinbase all right i like hearing that so we'll do all of that with them because i was watching a real estate show the other day and it was it was terrible because they were talking about buying with bitcoin they act like it's this like whenever anybody does this or the sacramento kings had a thing it was like, hey, can we pay our players a Bitcoin? People were like, whoa, what's going on?

Like, I don't know, you just agree to a price based on what Bitcoin is priced at that day, and then whatever your salary is, that's how much you would get in Bitcoin. Pretty simple, right? Like, yeah. The real estate one was find somebody who understands pricing a Bitcoin. So you just like, all right, how hard is that? And then it goes, make sure you agree to a price ahead of time. Oh, okay. Got it. And then non-mortgages and homes without mortgages, all cash purchases are much easier transactions. Okay. Excellent. How did I not know this stuff ever before? So we'll be a little bit better about it than that segment that I saw from Josh. So again, financial stuff, I guess do this, put dollar signs in the subject so that we

can sort through everything. And if you put dollar signs in there and it's about a girl who doesn't like you, then you're going to be banned. You're going to be banned forever from Life Advice. You don't want that to happen. All right. Talk to you next week. you