Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara - Joel Klatt’s NCAAF Preview, Annie Agar talking NFL & Swift-Kelce Engagement Reaction

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

College football is back!  Fox’s lead game analyst, Joel Klatt, joins the guys to talk about a massive week 1 clash between #1 Texas and #3 Ohio State and to tell us why the pressure around a game like this won’t face Longhorns QB, Arch Manning.  Plus, which program should Jerry adopt as “his team?” Joel’s got some thoughts.  Then, football content creator Annie Agar joins the guys as she will every week during the NFL season!  What storylines is she most excited about as we approach week 1?  And if you could only have one Green Bay Packer on your fantasy team, who would it be?   Annie answers all that and more!  And finally... it’s happening... Travis Kelce... Taylor Swift... Engaged!  Matt and Jerry give their instant reaction to the news.  New episodes of Throwbacks drop every Thursday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also, make sure you’re locked in on social @ThrowbacksShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys & the Throwbacks community. (http://throwbacksshow.com/)      A big thank you to our sponsors:    Wendy’s    Find your new favorite Frosty Fusions™ flavor today with choices like OREO® Brownie, Caramel Crunch, and Pop-Tarts® Strawberry.  https://m-wendys.app.link/frostyswirl25  Nissan  The 2025 Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek.  Adventure ready and free from new tariffs.  Learn more at https://www.nissanusa.com/   Zip Recruiter  Try FOR FREE at http://Ziprecruiter.com/Throwbacks   NHTSA  When the stop-arm is out, lives are on the line. Stop Means Stop https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/school-bus-safety?utm_source=sinclair&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=schoolbus2025&utm_content=fnr_custom#the-topic-stop-for-school-buses   NHTSA  Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over https://www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/drive-sober-or-get-pulled-over?utm_source=sinclair&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=labordayimpaired2025&utm_content=custom_alcohol     KaChava  Go to https://kachava.com and use code THROWBACKS for 15% off your next order   -00:00 Intro  -9:30 Texas vs Ohio State  -11:28 Flavor of the Week Presented by Wendy’s  -22:26 Joel Klatt joins the show  -24:24 Arch Manning vs Julian Sayin  -30:44 Breaking down Jeremiah Smith  -35:10 Prepping to call a game  -44:00 Joel’s storylines for the season  -46:52 Excited about Belichick at UNC  -50:30 Assigning a college team to Jerry  -56:52 Crossroads Presented by NHTSA  -1:01:50 Annie Agar joins the show  -1:11:44 All Time Adventures Driven by Nissan  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I love when Notre Dame plays a big game because you can see like Brady gets all tense and like, and then we can mess with him. Can you mess with them though? No, you can't because they're like, boom, blu, blah, blah, you know, he's just like, all I say is USC once. And he's like, oh, well, what happened the last three years, dude? What happened, Matt? What happened?

You tell me, Matt. You're like, hey, relax, brus. All right. Welcome to another episode of Throwbacks. We are live via remote just fresh off to LA trip. Now, are you sad? I'm gone. Dude, you tease me being there for a week. It's spending all that time with you and the fam. You know what, though? The takeaway is, I think the family got a feel for what it's like to be back on the West Coast. And I feel like I feel like I move the needle a little bit on the thought of you returning to the great city of Los Angeles.

My little guy a few times was like, I want to go back to California since we've been home. He's asked several times, James, to come back. We got a good show for you today. We're going to talk about that in a second, but real quick, did you quarterback me, bro? Meaning, like, so I'm out there in L.A., folks. I live there for 20 years,

so it's not an unfamiliar place, but we're staying in this cool Airbnb, be not far from you Matt by the beach and every morning driving the work liner it's like we had to be in by like eight he's like I'm gonna pick you up at seven a little early but fine seven 15 and I'll have a coffee I'll have a coffee waiting for you and what did your boy do what did your boy do first day beep beep seven 15 I go down coffee in there I'm like wow now now surely he's not going to do the same thing day too like you already proved yourself you're about that life day two rolls up 715,

Burr-Ber, black coffee waiting. I'm like, oh, he's like, he's like lead. He's like, it's the quarterback room. I'm in the quarterback club. Always on time, buddy. You got to be on time. If you're late, if you're late, what was the old adage we go to? If you're early, you're late.

So you got to be like. If you're on time, you're late. If you're on time, you're late, right? And that was the thing. And they listen, man, if I tell you, I was actually, I actually was there like eight minutes early. I said, hey, I'll be there early. Don't worry.

Just, you know, come out when you're ready. know what I mean like did give you plenty of time um bring the bring the bring the coffee we had freaking great week dude lots of great shows a lot yeah a lot of stuff coming out of the next month with some freaking awesome people um all over the place man really excited about all that uh it was fun it was fun to get the boys together um you know we were way we were dad life in all week dude just beach uh restaurants just kids run around scootering um it was fun man it was a lot of fun pool like a pool day you know just wrestling like just a lot of

a lot of boys I got I got I did get a first look at um look now I know genetically last week was a big week for you I know I know my kids are going to be small right I'm 5 6 their mom is 5 5 5 5 like maybe they stretch out 5 9 because of her side all good I don't really care I've made the most out of being short

some might say I've made a career out of being I've driven into every character. Also, I know how to get in and out of rooms easily. Like, no one notices me leaving. They'll notice you walking in and leaving. Yeah, you also fucking Houdini your ass off. They don't see me leave. But I did get a look at your two boys.

And like, I will say, at one point, everybody, we're in Matt's backyard. And his five and a half year old, who's the cutest, sweetest kid, but he's also enormous, is wants to get a few hits. And Matt's pitching to him. And Matt's dealing lefty. And he's throwing for a five-year-old, gas. Yeah, we're playing, we're playing wiffleball. It's like a pretty heavy wiffle ball.

And you're throwing pretty hard, like for a kid. And your boy, there's no shortcuts. There's no shortcuts. Your five-year-old is just turning on it, just ripping it down. You have a nice fence over the barbecue. Oh, yeah. We lost about 10 balls that day. I was like, oh, my God.

Then you're like, why, he's not even the best one. Watch the little guy. Then the little guy gets up. And it was like, no mark. Garcia-Para just stepped in. He's in there, wiggling the bat. And he's ripping them back up the box. And then my kids get up.

I'm like, Matt, throw underhand. Throw him underhand. James has a good little swing. They got a swing. We're fine, but I saw the levels. It's so funny, dude, because there's so many, like, every kid is different, right? And, like, genetics are funny, right?

So, like, when you look at my two boys, the five-year-old has my size. he's a little more awkward than the little one. The little one has more Josie's side, but he's a little more... But he knows he's big and strong too, which I give him respect for. Like, even wrestling with the boys,

he's like a gentle giant, but he knows he could do damage. Oh, yeah, but we know his... We know, like, you know, you know their limitations early on. Sure. You can kind of see it, right? And with Canon,

canon's a little more timid in some things, but like super fluid. And I'm watching your boys and like, it's just funny because James is like... James is a lot like, a lot like Kaysen and the fact that like he's he kind of just charges everything he's not afraid of anything and Canon's a little bit of that way too for sure and then you look at Jacob and I was dying laughing because I think at one point I was like I don't know what they

were doing I don't know if it was wrestling or like oh hey Jacob you want to get in there and do that and he goes no I'm okay I'm just going to sit back and watch like it was and it was just funny because you've said this like like you know he's getting into sports but like you could tell he's going to be one of those kids and it's okay like he's going to be like the analytical one for sure 100% everything and you've always said like he's going to be like he could be a GM or like a like a recruiting dude you know what I mean like he's going to have that type of mind um which my kids don't have right it's just funny when you see them all together and you see and they all got along which is awesome oh it was great it was great dude they've asked about your boys already um yeah great segue right here you mentioned an analysis

and analytical. Our guest today is your boy, Fox's own, Joel Clatt. Yeah, clatter. The season is upon us, right? Like, I know everyone's talking NFL, like, it's here now. We had some games last week, but you are gearing up. You are gearing up to start, I mean, I don't want to call it your day job because it's so much more than that, and you're all over the country.

When are you gone? When are you out? And you're heading to OSU, Texas, arguably the biggest game in how many 10, 15, 20 years? Yeah, I mean, I'm out, I'm out today. You know, I leave, I leave Thursday. So, you know, we, we drop this pod today. I leave. And then it is, it's just go time, dude. It's so funny, man, because this summer is like, and for all the dads, mom, parents out there, like, summer is, summer's a lot when you have a lot of kids, right? Because you're trying to book their schedules. You're trying to put them in camp. You're trying to keep them busy. But it's also a lot of fun.

like you like you get to enjoy like the summer days the beach days or the pool days or like for you like you guys have the block party days and the kids are all like like like you and as they get older like you you just love being there so for me and then also the hardest part about this year is my oldest boy cole he starts he's got a game tomorrow night first game senior year and you know he's freaking pumped i don't get a chance to go to any of the games except one uh so so so a lot of emotions going into this season for me. I love my job. I love my crew. It's the best. We have a blast. It is a small blip. It goes by really fast. But all that being said, you got a good one week one, my guy.

It's go time. Yeah, we've had, hey, we've been, we've been in the news a lot this week. It's okay. We're ready to fucking rock. Big Noon's. Yeah. I feel like Big Noon this weekend, there's going to be some extra eyeballs on it. Yeah, yeah. You know, listen, we, Ohio State, Texas, the biggest season opener really in the history of the sport. I think it's one versus three. These two teams squared off in the playoffs a year ago. Brand new teams, new quarterbacks, archmanning. There's just so many storylines. Ohio State defending. And as you said, we have Joel Klaat. And Joel is one of the best biggest voices in college football. He does a fantastic job. He's great. He's a good friend. He's been a mentor to me. And I know

we'll talk about that a little bit just because he's so good. He's so detailed. He's so organized and he gets to call like he he he's a g man and he's funny um and uh gosh he's got i mean i wish we i hope we have enough time with him because he's got so he was a minor league baseball player then went to colorado to play football then got it's a buffalo yeah got into got into media started i believe with like sports radio locally and in um maybe in Denver or something like i think that's where he grew up so um anyway uh joel's great it's going to be fun and and we're like we're going to talk all things college football It's on.

The biggest game of the year coming up, week one. This is going to be a great year. College football never disappoints. It's the best time of the year. We got NFL right on the horizon, dude. It's on, dude. I'm not a big prediction guy, and you definitely don't tune into this show

to listen to my gambling picks, or I'm sure you like to hear me talk about gambling. I'm already going to say, Ohio State at home minus one and a half is already a super suspect line to me. It's... Meaning, like, I feel like that's, I dare you to take Texas. Like, we're going to give you a free point in a hat here, take it.

And it's going to be like, why wouldn't I take Texas? They're loaded OSU law. And we'll talk to Joel Klatte more about this, not the betting side, but just the game. And my, my suspicions already up. I just, to me, it's a sucker line. And I'm like, no, I'm going the opposite way. I'm going OSU at home. This is the week to get them.

Everyone's healthy. I mean, as well, I must should be coming out of camp. both sides. I'm going OSC. I think it's that one and a half. If it was like Ohio State three and a half, I'd almost be like, oh, now they're just like. It's one is the defending champ. They do return

they do return good pieces, but they do miss a lot. A lot. Half of them are in the NFL this year. Brand new coordinators. They have a brand new quarterback in Julian Sane who has played like 20-something career snaps. So like and he's super talented. He's a

Cali kid. Like he's, I think he think he's going to be really good, but like unproven. Texas, his defense is absolutely loaded. You know, they played great against Ohio State a year ago. You know, like that game was, you know, Sawyer had the sack cause touchdown, which put him out a couple touchdown. That game was a one score game late in the fourth, you know, like Texas going in, right, to score. So, it's just interesting. But, but again, like, it's week one. We don't know a lot. I mean, is Arch Manning going to be as good as we think? I think. Oh, you're setting up the table so nice right now. you're getting me so fire.

And again, we can ask Joel. Joel won't give a prediction because he can't do that. But he will, I was shocked by this line. And I'm just curious to hear what he thinks as well. Well, actually, before we get, we're going to get to Joel in a second. But right now, it's time for Flavor the Week, presented by Wendy's. Find your new favorite Frosty Fusions Flavors today with choices like Oreo, brownie, caramel crunch, and Pop-Tarts, Strawberry.

So, Matt, we're obviously going to be very heavy college football and NFL to come the golf season just ended and you know anytime i get a chance to talk about golf i will this story's already a few days old can i can i just interrupt you one time real quick yeah i talk to you i talked to you i talked to you this past weekend on sunday and i got a call and said jerry ferrara on a weekend i was like like shit dude something happened and dude you had you you you were you were a couple you know you were a couple you were on the golf course dude or you were going to go i had I had never heard you. One, I don't really speak to you on the weekend, not something.

I do. But, like, to get a call from you on a Sunday. And you were fired up, dude. I could hear it in your voice. So what you witnessed. You were like a kid on Christmas morning. What you witnessed is what Brie calls golf mood. It's usually reserved for when she wakes up in the morning and comes downstairs and the house is spotless.

There's an amazing breakfast on the table. The boys are dressed, teeth, brushed, hair combed. Like, the house isn't as good of condition as it possibly can be, and the boys couldn't be more ready and happy for the day, which usually means I'm leaving for golf. Yeah, you're out for six hours. So what you witnessed, though, sometimes on the tail end when I play bad, those calls are a little grunt.

You witnessed someone who pulled off some shots on a Saturday, and I finally got my new PXG clubs arrived, and I took out that magical seven wood out of a ball. bunker 215 and I stuck at the 10 feet and made a birdie and it's just on you caught the tail end of golf mood bro I like that Jerry do I like you're gonna get it more talk to Brie tell Brie it's say it's okay to listen I got brie lock we're good all right go back well look it's our story's a couple of days old but it begs a better question but first of all all the props to Tommy Fleetwood right I think yeah that was pretty cool he had the world probably rooting

for him what an event to win like for your first one you basically are going to make up for all the misses where you would have won $4 million, $3 million, and you end up finishing in third. He took home $20 million with the FedEx Cup. Basically, let's see, 29 times in the top five without winning. Runner up six times, 12 times in the top three. And to boot, like last summer at the Olympics, he won, of course, the silver medal, losing the gold medal of Sheffler.

So he wins a big tournament, gets the monkey off his back, which begs the question. Who are some athletes, coaches, teams that you maybe weren't even a giant fan of that you were just really happy when they finally got the chip? You know, this is going to, this is, this is a little surface level. I didn't dig super deep for this, but it was super meaningful. And it, and it's, you probably would agree, it was Tiger winning in 2019. Oh, yeah. And I'm staying, and, and here's just why for me, okay?

So I, as you know, like I'm getting more into golf, but the only reason, and I probably speak for a lot of dudes out there, the only reason I watched golf was to watch Tiger was because he was M.J. He was Kobe. He was like a Tom Brady. Like you just watched him. And he had, you know, he had a fall from grace. He dealt with a lot of personal stuff, tons of injuries. And in 2019, he won the Masters. And it's one of the greatest comeback stories, I believe, in. sports history from the greatest of all time. And I remember watching that. And I think, you know, he hugged his son after his kids. I cry. And it just, yeah, it just makes you cry. Like, you go watch that over and over and over again. So, you know, I know he's still kind of hanging around and obviously he's doing other things and other golf ventures and he's doing that. But, like, that was to me, like, no matter what he does in the future, like that, that solidified it. Right. Like, he went out on top. He won a, what, a fifth, I think a fifth master's. to me is one of the greatest comeback stories in sports history

and just like he changed the game he's the reason why millions of people watch. Yeah, if you haven't watched... I mean, like we have Sheffler and like the, like, Rory's, like we have great stories and we have great players. But like, Tigers, Tiger's different, man. And if you haven't watched, there's a two-part Tiger documentary on HBO. You should download it for your flights to all over the Midwest and stuff.

But they do just a really good job. because they show the fall of Tiger, right? And all the arrest while he was, like, out of it and all this stuff. And then you just are watching that documentary. Like, there's no way this guy's ever going to win a big tournament or any tournament again. They do a really good job of hitting you right in the, it's one of like the ultimate cry sports moments, I think, in the dock for me ever. Is that one? Dude, there's not very many.

That's like the most successful golfer maybe ever. And we still felt that way. There's not very many resurrection stories. like his fall was was bad like a lot of shit right a lot of personal stuff you shouldn't have come back society would tell us paint it painted him in a different way in a different light and a lot of stuff that he had a he had to he had a deal with perception all that kind of stuff right all his personal stuff then the injuries and then like it's just like you're what you you kept rooting for me like damn like this sucks like because it's over come on like it's over like it's

over and then to win that and that and that I mean I remember watching it like it was awesome I remember sitting with Josie on the couch watching it. And I'm like, I was like, babe, come in here. You're about to witness history. I'm in here now. And we watched it. And she, of course, we're both just crying. And anyway, that was mine.

Like, it's just. So I had that one up there. A few honorable mentions, like, I really like, I liked it for John Elway back in the day. I was really kind of watching it as a kid, like younger. And he was like, he felt so old at the time when you actually look at it. He was like nothing compared to like, Brady and Rogers and stuff age-wise.

But he got those two back-to-back. That did it for me. I was sneaky, really happy for the Raptors as an organization because I remember when that, like I'm old enough now to remember when the Raptors entered the league.

So I've watched their entire franchise in existence and win in a championship was pretty cool. Other honorable mentions like Dirk it was super cool. K.G. was super cool. Ray Bork on the hockey side. That's probably the number one.

But for me, I'm selfishly picking in the organization And the LeBron Cavs, Cleveland, this is for you. The comeback? Now lived in Cleveland. Oh, that wasn't the comeback, yeah. I was a comeback, down three one. That one, okay, yeah, yeah.

Down three one. You know, knowing the Cleveland sports scene like I do in the history with the Browns and the Indians and now guardians and then getting a title with the calves, let me just tell you, Matt, because I remember those parades. And I think it's like the biggest recorded parade. This is after they burned all his jerseys, right, when he left. Yes. then he came back in one of the title, so all is forgiven.

There is no city, in my opinion, that will tear everything down to the ground out of joy than Cleveland if the Browns ever won a Super Bowl. I'm sure the Jets in New York would be nuts. It's a big yes, buddy. Well, it's not going to. I'm just saying, look out if the Browns ever won a Super Bowl. I mean, yeah, they love their teams, man. Oh, my God. So, but yeah, I'm with you.

That Tiger won was great. And you know what? It's time to talk some college football with y'all clap. Let's go. With Amex Platinum, access to exclusive Amex pre-sale tickets can score you a spot trackside. So being a fan for life turns into the trip of a lifetime. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Pre-sale tickets for future events subject to availability and varied by race.

Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at mx.ca.com. This episode is brought to you by Defense. With its 626 horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine, the defender, Octa, is taking on the Dakar rally. The ultimate off-road challenge. Learn more at landrover.ca. Bank more on-course when you switch to a Scotia Bank banking package. Learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think.

Joel, yes. Oh, so good to be here. Yeah, what's up, dude? Oh, it's not much. It's not a busy week for you. Yeah, not much. No, not at all. Not at all.

I can't wait for this one. I like, there's never been a bigger opener in our sport, which is so exciting to be able to call it and to be there. So I can't wait. Yeah, does it feel, I mean, I feel like you would be excited really no matter what because you're getting back to it. And we're all, obviously, the fans are dying for, a game like this. But even for me, as like, I won't say I'm the biggest hardcore college football

fan, but even for me, I watch and I consume. But even this one feels different for me. It's, and especially I'm in, I'm in Ohio. I'm in Northeast Ohio too. So everyone around here is just ready for this game. I just don't remember a bigger opening to a season like this. Yeah, I don't think that there has been. I mean, off of the national championship for Ohio State, you know, I, I think that you can make an argument that the, the two, um, individual, positions in our sport that that come with the most scrutiny and pressure are the quarterback at Texas and the quarterback at Ohio State because of the fan bases and the size and we get two guys that are that are new starters one of them happens to be royalty and so it's like that's that's

incredible right and we get to see the the start of the arch era at Texas meanwhile the guy who's totally overlooked is Julian San who was a number one player number one quarterback coming out of high school. So just that in and of itself, the way that Texas has finished the last couple of seasons in the national semifinal, the fact that Sark has them back at a level that they always feel like they should be at the top of college football. And I would be really shocked if these two teams aren't right there in the final eight, four, or even in the championship game this year. You mentioned both quarterbacks, Joel, and again, I know, gosh, we're going to talk about this at nauseam over the next couple days, but it really is an interesting

matchup. And you know, you look at, you look at Ohio State and the pressure to play the position at that school coming off a defending, coming off a championship, Will Howard was great in the playoff. You know, he had his ups and downs. And then Archmanning where I don't remember a young kid who has more pressure on him. And he handles it because you don't really hear much about him. He just kind of goes about his business. Who, you know, what, first of all, what do you expect to see from both these young guys? Obviously, both surrounded by young teams, but different, you know, different situations. And then who has more pressure going into this game, do you think?

I think Arch does personally, just because, like, well, let's put it to you this way. If there was a guy making his third start in college football and his career, and, you know, he was quarterbacking a team that lost the majority of their wide receivers and the majority of their offensive line and is getting healthier at running back, but should be a good defense, and we think the team is going to be really good. I just highly doubt that that person is the Heisman frontrunner. But when you put Manning on his back and then you think back to his recruitment and everything that we've seen over the last couple of years, now all of a sudden he's the Heisman front

runner and his team is number one. And everyone's expecting him to be a great player, not just like, oh, man, he's a good player, a great player right away. And as you know, that takes time to develop. Now, listen, and Jerry, this is where Matt might roll his eyes because he's probably like, Hey, man, I don't know what you mean. My first game against Auburn, I was dicing them up. But not everyone can be Maddie Ice.

You know what I mean? Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Thank you, by the way. You got it. No one refers to me as Maddie Ice, but it's fine. Thank you, Joel.

The greatness that is expected of Arch, I think, would be suffocating for anyone that didn't grow up in that family. because that family is self-deprecating. They've been around big moments. You know, for Arch, this is going to be like the, in a ranking of big games that he's either attended or played in, this is going to be like 20. And for everybody else on the field, it's going to be one or two.

And I think that that matters. But, you know, that pressure is certainly there. For Julian's saying, I think it's the opposite. I don't think that there's going to be a ton of pressure on him outside of the fact that he's the quarterback of the Buckeyes, but only in the sense that, and Coach Meyer will probably, I'm stealing this from him, Matt, because I had him on the show. I didn't ask you, I'm sorry, I asked Coach Meyer.

I've only been on your show once in like eight years, but it's okay. Well, he's only been on it once in eight years. So you're in good company. I wouldn't expect anything different. We helped get him podcasting, Joel. So you do have us to thank. We've helped Scott Urban podcasting. Well done.

Well done. He's going to bring this up, and I think that this is really smart, really smart. And I hadn't thought of it this way. And he said, like, for Julian saying every single series, whether they're backed up or across the 50, it's not about beating Texas. It's not about scoring, creating great plays.

It's about getting two first downs. Yeah. And you basically, it's like the old adage, you know, how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time? And it's like, hey, I can achieve two first downs as a young quarterback, even with all this pressure. And I think that will be the, expectation for him. And I'm certainly going to steal coach's mindset during the game,

during the analysis, because I think it's smart. I think it's really smart. And in particular with their defense. So two very different situations for these guys. And I think that the pressure is on arch because the expectation is not just good, but it's greatness from him. And in your third start in college, that's a lot. So if you could just for a second, take off your analyst hat and think about it. Obviously, the fans are excited for this game. I know you're excited to call it. But if you're thinking about the magnitude of a one-verse-3

week one, how do you think like, would you rather see a Texas or OSU have this matchup this early or late? Do you think there's any rhyme or reason for oh, I'm glad we saw each other week one we're all healthy. It means the other team is healthy. Or, and then you could

if you lose this game, you could, I don't know, does it increase focus more? Because you have the one loss already. Or, versus if it was weak, you know, whatever, 10, 11 down the road. It's a great, it's a really good question. Let me break it up into pieces, okay? So the first one, just about like, do you have a, do I have a preference of when it is? No, because beggars can't be choosers in our sport and we don't get a lot of these non-conference monsters, you know?

And so as, as schools and programs have gotten rid of these games and actually backed out. Like, for instance, Tennessee and Nebraska backed out of a non-conference game. that they've got in the future. These two didn't. And so I don't care when they play. Like they can play at Jones Junior High School. They can play in the parking lot. It's like, great, give it to me week zero, whatever.

I just, I want to see them play. So that's the first and foremost. Then to your point about what it does to the teams and the effect on the teams, let's just look back to last year. If you were to ask Ohio State, in hindsight, would you rather lose an Otson and grow or win in Otson and be undefeated and not grow. Now, I'm not suggesting that Ohio, Oregon didn't grow or anything and didn't develop. I'm sure that they did, but I've talked with Coach Day at length, Jerry, about the losses as

painful as they were allowed them to change and morph and turn into the team that ultimately went and won the national championship. And in this format with 12 teams, you know, the loser of this game is by no means out, by no means. And so it's going to allow, you know, each of these teams to measure themselves and to see where are we good, where are we not good, where do we need to get better? And I think that that's really valuable. I personally believe that these types of games are really valuable.

I think Matt would probably agree with me on that. I don't think you learn anything about your team when you go out and you beat someone by 57 points. Yeah. I really don't. Yeah. Another interesting storyline is, one, just Jeremiah Smith, you know, and I, you know, the best player in college football, probably in both our opinions. He reminds, I was thinking about this today. He reminds me a lot of Andre Johnson, who I played with, like, the body type, the route running. Andre was such a, like, unique, because I played with Larry Fitzgerald, who just was so unique with his size and jumping. And, like, And Andre was like, I was like, gosh, he's really good, but he like, he just like, he almost go on notice on practice sometimes.

You know, he was like one of those guys where he just came to, came to work every day, did his job. Jeremiah reminds me that. And as you know, the game last year, Texas held him to one catch. He had virtually zero impact in that game, but they had a lot of other guys, Abuka. They had a quarterback who's playing well. They had the running backs. Is that a factor that you see in this game? Because now you have Brian Hartline, who's a new OC calling plays, you don't have another first round talent.

on their side, maybe Tate eventually is. But the impact of this Texas defense that's loaded, how they stopped Jeremiah Smith, and the pressure that that potentially could put on Julianne's saying. So you caught me at a good time because I literally, the last two hours, I poured over the Oregon Rose Bowl film and the Texas semifinal film. And I thought that the game plan against Oregon, Oregon for Ohio State was so much more creative in ways that they moved to Jeremiah and got him into a position where it was hard to double team him. And they would, so like Jerry, there's

this concept called a slide with a boot for a quarterback. And basically you fake a run one direction, you boot the quarterback out the opposite direction. And generally, the simple form of a boot is just a layered route concept. You've got someone in the flat, you've got some sort of over and then a deep route right there. And it's just one, two, three. That's the simple way to do it. But then a more intricate thing is like you'll take a fullbacker, a tight end from that play fake side, the run fake side,

and you'll slide him as like a second flat player. And it's called like a boot slide. Well, they, Matt, they slid him from the number one position, not the number two position. So when you're the number one receiver on one side, usually the linebackers and safeties are only going to be aware of you for in particular or safety as if you go vertical and you threaten them in the vertical zones. But the linebacker certainly isn't going to be aware of a number one receiver as he's coming

across because his eyes are usually going to be on number two or the back and his run fit. I'm getting very nerdy. But things like that were creative, right? So they slid Jeremiah from number one. That was the touchdown in the third play of the game. Number one slid him across the formation. There's nobody there. It's like, well, how does Oregon lose Jeremiah Smith?

Well, creative formation and play calling didn't see that very much against Texas. So he was largely, I would call static, you know, lining up wide or in the slot. And what it allowed Texas to do is double team him. So almost every snap mat, they had someone over the top and looking him up underneath, kind of a bracket-style coverage. So there was nowhere to go with the ball to him. In fact, they tried to force him the ball, like the third series of the game, or maybe right after half, one of the two.

But the linebacker is bracketing him and they pick it off. And so everybody else had to get going. So all of a sudden, Tate had to get going and a mecca had to get going. And these other guys who have one-on-ones and more space to operate, they've got to be the factors in the game. So long-winded explanation to basically say, if Texas is able to take him away, that means guys like Carnell Tate, Brandon Ennis, and Max Clare,

the new tied-in, they're going to have to play really well. But I also think that the pressure is on Ryan Day and Brian Hartline for an off-season to navigate and design a game plan in which Texas can't take him away. So those are all things that I'm going to be certainly interested to see in the first quarter and see how it's all playing out. It's just like reading a script, Jerry, right? It's just like reading a script.

I know you guys might not think I followed that, but I did follow that. And I play a lot of Madden. There you go. That's where I get most of my offensive play calling knowledge from. I think the chess match is going to be incredible. And again, Joel Klatz on the call on Fox, Texas at Ohio State this coming weekend. Joel, I do want to switch gears a little bit. I get asked this question all the time as a college football analyst.

And I told Jerry kind of the backstory. What was it like to be the USC quarterback in the early 2000s? It was a good time. It was a good time. Um, I want, I've told, we don't have enough time today. One more, Matt. One more story. One more.

You've heard too many stories. I told Joel, I told Jerry, I love your stories about minor league baseball. They make me crack up all the time. But that'll be, that'll be another day. Well, it'll be off season when we're just, we're just, we're shooting the shit about a bunch other things. But I get asked all the time, like the prep work that goes into our show. And again, a lot of people don't know this.

And, and I love telling the story. Like, I told Jerry, you've been a true mentor for me early on. on about 10, 12 years ago when I was kind of getting into TV, I eventually kind of slid into your spot as you became the number one game crew for college football. So it all kind of happened for a reason. I remember we sat down and I picture brain all these things. And here we are 12 years later. The fascinating thing I think about you and your job is the prep that goes on. I tell it's hard. It's an art. It's a skill. And I know you've perfected that skill over time. Take us through a week of prep for you, what it's like.

And this week is a perfect example. This is the biggest one. This is your game of the week. So it's the biggest game, right? Of the week. What does that week look like for you? Well, over the years, I think my process has changed over the years. But generally speaking, adding about four years ago, I started doing my podcast.

And so that takes up quite a bit of time. But it also, from a strategic standpoint, I started the podcast so that it would help me prepare for the country and not just the specific game. And so it keeps me global, which helps in my prep quite a bit. So I rely on the podcast to take care of that side of things and kind of prep me for all of college football. But then when it comes to the game specifically, it starts Sunday night. I watch at a minimum, you know, the team's previous two games usually. watch their film and then Monday morning

I start talking with SIDs or radio broadcasters or people around the program not the coaches and then I'll continue to watch film and I start to develop like overarching thoughts

and big themes that I want to get into that happens on Monday. Tuesday that continues and then I record a podcast on Tuesday so that comes out but eventually

it's just a lot of to get to like where we have and I happen to just have these like right next to me so then you're building these you know like charts and and taking notes and then making these big like I make these big notes right and so they're all legal size and it's just a lot of research and a lot of film and inevitably come Friday night it's like studying for a semester final in college, you have all this information. And then I try to kind of like parachute back out and I go back to the Monday. And the reason I brought up Monday is because of those major themes. And I try to remind myself like, okay, the fan at home is really worried

about the major themes. Now, I think what's different is that now in my prep, what I start to do is I try to build in layers. So for instance, this is my philosophy when I'm calling a game. When I'm calling the game, I usually take the first couple of series, and I try to what I call chum the water. And so I just throw a lot of little lines out there. So it's just like basis, like very surface level nuggets on whether it's players or philosophy or matchup or, you know, anything along those lines. And I start to just throw them out there in the water. And then what I hope the game will do is that they'll pick up one of those lines. So a fish will bite.

And then you just reel it in. And so all the prep is there to just say, like, we're going to drop the nugget of, you know, Carnell Tate and what he needs to do. And Max Clare, the transfer. And then the defensive tackles for Texas are all new, five new transfers. So you throw these little nuggets out there. And then all of a sudden, the game will pick it up. And then you can further that storyline. And that's helped my philosophy during the course of my career.

After hearing all that, which, by the way, it sounds like a lot of work, fun work, but also you, you know, I very much. could imagine myself wanting to be prepared for anything and everything. Well, Jerry, my nightmare on Thursday and Friday night is like the chart is lost. You know, it's like, where's the chart? I can't even imagine.

I would lose my mind. I would wake up in a cold sweat and be like, I'm not prepared. Where's my chart? Like, for sure. So that all being said, in your career calling games to this point, has there ever been, or what's the thing that just stands out? Because I know there's definitely been a few, probably.

The thing we were like, holy shit, I, that was, there was no notes in the world that could have helped me with that one because it just came out of nowhere. So, whether it's an outcome, a player, a game plan, a coaching call. Yeah. So I, I remember there was, um, it's happened a few times, but one of the things I like to do is on Friday is just watch the whole game and game film. And I'm a big believer that every play caller, defensive or offensive has a fingerprint. And so you can pick up just little feels.

And I start to just put myself in the mind. And I know it's nerdy. And so I close my eyes. But I put myself in the mind of the play caller. And I'm like, okay, what is he thinking? And then I'll pause it at just the formation. And I'm like, okay, this is the formation he called in the personnel group. Why?

And I just start to think like that. And then in the games, there are times, Jerry, where all of a sudden it's like, I've got him. you know, like I'm in his head. I know what he's doing. I know his fingerprint. And I know what he's trying to do. And then there's those little moments where you can say, hey, you know, like, I really feel like a shot is coming up here. Or if they go back to that concept or this personnel group or this formation, this is what they'll have available to them. And when those things happen, I mean, I knew it. Yeah, that's the best. That's the best. You're mind melding with a coach. I mean, that's got to be a fantastic feeling.

I've had actually coaches, Matt, real quick. I had a couple of years ago, Justin Fields, Ohio State team was playing Indiana. And Ohio State got down into the red zone, and I had watched a red zone cut up Friday night. And I knew that, like, they ran it, and then they got into a similar but not the same formation. And then they faked a Justin Field like power and threw a little tight end dump pass. And I was like, okay, they're not going to. to do the exact same play. But if that situation arises, like, that's kind of like, that's the way that the play caller likes to feel it out down there. So sure enough, I said it. They run the

ball and I'm like, boy, watch for fields to take a step and then then try to get somebody out into the flat or something. And it happens. And Indiana stopped it. Well, Ryan Day confronted me and was like, how'd you know that? Oh, wow. Right. And I was told me your mind tricks or Yoda. I did. I did. I said, well, you did the same. same thing against Penn State two weeks ago. And so I had it. You know, I had watched the film and I was like, you did it. Third and two against Penn State. You did it on the left hash. You were on the left hash again. Same yard line, six yard line. You had third and two inside, inside the 10. So you could get a first down and you did it. And I thought you would do something similar, but with a different

past concept. And he just like, he kind of crossed his arms. And he was like, I got to get to my office. Okay. Yeah. So that's my favorite thing. Because like, first of all, I wonder if he just watched it back listening or I wonder how that was pointing out like hey clatt called that someone told him he got someone they also they also they'll watch the tv copies as well too sometimes i think that's good coaching though to be like well i got to figure out the tell it's like the end of the movie rounders i don't know if you ever seen like ted oh yeah like what's the tell and he came to you for that that's uh that's awesome yeah exactly here we go we got a rounders fan in the building clap it up i sat in the booth with uh with gus and joel i think it was pack 12

championship game maybe it was a it was a long time ago it was early on like gosh this was like 10 years ago and it was just fascinating it's really fascinating to be up in the booth and watch those two guys just dissect the game in real time right like the reaction and all that kind of stuff and no one does it better than Joel and Gus um thanks man a couple a couple more minutes Joel before let you go know you're super busy uh this is the time of the year for you know i'm not going to ask you the sleepers and all that kind of stuff. Just, you know, there's always great storylines, right? Texas, Ohio State's a big one. There's a couple other big games

this weekend that sort of just set the tone for the season. You know, Colorado, your buffalo's kind of how they play with Shador and Travis. Is there anything just that catches your eye early on that you're excited to kind of see develop as the season

progresses? It's a huge week one. You know, not only the monster that we have, but LSU Clemson is a huge game. Notre Dame Miami is a huge game I love when Notre Dame plays a big game because you can see like Brady gets all tense and like and then we can mess with him

and so like Matt and I will like Can you mess with them though? No you can't because you're like boom boom boomer you know he's just like he's one of those over the topers all I say is USC once I don't by the way I don't even care

and he's like oh well what happened the last three years dude I'm like what happened Matt you tell me Matt you tell me Matt you're like hey relax Like easy. Oh, anyway. What else? Notre Dame, yeah.

Yeah, that's a fun storyline is watching them play Miami. And then, you know, personally, when I, and you know that you're going to start to laugh. Because, listen, this whole conference supremacy thing is like a big deal, right? And everyone puffs their chest out in the SEC and the Big Ten has won two straight national championships and so on. And we heard the egregious, you know, broadcasting of the playoffs last year at times when they were bashing other conferences and not the SEC. So I'm just looking at the SEC, and they've got monster games early in this season. And they didn't win any big games last year. I mean, think about it.

I mean, the lowly Trojans beat LSU. Sorry, man. I mean, but they did early in the game. Oh, Jerry, shut up here. What happened to the last three years, man? Jerry hasn't watched one U.S.C. game in his life. That's not shrill, but I watch the Bush Push. Illinois beat South Carolina.

Texas lost to Ohio State. Notre Dame beat Georgia. Michigan beat Alabama. There was like a string of games late last year where some of their, you know, Ohio State crushed Tennessee. And so now you come to this year and you've got these big matchups, you know, Texas going to Ohio State Friday night on. Fox. Baylor's hosting Auburn. LSU is going to Clemson. And so there's there's these big

games that I think are going to resonate from a conference perspective. Yeah. And I think week one, that's probably that's probably something that I'm very much attuned to and watching for. Yeah, it's a great slate. Last thing for me, we'll let you go because you got a massive game to call.

Monday night. I mean, Belichick was so in the news. It's all we heard for so many months. Yeah. All that. Now, oddly enough, it's been quiet, at least from the PR girlfriend, all that crazy stuff, whatever. How interesting, I mean, Monday night, you watching that one eye open or you like, oh, let's dig in to see what you're going to see what you're going to wait. I'm watching that thing.

It's kind of exciting. You know what's been too quiet. Jerry, you know what's fascinating is like this, it feels a little like the Dion at the time experiment. And they were going to play in TCU. And lo and behold, guess who North Carolina is? playing TCU. So Sonny Dykes has got to be thinking to himself like, what are we doing here? Like, why do I get thrown into these situations? I think North Carolina will be a lot better with Bill Belichick because the conference is not great, which means that you're going to be

in a lot of close games. And in close games, situational football matters. And what is he the master of? Situational football. So you like put two and two together. And I think that they could win seven or eight games. The problem is, I think this is actually one of their two toughest games. I think they play Clemson later in the year. TCU is quietly very good. Nine wins last year. Josh Hoover is back. He threw for over 300 yards a game.

I believe Andy Avalos is their coordinator in his second year at TCU. So this is not a great matchup for North Carolina to start, but I'm so interested to see how this goes. And like, is he going to be the same? Because these are kids he's dealing with. It feels so different. He does feel like he's just like. If he comes out, Cut off, Torheel, hoodies.

Guns out in the, oh, man, it's odd. His girlfriend will be right there behind him on the sideline? She's probably going to be on the same. Will she be on the box or the sideline? I have no idea. I mean, that quieted down a little bit. It did. I wonder if he's finally stepped in and was like, dude.

I mean, first practice, she was out there, like, stomping around the field in her heels. And I was like, what is happening right now? I know. I missed the, what we're moving on to. I missed that we're moving on. We're moving on. We're moving on. Joel Clat Show every week, right?

Yes. One of the best. Yeah. Love it. Do a great job. Excited for you, man. This is going to be incredible. You guys have done such a good job with this show.

I got to tell you, it's such an entertaining show. You guys get good guests. I'm happy to be on. Thank you for having me. So, well done, both of you. And again, get lining on yours when you need them. Now we do, you got to do the crossover. So we owe you one now.

Jerry, how about you? Hey, I'll listen. We'll come on and discuss how a kid from Brooklyn, New York, who moved to L.A. when he was 20. I had no college team to root for. I didn't go to a big time school. But why didn't you adopt USC at that time? What year was this?

I tried. By the way, same year. I felt like a homer. I would have felt like a homer. I don't want to be like my nephew who's now like. I mean, trust me. I like the Warriors when Steph Curry comes along. Like, I would have felt like a massive frontrunner.

If I just move out. out to LA and I'm like USC baby I mean Matt will tell you I'm going to get killed for this because I live in like USC Central I'm down in Orange County right now but that's kind of their whole fan base front runners yeah right Matt you're not wrong you don't have to say I can't have okay I mean gosh if anyone's been harder on USC last couple years it's been me I'm getting I just get crushed by the fans like what Matt what do you mean I'm like what do you call it how I see it buddy this is my last 10 second question then if you were just to say, hey, Ferrarra, you know what?

You don't like the frontrunners. You want to go with like an exciting young, maybe team? Who would you tell me the roof for? What fan base would you tell me to adopt? That would fit, A, my personality that you know from 30 minutes of talking to me. Yeah, yeah. And also, B, all right, he doesn't like the front runners. Let's give Ferrar a team.

You know, you know who you should be a fan of? Indiana. You and Kurt Signetti. Oh, right? You like that. Yeah. Kind of rough around the edges. Gritty, you know, like.

A little bit of an underdog, but confident. And like, hey, man, like, Google me. Get ready for Hoosiers football. That's it. Yeah, Google me, Signetti. Do you even know who Kurt Signetti is, Jerry? I know every Italian. It sounds like that's an Italian last name.

I know every Italian you just watched. There's not many of us in college football. So appreciate you, Joel. Have a great time, man. Enjoy. We'll all be watching and listening. So I appreciate it. All right.

Later, bro. At Grey Goose, we believe that pleasure is a necessity. That's why we craft the world's number one premium vodka in France, using only three of the finest natural ingredients, French winter wheat, water from Jean-Sac and yeast. With Grey Goose, we invite you to live in the moment and make time wait. Sip responsibly. Reading, playing, learning.

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Join me for a six-part journey into the systems that power the world. Real conversations with real people who are shaping the future of energy. No politics, no empty talk, just solutions-focused conversations on the challenges we must overcome and the possibilities that lie ahead. This is on energy. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Doesn't that just get you excited for college football? I'm just also like

I try to think how I would prepare for calling it like he's just going into you're calling the biggest game maybe of the year week one out of the gate I would have some nerves but like excited nerves yeah he's a G

as you could tell he's the he's one of the best in college football great mentor to me just a great dude and you know I'm gonna see him here this weekend man we're fired up for the big game

and we haven't even really begun with NFL yet should we have a little we have a surprise guest a lot of surprises on on throwbacks in the last couple weeks. Yeah, so each and every year coming up,

starting next week for season two of throwbacks. The official start is next week. We're working with an amazing sponsor with Twisted Tea. And part of that is we are working, we're doing a segment with Annie Agar. If you don't know Annie Agar, you should look her up on.

So Annie Agar 5 on all social media accounts. She does some amazing NFL college football content. She also covers the game out in Chicago. Huge Packer fan. and her recaps after every NFL week are outstanding. So we're going to talk to her in a second preview what we're going to do for you guys next week and also just get to know her a little bit.

Yeah, first of all, you mentioned season two, so I did want to just shout out all of our listeners and subscribers. Thank you. Season one was a blast. All the sponsors, we had a blast. Go follow us on throwback show. Fired up for season two. We're coming out with the bang next week.

We're closing season one with Joel. We're, you know, talk to Andy. And let's just say, We have a few, in L.A., we did a few taped interview. We have a two-parter coming for you. We got some bangers coming out, bro, in the next month. And fired up, man. The only time with this show, I have ever been scared to talk to the guest.

Like, legitimately nervous and scared. Listen, this, yeah, we got some time. I will just say this. This is one of the most crazy stories that you will ever hear in your life. It is absolutely crazy. You know how I'm like 30 for 30, the whole catchphrase is like, well, what if I was to tell you? And then they say dot the, like, we couldn't even do that with this because no, we can't tell you that because you would say BS. That's not a real story.

But it is. So we got that in the coming weeks. We're going to get to Annie Agar in the second. But first, it is now time for Crossroads, presented by NHTSA. I have a good one for you guys today. The next time you're out drinking, call a ride share, a taxi, a sober friend, or designated sober driver. The only decision that will change your world for the better is the decision to call for a sober ride. Drive sober or get pulled over. My crossroads, Matt, I was at it in L.A.

You had just done this week's before, but my wife hit me with the, while we're in L.A., we should take the kids to Disneyland. Now, there's a lot of parents, dads, moms out there that just shivered with the thought. I personally, I've been before with the boys. I enjoyed my time, but it was a very short day. Let's just say my trip with the boys and the family to Disney, I walked, according to my iPhone, 30,000 plus steps, which equated to 13.8 miles. 90 degrees in Anaheim that day. Oh, it's hot of shit out there. Now, here's the crossroad I'm at. Yeah, you committed. I committed, but I got to give credit what credit is doing. We just had Bree on the show last week.

She could actually start a business as a consultant for families going on a Disney trip. The way she had this thing. Now, we had to spend a little bit of extra money, but it wasn't a crazy amount. The way she had this thing working, Matt, we never waited 15 minutes or less for every ride. Kids went back to school that week. That helped you big time. That helped you big time for sure. my kids are six and four at that age now where they kind of go on mostly everything like

Space Mountain Star Wars right like it's no longer like we're just in a small world we're on the big boy so I end result I thought I was going to be miserable I had an unbelievable time you're a you're a better man you're a better dad and you're a better husband than me I we we we went the week before I bowed out early with the baby it's a long day but josie and brie are a lot of so about that you took separate cars like you bounce oh we took well Listen, we have a, you know, the boys can rally as your boys, they could rally, but having a baby there in that heat from, you know, 8 or 9 a.m. to 10 o'clock at night. It's just, it's just not. You just can't do it. Right. So, you know, we plan. We took two cars. I'm, I'm not a Disney guy. I get it. I'm not. It's just not. I make sense. That tracks. One, I stick out like a sore thumb. I'm six five. I sweat. I hate lines. I've been, I grew up by Disneyland. I've been there. a hundred times. I think for the kids, I get it, right? It's, it's, it's, I get it. I totally do it. You do it. I will say this. We, we did it. We got the passes. Again, a little extra money,

but we got it. And it was, it was, we had a great time. And I left, I was there from about 10 to about 3 o'clock. And we hit everything that we needed to do. But I will say this about you, dude. Holy hell, buddy. Way to commit. An 8, 8, at 9 a.m. to a 10 o'clock at night. Well, at Disneyland. The problem started the night before when I was like, okay, because we were out there working, by the way. Real quick, that's why your golf mood was so great. We were out in L.A. working. And then when I got, we got finished with the interviews,

I said, okay, Bree, what time are we leaving for Disney? She's like, oh, we'll probably leave at seven. I'm like, okay. I want to get there when the park opens. Okay, that tracks. So seven, which means you think you're leaving by like five, four or four. Oh, yeah, five, maybe six. Like, all right, maybe we'll eat there, come home.

She's like, oh, no. The parade starts at 845. I'm like, we're staying for the parade. She's like, well, we stay for the parade because then the fireworks are at 9.30. I'm like, so we're leaving at 7. And then we're in the park till 10. And when you actually start walking out of the park, you're not getting to your car till 10.30. Oh, yeah.

And then you're getting home by, like, oh, we're really doing this? It's like, yeah, Jerry, it's family day. Why wouldn't we? And I made the decision right in that moment to keep my mouth shut. Smart. Go with it. Smart. I could have talked some logic into the mix.

By the way, your quick thinking in that moment allowed you to golf for six hours on a Sunday. I knew. I'm learning this dad stuff. And a lot of you have reached out to me. There's a lot more moments coming up in the future, buddy, with the third on the way. I got a big response from people when we put out on the show, like how we watch our football and what can I negotiate with my wife. And a lot of people reached out. And I think that did set a good example for me.

And I knew in that moment, like if you would have paused and did the voice over, like the one of the years. It's like, this is the moment where Jerry and he said. does you want to play some golf this weekend then he has to go do Disney for 12 and a half hours. Yeah, there's moments in your marriage where you can open your mouth and say the wrong thing

and see what fucking happens or there's moments in your marriage where you can just be the bigger person just say yes. I just heard bone thugs in harmony in my head going to see you at the crossroads you won't be lonely. I just heard it and I made the right call.

Well, good for you buddy. All right, you know what? I'm not even going to say our next guest because this next person is, I guess you could say, It's going to be our first friend of the show. She's going to be joining us weekly alongside working with our new sponsor, Twisted Tea. One of my favorite follows on all social media for any NFL football stuff.

Annie Agar, thank you for coming on. We're excited to talk to you. How are you doing? Let's go. Thanks for having me, guys. I'm excited. This whole Twisted Tea thing is going to be fun. We're going to do some spins with it.

I think it'll be a good time. We're going to do some spins. And I wanted to kind of ask you out of the gate as I get to know you. We did some stuff at the drive. draft in Green Bay. Yes. And now, no one like this, look, we're all excited. Matt and I just talk to Joel Klatt, getting ready for college football.

It's like, so for you, though, you know, creating some amazing content, what is it like for you going into the season? Are you looking at it like I have some long-term things I want to do already? Are you just going with whatever the crazy NFL throws at you from week to week? It's funny you say that about Joe Klan, actually, because I just was researching for this Big Ten video because I try to do a college. football video to kind of kick it all off because that's how I first started doing this so that is I dive into because that so much has changed right in the offseason with college

I mean you guys know more than anybody um like just the turnover is crazy so it's a lot of research there but in terms of NFL I I realized how much I ride my emotion content wise and the videos that do the best I'm not even kidding you guys are me just being a depressed Packers fan yeah it's like instant reaction after the games and I'm just either like telling them to fire every coach that we've ever had or you know complaining about running more end around on in the red zone so it's just so funny that it's it's like a very emotion base for me so I do have a plan kind of content wise I'll do you know my weekly videos to recap everything but the videos so that sometimes do the best are just this raw emotion that NFL fans feel I don't know if I've ever asked you this

because we've been friends now for a couple years do you ever come across any of these people that you sort of, you know, you, I would say you make fun of, you have fun and you're obviously sweet. You love the sport and it's all in good fun. But like, have you ever come across someone that's like, hey, uh, you just use me in your video and I didn't appreciate that. You know, yeah. So awkward moments. Right. Thank. And the more I get to know these guys, like the more I meet them at the draft or at the Super Bowl, it's harder for me to make fun of them because they're a lot of nice guys. Like, Deb Prescott, nicest guy. And I just, I just roasted him the entire season. I do get good feedback from the guys. They handle it usually really well. The one bad

encounter I got was Eli Apple's mom. Oh. Yeah. Former giant legend, Eli Apple. What does she say to you? And who has not roasted Eli Apple at some point in their career? She called me every name in the book, like, and went after me personality-wise. And yeah. Does she know you right away? Like, was there, How did, like, she clock you? All publicity is good publicity, right? She pushed my name out there more. I don't think she could do who I was. But I roasted her son pretty hard in the Super Bowl.

I said, I tweeted out a picture at those. It was my first Super Bowl I covered. So I tweeted out a picture and I said, I had a great time providing coverage in my first Super Bowl unlike Eli Apple. It did not go over well. I would recommend doing that to him. I guess you did this video in Green Bay at the draft,

but one of the ones that I related to the, most was because I'm a big I hate what like Twitter has done to the drafts even with the NBA and you were watching the Packers pick not looking at your phone trying to get the up and that's how Matt thinks I'm crazy he's like why would you like just look I'm like no I need to see the broadcast and see the pick I like the pageantry of all that so I feel like I related to you right there plus your brain can't keep like you're on the certain number pick and then we're like two picks ahead already and I'm still trying to process the the previous pick that was made. It's just too much going on.

Storylines change. And obviously the Cowboys are like, I mean, what's going on? Like, is there a fun storyline that you're kind of following that you're excited to maybe do something with or something that you're dying to see happen this season? Yeah. What's funny with content and I talk about a lot because people are always like, oh, you're,

you wait for the, you know, prime time games and that's where you get all your content. No, it's the, it is the like scum of the earth storylines that are so funny for my content. So I'm going to ride with the Daniel Jones storyline. Oh, yeah, let's do it. I'm so excited to see out because no matter what happens, it's going to be great content and it's going to be terrible.

And like the fact that Anthony Richardson got beat out again, this is the funniest storyline. You know why that's brilliant too? Because then you're going to hook psychos like me who are so happy that Daniel Jones is no longer on his team, but I'm going to enjoy whatever it is you come up with because it's no longer my problem. That's a good point.

So you're not only going to tap into the cults, AFC South fan base. You're going to touch on the New York giant fan base because I'm just going to be like, I'm so glad that's not me anymore. Well, like Sequin, all of last year was just a nice little nod to you guys as well. Well, the Giants and the Cowboys are two teams that I imagine are like the gift that keep on giving for a content creator like yourself.

Just storylines coming at you. Look at the fact that we're still talking about Michael Parsons. Like, I have content in the off season still. It's great. Let's put on your analyst hat because you are a die hard Packers fan. And they're a very good team. Very good. Do we have thoughts?

Do we have thoughts on the Packers? Can they make a Super Bowl? I mean, like a prediction. You know what, guys? I just hope that we have enough guys to facilitate a 53-man roster at the end of this preseason. The injuries were ridiculous. But I'm,

and our wide receiver core, everybody's talking about the drops again. Matthew Golden looks great. And I think he might be wide receiver one at some point, barring injuries and what happens there. But he looked great. And I think we'll package him a lot. I've been talking about it on our NFL show.

Like we do with Jaden Reed. Like he'll be in motion a lot. He's small. He's fast. I think Matt Liffer will know how to use him. And I think with Jordan Love, I think in Jordan Love will be better this year than last year. I think he regressed in the terms that we, this high expectation we set for him. So I think he'll be supposed to be like a slight improvement every year.

So yeah. So it's just a tough division. It's the toughest division. I don't. There's so many question marks. We don't know what Ben Johnson is doing with Caleb Williams. We don't know what happened with Detroit with other coordinators. It's just like a weird, and J.J. McCarthy, there's some, there's, it's, it's the most polarizing

division for sure. Oh, it's so weird. I love to feel confident, but I don't at all. How do you, again, you're going to learn this about Jerry. Jerry's a diehard Giants, Nix. Like, it's honestly nauseating, but it, but it's fine. He's, I've become a Knicks fan through him. Thank you, man. You are a, I, I love, I'm fascinated by diehard fans of any sport. Like, I guess as an athlete, it's always a little different. Like, I love my teams, but I'm not, like, I'm not glued to watch these teams on the sun just, made what is what is what is what is it like watching a packers game what is your typical sunday like when they're playing sunday football watching a packers game that's a great question i would love

to ask you this question because i always wonder how athletes watch games compared to the fans because for me like i and i'm so thankful that my job is like if i were a sports reporter and i had to be unbiased i would i would die there's no way strike me as you could be i'm so biased and i so game day i'll you know i'll do the prep i'll set my lineup i'll play some bets maybe because I'm a degenerate. And then I will lock into Green Bay. So if it's an afternoon game or a later afternoon game, I'll have Green Bay on its own TV, obviously.

And then, yeah, it's a lot of, it's hard because I have to keep an eye on what's going on in the other games for my videos to recap everything. But I do all just, like, lock in on Green Bay for so long. Like, oh, dang it, there's other games going on. But, yeah, I'm just, I'm full on fan mode. I kind of lose reporter mode. And you can see it in my tweets. too because I just tweet any kind of raw emotion that I feel.

Yeah, you got a heavy hand during the game. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You and Jerry have that in common. Give us, uh, um, I'm asking this for a reason. You'll see where I'm going with this, but give us just, if you can only have one packer on your fantasy team this year, only one. Whoa.

You have to pick one. You know, it's an easy one, I think. Well, I'll tell you why I'm asking because I might have, I have, I have two packers on my team this year so far. So I'm hoping one. one of the ones I picked or one of the ones you're going to say. Matt, it's not that easy. I mean,

it's not, to me it's a couple. I just did Jaden Reed and I feel really good about that. He's like a little bit later pick. But I would say Jacobs. Mm-hmm. The only one I don't have. I have Jordan Love.

Exactly. I have golden and I might have even reached for the, for Kraft, is it? The tie-ed, my backup tight. I have three actually Packers on my roster. Not even knowing that we were going to be working together this NFL season.

Wow. I'm honored. Well, Annie Agar, have a, have yourself a heck of a season. We're thrilled that you're going to be joining us next week. Each and every week, along with Twisted Tea, we have a fun segment plan for you. And I'm excited for your recaps. I'm excited.

It's a part of my regimen is the Anteager recaps. You know, I had somebody the other day, I started running to him, and they said, I watch your videos on the toilet every Tuesday. Thank you, sir. I did not need to know that. Mine are a little bit more like with coffee at the table. I'm trying to get my kids out the door. But I like to do that too.

Yeah. Thanks, weirdo out there. A little overshare. I did not give that guy a picture. Yes. But let's all just like, again, let's all take a moment and just welcome football back into our lives.

Best time of the year. I love it. I cannot wait. All right. We'll see you. We'll see you next week. Can't wait. Sounds great.

All right. It's time now for all-time adventure driven by Nissan, the 2025, Nissan, Pathfinder, Rock Creek, Adventure Ready and Free from New Tariffs. Now, if you feel like I rushed that, I did because even though this is airing on a Thursday, we're taping it early, we just got breaking news. So we're bumping our previous, sorry, Coach Vrable and the leaks that were coming out. I mean, this is more important.

This is a big story. As we're taping this show, Taylor, well, your English teacher and your gym teacher, according to them, are getting married. a collab to end all collabs on the internet. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey getting married. That is going to be an all-time adventure. Breaking the internet twice in two weeks. Have you ever seen a couple own the internet more in a two-week cycle than between the pod they did and this? No. Ownage. No. Like they are the internet right now. Oh, they're the internet. They're absolutely.

And I mean, I got to be honest with you. I'm super happy. I'm super happy. happy for the guy. I'm super happy for my guy, Trav. He, a lot of people were kind of giving him shit. A lot of people have given her shit early on. Thought it was fake. Thought it was this. And like, my dude, hey, my dude, my dude fell in love. My dude fell in love. And you know Kelsey a little bit, right? Yeah, I know Kelsey pretty well. He's a great dude, man, super pumped for him. Um, the thing I love about him, too, is just, he hasn't changed. Like, he's just, he's a guy's guy. Like, he's literally dating the most, or now he's engaged to the most famous person in the world, arguably.

And he's the dude you want over to play games with and talk shit about anything. You know what I mean? Like, he's still that guy. So, um, damn, dude. See, I'm even like, she posted pictures on their account,

like, of the ring and stuff. And it's like, my question, if we were interviewing Travis Kelsey today, I would ask him. So buddy, like, what is it like? Well, see, well, that's what I'm curious about. Like, what is it like ring shopping for Taylor? Swift, like, you're not going to impress with, like, hey, here's a, here's a two million dollar

ring. Something tells me she probably, you know, there's a lot of- You go classy, like, less is more in that situation, right? Yeah, and also, like, just because it's a bigger diamond doesn't mean it's more expensive. So that's one thing I learned, too. Brand-wise, she's never going to, like, does she become, she's going to become a hyphen? Is she going to be Taylor Swift, Kelsey? No, she's going to, she can't, right?

She reminds, yeah, she's going to keep her stage name, right? But she reminds me, I think legally, she reminds, she's a traditional girl. I think she's going to be Taylor Kelsey. Yeah. No way. There's no way. She can't. There's no way.

She'll be Taylor Swift. There's no way. That's an interesting conversation. Which is also none of our business and we'll learn about once they announce it. Let's, let's, we got to put a pull up there. Do we think she, I get it. Like when she's in her music and when she does that, she's still going to be Taylor Swift. But like, she's just a giant brand that she's going to go by, like, is her driver license?

Like, is her marriage license going to say Taylor Kelsey? Absolutely. I guarantee it. My prediction would maybe be a version of Taylor Swift Kelsey. Cheers to Taylor. T S.K. Then we just start calling her TSK. Do you see TSK last night, Taylor Swift?

Where do you think they're going to get married? I see. It's going to be a remote location that they are not going to give details of. And as they should, because that would be a, that would, I mean, in terms of like couple weddings and the media hype, I mean, this might be bigger in terms of the media, like, like the royal wedding, essentially. Yeah, but they'll keep it small. I feel like they'll keep it small and intimate. But they've done, I mean, they've done a pretty good job of like staying under the wraps as much as they can. You know what I mean? Like, well, I truly hope it lasts a test of time because it would be in a world where things are a little wonky right now. And like you said, everybody questioned, oh, is it real? How, like, it would be just awesome if you look back at this story 40 years from now and they're still together with a bunch of kids and grandkids.

And you're like, wow, they truly were in it for the long haul. It feels that way. Good for them. Hey, listen. You know, Trapp, do you get a wedding invite? No. Beautiful couple. No.

You don't know him like that. No. He's my guy, though. See, I feel like if I got to be friends with him casually for a year, a few rounds of golf, I heard he likes Entourage. We presented her years ago, the cast of Entourage. I think it was it like the Billboard Awards or something we presented her within the award. She came up and she did say I'm a big fan.

Now she might have been doing like the nice Hollywood talk. She for sure knows you from Entourage. I'm not saying she didn't know me. I'm saying I don't know if she was a true big fan. I feel like I feel like I could get myself a wedding invite if I just got into the friend's circle for like a year. She came out to Arizona. I met her when she was just coming. out she might have been 16 or 17 and there was a station there was it was kind of like uh phoenix's like

kis fm right like a ryan cress and it was shall give john jane rich were like the local uh radio djs and um they were doing a show and she came out and i met her and i i believe like honestly i think like she gave me an autograph i think i signed an autograph i signed a helmet or football for her brother at the time who was a football fan um i don't know if she would remember that or not it was might get you the wedding invite if she remembers yeah I'm going to probably go out of the limb and say I'm not getting invited to the wedding,

but I am sending my congratulations. Last hypothetical, and then we'll wrap the show. If for some reason they talked and you received in the mail, Travis and Taylor would like to formally invite you

to whatever remote location that they probably won't even give you the location. You go, right? Like sight unseen. You're just like, Josie, get a sitter.

We're going. Does a one like a duck swimming circles, absolutely. See, I'm the opposite. That would give me so much anxiety and feelings of like, wow, I don't belong here. That's the difference between you and I. That's an invite. You just go and you enjoy. You just have fun. That would be, it's going to be a, that's going to be a fun ass wedding. I would never go to the wedding. I would be way too intimidated, way too scared and intimidated. Come on, Jerry. We're not going. Come on, Jerry. Big news. All right, Maddie. We're sending you off, buddy. Into the wild.

go and analyze a damn good college football game week one. Go have fun. Let's go time, buddy. We'll be watching. I'm sure no one's real. I'm sure there's not going to be any waves at Ohio State, which I'm sure it's going to be smooth sailing. Go have fun. Thanks, everybody.

We'll see you next week.